Around 250 so called iceroad truckers a day travel the Dalton highway between Fairbanks and Deadhorse. They supply the oil companies in Prudhoe Bay. Coldfoot is the last stop before Deadhorse. Deadhorse is the end of the Panamerican highway at 70¡N 148¡W on the coast of the Arctic ocean. Deadhorse never really existed until oil was found in Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska pipeline system was build. The residents of Deadhorse are almost all migrant workers from the US and Latin America who work in the oil. The population is around 5000. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was constructed between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis. Currently the pipeline transports around 700,000 barrels a day. The oilfields are being leased and are mostly based on native land, nevertheless the companies deny access to any outsiders.
Kadir Van Lohuizen
Vía PanAm
In 2011, Kadir started a visual investigation on migration in the Americas.
In 12 months, he traveled along the Pan-American Highway from Terra del Fuego in Patagonia to Deadhorse in Northern Alaska.
Vía PanAm is a unique social documentary MULTI MEDIA project made into an iApp for the iPad.
The Dalton Highway crosses the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Around 250 so called iceroad truckers a day travel the Dalton highway between Fairbanks and Deadhorse. They supply the oil companies in Prudhoe Bay. Coldfoot is the last stop before Deadhorse. Deadhorse is the end of the Panamerican highway at 70¡N 148¡W on the coast of the Arctic ocean. Deadhorse never really existed until oil was found in Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska pipeline system was build. The residents of Deadhorse are almost all migrant workers from the US and Latin America who work in the oil. The population is around 5000. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was constructed between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis. Currently the pipeline transports around 700,000 barrels a day. The oilfields are being leased and are mostly based on native land, nevertheless the companies deny access to any outsiders.
Deadhorse is the end of the Panamerican highway at 70¡N 148¡W on the coast of the Arctic ocean. Deadhorse never really existed until oil was found in Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska pipeline system was build. The residents of Deadhorse are almost all migrant workers from the US and Latin America who work in the oil. The population is around 5000. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was constructed between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis. Currently the pipeline transports around 700,000 barrels a day. The oilfields are being leased and are mostly based on native land, nevertheless the companies deny access to any outsiders.
Jim and Teena Helmerick live very remote in the delta of the Colville river, right on the Arctic sea. Jim was born in Colorado, but came to Alaska when he was 8 years old. In the 50’s his father Bud and his mother Marther established a commercial fishing operation where they supplied villages on the northern slope with fish. They had the only plane with water and snow skies, so the business became quite successful. ‘We have four children, but they all left home, so its just the two of us. The oil companies are really close now, the sky is orange from the flood lights they use, but its still beautiful out here, we are so close to nature.’ Deadhorse is the end of the Panamerican highway at 70¡N 148¡W on the coast of the Arctic ocean. Deadhorse never really existed until oil was found in Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska pipeline system was build. The residents of Deadhorse are almost all migrant workers from the US and Latin America who work in the oil. The population is around 5000. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was constructed between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis. Currently the pipeline transports around 700,000 barrels a day. The oilfields are being leased and are mostly based on native land, nevertheless the companies deny access to any outsiders.
Jim Helmerick holds a photograph of him and his wife Teena in the early days. Jim and Teena Helmerick live very remote in the delta of the Colville river, right on the Arctic sea. Jim was born in Colorado, but came to Alaska when he was 8 years old. In the 50’s his father Bud and his mother Marther established a commercial fishing operation where they supplied villages on the northern slope with fish. They had the only plane with water and snow skies, so the business became quite successful. ‘We have four children, but they all left home, so its just the two of us. The oil companies are really close now, the sky is orange from the flood lights they use, but its still beautiful out here, we are so close to nature.’ Deadhorse is the end of the Panamerican highway at 70¡N 148¡W on the coast of the Arctic ocean. Deadhorse never really existed until oil was found in Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska pipeline system was build. The residents of Deadhorse are almost all migrant workers from the US and Latin America who work in the oil. The population is around 5000. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was constructed between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis. Currently the pipeline transports around 700,000 barrels a day. The oilfields are being leased and are mostly based on native land, nevertheless the companies deny access to any outsiders.
BP oil installations seen from the air. Deadhorse is the end of the Panamerican highway at 70¡N 148¡W on the coast of the Arctic ocean. Deadhorse never really existed until oil was found in Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska pipeline system was build. The residents of Deadhorse are almost all migrant workers from the US and Latin America who work in the oil. The population is around 5000. The Trans-Alaska pipeline was constructed between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis. Currently the pipeline transports around 700,000 barrels a day. The oilfields are being leased and are mostly based on native land, nevertheless the companies deny access to any outsiders.
Nimia Garcia Nunta (36), her mother Luisa Nunta (53) and her father Benito garcia Cayruma (61)
The evaporation plant where the lithium is extracted. Workers are from different parts of Bolivia. The Salar de Uyuni is the biggest salt lake in the world. The salt layer is at least 130 meters thick. Recently the biggest lithium reserves of the world were found in the salt layer, which could be very promising for Bolivia’s future. In April Bolivia has started the pilot project at which 150 people work. In the near future when the plant will be in full production, hundreds of workers from all over the country will be employed.
Wilmer Arias (38),in front, from Honduras is crossing the Suchiate river, the border between Guatemala and Mexico. Wilmer is on his way to Canada. He used to live there before he was deported, his two children still live there and he will try to visit them For Central American migrants Mexico is the first real obstacle. Mexico nowadays rehire visas for most and under pressure, has stepped up their border control.
A family talks to their relatives who are on the US side at the US – Mexican border in Nogales, Mexico. Last August in Nogales the wall / fence was replaced by a new one. Now you can look through it as was requested by the US border patrol who wants to see what is coming at them.
The ‘Women’s memorial march’ in Vancouver is a yearly march where thousands of First Nations commemorates the hundreds of mostly First Nation women that disappeared the last fifteen years, many of them were raped and killed. In Vancouver alone 68 cases are being investigated. In Canada there are currently 630 recognized First Nations governments, the total population is about 700,000 of which half lives in British Colombia and Ontario. life in the reserves is difficult where unemployment is high, specially since the 2008 crisis. Many young First Nations move to Vancouver in the hope for a better life. They try to maintain their culture and identity in the big city and many make a livings as artists.
Everyone calls it the Arbol de Amor (tree of love) and it stands in Altos de Florida. It’s about the only tree in the area and can be seen from very large distances. According to the people, many children were conceived under this tree. Soacha, is a suburb of Bogota and has the high-test number of refugees in the whole country. On the hill is Altos de Florida, where many new arrivals live, about 5000 inhabitants of which 40-60% are refugees. People don’t pay rent, but there is no police so crime is on the rise. The community has build roads and installed power and is well organized.
The remains of the church of Gramalote, a town of more then 150 years old. Close to the border with Venezuela in Eastern Colombioa lies the idyllic town of Gramalote. About 6000 people live a peaceful life in a country that can be not so peaceful. But the days before December 17 2010 everything started to change. The earth starts to move and houses start to collapse. The mayor decides to evacuate everyone and on December 17 the over 150 year old town more or less ceased to exist. The action by the mayor prevented any loss of life, but the town wonÕt be rebuild, it is as if the earth has swallowed it. The inhabitants live in temporarily shelters in the vicinity or moved in with family in the nearby cities. A combination of lying on a fault and very extensive rains, most likely due to climate change, lead to the disaster.
Basilio Villalobos (27) is a fisherman he lives with 11 people including his wife and three children Carti Cohabita. On the island are in total six families. August 2012 Carti Cohabita has to evacuate. Kuna Yala (San Blas) consists of a long narrow strip of land and an archipelago of 365 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. Due to the rising of the sea level the Kuna’s have to evacuate to the mainland; the islands become to dangerous to live on. August 2012 the first four islands will be evacuated. Its the teritorium of the Kuna indigenous who have an autonomy they fought for in 1925.
Norberto Hernandez (52) and his wife Olga have been exiled to the island Sucunguadup, which they heightened themselves using coral. They live on the island with their nine grandchildren and child. They have three children of which one lives with them. Kuna Yala (San Blas) consists of a long narrow strip of land and an archipelago of 365 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. Due to the rising of the sea level the Kuna’s have to evacuate to the mainland; the islands become to dangerous to live on. August 2012 the first four islands will be evacuated. Its the teritorium of the Kuna indigenous who have an autonomy they fought for in 1925.
Children paying in Bajo Tenerife. On the right Herminson (12), he fled with his parents and brothers on June 10 2011 their community when it was attacked by the FARC guerilla’s. Lucas his father has a headwound from a bullut and Herminson was shot in the leg. Bajo Tenerife is a small community in Neiva and houses 250 people, all refugees. In 2002 eight people were killed by the FARC and last June 2011 was a new attack where two people were wounded. The FARC wants the people to leave because they want a corridor and the villagers are accused of supporting the para military. Neiva receives most refugees of the whole country: about 400 per month. In 2009 there were 11.000 refugees registered, in 2011 this number has gone up to 38.000.
The Us – Mexican border at Douglas.
The new wall / fence between Mexico and the US is constructed at Douglas, Arizona. The wall replaces the much lower previous one.
The migrant detention center in Florence, where migrants await deportation. The center is run by ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement), most other facilities are operated by private entities.
Migrants from Honduras are being deported back home at Phoenix airport. Every day there are 5-9 flights a day to Central America.
Family members great a relative who has been deported by the US. A special section of Guatemala airport has been set up as a reception center for Guatemalans who get deported from the USA, every day 1-2 flights arrive from the US. The people who arrive get a sandwich, a drink, a phone call back home, there record is being checked and they can get legal advise if needed.
Juan Bosco is a shelter in Nogales where Mexicans who have just been deported from the US can stay for the night. When the deportees come in, many of them put the ID tags, which they wore in US detention around the Jesus.
A family recently fled from the south of Colombia to Ecuador. They now live with 22 family members in a one room house. They fled by crossing the river, which marks the border between Ecuador and Colombia. On May 22 2011, armed men entered their house and killed the son, on May 24 was the funeral and a day after the armed men appeared again, threatening them. They fled instantly the same day. They don’t know the reasons for the attack. Every month around 120 Colombians ask for asylum in the border area with Ecuador according to UNHCR, the actual number is likely to be higher. Many are fleeing the southern provinces of Colombia due to threats of armed gangs, Para-militaries or guerilla activities. The number of people fleeing inside Colombia or to neighboring states is still increasing. Just in Colombia itself an estimated 3,5 – 5 million are displaced.
Padre Jorge (41) is the father of the Iglesia Catolica Apostolica Ortodoxa Antioquena in San Pedro Sula. ‘My grandparents came in 1923 from Beit Sahour, Palestine to Puerto Cortez in Honduras. It was my uncle who started to bring more and more family members, a few started hardware stores here. My parents were born in Honduras, but they did go back to Palestine in 1936 and came back in 1961 to Honduras. I am the father of the Orthodox church here in San Pedro Sula. In 1993 we created a school here to preserve the Arab language; many youngsters only can speak Spanish. I was baptized in Palestine in 1972.’ It was as early as the late 1800’s that the first Palestinians arrived in Honduras. It was the time of the Ottoman empire and many Christian Palestinians felt the pressure that they had to convert to Islam and enlist in the Turkish army. Many took the boat with destination ‘the Americas’ and honduras turned out to be the final destination. When the state of Israel was created in 1948 many followed. With many more in 1967 (six day war, occupation of Gaza, Westbank and the Golan heights) and during and after the two Intifadah’s. Nowadays its estimated that there are around 200,000 people of Palestinian decent in Honduras, making it probably the biggest Palestinian community in the Western hemisphere. They have been very successful on both an economic and a political level. Almost all are Christians and from the Bethlehem area.
Carmen (89) and Victoria Selman (91) in their Arab restaurant. They were born in Betlehem, Palestine. ‘I came with my mother and my sister Carmen to Honduras in 1935. Our father was already here, he had a store where he was selling crockery and linen. I went back to Palestine in 1947. We went back in 1975 after we sold our land in Ramallah, there is still a family house in Betlehem. I still feel Palestinian. A few years ago I went back for a visit, at Tel Aviv airport all my bags were searched and I was questioned, I felt so humiliated; I was just visiting my own country. With my sister I have an Arab restaurant here in Teguchicalpa.’ It was as early as the late 1800’s that the first Palestinians arrived in Honduras. It was the time of the Ottoman empire and many Christian Palestinians felt the pressure that they had to convert to Islam and enlist in the Turkish army. Many took the boat with destination ‘the Americas’ and honduras turned out to be the final destination. When the state of Israel was created in 1948 many followed. With many more in 1967 (six day war, occupation of Gaza, Westbank and the Golan heights) and during and after the two Intifadah’s. Nowadays its estimated that there are around 200,000 people of Palestinian decent in Honduras, making it probably the biggest Palestinian community in the Western hemisphere. They have been very successful on both an economic and a political level. Almost all are Christians and from the Bethlehem area.
Khattab in front of their house. Khattab Aljubori (37), his wife Suhad (31), their children Ibrahim (4), Awos (3) and Mustafa and Fatima (twins 6 months) and his mother Nhanaa (61) came in November 2010 from Babylon, Iraq to San Diego. Khattab worked for the US in Iraq as a computer / info system administrator and was often threatened for being a US agent. In the end it became so dangerous for him and his family that the US granted them a visa. It was a hard decision because they were doing quite well in Iraq. In the US its much harder and they feel they have lost their dignity. Khattab likes the US, but his wife wants to go back to Iraq, she feels locked up and misses her family. Money is an issue, the family gets some support, but the rent is high. Khattab earns some money by fixing computers for people. Just in San Diego area there are an estimated 60,000 Iraqi’s. El Cajon a town outside San Diego has the highest number and is often referred to as ‘little Baghdad’. The first Iraqi’s who came here were the Kurds during the first Gulf war in 1991. Over the years Iraqi’s have arrived in search for safety. The term ‘little Baghdad’ is also used because Sunni’s, Shia’s, Kurds and Christians live peacefully together just like in the ‘old’ days.
Once in a while the family goes to the part in San Diego. Khattab Aljubori (37), his wife Suhad (31), their children Ibrahim (4), Awos (3) and Mustafa and Fatima (twins 6 months) and his mother Nhanaa (61) came in November 2010 from Babylon, Iraq to San Diego. Khattab worked for the US in Iraq as a computer / info system administrator and was often threatened for being a US agent. In the end it became so dangerous for him and his family that the US granted them a visa. It was a hard decision because they were doing quite well in Iraq. In the US its much harder and they feel they have lost their dignity. Khattab likes the US, but his wife wants to go back to Iraq, she feels locked up and misses her family. Money is an issue, the family gets some support, but the rent is high. Khattab earns some money by fixing computers for people. Just in San Diego area there are an estimated 60,000 Iraqi’s. El Cajon a town outside San Diego has the highest number and is often referred to as ‘little Baghdad’. The first Iraqi’s who came here were the Kurds during the first Gulf war in 1991. Over the years Iraqi’s have arrived in search for safety. The term ‘little Baghdad’ is also used because Sunni’s, Shia’s, Kurds and Christians live peacefully together just like in the ‘old’ days.
Every year in El Cajon a big banquet is organized for the Iraqi community. It is a moment where people meet, catch up and where local businesses are introduced to each other. Just in San Diego area there are an estimated 60,000 Iraqi’s. El Cajon a town outside San Diego has the highest number and is often referred to as ‘little Baghdad’. The first Iraqi’s who came here were the Kurds during the first Gulf war in 1991. Over the years Iraqi’s have arrived in search for safety. The term ‘little Baghdad’ is also used because Sunni’s, Shia’s, Kurds and Christians live peacefully together just like in the ‘old’ days.
Fisherman in Puerto Torro. Puerto Torro is the most southern settlement in the hemisphere located on Isla Navarino, just north of Cape Horn. The tpwn has a population of 16 families. Once a month a ferry serves the town.
Jos Catrin and his wife Sonia with two neighbors. Jos is the only local fisherman of Puerto Torro. Puerto Torro is the most southern settlement in the hemisphere located on Isla Navarino, just north of Cape Horn. The tpwn has a population of 16 families. Once a month a ferry serves the town.
Yonel looks at the sugar cane fields in his home village of Chiquitoy. Yonel is the son of Yesinia. Yesenia is working as a nanny in Santiago. She left her son behind with her mother and sends every month 75% of her in come (total about $400) to Peru so her son can study. In Chile 80,000 Peruvians live and work, of which 50,000 in Santiago alone; many of them work as nanny’s in Chilean households.
Kathy Aley (64) ‘I am from Newport Beach, California. I came here on holiday in October 200 and while I was watching the sunset on the beach I knew I had to move here, I came in February 2001. I need the warmth and the slow life. In the US money and beauty are the power, but I am looking for something else, I left because of the greed and the selfnisish in that country. I worked as a aerobics instructor and for the school district, but I tore my muscles. I have two daughters in the US, they are 40 and 32 years old. I live here with my eight dogs, ten cats and my parrot. Every morning I jog the beach up and down, with my dogs and parapet. They need the exercise.’ Nicaragua is suppose to be the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere, but also one of the safest. Although Nicaragua hasn’t had good relationships with the US over the last three decades, it did become a very popular destination for US citizens to migrate to. US News & World Report recently declared it one of the most favorable in the world even.
Peru is worlds fifth producer of gold and the Peruvian Amazon houses most of it. It lead to a real gold rush, where nowadays an estimated 40,000 miners are looking for luck. Unfortunately at a high cost, protected forest is being turned upside down and huge amounts of mercury are polluting the land, the rivers and endangers people’s health. Although almost all mining is illegal the Peruvian authorities do very little, partly because local authorities are involved in mining operations. Smaller or bigger mining towns grow like mushrooms, they cater for miners not only in terms of food and equipment, but especially with prostitutes. Many of them are trafficked to the area, just like many children.
Peru is worlds fifth producer of gold and the Peruvian Amazon houses most of it. It lead to a real gold rush, where nowadays an estimated 40,000 miners are looking for luck. Unfortunately at a high cost, protected forest is being turned upside down and huge amounts of mercury are polluting the land, the rivers and endangers people’s health. Although almost all mining is illegal the Peruvian authorities do very little, partly because local authorities are involved in mining operations. Smaller or bigger mining towns grow like mushrooms, they cater for miners not only in terms of food and equipment, but especially with prostitutes. Many of them are trafficked to the area, just like many children.
An ‘American’ street in San Salvador. El Salvador is often mentioned as the most Americanized country in the Americas. Onethird of its population lives in the USA. El Salvador also has most murders per capita in the world. Violence stems from the brutal civil war and the gangs, gangs who originated in the US. When the peace accords were signed in 1992 the US deported many Salvadorians back to El Salvador: the start of the gangs ‘Mara Salvatrucha’ and ’18’. Salvador’s economy is heavily depending on remesas; money that Salvadorians in the US send to their families in El Salvador.
The prison of Quezaltepeque was originally build for 400 prisoners, nowadays 1200 live there. They are all gang members from ‘Mara Salavatrucha’ and ’18’. El Salvador is listed nowadays as the country with most murders per capita. Some cells are shared by 400 inmates. El Salvador is often mentioned as the most Americanized country in the Americas. One third of its population lives in the USA. El Salvador also has most murders per capita in the world. Violence stems from the brutal civil war and the gangs, gangs who originated in the US. When the peace accords were signed in 1992 the US deported many Salvadorians back to El Salvador: the start of the gangs ‘Mara Salvatrucha’ and ’18’. Salvador’s economy is heavily depending on remesas; money that Salvadorians in the US send to their families in El Salvador.
Giovanni Morales (32) and his wife Isamar Orellana (20) and their new born Grace (3 months). Giovanni is a gang member of the Mara Salvatrucha. He has been in prison four times and started to realize that this was not the life he wanted. He is now fighting to be accepted by society and live a normal life. He is working at a bakery for gang members in Buenos Aires, a rough neighborhood of San Salvador. The bakery is an initiative to learn gang members a profession and enable them to earn their own money. El Salvador is often mentioned as the most Americanized country in the Americas. One third of its population lives in the USA. El Salvador also has most murders per capita in the world. Violence stems from the brutal civil war and the gangs, gangs who originated in the US. When the peace accords were signed in 1992 the US deported many Salvadorians back to El Salvador: the start of the gangs ‘Mara Salvatrucha’ and ’18’. Salvador’s economy is heavily depending on remesas; money that Salvadorians in the US send to their families in El Salvador.
‘Sheep boys’ at Estanncia Cameron in Tierra del Fuego. Until two years ago the estancia was a cooperative, measaring 96,000 ha. The economic situation of the farm was detirrating so the farm was sold. The new onwner has doubled the sheeps to 50,000.
A cargo train traveling from Arriaga to Vera Cruz. On the roof hundreds of migrants from mainly Central America on their way to the USA.
Bio
Before Kadir van Lohuizen (The Netherlands, 1963) became a photographer, he was a sailor and started a shelter for homeless and drug addicts in Holland. He was also an activist in the Dutch squatter movement.
He started to work as a professional freelance photojournalist in 1988 covering the Intifada. In the years following, he worked in many conflict areas in Africa, such as Angola, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Liberia and the DR of Congo. From 1990 to 1994 he covered the transition in South Africa from apartheid to democracy.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kadir covered social issues in different corners of the former empire. He also went to North Korea and Mongolia. In 1997 he embarked on a big project to travel along the seven rivers of the world, from source to mouth, covering daily life along these lifelines. The project resulted in the book “Rivers” and “Aderen” (Mets & Schilt).
In 2000 and 2002 Kadir was a jury member of the World Press Photo contest.
In 2004 he went back to Angola, Sierra Leone and the DR of Congo to portray the diamond industry, following the diamonds from the mines to the consumer markets in the Western world. The exhibitions that resulted from this project were not only shown in Europe and the USA, but also in the mining areas of Congo, Angola and Sierra Leone. The photo book “Diamond Matters, the diamond industry” was published by Mets & Schilt (Holland), Dewi Lewis (UK) and Umbrage editions (USA) and awarded with the prestigious Dutch Dick Scherpenzeel Prize for best reporting on the developing world and a World Press Photo Award.
In that same year, Kadir initiated a photo project together with Stanley Greene and six other photographers on the issue of violence against women in the world.
In 2006 he launched a magazine called Katrina – An Unnatural Disaster, The Issue # 1, in collaboration with Stanley Greene, Thomas Dworzak and Paolo Pellegrin with an essay by Jon Lee Anderson.
After hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, he has made several trips to the USA to document the aftermath of the storm. In the summer of 2010, to mark the fifth commemoration of Hurricane Katrina, Kadir exhibited images of Katrina’s devastation and the aftermath in a truck-exhibition that drove from Houston to New Orleans, a project in collaboration with Stanley Greene.
Kadir is a frequent lecturer and photography teacher; he’s a member and co-founder of NOOR picture agency and foundation and is based in Amsterdam.
Related links
I bought the iPad app at the beginning of this project, and while there were some functional issues at first, it turned out to be an incredible journey and app. There is no way to do it justice in a slide show, though.
Kadir is one hard working photographer!
“When we undertake the pilgrimage, it’s not just to escape the tyranny at home but also to reach to the depths of our souls. “-Orhan Pamuk
If migration and movement (that most real and fundamental drive in each living creature) is the undeniable force that defines each of us, then it is Space to which we must first find our terrifying reflection and with that space its confrontation, comes the truth of the journey as well as the price afforded the effort to search out, to move out, to river away toward home….
little for me to add to the pictures themselves, nor the project. Beautiful and humble, these photographs. Heroic not in their attention to self, but in their generous giving up to all that space, in the frame, in the faces, in the land, the space which could also be named soul. It is there, space, in each and every one of these images for really more than land change comes the awesome conflict and travail of managing that, our walkabouts and our songlines and our shiftchanging paces.
Kadir is a great photographer (as is Noor filled with brilliant light-talkers) but what I’ve always loved best about his work (this slideshow and the project itself) is its humility and its ‘simplicity’. In other words, pictures that call less attention to himself but to the ‘world’ that surrounds these migrations…and all that awesome, overwhelming space. Classic in its appearance, for sure, but eternal in its story and humanity. Hope others actually take the time to flesh out the entire project, that this ‘brief’ slideshow points toward. Great to see his work here!
My only question for Kadir would be an aesthetic one: why (at least as it appears in this sequence) the movement from monochrome to color to monocrhome to color, etc…(within the context of this specific presentation) (i get it in a wider presentation, for example)…
beautiful, thoughtful work Kadir.
Thanks for sharing!
cheers
bob
.
I bought the app when Kadir was dowm there in Patagonia. Arriving at the Northern tip of the North, I was not disappointed once. To this date it is the ultimate app to view a photo story. It brings every possibility you might think of for now: good photography, interesting stories, sound, a very clever usage of movie clips, interactivity, use of social media during the trip. Buy it. It is still available on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/via-panam/id435137234?mt=8
Don’t have an iPad? Buy one, just to have Via PanAm on it… (it’ll pay back part of the huge budget and it’ll boost the members of his considerable team…)
Bob, switching from B&W to colour, from stills to movie is not an issue on the app. It brings elements of surprise which keep you hooked. In the slideshow it is indeed another story, doesn’t work that well. But then this slideshow is 15% of the experience you get with the app.
Wow, so stunning. All of them but I think shorter edit would be impactful as far as seeing them as a group like this. Super beautiful though, of the highest standards certainly. Impossible to pick a favorite but I find #27 especially touching in regards to how much pain there is in separation of families.
Agreed, Bob Black, on Noor. It is an amazing group and with my idols.
JV :))
Hi john: yes, i’ve seen larger parts of this, though sadly, not the entire think because i dont own an IPAD (i still cant understand why, if i own a MAC, these apps cant be bought and played on my MAC, just as i want to buy Quest for Land)…this frustrates me immeasurably…and i wish i were a programer to kick some major butt…and of course, no money for an ipad, but alas, i hope folk, not aware of the project, get behind it to support it financially…
yes, i totally understand all the switching (monochrome/color/video/voice etc) in a larger project :))..i was thinking outloud how a photographer goes about choosing what/how they show ;))…i get this all the time from my students and when i show my own work, so the hope was more too that Kadir would jump in…i guess the conversations are more on the Road Trip part…i still wish (as i did with Bones) that more of the photographers would jump in with their voice :))…
anyway, very happy to see Kadir here and this work…
now, i’m willing to be a mop salesman if it’ll mean extra coin, so i can by an Ipad ;)
cheers
running
b
Bob: iPad mini will soon be available at around 250$…
Phenomenal piece of work. I originally downloaded the app from the village of Kaktovik on Barter Island about 115 air miles east of Deadhorse at the very top of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Although I ran into many technical glitches, I was greatly enjoying the journey and then one day, back home in Wasilla, I tried to open my iPad and even though I had never put a password lock on it, it suddenly demanded one. I was locked out of my own iPad. To get back in, I had to take it to the ATT store and they wiped out all my apps. When I plugged it into iTunes, just about everything came back up but not Via Pan Am – probably because I had downloaded it directly onto my iPad in Kaktovik and it had never made it into my iTunes.
There must be a way to get it back, but I never did. I am glad to see it here; happy to see the journey completed successfully. If I must, then I will purchase Via PanAm again so I can restart the journey from the beginning and follow all the way from Terra del Fuego to Deadhorse and the little hop to the west to Helmericks, which, before I crashed it, I flew over in my little airplane a number of times and have passed by in boat on a few occasions, but never stopped in.
Someday, I must drop in and pay the Helmericks a good visit.
Now I must correct a couple of mis-impressions contained in the caption for photo 39:
“The residents of Deadhorse are almost all migrant workers from the US and Latin America who work in the oil. The population numbers around 5000.”
Deadhorse is not a community in the traditional sense and very few of the people who work there consider themselves residents. They tend to live in, be voting citizens and consider themselves residents of communities like Anchorage, Fairbanks and my hometown of Wasilla, and places even beyond Alaska. They fly back and forth to work shifts of varying length, approximately two weeks on and two weeks off and stay in warm, well-fed camps. There are no schools or churches in Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. For a time, I built Uiñiq magazine circulation off the registered voter list of the Utah-sized North Slope Borough. I don’t remember the exact number of registered voters in Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, but as I recall it was about 10.
“The oilfields are being leased and are mostly based on native land…”
This is true in the spiritual sense as the Iñupiat held aboriginal title to every square inch of land within the Arctic Slope, including the giant Prudhoe Bay/Kuparuk oil fields served by the Deadhorse airport. They never agreed to surrender, sell, or in any way divest themselves of these lands, yet, Congress took the land from them when it passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 and gave legal title, along with all the royalties to follow, to the State of Alaska and the Federal government. The Iñupiat were “left in the cold.”
To hang on to at least some of the wealth that was about to be taken from their homeland by outside interests, the Iñupiat formed the Utah-sized North Slope Borough. State and industry fought them all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, where their right to form the Borough and therefore to tax the physical property of the oil industry – such as drilling rigs, pipelines and workers camps – was upheld. In this way, the Iñupiat were able to gain significant benefit from the outside exploitation of their aboriginal homeland.
van Lohuizen may have become confused by the fact that in more recent times, Iñupiat owned corporations formed under provisions of ANCSA have been able to secure title to smaller, satellite fields very near to Helmericks, such as Alpine. But, as far as the original, giant, “elephant” discoveries at Prudhoe Bay – no, title is held by the State and feds and not one penny in royalties has been paid to the original land owners who never consented to the taking of their land.
Well I think you have me sold on the app. It is apparent to me from this slide show that the project is incredible… but this loose edit and the switching back and fourth from B/W to Color is seems… hasty. A short and sweet tease would have been better, but then again I’m buying the app so maybe this slideshow worked as intended! Such wonderful images. What a photographer!
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