Microlight

[ EPF 2019 FINALIST ]

After the death of my father in 2011, I discovered a letter, written to his psychotherapist, about his time in the Border War. He dedicated his life to sustainable projects and education in African countries, and what I read in the letter took me by surprise. It was not the man I knew. The letter detailed horrific incidents he took part in, as a 17 year old boy.

One paragraph from the letter, bothered me the most: “…she stated that I joined and did what I did, because I wanted to kill people. It is truer than true.”

Questions started harassing me. How was he raised? What influence did the apartheid regime and it’s ideologies have on the family? What circumstances could lead a 17 year old boy, to have such murderous intent? Where does all this violence stem from?

Through this journey, I discovered just how much my life has been influenced by my father’s trauma. How my father’s siblings are still affected by the ideologies of their father. Generations of trauma, ignorantly passed on, even through our genes. My generation, is the first of South Africans not to experience war. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to observe all this within ourselves. To ensure that it does not continue.

After the war, my father turned against everything the knew. He left his father, and family. He craved resolve. He wanted so badly, to be free from his shadows. But the consequences of his actions haunted him his whole life. He tried his best to keep it from his children, and his wives. Ultimately, it slipped though the cracks. Microlight is a collection of anecdotes. And through telling these stories, I hope to open this discussion. I yearn for healing. I want to understand, so that I can accept, and move on.

Short Bio

Related Links

www.jansenvanstaden.com

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The Emerging Photographer Fund is supported by generous donors to the Magnum Foundation

Say Hello to Everybody, OK?

[ EPF 2019 FINALIST ]

In 2019-2020 I will be commuting from Charlottesville, Virginia to Washington, D.C. via train on a weekly basis. I also intend to walk the train line in intervals, photographing the scenes I encounter on its peripheries. I view the train line as an artery between my home in Charlottesville (where my heart stays), and Washington, DC, the seat of power in the United States. During my days in Washington, DC I will document the dichotomy between the powerful and the powerless. During my days in Charlottesville, I will photograph my own family, and my community. The background for these images are the final days of Trump’s first term in office, and the lead-up to the next Presidential elections. By juxtaposing powerful circles in Washington, DC with the recovering community of Charlottesville, VA, and the largely rural area in between, I will attempt to put my finger on the pulse of our country during this critical time.

This work will be absorbed into a larger series called “Say Hello to Everybody, OK?”, which looks at America in the years surrounding Trump’s time in office, beginning in 2014. The series will either conclude in 2020 or 2024, likely resulting in a monograph and exhibitions, but my primary intention is to disseminate the work through widely distributed free newsprint publications and pop-up installations in underserved communities. My goal is to find, or create, a connective visual tissue throughout our country during this divided time. With my work I am looking for the threads that connect us as families, as communities, as Americans and as humans. If we are at risk of forgetting too much of our world, and ourselves, photography is an antidote.

Short Bio

Matt Eich is a photographic essayist working on long-form projects related to memory, family, community, and the American condition. Matt’s work has received grant support from an Aaron Siskind Fellowship, a VMFA Fellowship and two Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography. His prints and books are held in the permanent collections of The Portland Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The New York Public Library, Chrysler Museum of Art and others. In 2013 Matt was an Artist-in-Residence at Light Work, and in 2019 he was an Artist-in-Residence at a Robert Rauschenberg Residency. Eich holds a BS in photojournalism from Ohio University and an MFA in Photography from Hartford Art School’s International Limited-Residency Program. His is the author of three monographs, Carry Me Ohio (Sturm & Drang, 2016), I Love You, I’m Leaving, (ceiba editions, 2017), and Sin & Salvation in Baptist Town (Sturm & Drang, 2018). He has two forthcoming monographs with Sturm & Drang scheduled for release in 2019 and 2020. Matt splits his time between Washington, DC and Charlottesville, Virginia, where he resides with his family.

Related Links

www.matteichphoto.com

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The Emerging Photographer Fund is supported by generous donors to the Magnum Foundation

Human & Wildlife Conflict

[ EPF 2019 FINALIST ]

During my stay in Kenya I witnessed the difficulty of life in various ways that different groups of people and animals daily face. Often people pity the wildlife such as Elephants, Hyenas, Monkeys and Lions for being harmed or killed by locals. However, people forget that Elephants are a large threat to locals. They often see their farms destroyed and crops eaten. As a consequence, families are ripped apart and forced to work in cities. For many of these farmers, taking away the threat is a common solution, meaning wildlife will be harmed or killed. This killing can also be part of tradition. For the Kamba Tribe this is the case. For ages they hunt on bushmeat to provide for their families and honor their tradition. However, due to Western pressure hunting bushmeat is now by law illegal. As a result, you take away long-standing traditions and deny specific cultures from existing. This is perfectly exemplified in America with the Indians, the traditions vanished because of the pressure of western civilization. The same thing will happen in Kenya. You can already see the Maasai slowly disappearing. There are still Kamba Tribesmen hunting on wildlife and on the other side you find the anti-poaching units that are just like the tribes providing for their families and improving their situation. Unfortunately, the improvement of both their situations is conflicting since they both perceive wildlife differently.

By spending time in Kenya I understand the actions of both the tribesmen and the anti-poaching units. I am not approving these actions, but as an outsider I feel their burden which is partly a result of Western paternalism. The tribesmen haven’t changed their attitude towards wildlife whilst the West has caused damage over the years and tries to resolve that now. The anti-poaching units have the luxury to worry for elements in life which are secondary in nature to survival. This make the perspectives and perceptions completely different and hard to unify.

Short Bio

A central theme often explored in Pieter Bas his photos is the balance and imbalance between humans and nature. It often appears in his photographs of animals, destroyed or decayed surroundings and any other traces of human intervention. This strongly relates to the transience and fleeting character of things. More specifically, it grasps a tiny piece of the most fundamental aspects of life, involving the passage of time, of nature and the world as a whole, that is slowly disappearing due to human intervention. Contrasts become more obvious under tense circumstances. By showing the effects on a micro level, the wider imprint feels more present. The transience and fleeting characters are visually translated by a blurry suggestion of movements and dynamics. Confronted with these impressions often goes together with a certain nostalgic and melancholic feeling about everything that’s lost, and for everything that will be lost… His images are slowly and carefully composed. Compositions are attentively considered, using colors and shapes while trusting basic intuition. Although, impressions appear to be seemingly perfect, they never fully are. To Pieter Bas, beauty is to be found in the imperfection of life.

Related Links

www.pieterbasbouwman.com

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The Emerging Photographer Fund is supported by generous donors to the Magnum Foundation