and a BIG thank you to all the Burn team, well done!

my personal favorite… Giovanni Cocco – Monia

Smells like showbiz, among other things, and I find it at once troubling and reflective of a larger sense I have of the state of photojournalism in general. The presence of the music really elevates this sense for me and the lack of any apparent irony between image and score starts the offense ball rolling and the longer this thing plays the faster it spins.

Congratulations to all photographers pictured here but I am disappointed in this particular exhibition.

So, so nice to see this – a yearly highlight I am always looking forward to.
Brilliant stuff and nice variety in the documentations.
Definitively looking forward to see each essay individually.

Good job, BURN team … :))
1000 submissions?! Whew!

Congratulations to everybody, I’m really glad to see ian willms in the special mentions. He’s a brilliant photographer, of course all of the winners are.

I have to disagree a little bit with the depressing part that a lot of people mentionned. Of course there’s a lot of darkness and heavy subject, but I think there’s a lot of difference in the tones and voices which make for a beautiful variety in the narrative. Of course this year is not for the faint of heart I guess. I look forward to look at the essays individually.

CONGRATULATIONS to all the finalists too for be selected and for contributing strong work. On a personal note: big big smile and hugs for Ian. So proud of you Ian and so happy that this story is now getting the accolades it deserved. As I told you long ago, forget the drama and bs of the photoworld and focus on the stories and story telling that is meaningful to you! Time is a healer. Big hugs! Congrats Danny. This story is one of my favorites and few photogs lasso a camera to light and shadow with such grace and power as you do. both the leaping horse in the midst and the young man-buddha enveloped by smoke are 2 of my faves…and its a story that McCarthy would love to rhyme cadences and words with…beautiful and power. Congrats too to Anatasia. So happy for you. It has been a fine year for you…now think of all those rolls that still need to be developed and scanned…..:))

on a personal note, at first, i found Laia’s story the most brave adn powerful of the entire group, as I had thought it was autobiographical. ….and i thought, ‘much more powerful’ than the story published earlier called ‘a bad day’…but I hadn’t realized it was the the same author’s work….and as i looked again and again and tried to figure out if this is Laia or are these women subjects?…and than i became angry….because this story is NOT contextualized for the viewer…even when revealing an award winner, this work needs information, for both the viewer and for the subjects…if this is Laia herself, I applaud her bravery and fearlessness, emotionally and visually (it is the most challenging visually of all the stories), but if these are woman who allowed her access, or who communicated via skype (some appear that way) or the images come form others, it is important this be spelled out…if none of the women in the series is Laia, i find it nearly exploitive….but either way, i only wish this had been spelled out….as a photographer who LOATHES captions, in the case of this work, they are required, even in a listing of ‘winners’ such as this…i shall not forget the images, that is for sure….what to do with them and how to process them, awaits clarification….

anyway….

as for bleak, hopeless…i’m not sure…i find lots of joy in some of the moments of the stories, and loved the joy and freshness of the Iraq story very much……and yes, lots of sadness…

but in a world sated by images…how to counter this?….that’s a different discussion…

would have liked to see a lot more challenging/imaginative work (from the perspective of what constitutes photography), but it is nice to see a group of very strong traditional story telling….

congrats to all the winners and finalists and to all who participated…

cheers
bob