EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHER GRANT RECIPIENT
The recipient of the Emerging Photographer Grant 2009 is
Alejandro Chaskielberg
The High Tide
More details will follow soon.
The Judges:
Maggie Steber – Photographer
James Nachtwey – Photographer VII
Carol Naggar & Fred Ritchen – Historians-Authors-Analysts
Eugene Richards – Photographer
John Gossage – Curator
Scott Thode – Director of Photography Fortune Magazine
Gilles Peress – Photographer Magnum
David Griffin – Director of Photography National Geographic Magazine
Martin Parr – Photographer Magnum
Alejandro,
Congratulations! Your work will be remember. The limit that you are working in, documentary and ‘art’, I think is possible by your own sight, and that is why now you are here. I mean, that the production you realized is an excelent ‘mix’, between your technical knowledge and teh power you have to document the ‘reality’.
I applause this work for ‘open mind’ of editors that always we work with, especially in the latin american media, where I work in. We have to realized that we are in new times and we have to think like we are so brand new.
Greetings from Ecuador / Saludos desde Ecuador.
ar
Nevermind.
I found my lost iD. It has hiding under my antidepressants .!
Hahahaha
Sorry son but daddy feels a little confused, worried, upset and depressed this morning.
It’s that MPG or EPF thing. Stop crying and I will unlock the door and take away those handcuffs.
Daddy is a little rough but he loves you.
Now I’m upset. You people are making fun of me.
All I was trying to do is liberate you and save you from your blindness.
Stay blind I don’t care . I can find another Burn anytime. Nothing intellectual here.
I wonder what the judges would say if they could see MY work. But somebody kept it hidden.
I’m going back to Magnum blog because nobody loves me here.
ALEJANDRO – congratulations!! your work looked amazing on friday night at LOOK3 and during the EPF announcement. i am excited to see where this work goes. great job!!!
DAH – i am sorry i almost killed you (a few times) in my car – you all were driving me CRAZY! i can promise we all would have wrote lovely things about your here on BURN… ha ha. thanks for the fun times once again. xox
JIM – you honestly frustrate the shit out of me with your comments. can’t you just congratulate alejandro and not make the “fantasy” comment. he was also chosen to be projected at LOOK3 – obviously people like and respect his work.
LEO – i have to say, i was surprised by your comment and entry here today. however, i think DAH replied with such honesty – and i hope you feel differently about his intentions now. like he said earlier… he did not even choose his girlfriend as a finalist. i do trust david’s objectivity 100%.
ALL THOSE AT LOOK3 – THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE FESTIVAL. IT WAS ANOTHER AMAZING YEAR. I WANT TO APOLOGIZE FOR NOT HAVING ANY TIME TO HANG OUT AND REALLY TALK WHILE I WAS THERE. AS YOU SAW… I AM RUNNING AROUND NON-STOP WITH MY HEAD CUT OFF (eric can attest – he saw me many times) … IT IS EXHAUSTING, FUN, PAINFUL, INSPIRING, FRUSTRATING ALL ROLLED INTO ONE FOR ME… BUT I LOVE IT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!
Your technique is so effective with this subject matter. I think most would agree that it is a wonderful experience to look through your essay.
Look forward in seeing more Alejandro.
gina, I hope he becomes a rich and famous photographer.
Congratulations Alejandro, I wish you all the best for the future direction of your work.
JIM – how about a happy and respected photographer…
OZ,
if you were honest you wouldnt be anonymous. Your anonymity makes you a coward. Own up to your accussations and use your real name. You are attacking the integrity of David and Nachtwey, while hiding like a coward behind two letters.
Congratulations to all who entered, were selected and to Alejandro on winning. Although it was not my favorite of the group, there is no question that there was a great deal of care and effort put forth, and the results are a beautiful set of images. Continue with your work, and I hope to see more in the future.
Jim, I know that SP doesn’t need me to speak on his behalf, but I think I’m going to any way. His methods may be blunt, but almost always dead on the mark, and always in the spirit of bettering the photography community. Multiple spirited debates with him have shown that to be true. When SP made reference to your photography, the inference was that a better photographer would be better able to make the criticisms that you have been making. This is going to be one of those times. Some of the comments you have made have seemed intentionally spiteful, which does not help anyone, and is not beneficial—no matter what level of a photographer you are.
Congrats! It’s a fresh vision and even if it’s not your “cup of tea,” it’s the fresh visioneers (like pioneers!) that open the doors to the future for all of us.
hi all.. another quick stop off from a shabby internet connection…
in croatia – parts 1, 2 and 3 are here..
http://bophoto.co.uk/blog/blog.htm
week one down and 4 to go.. the photography so far has been from a certain distance as i’m easing into it gently.. not wanting to ruffle feathers or get beaten up.. also because i will be working with NGO’s over here and i want to learn far more from them before i get in any closer.
enjoy..
d
ALEJANDRO,
Congatulations!!! Gina is right… I watched your essay twice on a very big screen and your images certainly had that “something” special. So well done and it also seems from your message that you will be able yo make good use of the money. I look forward to see where you will go with your work. Please please continue to stay in touch with the BURN crowd.
TO ALL-
I came back yesterday after a 9 hours drive from Charlotteville and I am about to go completely dark for about 8 weeks as all my stuff is being packed as of this morning and then shipped across the ocean…. I am ending up my stay in Cincinnati in the best possible way, after an exciting LOOK3 during which I have seen many friends again and actually met new ones. It was also an amazing and humbling experience to see my own essay on the BIG screen, where so many masters have shown their work this week. I was sitting next to Marco (another finalist) during the EPF/ BURN show and we could hardly believe it…. I have met Marco for the first time ever this week and he and Nathalie his girlfriend have become friends. Hope we see each other in Brussels in September. This is also the magic of Burn. It was also very special to spend time with Pat (my agent as of today :), Erica (get this book out please!!!), Lance the cowboy, Chris the surfer, Kelly, Hillary, Rosemary and others I am sure I am forgeting… Really great to see all of you. I had to cut the night short last evenning and get some rest because of my long drive and unfortunately missed saying GOODBYE to many… Hope to see you all very soon… The three I won’t forget to mention are David, Anton and Mike. Let me tell you that they have put on an amazing show overall for BURN and EPF. The 3 minutes BURN commercial that was shown using many many of the images shared on the site over the past 6 months was absolutely great and would have made all of you that have contributed very proud. I hope that Anton shares a link for all to see later. Finally, thanks David for all you do for the young photographers… Seeing you even for few minutes is always a great source of inspiration… I am recharged with my head buzzing with ideas after this Look3…
Cheers to all and I will be in touch on the other side of the ocean hopefully very soon!
Eric
Brian, my problem with Stupid Photographer is not that he references my photography, but that the criticizes it while hiding behind a pseudonym. I’m aware that he is afraid his posts here and his choices on his blog could affect his stature in the photography world and his business, but it is cowardly to attack others when you don’t have the courage to put yourself on the line.
ALEJANDRO
congratulations !!! Not just for the BURN grant, but also, as I just read, for being projected by LOOK3!
That is so cool and such a huge chance! Use it wisely :-)
I hope to see you and your essay in 2011 at LOOK – I will try to be there.
By the way, I have to admitt something and to thank you for it. Because by winning the grant, you are actually helping me out with my very own project too … Because … I usually do not bet at all, but this time I did bet on you getting the grant :-)))))). And now I myself “won” a camera I had my eyes on for a while. You cannot imagine how happy I am about this.
So thanks again :-)))))))))))))))
I wish you all possible luck for the future.
GINA
congratulations for a super successfull LOOK3!!!
You did a wonderful job, as I have heard.
I really hope to be there next time (2011?)
So next I’ll see you here for the book fair, I suppose :-)
JIM, GINA,
“gina, I hope he becomes a rich and famous photographer.”
“JIM – how about a happy and respected photographer…”
I think these two sentences just nailed the different perspectives. Thanks for that.
ERIC
great to hear from you & thanks for the feedback.
I wish you a good transfer and … see you soon in Brussels?!?!?
Really soon, ok?
Tell me when you get there and caught your breath.
A big, big hug!!!
Lassal
Jim you have to admit your photography is pretty appalling considering how long you’ve been at it professionally: you said it yourself, you’re a hack at best.
and since you have such strong opinions on what good photography is and isn’t then people are naturally going to wonder about the audacity of your comments, comments constantly criticising the images that end up on Burn when in a lifetime you’ve not been able to produce anything worthy of Burn?
Most photographers, like me, would start off with a healthy dose of respect verses the bucket of venom that you bring to the party.
It’s purely incidental that Stoop has a persona Jim and targets you Jimbo, most everyone thinks what Stoop thinks.
Joe, let me see if I have this straight. Had I, like Stupid, created a phony name and not posted any photography, you would have considered my comments more worthy of consideration? Or, would you have been blasting me for expressing such strong opinions while hiding behind a pseudonym? I could just as easily done that.
Stupid Photographer is a coward. He is afraid that attacking people under his real name will hurt his business, so he hides in the shadows and launches spitballs at folks.
It is really a shame that there is so much bickering here.
This is a great forum and I have undoubtably learnt from it and it has helped me have confidence in the direction I want to take my work.
I know David and Anton have done this to some extent to try and remove cat fights from discussion on images or stories, maybe now we can set up a specific zone for cat fights to take place, so all purile activity can be removed from the discussions in hand. Healthy discourse and debate is key to this site and one of the major attractions for me, as they are extremly thoughtful and worthy.
These spats have caused people to leave, even the thoughtful, generous, encouraging (verbose) Bob Black seems to have been shooed away due to a series of (possibly misunderstood) critisims. This is a crying shame and a great loss to this community.
There seems to be one intent voice in the name of Jim Powers, who sometimes brings up valid points but also causes a maelstrom of venom to appear on this list, maybe this is his intention. In fact he is probably sitting smugly at his keyboard right now relishing the fact he is being written about again. He does seem to take up an inordinate amount of energy, the amount of time David AH has generously had to patiently explain points to him and to quell the vitriol he has produced is really quite disquieting. Sure he is allowed his point of view.
It seems to be Jim’s raison d’etre (for whatever reason) to poke the stick in and be an agitator, he has certainly found fertile ground in this cabal, who believe passionately and care about Burn, perhaps that is why we take so much umbridge at his comments. At the end of the day I believe in Burn, and Burn is bigger than Jim. Sure there are things that need strightening out, but look how far it has come in such a short time, truely increadible.
ian, I post my opinions. But I’m not the ones responding to them. I’m really surprised anyone is interested in what I say, since most think I’m a hack troll. I’m certainly surprised they spend so much time engaging me. But that’s out of my control. If folks consider my opinions worthless, then the simple solution is not to respond to them.
But, here you are, devoting another post to me.
very nice. congrats!
Congratulations Alejandro and all finalists ! Hope to go at Look3 in 2010 !
Well done Alejandro. Make the best of it. i look forward to the results
Ian
Just a little consideration cause before I haven’t read all the posts…
I saw that there are peolple complaining or surprised cause a huge percent of the finalists are former students or assistents of David workshops, readers of this blog, people who attens festivals, ecc…
Come on! Din’t you think that this is normal cause most probably also a huge percent of the entrants belong to the same crowd?
This grant is new, so the reason why there are not African or Asian photographers in the finalists is cause probably not so many of tham are already aware of this oportunity so they did not partecipated… Spread the news also to them and you will see that years after years they will be in the finalists too!
In my opinion it wuoldn’t have been nice nor onest to put in the finalists someone from Africa just because he was the only partecipant from there to do “geopolitic”…
I agree that there should be more grants open just to photographers from developing countries but if a grant is not like this, winners have to be choosen from the quality and doesn’t matter if they all come from the same nation… to do the opposite will be hypocrite…
Well done, Alejandro
Congrats to nominees and Alejandro.
¡Congratulations Alejandro!
bickering, bickering..
and such a beautiful day..
DAVID ALAN HARVEY is magnum featured photographer this week.. big up’s to the man that can..
alejandro.. looking forward to seeing more.. much more.. evolution.. development.. onwards..
the cherries are falling.. time to harvest..
david
LONDON CALLING.
joe, david, antonTG, lassal.. lets plan..
david@bophoto.co.uk
dx
and congratulation to david Ahhhhh for the obvious – EPF success !
..and.. follow in croatia..
http://bophoto-mumblings.blogspot.com/
new post later.. good day shooting..
d
^¨why isn’t your hair shorter?¨^
^because it’s longer^
^^well, it SHOULD be shorter^
^^yeah.. but i like it longer^^
^^shorter^^
^^longer^^
^^shi..^^
blaaaaah
well done Alejandro. look forward to seeing more from you. congratulations.
Alejandro,
lots of congratulations for your future work. Hope to see some more soon.
To David, Anton, Tom and Mike…thanks guys for making this possible. it was great to be part of the festival.
To Eric, was great to have met you. hope you wont disappear.
M
By far the best work gets finally to win.
Congratulations to Alejandro!!!!
Best of luck
Mimi
Congratulations Alejandro. Seems like money well spent as it will take quite a while to carry this on location.
Congratulations, Alejandro! What a beautiful and original essay. It looked great projected up on the big screen at LOOK3 during the shots pavilion and again during the EPF announcement.
Anton- Great job with the Burn reel that showed prior to the EPF announcement! It was so nice to finally meet you in person!
Gina- Great job at LOOK3. It was so nice to finally meet you. What an amazing event and familial community. I feel blessed and privileged to be a part of it. I look forward to the next festival!
All- I am so glad to have met so many of my Burn companions at DAH and James Nachtwey’s workshop and then at the LOOK3 festival. This type of community and extended family is rare, and I am so glad that this is the type of place that looks to lift each other up, help each other out, and make us better artists and people. This is just the beginning of some fantastic partnerships, and I look forward to seeing where we all go, together and separately.
DAH and Jim- Thank you so much for teaching me about the power of photography. I now know what a photograph is and am embarking on my journey to create photographs. There are stories I need to tell, and now I have the proper tools and knowledge so that I can tell them in an artful and meaningful way. I haven’t the proper words to express the depth of my gratitude. Thank you.
Not sure where to post these..but here are my notes from Sylvia’s presentation..big congrats to Alejandro, thank you to all (Gina!) who made LOOK rock again, thanks to DAH for the time and good words on the book project, hugs to my comrades for the food and conversation and encouragement, and as always, please know that some of what I write below may not be exactly right, cause i am just
scribbling notes in the dark, on Plachy
The 66 year old Hungarian born photographer Sylvia Plachy spoke with ease and humor during her LOOK3 presentation, showing photos taken over a number of years including the 30 she was a staff photographer at The Village Voice. Showing one of her images, that of a tired horse struggling nervously through the forceful water, Sylvia says that that is her self portrait, because she too is overworked and skittish. Author of several books, her work has been published by Aperture and in numerous magazines and is known for being a very ‘human’ photographer who records the character of NYC and sources imagery from her personal life as well as the wide world around her.
Sylvia began photographing at the age of 21, when she took a course at Pratt with teacher Arthur Freed. She said she never wanted to be a photographer, she had been studying art initially. After the encounter with the enthusiastic teacher, she knew this is what she wanted to do. She approached photographer Kertesz with whom she soon forged a 20 year long friendship.She says that she learned from him how to be a photographer, but specifically one thing he taught her was to never go after images that you already know you can get. Additionally, she remarked on him saying that you had to wait for the picture. Sometimes you can find the right place and light and circumstance, but then you still need to wait for the picture to happen when composition and poetry come together.
Additionally, she was inspired by the words of mixed media artist Rauschenberg: “I think you’re born an artist or not. I couldn’t have learned it. And I hope I never do because knowing more only encourages your limitations.” Sylvia accounts for some of her in born artistry because she “sees things no one else sees.” She says it is important to her to be able to feel her pictures. The motion that is often present in her work comes when she “can’t catch” what she wants to – and that you have to learn to love who you are. Still, she likes accidents in pictures, and puts herself in the position to have accidents happen.
Asked if she considered herself to be a surrealist, she says that she is neither that nor a ‘decisive moment’ photographer. Her images are usually made “after the moment” from a perspective that the world is a strange place. She considers herself to be a shy person, and in fact in Czech her surname means shy, but being a street photographer often means being rude. When working shooting on the street, her method is to take the images she wants, but if someone because upset, she stops, saying “okay, okay, I’m not taking anymore” and she moves on.
One day while Sylvia was staff at the Voice, the editor was standing by her desk and asked the room if anyone would be willing to take on a weekly assignment column..Slyvia said that before he could even finish asking she exclaimed “I’ll do it!” She said that as a photographer you have to be ready to take the opportunities that come your way. This was to become the 8 year long series in which a photos a week of hers was published on top of the contents page, usually under the name “Unguided Tour” which made her, in her own words “famous.” To this day, many tell her that it was that series that inspired them to be a photographer. Myself, I remember clipping them out many weeks and thinking that she really had something special happening there.
For Guy Trebay’s column in the Voice, she and journalist James Ridgeway collaborated on a piece about sex workers, which came together as the book Red Light. Sylvia said that working on it was very hard for her and somewhat against her nature, partly because she is a day person, but also because the piece wasn’t her idea, it came about because one of Ridgeway’s interns was also a sex worker and helped them gain access. There have been times when she simply wasn’t up for making certain photos, and Ridgeway would push her into action by saying “Arbus would do it.” Sylvia herself is very aware how much she hates having her image taken, and has compassion that others may feel the same.
Sylvia comments that many of her images are taken from behind a person, in fact she had an exhibit of just backs. “My father often walked ahead alone, deep in thought, his state of mind one could only guess at. I, on the other hand, have always liked to linger and watch unseen, to take my pictures without confrontation, to look at backs and imagine what’s inside.” She says she is trying to see and feel thoughts this way, but also, that it was important to be able to use her shyness. She recognizes that “failure is a constant companion” and regardless of one’s success, there is a great deal of pressure to constantly produce at a high level. Her way of handling this is “to try not to fail.” To Sylvia, failing is not getting the picture that she sees, and so she always keeps her camera set and ready, she jumps on the light, and does her best to catch the miracle that she sees.
ERICA:
Wonderful!! More, more,…..please!
Erica, thank you, thank you, thank you!!
thanks for this nice article
scribbling notes in the dark – on Toledano
40 year old London born, NYC dwelling, son of French Moroccan mother photographer Phillip Toledano presented a piece called Phonesex, Bankruptcy and Other Odd Topics in an accent that just won’t quit. For ten years Phillip worked in advertising as an art director, and is well known in that field as the man who came up with the “Blue” in Jet Blue.
Self-taught as a photographer, he is a person of ideas and his experience in the field taught him how to hone these ideas. As an art director, Phillip says, you have to not only have ideas, but you have to know how to shepherd them. For Phillip, photographic ideas come and often stay around in his head, clamoring away for some 4 or 5 months. Often it is only when he decides to discuss them out loud that he discovers – usually half way through the discussion – if the ideas are in fact interesting enough to pursue.
One such idea was to photograph some of the individuals who work as phone sex operators. He had been thinking about the things in society that are in plain view, but remain hidden. Phillip decided to place an ad on craigslist, offering $100 for the released permission, the time and opportunity to photograph phone sex workers at home, often in the rooms where they worked. Weeks of email correspondence usually passed before the day of the shoot. Always, Phillip was upfront about his reasons for photographing and his desire to create a book of the images. He says that when people believe in the integrity of what you are doing, they will help you. The people in the photos wrote briefly about themselves, allowing the viewer to have a little more insight into this exploration.
During the making of the series, (http://phonesexthebook.com) Phillip was surprised to learn that many of the workers felt like their job was a mutually beneficial experience, that they believed that it helped the caller, but also that it allowed the worker to discover many things about him or herself. A job that attracts people from all walks of life, sometimes when Phillip arrived, a very Norman rockwell form of existence was taking place around the home.
Stylistically the images from Bankruptcy are quiet and empty, and differ from those in Phonesex. Phillip says that he allows the project to inform the style in which the piece is shot. By giving the superintendents of buildings that had been home to offices that had gone bankrupt after the dotcom failures, Phillip gained short-term access to the spaces that he wanted to show. Here Phillip could explore the office remains and graveyards, the piles of books, chairs, and personal affects left behind when an office closed. Often these items were there just briefly, cleaned up and disappeared when another company took over. What he found were what he calls “signs of life, interrupted.” (http://www.philliptoledano.net/main.php?setId=1)
In the bankruptcy series, we see a photo of 2 pencils stuck into the soft acoustic material of a drop ceiling, and Phillip says he thinks of this as a more of a portrait of the person who threw the pencils than if he could have photographed the person himself. He feels the worker’s frustration, his disdain for the job, his anger. We see a photo of 3 women tacked to a bulletin board, and Phillip muses that it was left as a statement, sort of a ‘Kilroy was here.’ We see a single sock, revealed from the furniture’s removal, and he imagines that maybe that was the sock of the man who went to the gym everyday during lunch, and that the day the sock went missing was the day everything started to fail in the office.
Phillip’s “America The Gift Shop” (http://www.americathegiftshop.com) is his collection of souvenirs that he thinks American foreign policy in the Bush regime would sell if they had a giftshop. These items vary from a snowglobe (Cheney shredding secret documents) to t-shirts (I WAS RENDERED TO A SECRET PRISON AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT) to a Choc and Awe chocolate bar. Phillip says “…all my work is socio-political in nature. I’m interested in what’s right in front of us (or me), and I think everything I work on is personal — it’s just different levels of “personal…”
ERICA is
Shooting straight from the “PHOTOZONE”…
Keep rolling PLEASE !
P.S I read slowly but I love it :)
I’m home after my 600 mile/965 km drive from C’ville. On the way I realized that in my earlier post I’d forgotten to mention a number of wonderful Burnians I’d met up with during the workshops and the festival…Hillary, Leigh, Rosemary, Kelly, Chris, Michael and Gina to name a few. I’m sure I’m still forgetting someone, but, if so, please forgive me.
Regarding Look3, this was my first shooting workshop and my first photo festival. What I experienced without exception for ten solid days was how everyone wanted the best for one another. Not a hint of jealousy, meanspiritedness or negativity. Brutally honest critiques, yes, but no personal attacks or acrimonious exchanges. Critiques intended to help the photographer move forward rather than set him or her back. Often asking questions rather than making unfounded assumptions. Respect for different ways of approaching photography and a willingness to share techniques and ideas when asked. And then a real sense of shared celebration when anyone made a breakthrough, either in the workshop or in work that was shown on the screen.
In short, just what Burn could become if we’d let it.
Patricia
When I saw your work before the finalist was announced I was thinking: What a great and original way to put mood in the image. How create way to create that unique atmosphere.
And now you won. Congratulation this is great work. I wish you all the best Alejandro !!!
-r-
scribbling notes in the dark – on Richards
I could listen to Eugene Richards speak about his work all day. At LOOK3 this year, Eugene presented War is Personal, showed a short film, and shared the multimedia piece from The Blue Room series. Though I had previously heard Eugene talk about these bodies of work, his gentle intensity and powerful sincerity made me feel as if I was seeing everything for the first time.
Often thought of as a photographer who uses his gift to raise social awareness, Eugene’s roots are in health care advocacy and social service. He is perhaps best known for his personal treatment of social documentary books and films on the topics of drug abuse (Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue), his depiction of poverty (Few Comforts or Surprises, Below the Line: Living Poor in America), mental illness, aging and the self published Dorchester Days about his rapidly changing hometown. Eugene is respected and known for his total involvement with the people he photographs.
War is Personal, begun in 2006, looks at the impact of the Iraq war on the soldier and their families from different perspectives: A 25-year-old certified medic, home from Iraq, who can’t escape the horrors of war. In New Hampshire, the enduring strength of a mother caring for her brain-injured son. The story of how grief has transformed the father of a slain US marine. The anguish of a mother who is bracing herself for her son’s second deployment to Iraq. The pain of a young soldier from Missouri remembering the ambush of his unit in Iraq. The project was aided by a $50,000 NatGeo grant, but Eugene and his wife, who was instrumental in the project, faced repeated and countless obstacles to both producing and publishing War is Personal. The project has recently won a Getty Grant for editorial photography, which has allowed the continuation of the essays.
In working with the people Eugene photographed for the project, he was very honest, sharing his own political views that he is against the war. But Eugene is clear that he wants to tell the story from the perspective of person he is photographing, and that he isn’t trying to make any one point. Included in the project are textual essays.
Acknowledging that it was sometimes difficult to photograph these stories, Eugene remarked that being quiet and doing nothing is much more difficult. “I was asking myself for the thousandth time, “What can I do? Write letters, sign petitions, continue to protest, stop paying taxes?” I was a photojournalist and I had been too silent.” He said it is when he is involved in the working on a project that things are much better for him emotionally.
As an example he spoke about of a very difficult day shooting at the funeral of Princess, or Army Sergeant Princess Samuels. Because of the difficulty in obtaining help in finding stories through the obvious sources, often Eugene would only discover that a funeral was being held when it was posted in the paper. But coming across Princess’ funeral was completely accidental, and Eugene says he was emotionally unprepared. He had been driving and stopped at a church to get directions; the deacon invited him in. Through a third person, Princess’ mother gave permission for Eugene to photograph. She never spoke to Eugene, but wanted him there for personal reasons. Eugene said his hands shook and he only got a few frames.
A few notes from my scribbles when Richards showed War is Personal at David’s loft back in 2008:
EUGENE: The project I am working on now is kind of naive; I hit a point and I had to do something.
That something is his powerful, stunningly meaningful piece War is Personal. He is working with a combination of photos and text to show how war has affected some who are here, at home.
EUGENE: I find in this case, the photos (alone) don’t do it.
The intensely tender and intimate narratives in text he has included read like a work of literary fiction, but are all too real for those living these stories. The man himself is serene, quietly quick witted, lovely and abundantly sincere, and the room was filled with reverence.
After an embrace with David, David said to Eugene
Wow, that’s too much..
EUGENE: It is too much..
DAH: You have to believe you make a difference, putting a brick in the wall at least, and trying. I can’t think of a more noble thing when it comes to photography.
Eugene also showed a The Blue Room in multimedia form, with his quietly husky voice reading the text that accompanies his first published color project. Partly funded as an assignment for NatGeo, the images are of the landscape and abandoned houses of the rural American West. Eugene drove across the country, zigzagging in search of the forgotten homes for some three and a half years. He said he almost felt that he robbed NatGeo, because for him it was pure pleasure to be able to shoot as he wished.
The working conditions were hard with the temperatures at 30 below zero and floors collapsing beneath him, but the freedom appealed to Eugene, and he called it therapy. It was a personal journey and a meditation on the fragility of life. By law, he was trespassing, and in many of the states that meant he could have been shot, so he said he jut had to be careful as he never obtained permission to enter the homes. But finding out anything about any of the houses was difficult despite his efforts. He said he only learned anything about the owners of 2 of the homes; about the home with the snowy bed, and another where there were many shoes. It seems the owner’s son died in WW2 and the mother kept all his shoes…
On one occasion, Eugene gathered up a pile of photos that were scattered on the floor of one house. He took the photos out of the house, found the relatives and showed them the photos, but they didn’t want them. In an act that I think speaks volumes about the man, Eugene returned to the home and put the photos back where he had found them.
I’m reading Erica..
you write beautifully…
thank you, thank you….
Erica, I am overwhelmed. Thanks for keeping BURN’s head above the dirt…