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ESSAY CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT
EPF 2010 Finalist
Dima Gavrysh
Insha’Allah
I took a photograph of Captain Harris, the commander of Combat Outpost Tangi, in Afghanistan’s Wardak province, as he was waiting for a helicopter to take him to the funeral of one of his soldiers. While he was covered by a cloud of dust, he seemed lost and overcome by his surroundings the photo turned out to be truthfully despondent. His people are hated by the locals. He hates to lose his people to IEDs. I bet he hates the role he is assigned to play in winning hearts and minds of the locals, and he probably doesn’t believe in it even if he tries.
The photographs I shot through a night vision device had a quality reminiscent of early silver gelatin process and modern video games at the same time. In the first picture of my portfolio, the soldiers portrait acquired a GI-Joe-like quality, with the humanity taken out of his appearance. He looks like a war robot, a part of greater military machinery, and not as an individual human being. There is uneasiness and despair mixed with confusion. No one knows the right way to fight this war and when it is going to end, if ever. All of it looks like some huge experiment, where a civilization is being pushed forward through warfare. It doesn’t seem to work and yet we try.
Bio
Dima Gavrysh is a Ukrainian-born, New York City-based photojournalist. He started his career in the mid-90′s in Kiev, Ukraine. For the past 10 years, he has worked with major news agencies such as Associated Press, Agence France Press, European Press-Photo Agency, Gamma-Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg News.
Dima’s work has been published in magazines and newspapers worldwide including The New York Times, Time, People, Paris Match, Independent, Marie Claire, Stern and Newsweek.
Awards:
AI+AP (American Photography + American Illustration): published in 2008- 2010 yearbook.
2010 PDN Photo Annual Contest: Photojournalism.
International Photography Awards ? Lucie: honorable mention: 2008-2009.
XVIII Eddie Adams Workshop participant: winner of an internship for the Washington Post.com: 2005
Related links
Wow, beautiful and emotional photographs. Love the view point of the images, really makes me feel present in that world.
The main (if not the only) goal of army training is to make a person a killing machine, with no hesitation in pulling the trigger…The foot-soldier, whether in the military or as a priest in the church, is the most basic weapon of those in power to do as they will, in the name of patriotism, religion or other such veils.
It is good to see humanity still, in these beautiful photographs.
he has worked with major news agencies such as Associated Press, Agence France Press, European Press-Photo Agency, Gamma-Press, Reuters, and Bloomberg News.
Dima’s work has been published in magazines and newspapers worldwide including The New York Times, Time, People, Paris Match, Independent, Marie Claire, Stern and Newsweek.
Fine work, but I’m curious by what standard this guy is considered “emerging?” What if Cartier-Bresson’s widow enters some of his pics next year? Think he might have a shot?
Magnificent photojournalism. Many of these photos I have seen on the NY Times Pictures of the Day. Like Michael W, I question this obviously established photojournalist being identified as “emerging.” He may be young but Dima Gavrysh is certainly experienced. And very very good at what he does.
David, I’d be interested to hear how you determine which of the many talented entrants to the Emerging Photographers Fund actually fit the classification as emerging? Now that the EPF winner receives such a significant amount of money, I expect that more and more young established photogs will submit their work in the future.
Patricia
Dima, congratulations on being published here. I like 2,8,12 and, my favourite, 18. Not sure what to make of the essay as a whole: some (most) good photography here but I don’t feel better informed, apart from 18 (and the written info about the photograph in your intro). I’d like to know how you came to your title for the essay. It seems a little too easy and lightweight?
You mention that Captain Harris is assigned the role of winning hearts and minds: I’d really like to see some photographs of the meetings with the Afghan locals and interviews / quotes from them that give an idea of how the coalition troops are perceived: invaders or protectors? I’d on bet the latter. I’d also like some interviews / quotes from the troops. Does being embedded limit you? Thanks for sharing. Stay safe.
Mike.
Lots of conflicting thoughts about this body of work and its appearance here.
As ‘conflict photography’ it’s capable if not adequate. But what I’m rather more interested in is your relationship to this work and to the ‘idea’ of this work. Why do you feel you need to do this kind of photography when it has been seen and seen again? What do you feel this body of work brings to the portrayal of war and young men and women out of their element that we as a virtually embedded audience dont already know? What is the personal attraction and why do you think this is any more relevant than every other entirely similarly rendered series of soldiers in war zones?
I would truly love to feel an original kind of work here, but I feel like it is more of the kind of work that keeps news agencies (which seems to be your world and your work) in business and sales of digital cameras and flack jackets to photo journalists brisk.
That said, image # 8 starts to get somewhere for me…..
And is this a personal project? Covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for major worldwide news organizations? I want to be careful with tone here, I’m just a curious bystander, but it appears that this work is neither by an emerging photographer nor represents what should realistically be called a personal project. If this kind of thing is eligible, which it obviously is, perhaps you might consider changing the name to something like “Deserving Photographer’s Fund.”
michael
i only chatted briefly with dima on the bus back from lookbetween and, although he would want to expand for himself, he spoke about the russian connection.. his homeland and initial motivation for traveling to afghanistan.. in that sense it could be a personal project..
i am certainly of the opinion that just because photos are sold and clients commission them it does not mean they cannot be part of a personal project – much of my work has happened in this way.
dima – it was interesting to hear this perspective and view your work within the context of this personal connection.. could you tell us more?
also – is there somewhere online it is possible to view the collaborative multimedia piece you showed at lookbetween? would love to see it again..
best
david
(p.s. i am english and not proud of the british :ø)
(p.s. i am english and not proud of the british :ø)
that definitely sounds familiar…
Missing u davidb….
hope u doing more than fine up north… Biggest hug
Great work showing the tragedy of this very sad war.
Congratulations, Dima!
Love the “artificial” quality of light in most of this essay photos. I would have loved to see more portraits from the “Soldiers of Zerok” series: they really convey the meaning of your words “He looks like a war robot, a part of greater military machinery, and not as an individual human being.” (I got a similar feeling looking at the headshots of fully-equipped soldier, sort of Kafkian characters from The Metamorphosis, shot by Platon for The New Yorker: http://www.platonphoto.com/thenewyorker/service/index.html). The Zerok portrait, together with photo #8, open the essay towards a more personal research, away from typical mainstream media war imagery imo.
Just took a look. I must think about this one a bit before I comment. Perhaps, even after contemplation, I will still be at a loss for words.
I think Michael Webster’s question is an excellent one, however. I had wanted to enter this competition and had just the project, but after giving it serious thought I decided that, given my career as a photographer and one who has become reasonably well known though not famous, except in Alaska, it would be too much of a stretch for me to claim to be an emerging photographer, even though I continue daily to struggle to emerge.
And here we have a fine photographer who, in many ways, would seem to have already emerged.
I don’t begrudge him his appearance on Burn, however; I would just like to have my mind come to terms with the various definitions of “emerging photographer.”
Enjoyed very much this powerful essay.
@ Frostfrog & Michael W… Likewise.
Just to be clear, I recognize that it’s entirely Burn management’s call on how they conduct their contests. It’s just that, being a writer and all, I tend to get stuck on the meaning of words and apparently “emerging” has a totally different meaning for Burn management folk than it does for most everyone else. I guess I can see a scenario where that makes sense. Perhaps if you’re a member of Magnum and longtime NatGeo photog, someone who has merely worked for all the wire services and one-level-down mags such as Paris Match and Stern has yet to truly emerge. Whatever. None of my business. And as I’ve said many times before, I have great appreciation for the overall effort. I’m just a little concerned that many who share the more common definition of “emerging” might be less likely to enter if they understand they’re up against high level professionals.
And if that’s not enough to piss people off, after thinking about it for awhile I find myself truly appalled by this particular essay and the entire concept of embedding. This is someone being used to produce naive propaganda at best and participating in active collusion in war crimes at worst. And I suspect the latter to be more likely. This essay does nothing but glorify war. It provides no perspective whatsoever beyond that of the occupying army. It’s at least one step worse than anything Leni Reifenstahl ever did because all of her service to the war machine took place before the actual war. If somehow we were to lose this war and something like the Nuremberg trials were set up, this photographer would be in much worse legal shape than Reifenstahl was at her trial. Fat chance of that ever happening, I know, but morally it is out there. Far out there. If you wanna do real journalism, go get embedded in one of those wedding parties that gets decimated by an unmanned drone. But that would be suicidal, eh. If not literally, at least career-wise.
Dima, love these images. With a son-in-law about to be deployed to Afghanistan again for a second tour in a few months they hit an emotional button for me. I especially liked: #5 (the light in the dust); #6 (the juxtaposition of the soldier and the man praying; #7 (I find this the saddest–the taliban and the guard); #8 (the irony in little green apples and a soldier in full garb); #11 (the married soldier with that haunting look of missing his family); # 18 (wrenching at my heart before I had even read the caption).
Fabulous work and it matters nothing to me if you are “emerging” or “semi-pro” or “pro”. You deserved to be considered in the final running in my mind.
Inshallah: “if Allah wills it”. Hummm. Knowing the meaning of this word and the implications and faith behind it I hesitate to say it is a good title. It indicates to me that God is somehow interested in one side or the other winning a war. Pushing civilization through warfare doesn’t really fit with the God I know and I have never believed he is on one side or the other. I do, however, believe anyone on any side can reach out and ask for help in any conflict and receive it. I don’t, however, believe it is given in order to allow one side to win over the other, just one individual’s safety possibly being delivered due to reaching out for help from Him.
Why did you choose Inshallah as a title? Good work Dima. I love the emotion you pulled from me in this essay. I will revisit I’m sure.
Absolutely amazing. These are the first modern war photographs I’ve seen that have moved me.
The camaraderie, the occasional overwhelming nature of war the loss, the heart pounding fear and excitement…
This shows the true depth and not just the latest car bomb and the latest missile strike… this is deep. Keep up with this! Don’t lose your vision to appease the calling of images of action… the moments of silence in your photos speaks louder than any action photo!
you have a good heart.
Michael’s comment: “…appalled by this particular essay and the entire concept of embedding..”
I have my issues with propaganda too; however, this felt more like showing me the lives of those that have chosen to fight in this war and the people living in war and fighting on the other side. The very human voice of war. If I were younger I would choose this to do. I want to see the human faces of war; only then can we truly see the truth of war. The difference in essays that depict war for me come down to whether it is glorifying it and showing the ego of the participants as a lot of the embedded photographers tend to show, or the true face of war so we can see the truth of war.
Thank you very much for all the comments. I’ll try to answer all the questions here as much as possible.
First of all, I still consider myself an emerging (rather than an established) photographer because, in my opinion, one becomes established only once s/he starts receiving assignments on regular basis from major publications. An established photographer’s name does not really need an introduction, and I do not think that is the case with me.
I consider this project to be a “personal” one for many reasons. I volunteered to go because it was a topic of great interest to me. Like so many people, I was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together and figure out why the best military force on the planet cannot defeat a bunch of illiterate guys in flip-flops armed with old AK-47s. Moreover, this is not the first time that the country I live in is fighting a war in Afghanistan without making much progress.
I believe that my work on this topic has been different from the standard wire photography that is seen over and over again. This is my personal perception of this war. As I mentioned in my artist statement, far from glorifying the war, I was trying to show the frustration and confusion that more or less dominates regular soldiers in Afghanistan. For example, while a hot topic on the use of lethal force is being debated by the higher ranks and policymakers as a way to reduce collateral damage, soldiers in the field feel threatened and frustrated that they cannot effectively defend themselves and get the bad guys. This is just one of million nuances of the war in Afghanistan. For those who are really interested – read Ahmed Rashid’s “Taliban” http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300089028
As far as propaganda goes, even though there are many limitations, I did not have my work checked before I sent it to AP.
I did not interview any locals – there is usually only one interpreter per platoon and he is usually busy assisting the commanding officer (moreover, I usually do not conduct interviews in general). However, from what I’ve seen, U.S. troops are often viewed as infidels and foreign invaders, who the locals cannot rely upon — a notion that McCrystal and now Petraeus are desperately trying to change. Villagers know that eventually we will leave Afghanistan, and the Taliban, as it happened many times, will publicly chop off the heads of those who helped or worked with Americans. They live in crossfire, and have been for over 30 years.
I’d love to be embedded with the Taliban, but I might end up beheaded before I manage to send out my photos.
About Inshallah:
The word, while clearly religious in origins, is often used as a word “hopefully” in the end of many sentences. It is the word that dominates conversations between the U.S. soldiers and the local elders. Here I used it to mean that hopefully it will all end well.
About embeds:
It’s not an ideal way to cover a war, but in this case it is the only way.
Hi Dima.
Its ironic that you use the title “Inshalla”, almost like taking the piss, as these images appear to have nothing to do with Afghans but rather of yet another foreign tribe entering in to this decades on going conflict through this place. If anything there evangelical in nature, almost biblical. Don’t see anything relating to winning the minds of the Afghan people here, so why the title when there seems to be nothing to do with Afghans in this essay.
I can’t see how these images work to educate about what is going on, being so one dimensional, though I understand how limited you are in such an environment. I do wonder how many people would know if these images are from Afghanistan or Iraq.
Image 6 to my mind works well.
Stay safe Dima. Peter.
OK. I’ve thought about it and I’ve looked at it a couple of more times. My initial feeling was that the images are excellent, but did not really advance my understanding of the war there. Then I thought, good as the images are, they are too peripheral and don’t take us deep enough.
And then I was looking at that last image, full screen, on my Apple Cinema screen and it suddenly hit me what a strong and powerful moment that was. How, after all the talk of heroism and camaraderie, here was that one, lonely, heartbroken soldier, standing alone in the dust with his gun. So, yes, it did advance my understanding. I then went back and took a new look at the entire take and this time all the pictures seemed to take me where I had not been before.
So good job.
I think that, in a way, it might have worked best as a single image. That last image. That’s the one that makes the definitive statement.
By your definition of “emerging photographer,” probably 95 percent of us, even folks like me who have lived solely off their work for over 30 years, remain emerging photographers.
Damn. I should have entered the contest.
Oh well.
Probably wouldn’t have won, anyway.
But you never know.
“First of all, I still consider myself an emerging (rather than an established) photographer because, in my opinion, one becomes established only once s/he starts receiving assignments on regular basis from major publications. An established photographer’s name does not really need an introduction, and I do not think that is the case with me.”
I think that these days with globalisation via the net anyone receiving assignments on regular basis from major publications is going to be the exception not the norm even for the established photographers, scribes consultants etc. The platform has changed and will further erode the established getting all the offers. Editors, publishers have access to a lot of great photographers from anywhere in the world at the touch of a key.
So “emerging” as in the old equation is no longer applicable in today’s wwdot world and that is why there are so many questioning the the photographers in your position who applied as emerging. To many your argument is very thin and clutching at straws. Personally I feel that the award should be for a project not a photographer so “emerging” will no longer be an issue
By the way interesting work though I feel it could be tightened by narrowing down conceptually and maybe evolving into a couple of bodies of work.
Like in so many things, there are no more bad pupils in photography, only good pupils and it’s the rule of the game that good pupils pick up awards, employements, and emerge rather than burst out.
Pardon me, I see Griffiths’s “Vietnam inc” blinking at me from a shelf….
Dima. you said “soldiers in the field feel threatened and frustrated that they cannot effectively defend themselves and get the bad guys.” Have you not considered the thought that maybe you were embedded with the ‘bad guys’?
Excellent work Dima. I could see myself taking the same types of images in the same situation (not a knock), though the last doesn’t fit with me…
Can somebody point me to a body of work with the photographer embedded with the local Afghani police forces? Thanks.
Hi Eva.
I’m a little apprehensive about suggesting you to view my web site, but it may be interesting for you, where I have a series of images from Afghanistan. These images were from prior to 9/11/2001. But they are from the perspective from the Northern alliance, as the Taliban were making ground north of Kabul. My web site is photoshelter.com/user/petergrantphotograph
some very strong images here – love 14, 16, 18.
i think the politics of it all and the rights and wrongs of embedding is too huge a subject to engage with here. and in any case, that’s the individual’s own call. once he’s decided to go that route then the only question is: how well did he do in capturing his chosen subject?
my feeling, looking at these, is that either it needs to be expanded – like twice as many images – to give a fuller picture of life in the front line; or re-edited on purely visual considerations, perhaps 2 sets of images that hang together aesthetically. Numbers 2 and 6, for example look like they could have been shot by different people – a bit jarring within such a small selection. i think a set of just the night shots (and more to go with them) may have been stronger overall, for mood and feel etc.
not so crazy about the title either … sounds a bit tokenistic, like probably the only word of Arabic they bother to learn. but on the whole some excellent work.
it´s ´old´ now, although relevant.. sean langan ´meeting the taliban´
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbs=vid%3A1&q=meeting+the+taliban+sean&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
and langans
´fighting the taliban´
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbs=vid%3A1&q=sean+langan+fighting+the+taliban&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
as an aside – he went back years later to try and embed with the taliban again, was kidnapped and ransomed before release.
i think the politics of it all and the rights and wrongs of embedding is too huge a subject to engage with here. and in any case, that’s the individual’s own call. once he’s decided to go that route then the only question is: how well did he do in capturing his chosen subject?
Can you really not think of a situation, a hundred situations, were applying that logic would be unmitigatedly evil?
The Nuremberg references in my above comments were probably over the top, but the basic point remains. The photographer went where the army told him he could go, photographed what he was allowed to photograph and essentially (given the first two handicaps) published what he was allowed to publish. And predictably, all of this cast his keepers in a favorable light. Those photographs could easily be used for an advertising campaign for the army to get new recruits. I’ll bet some PR bureaucrat somewhere got a gold star when they got published. And when we consider the big picture — hundreds of thousands dead, millions displaced, mass disappearings, torture, the hundreds’s of billions of dollars wasted, the serious deterioration of our democracy, and so much more — participation in these little propaganda exercises is very difficult to justify.
You know, (and this may not be the case here, just in general), when people gush about some photographer who took such accomplished images with no formal training in photojournalism, they miss the point entirely of what good a good education in journalism is. It’s not just how to compose a photograph and press the shutter. Most of it is about history, philosophy, law and ethics. Without that kind of grounding, it’s all too often impossible to identify just what a “good” photograph is, or a “bad” one for that matter. In many cases, particularly when it comes to war and other grand social issues, the quality of a photograph is as much dependent on what it says to the viewer about that particular issue than it is about composition, mood, etc. And when it says what the authorities want it to say, odds are fair you just may be looking at a “bad” photograph.
Peter, thank you, have spent some time with your pictures, will go back!
David B, watching and listening as I type, thanks.. one question keeps coming back: does anyone have a link to work made by an Afghani photographer, from an inside point of view.. and I don’t mean a Taliban POW..? Which leads me to the next question: why is there none to be seen, or very little, while we see a lot of work of US embedded pjs?
I’m not judging anything or anyone, I’m just wondering how it comes, if it’s a question of demand and supply, if work like this is sellable, as opposed to the Afghani take? Another question: US military is based on a volounteer base, right, meaning that military service isn’t mandatory like for example in Switzerland?
Michael, i actually completely agree with most of what you say and was obviously a bit sloppy in expressing myself. What i meant was, because it is such a huge subject – and hugely important – and without the time to properly address it, I will limit myself to the question “how well did he do in capturing his chosen subject?”
One of Kierkegaard’s main philosophical projects was the interplay of the ethical and the aesthetic and the choices we make for one or the other. how we balance these conflicting priorities. Yes we are all complicit in the construction and representation of the world and how those representations are used and interpreted (this is a chain i whip myself with on a regular basis). But as i am very far from sainthood, i dont expect it from anyone else either. So i am prepared to take this piece on its own terms: there is a story to tell, did he tell it well or badly?
MICHAEL WEBSTER…
i suppose looking at any photographer’s bio would be a subjective call regarding “emerging” or “established” as are any curatorial efforts related to photography period..and “emerging” is a subjective word obviously….and perhaps we would be wise to simply change the name to the Burn Grant or whatever IF appeasing some readers wishes was our goal…however,
to my mind Dima is clearly an “emerging photographer”…not to be confused with a “beginning photographer”….
Dima is an emerging photographer in the context of anything i have ever written about, published, taught, stood for etc etc my whole life and career…anyone who does their homework on me as the curator of Burn or as a photographer in general would surely know what i consider to be “emerging”…..
i do use “emerging” totally in the context of emerging to the highest planes of publication , exhibition, etc…Dima himself has defined it pretty well, and i would only add that Dima also has no established representation, nor major books, nor exhibitions etc nor name recognition that would in the minds of most publishers, editors, curators, or other photographers put him outside the “emerging” category…so he is a minimally published photographer but clearly an emerging photographer imo….but, he is very close to a “breakout” and soon will be no longer “emerging” i must clearly add….again, others may have a different definition and those with a different sense of it should obviously apply for different grants, awards, contests, etc…i can send you a list of potentially appropriate contests etc for photographers who are just starting out….
however Michael, i do not understand why anyone would be “pissed off”…at what? we at Burn run our asses off trying to raise money to give to some deserving EMERGING but NOT BEGINNING photographers who just might deserve a break in this bleak publishing atmosphere, and someone (obviously you) is “pissed off” !! …please give me a break…at what point would you not be pissed off?? give the award to someone with less talent, less experience???
where is your emerging “common denominator” ?? where would you draw this imaginary line??? where would a photographer be considered the best in his peer group , but yet not too good to be considered too good, but not too bad to be considered a beginner???
nobody is forced to enter the EPF….and anyone with just a modicum of research of either my philosophy or past recipients should “get it”….the EPF is totally voluntary and with all of the entry fee either going to pay for production, Doctors Without Borders, or right back to photographers published here on Burn …
anyone who enters EPF knows full well who the curator of Burn is and what i stand for and can either take it or leave it regarding judgment calls of any kind….and of course comment as they wish as you have openly done…no problem for dialogue in any direction is my assumption…
any reader here can talk to me personally at any time as you well know about all of this or about anything……astute readers know exactly how i developed EPF, how i choose the jury , who the jury is, and when and how the process works….with adjustments of course as life often dictates….in any case, surely organic….
sour grapes do make for really fine grappa….
cheers, david
No David, I’m not pissed off about anything. Was just concerned you might be, and correctly so judging by your comment. No, I’m just, as I wrote, a stickler for language and was curious to understand your definition. Being relatively new here, I guess I missed where you expanded on it at such length. But I’m not the only one, you know. Several have made similar comments questioning the definition of “emerging” since the announcement of the finalists. I think it’s good that you have clarified it once again.
Regarding your questions about where I would draw the line, I don’t know and since I don’t have to choose, I guess I won’t. My interest was entirely in where you drew the line. And it’s an academic interest entirely. A question of definition. Nothing personal whatsoever. Speaking of which, I trust the sour grapes quip isn’t directed at me. As you must be aware, especially since we spoke about it, I didn’t seriously enter the EPF contest, just donated $25 to help support your work in a very small way.
eva – as i understand it much, if not all, of the footage seen after suicide bombings and the like are filmed by locals on contract because it is simply too dangerous for westerners to venture beyond the confines of the embed.. now this could bring a debate on the validity of journalism in this new kind of war where the journalist in question finds out much of what they report from the head office in london / new york and through PR conferences..
with photographers – it must be extremely dangerous as a local to venture into photo journalism given that the areas being fought over are transitory spaces in so far as who controls them.. without defined front lines and safe areas beyond the bases themselves, i cannot imagine a local wanting to put themselves forward as an eye for the international news agencies.
what we are left with is the taliban footage shot of IED explosions and the like, footage from local stringers who video the aftermath and the embed work such as dima has presented here.
what is clear is that while war has become more mechanized from our side, it has become less easy to report as well as less easy to win.
an f16 fighter cannot prevent an IED.. much of the cold war machinery is not relevant to a war fought over ideology rather than geography.
random and unintended civilian death has become more pronounced and journalism in the form it took for past wars has all but gone – perhaps the lack of the latter enables the former..
as the mortality rate for journalists soars getting balance seems ever more difficult…
it is an interesting point and i´m just thinking on the debate..
the paradox of the embed system is that while journalists are safer while ´on the onside´, they become seen as puppets of the ISAF forces and much more at risk ´on the outside´.. and so films, such as langans ´meeting the taliban´, have disappeared as journalists, (embedded parts of a platoon), become part of the machinery which is being fought against and targets in themselves.
the embed system has it´s reasons and logic for certain, in the digital age of immediate uploads and the like.. it´s pro´s and con´s seem the only option for now, despite the accusation of controlling journalism.
i think the 1982 british war over the malvines islands was a turning point – when don mccullen was refused entry to cover the war because his images were regarded as too tough.. too real..
do i regard dima´s work as propaganda?
not at all.. i would not for one moment want to project myself into the photographs.. especially not the final image, which dima talks about in the statement.. not the dust bowl claustrophobia.. i think the world photographed here through restricted night vision and basic living conditions is as terrifying and miserable as it gets.
:ø)
@ John Gladdy
This is an extremely complicated conflict (it was such even before US entered Afghanistan). I do not think that there is anyone who is 100% good or bad. It is easy to attach labels from here, while things become a lot more confused once you get there.
However, I felt free to loosely call the Taliban “the bad guys” not because of their opposition to US forces, but first and foremost because of the atrocities they commit against the local population. It might be popular to think that the Afghan people started suffering only after US entered the war. But after I read in detail what exactly transpired in Afghanistan during the decades of the civil war, I am actually surprised that there is any civilian population left at all.
The debate over the standpoint and moral positioning of a photograph is an important one, criticism touches so many nerves on this stage on a personal level. The topics raised by M.webster are quite valid.
Propaganda, of course they are, but who’s propaganda. The “authorship” in this series belongs to who. I’d suggest that it belongs not to the photographer but the media. It’s the media who’s selling an idea, an idea of what war is about. And beautiful photographs sell ideas better (not better ideas).
Is there more to the future of photography than this, I don’t doubt; but I don’t see it coming from media driven photographers waiting to “emerge” into a position of secure incomes and regular commissions.
Is this what this award is about?
The ‘crisis’ in photography is more than a deficit of salaries and commissions.
Who’s left in the voice-box?
David B, you make a few interesting points, actually more than a few.. I think there’s no easy solution to all this.. nor a only right or only wrong side.. but I do fear that ‘humanizing’ war, as in the above essay is done in my eyes, doesn’t do any good against the idea of war..
Leo, my feeling is that the ethics of representation is something that can and should be discussed in the abstract as an issue any photographer should be aware of, but not in the specific about any particular photographer or photograph. Unless you’re a saint then personal ethics are always and always have been a question of where you let yourself off the hook.
there are all kinds of photographic gigs i wouldnt do on principle, but i do shoot commercial travel that is, at best, ‘a-political’. I’m well aware of this and I do ‘other stuff’ to square it with my conscience. Here we have someone engaging with war and conflict but getting criticized for not doing it in quite the right way. this seems to me just a few steps away from potentially fascist thinking.
Its invariably more complicated than that. I recently licensed a picture to be used as a poster at a fashion trade show – big 4-figure fee. The picture was of a pile of skulls, victims of the Khmer Rouge. Deeply repellent to think of that image being used at a fashion trade show, but how to play it? I made the sale and donated the fee to a land mine charity. Right or wrong, you tell me. but sooner or later these are the kinds of deals we all cut. its never black and white.
I don’t intend to criticise the the photographer, I’m simply considering the factors that weigh in when selecting work worth praising and awarding.
Spectacular photographs Dima, here as well as on your site. You don’t seem so much emerging as exploding onto the scene.
I’ve never seen war pictures quite like these.
Yes, Afganistan is a terribly complicated situation, with no obvious solution. Unfortunately, I can’t help but think that this is a fools mission for the guys on the ground. There is no way this is going to end well.
Good guys/bad guys. Just a reminder that the Mujahideen, some of whom later became the Taliban, were the good guys, “freedom fighters” according to Ronny Reagan when the USSR was involved.
Dima,
Quite amazing in terms of technical qualities – this almost a contradiction with much of what we regularly would see around these parts. #4 and many others are almost studio like in their presentation. Well done you.
Only thing i’m not getting is a sense of conveyance or the actual story behind these (if there is one). Perhaps it is the magnitude of the experience. If they are a string of military images unrelated and without purpose then fine, i am actually getting the meaning, but if intended as something more powerful then for me, they don’t quite get there. That being said, I appreciate for some people particularly with emotional attachment to the personnel involved that these images will speak volumes. For others they may not. For those that it doesn’t perhaps the studio like qualities will be enough.
Anyhow, respect and peace.
Cheers.
This is a solid piece of work, which can can be summed up in one word: Professional.
Having said that, I have one concern. Does the 500 USD go to AP or Dima?
All the best
Petteri
About good guys/bad guys or taking a repellent image and countering it with good stuff …………if we go into the ” logic/thinking everything can be justified.
The trouble is when it is up to the individual to draw the line in the sand it is a pretty flexible line and open up for abuse.
Petteri…
We are watching EPF finalists at this point…
Although I can see through your sarcasm ..:(
I need to ask why is it such a taboo if an emerging
photog is being represented by an agency or gallery?
MICHAEL WEBSTER
If you are a writer and a stickler for language, like you say, and you go and read the TONE in your numerous (!) comments here under this essay, where you, in an inappropriate way, question both David and me (burn management “folk”, jesus, thanks man….) regarding “emerging” and related decisions,
and if after that you read your reply to David, who calls you out on it, by saying “oh no, this is out of genuine interest because i want to know”,
then I think there is something seriously wrong.
Obviously you are entitled to your opinion, and entitled to express your opinion, and entitled to express your opinion however you want. We’re always up for good debate.
But your opinion is beside the point here.
Even your deliberate insulting tone is beside the point and taken with ease by us; and you’re smart enough to know exactly the tone that you wrote those comments in.
What actually insults, is your reply to David when he called you out on your tone; instead of at least owning up to your intentions, you then sweep all this under the rug as “genuine concern to know”. If you genuinely wanted to know, your tone would have been entirely different. At least be honest about your intentions.
That’s where you cross the line IMHO.
David and I will be glad to personally refund your $25 if the tone of your first three-four comments is really how you feel. Please email me your paypal account number at anton@burnmagazine.org and I will personally take care you get refunded.
BURN has an open door policy and has her share of strong opinion, vivid discussion, helping each other, genuine knowledge seeking, and the occasional good fight. But everyone here at least is honest about their intentions. Even Jim Powers was totally straight up.
but BURN has NO place for “insult disguised as” any of the above.
so please, don’t insult my intelligence as “BURN management folk”, by trying to reverse the tone of your comments into something else than you intended, especially because you only do it after you get called out for i
anton
LEO…
if you look at Burn carefully, you will quickly see that few of the photographers here are “media driven”…this year’s EPF grant recipient Davide and Dima might fall into that category, but the other finalists surely are not, nor are most of the photographers we publish here…last year’s winner, Alessandro Chaskielburg was far far from a media photog,….the jurors of EPF Bruce Gilden, Alessandra Sanguinetti and Nick Nichols , as i am sure you have noted, are certainly not media driven by any stretch of any imagination nor is Anton nor am i…yet, the we and the jurors did choose a media photographer…could it not be simply because this photographer had a strong visual voice? in any case, check out the other finalists, and others that we regularly publish on Burn…media is no more or less represented than any other form of authored photography….i do share your concerns, and others, about photographers getting caught up in a propaganda machine…and i think we should do a serious story here soonest about photographers who are simply tools for the media machines who might be tools for government machines..or not. to be discussed…
cheers, david
Yea the media driven photographers do it pretty tough compared to art photographers like me. I can make up stuff, twist it turn night into day t heck I can even photograph stuff that doesn’t exist nor ever will.
In my opinion, if anyone wants to see what DAH is hoping to do with the Emerging Photographer Grant they should look no further that the work of the winner of the first grant: Sean Gallagher. I must admit here that when the result was announced, I was not convinced that Sean’s work was the best; but DAH saw something that I didn’t, either in the photographs or in the possibilities that the story held and it is truly satisfying to see Sean and his essay develop and mature.
Mike.