IPA HONG KONG & TAIWAN SHOWCASE 2015 Guest Curator: Kevin WY Lee Curatorial Note When we talk about photography from East Asia, China and Japan usually dominates conversations and we are exposed too much from these two territories. The invitation by Angkor Photo Festival to curate an evening of slideshows is an opportunity I hope to take to introduce great photography and photographers from Taiwan and Hong Kong to the young Southeast Asian audiences at the festival. This showcase, featuring 18 photographers of varying experience, age and motivations, is an introductory overview than a comprehensive survey. Logos and symbols from each photographer’s time and place (and proximity to China in every sense of the word) are visible and manifest themselves in various discourses on identity and existentialism. -‐ Kevin Wy Lee
Alfred KO Chi-‐Keung 高 志 強 Nocturne (2008) HONG KONG Nocturne is Ko’s stark black and white documentary of Hong Kong City at night. The city he presents is void of life and colour, almost apocalyptic. Mundane landscapes, objects, streets and facades become surreal symbols of discontent and rejection. Biography ALFRED KO CHI-‐KEUNG, born in Hong Kong, studied photography in the Banff School of Fine Arts in Canada. He returned to Hong Kong in 1977 and has worked as a freelance photographer ever since. In the 1980s, Ko founded the FOTOCINE School of Photography (影藝攝影 學校) and the Photo Centre (攝影中心) in Hong Kong. He is also a founding member of the Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers. Ko was awarded “Photographer of the Year” by Hong Kong Artists’ Guild in 1992. His works are collected by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and private collectors.
CHAN Dick 陳 的 Chai Wan Fire Station (2014) HONG KONG chandick.hk Chai Wan Fire Station is Chan Dick’s depiction of the daily lives of the Chai Wan firemen as seen from a birds-‐eye view from the ventilation window of a washroom at his workshop. The images appear abstract and repetitive. The distance from which the photographs were captured compresses the firemen to miniature figurines. In 2015, the work won the Hong Kong Photo Book Awards. Biography Chan Dick is a commercial photographer in Hong Kong specialising in still life, interior and architectural photography. His work has garnered him awards in Hong Kong and Internationally.
CHANG Chao-‐Tang 張 照 堂 TIME (1959–2013) TAIWAN
TIME is a selection of photographs from the career of Chang Chao-‐Tang featured at his first solo retrospective at the Taipei Fine Art Museum. Chang describes his imagery as depicting loss and finding affinity with Taiwan’s Lost Generation. In an essay, Chang writes “My images are of real people and places, but they are not about superficial emotions nor are they just a result of being a witness to events.” Biography Chao-‐Tang Chang, born in 1943 in Panchiao City, Taipei County, is one of Taiwan’s most important photographers. Chang began taking pictures as a teenager in high school at the start of the White Terror period, which referred to 38 years of martial law in Taiwan imposed by the Chinese Kuomintang. Chang’s imagery is influenced by the social realist works in literature and surrealist painting. In 2013, he had his first major retrospective exhibition at the Taipei Fine Art Museum.
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CHEN Chin-‐Pao 陳 敬 寶 A Moment of Beauty: Betal Nut Girls TAIWAN www.chinpaochen.com Betel Nut Girls are girls hired to attract customers at stands selling betel nuts popular in Taiwan (especially among the labor class), where some people chew them as gum. The phenomenon was born after rapid economic development and radical political improvement in Taiwan. Betel Nuts (Girls) are partially prohibited by Taiwan government due to environmental damage caused by betel nut farming and the illegal hiring of under-‐age girls. Biography Chen Chin-‐Pao went to the Department of Photography of School of Visual Arts in New York in 1996, and earned his degree of BFA with an award for outstanding Achievement three years later. Chen got MFA degree from School of Fine Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts in 2013. His latest ongoing project, “Ordinary Household”, is dedicated to depict contemporary Taiwanese domestic life. Chen was th awarded The Overseas Photographer Award of The 26 Higashikawa award at 2008. He lives and works in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Ducky TSE 謝 至 德 The Colonial Expired: 1995-‐2000 HONG KONG www.duckytse.com Shortly before the 1997 Handover, I photographed many ceremonies of the British retreating from Hong Kong as well as people’s daily life and traditional festivals, hoping to explore with images the transition of a city where east meets west. In my work, you’ll find plenty symbols of a colony, tradition, locals, contrasts, and some “Hong Kong” culture doomed to vanish after the Handover, such as Tiu Keng Leng (Little Taiwan) and serving British troops. The pictures were taken to capture to changes and emotions of Hong Kong identity in transition. Biography Ducky Tse is a prominent documentary photographer in Hong Kong, and a highly productive one at that. He has published a substantial number of publications since the mid-‐90s including “Close-‐Up Hong Kong”, one of his several collaborations with Programme for Hong Kong Cultural Studies in Chinese University of Hong Kong. His in-‐your-‐face styled street photography, which are clearly influenced by photographers like Gary Winogrand and Bruce Gilden, express well the intangible mental state of the people in the era.
Dustin SHUM 岑 允 逸 Blocks (2014) HONG KONG www.dustinshum.com Dustin Shum utilizes his signature topographic work to depict the relationship between individuals and urban spaces and the transformation of Chinese cities and towns in rapidly developing economy. This time he focuses on the public housing in Hong Kong in which he’s a tenant. Wandering in the public space of the various public housing estates through these years, he showcased to us many scenes that looked ridiculous and surreal. The “Eternal City” in Ancient Rome, where buildings from different historical periods co-‐existed and overlapped in disharmony, was used as a metaphor of the mental lives of human beings. Biography Dustin Shum was born and currently lives in Hong Kong. He graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Photographic Design. A photojournalist for more than ten years, he now works as a freelance photographer. Shum has received many awards for outstanding documentary photography over the years, including those by the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association, World Association of Newspapers and Publishers, and Amnesty International.
GUAN Xiao-‐Rong 關 曉 榮 Dignity and Humiliation: A Marginalized Territory in Lanyu (1987) TAIWAN Lanyu, a small Pacific island southeast of Taiwan, is the home of some five thousand Yami indigenous inhabitants and a few Han Taiwanese residents. Although Lanyu has long been proud of its beautiful natural environment and traditional Yami culture, since 1982 it has been forced to import nuclear waste from Taiwan. In this scandalous coercion to be the storage site of this toxic waste, the Taiwanese government never discussed the scheme with Yami residents nor acquired their permission. Despite being Han himself, and an outsider, in 1987 Guan stayed on this remote island for the entire year. During this period he established a close comradeship with the Yami people, investigating the devastating environmental, social, and cultural policies put into effect by the Taiwanese Han government. Biography Guan Xiao-‐Rong was born in 1949 in China’s Hainan Island. In 1972, Guan graduated from the Taiwan Junior College of Art. His work of Lanyu and the plight of the Yami people has been published in three volumes containing nine photographic essays and eleven reports. As a practitioner, Guan constantly shifts roles between a documentary photographer and an anti–nuclear waste activist. Guan is currently working to complete his new documentary project titled “Ice and blood.”
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Johnny GIN 甄 祖 伦 The Architecture of Insurgency (2014) HONG KONG www.johnnygin.com Since the first barricades were erected as a form of neighborhood defense in the 1500s, these makeshift structures have maintained their significance as a powerful symbol of protest and uprising well into modern times, most recently in Hong Kong’s Occupy Movement, during which major intersections and roadways in the city were blocked off by protesters demanding universal suffrage. The spontaneous barricades in Central were erected with great expediency and resolve, and seemingly little regard to formal aesthetics. Over time, their configurations were continuously reshaped like communal sculptural objects that are perpetually “works in progress.” These provisional, adaptive structures are viewed as a type of vernacular expression arising from protest culture, representing the material and metaphorical emblems of an anonymous, ideological collective. Set against a backdrop of Government buildings and monolithic office towers, this somewhat “nostalgic” mode of resistance encircled a singular “privatized public” space, underscoring the dialectical relationship between traditional power structures and their subversive counterparts. Biography Johnny Gin is a copywriter and photographer living and working in Hong Kong. His life-‐long academic background is eclectic: an undergraduate education in English Literature, followed by graduate degrees in Communications and Library Science. He is now enrolled in an MFA Photography program at SCAD HK. His photographic interest lies in the examination of urban spaces and vernacular environments and the ways in which these spaces inform us about the culture and identity of a city. His personal and student work have been exhibited in Hong Kong and in Savannah, Georgia.
LAM Chun Tung 林 振 東
We Live HONG KONG lamchuntung.com The majority of these elderly people in Hong Kong grew up in the upheavals and miseries of war and poverty in the 1930s and 1940s, experiencing throughout their lives the firing of arms, starvation, fleeing, separation, diverse emotions, yet were not solaced in their old age by stability. In this project, I tried my best to use an equal, subtle and peaceful vision to get near the life of every elderly person, unfold the wisdom therein and capture those ordinary yet energetic moments. These episodes in life sometimes remind me of Ozu Yasujirō’s movies. Though from different countries and different ages, they are all about the lives of ordinary people. Ozu Yasujirō once remarked, the success or failure of a movie depends on its aftertaste. To me, the same applies to life. While the lives of these 18 elderly persons appear to be ordinary, they are filled with a strong pleasant aftertaste. Biography Lam Chun Tung was born in Hong Kong and started his career as a photojournalist in 2000. He worked in The Sun, Ming Pao, AM730 and currently works for a newly established media based in Hong Kong. He has won 23 awards of photojournalism including the Best Photograph Award of the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong, Merits (Photo Categories), the Human Rights Press Awards, Excellence in News Photography and Feature Photography of the SOPA Awards, and prizes in the “Focus at the Frontline” organized by the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association. Between 2011 and 2012 he served as Chairman of the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association. He collaborated with non-‐profit human rights organization Society for Community Organization to document life moments of grassroots elderly for three years and launched the photo exhibition and book We Live in 2015. He is now devoted in documenting political and social issues of Hong Kong whilst exploring personal photo projects.
LAM Yik Fei 林 亦 非 Umbrella Movement (2014) HONG KONG www.lamyikfei.com This set of photos documented the sit-‐in protests, known as the Umbrella Movement or the Occupy Movement, in Hong Kong that began in September 2014. The protesters called for a "genuine universal suffrage", which they saw it is restricted by the decision by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China as the Communist Party has control over the candidate nomination. On 28 September, the authorities unleashed tear gas to disperse the crowds who wield umbrellas and face masks. It triggered more citizens to join the protests, occupying Causeway Bay and Mong Kok. In November and December, the occupation sites were cleared and it marked the end of the movement. Biography Lam Yik Fei is the Director of Photography at Initium Media in Hong Kong. Lam also works on assignment for various international media. His works are distributed worldwide via Getty Images and Bloomberg News Photos. They appear on International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, The Guardian and other leading publications.
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LAU Chi Chung 劉 智 聰 Landscaped Artifacts (2013) HONG KONG www.lauchichung.com We bring destruction to the land, the moment we begin to build. We construct a myriad of architectural structures on borrowed spaces. Only to give them up, decades later, and back to Nature, who reinhabits the land and rejuvenates the deserted artifacts. Generous and humble, Nature never fails to clean up the messes we created. The force of Nature permeates and shapes my creation. Seasonal changes make the process of creating my work a volatile one. Capturing the ruins amidst Nature, my work bears witness to lived lives and passed time. We have made our marks on the land we once walked. Nature now takes her turn to give it a makeover Not to turn back the clock, but to transform into an environmental sculpture. Artificial angular contours lushly laminated. Let the past sleep. For when the new day comes, what await us is a contemporary interpretation of the old landscaped artifacts. Biography Lau Chi-‐Chung is a freelance photographer with many years of experience working as art director in TV commercial productions in Hong Kong. He graduated in United Kingdom with a B.A. degree in interior design. Chung’s work has been exhibited in various countries, and is collected by museums and private collectors. His photography series “Landscaped Artifacts” (2013) won him the New Photography Artist of the year at Lianzhou Foto 2013.
Paul YEUNG 楊 德 銘 Yes Madam, Sorry Ah Sir (2014) HONG KONG www.paulyeungvision.com Following my concern on the collective behavior of common people, I direct my camera lens to the group possessing power: The Police. People with uniforms always attract me. They look professional, highly disciplined, obedient, smart, efficient and emotionless, which are the images and character the government and hundreds of movies deliver onto us. I observed the police during their work and relaxation for a few years. I always find a tension between the individual and the collective amongst the uniform. Every police is a human who eats, smiles, gets angry, does stupid things, lacks of self-‐questioning, have bad luck and loves Hello Kitty. They are ordinary humans, but with weapons and the power to enforce law. On the other hand, they are trained to take collective action very closely and efficiently. Absolute submissiveness to superiors and the peer relationship/pressure always affect their own thought and behavior. Honghongers like to call policemen as “Ah Sir” and policewomen as “Madam”. It maybe an English tradition from the period under British Colony. This language shows a kind of respect, and even a sense of hierarchy. Through my observation and tableau-‐like images, I would like to penetrate the Police as a “rigid wall”, and discover a totally different narrative and aesthetics of them. Biography Paul Yeung (b.1978, Hong Kong) graduated from MA in Image and Communication (Photography) at Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2011. Yeung embarked on his profession in photojournalism in 2000 after graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Yeung has also worked extensively as a photo editor and lecturer. He was a former chairman of the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (HKPPA), and has received more than 15 awards from The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong and HKPPA. At the Hong Kong Photography Festival 2010, he was selected as one of Fourteen Hong Kong New Generation Photographers.
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YEN Peng-‐Chun 顏 鵬 峻 Afterworld TAIWAN Afterworld means the world after death. These series of picture were all taken inside a small pumping station in Taipei. Inside the station seems very desolate, which is out of tune with the urban cityscape of Taipei. The water stains caused by raindrops appear to create proof of life in the lifeless environment. In this barren landscape located inside a city, it is like walking on the road of the Afterworld, trying to find the next exit to reincarnation. Biography Peng-‐Chun Yen, born in 1975, is working as a graphic designer. He has loved drawing since he was little, and aimed to be a painter. Although he is not a full time painter now, his job is still related to "painting". While busy with the job, he doesn't have much time to pick up his brush. Therefore, he uses the camera as his brush to create art works, putting what he sees, thinks and imagines into frame.
SHEN Chao-‐Liang 沈 昭 良 Stage (2011) TAIWAN www.shenchaoliang.com Performing groups in the form of cabarets, song and dance ensembles, recreational bands, or even in the name of entertainment companies, are mobile performing troupes endemic to Taiwan, where their customer base and show content are inextricably interlinked. They have been around since the 1970s, with song and dance performances as their principal act, and have made regular appearances in all sorts of occasions—from weddings, funerals to festivities. Stage trucks, the subject of this photo series, are mobile “carriers” exploited by the said performing groups still active and widespread in Taiwan’s plebeian society, molding the collective memory of the Taiwanese people. Biography Shen Chao-‐Liang was born in Tainan, Taiwan, in 1968. He obtained his masters degree from the Graduate School of the Applied Media Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts. He worked as a photojournalist and Vice Convenor for the Entertainment, Art and Literature News Center of the Liberty Times, the Artist in Residence at National Central University, Taiwan, and Chairman, Portfolio Review Committee, Young Art Taipei. Shen has been dedicated to feature photography since 1993. From his early works of Reflections of Nan-‐ Fang-‐Ao (2001) to the latter series of YULAN Magnolia Flower (2008), Tsukiji Fish Market (2010) , STAGE (2011) and SINGERS & STAGES (2013), he has been recognized by his sophisticated style of image creation and commitment to documenting the evolution of Taiwan society.
Terry NG 吳 漢 曦 Border (2012-‐2015) HONG KONG terryng.net The Hong Kong – Mainland China border has been permanently changing – a fact reiterated with the news reporting that the Frontier Closed Area is gradually being reduced in its size. Established since 1951, this closed area was once expanded in 1962 but now, the whole border area has shrunk. People from both sides of the border can gain access to the opposite side at the Control Points – which signify a manifestation of the tension between the two systems that coexist side by side. Yet, it looks as if we can never have a firm grasp of the transformation of the situation. It is what prompted my thoughts on our ever-‐changing border, which may show us the answers to the many questions arising from this transformation. Biography Ng Hon-‐hei, Terry (吳漢曦) (b. 1981, Hong Kong) received Postgraduate Diploma in Photography from School of Professional and Continuing Education, The University of Hong Kong in 2012. He is currently studying Master of Visual Arts in Hong Kong Baptist University. Project ‘Border’ was exhibited in the group exhibition ‘Yuen Yeung — Contemporary Hong Kong Photography’ of 2013 Lianzhou Foto in Mainland China between Nov and Dec 2013, and will be exhibited in forthcoming solo exhibition in Hong Kong gallery Lumenvisum’ between Aug and Oct 2015.
TOU Yun-‐Fei 杜 韻 飛 Momento Mori (2011-‐2012) TAIWAN yunfeitou.photoshelter.com Utilizing the classical portrait style that artists have used throughout history, these images record the last moments of life for dogs found in public pounds run by government agencies in Taiwan. The images are taken on the actual day that each animal depicted is euthanized. Through these portraits the viewer is confronted with an irreversible past and witnesses the decay of life, moments before death. These nameless animals, by virtue of the size at, which they are printed and the approximations to human scale, are transformed into existence.
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As you engage with the dog, the dog returns the scrutiny. The relationship between seeing and being seen, between the subject and object reverses and the discriminatory hierarchy is lessened. The status of power between humans and other salient beings, those considered “the other” is diminished. The images presented in the MEMENTO MORI act as the artist’s own self-‐portrait whereby one can look back and in retrospect reflect upon times of confusion and despair; the pains of both spirit and body; the desire for exit and the fear of death; and witness the melancholia. Biography Yun-‐Fei Tou ( b . 1 9 7 5 ) graduated from Rhode Island School of Design receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1998. Between 1999 and 2009, he worked as a professional photojournalist. Since 2010, he has independently pursued fine art photography while focusing on various social issues in Taiwan, where he lives. His work incorporates a variety of artistic and conceptual approaches. MEMENTO MORI has been exhibited in many international as well as local art spaces and galleries; It has also been published in numerous news and media circles around the world including: Der Spiegel, Daily Mail, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Herald, and the Huffington Post. In 2011, MEMENTO MORI was featured in PROVOCATION, a juried invitational exhibition held during the New York Photo Festival; in 2012, the series was awarded Grand Prize by "The 10th Taoyuan Creation Award" in Taiwan. MEMENTO MORI was also recognized by PhotoShelter as being a “Notable Photography Project” in 2012.
Vincent YU 余 偉 建 Japan 311 (2011) HONG KONG www.vincentyu.ne As a photo-‐journalist, Vincent Yu benefits from the handy iPhone and has used it to capture the recent Japan earthquake aftermath, the resulted ‘Japan 311’ series is a selection from thousands of snapshots. Unlike the relax and casual practice of iPhoneographers, these heavy images bear a grandeur perspective achieved as taken by a tradition medium format camera; the techno-‐friendliness of the mobile phone releases the burden of the photographer while working in an unpleasant environment. French philosopher Roland Barthes once published “The Empire of Signs” (1970) to decipher the symbols as seen from the Japan lived culture; with the flair of Japanese photographers shooting the relics in the post-‐war Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Vincent Yu has succeeded to address Japan’s present catastrophic condition and manifests it into iPhone photos under a canopy of discontented symbolic images. Biography Born and raised in Hong Kong, Vincent Yu has worked as a photojournalist covering major news events across the Asia-‐Pacific region since 1985. As a close observer of Hong Kong’s rapid development, Yu has acquired a special sensitivity towards its ever-‐changing cityscape. In particular, he is interested in documenting disappearing heritage and architecture as well as communities affected by these changes. His works have been recognized by many honours, including the 2004 National Headliner Awards, 2010 World Press Photo Awards 3rd Prize “People in the News” single category, 2013 Picture of the Year Awards Award of Excellence “ Photographer of the Year “ and numerous Hong Kong Press Photographers Association Annual Awards. His works are collected by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
WONG Kan Tai 黃 勤 帶 89 Tiananmen: Remains for Collection HONG KONG An uncanny feeling of nostalgic loss momentously germinated when the image of a young man strangely captured my attention after a twenty-‐year lapse on a developing dish inside a dark room. In a willy-‐nilly stance of peeping into the Pandora Box of remembrance, one admits to the time long gone. Through the aura light coming from the color assessment cabinet, I began an archival examination of some black-‐and-‐white master negatives, those taken at a time during the student democratic movement at the Tiananmen Square in Spring 1989, and from which re-‐searching the youthful energies long lost at Chang-‐an Boulevard. Not naturally, witnessing once again the piles of youthful remains sets off the time-‐travelling imaginative process of their contemporary whereabouts. After all, that remains to be the best of times for Chinese beings when the Chinese soil has been inscribed upon of their blood and tears. Biography Wong Kan Tai was born in Lantau Island, Hong Kong in 1957. He joined the Hong Kong Press in the late 1970s and started his long career as a photojournalist. His photographic collections published include ’89 Tiananmen, Land Reclaim and Hong Kong Walled City 2002 -‐ 2007. Wong now lives in Japan and works as a freelance photographer.
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THE IMPACT PROJECT Launched in 2014, The Impact Project is a themed showcase in our programme that aims to highlight photography projects about individuals, groups, or small organisations that are making a positive impact on social or environmental issues.
Anne ACKERMANN
Wakaliwood GERMANY www.anneackermann.com It’s not Hollywood, Bollywood, nor Nollywood – its Wakaliwood. Located in the slum of Wakaliga in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, the movie-obsessed creatives around Isaac Nabwana and his kung fu fighting moviestars have left no doubt that they are the next big thing when it comes to action movies made in Africa. Against all odds of growing up as one of 20 siblings with his grandmother in a slum, Isaac has so far produced more than 40 action movies with each not costing more than $150. His movies have been watched online by millions of people all over the world. Isaac makes movies of the images that went through his head when his older brothers told him about movies during their childhood. His story is powerful because it proves dreams can come true – even in Wakaliga.
Daniel CHAN
School Of Orphans MALAYSIA danielc5592.wordpress.com The Rohingya is a Muslim minority population living mainly in the state of Arakan in Myanmar. As a marginalised ethnic group, they have been subject to ethnic and religious persecution by the government. As a result, the Rohingyas have in many cases become ‘stateless’, fleeing Myanmar to seek refuge elsewhere. Since the 1980s, many have sought refuge in Malaysia. According to the UNHCR, of the more than 150,000 asylum seekers registered in Malaysia, Rohingyas account for more than 40,000. Madrasah Hashimiah is a community school and boarding house for orphans and the poor from the refugee Rohingya community in Selayang, outside Kuala Lumpur. Founded in 1994 by a Muslim man from Myanmar, Ustaz al- Hafiz Hashim bin Kassimm, it began with three students and now has 170; nearly a third are orphans. The school provides temporary shelter along with six full days of basic academic classes in mathematics, English, Malay and Myanmar, as well as religious classes such as Fardu Ain, Iqra and Tahfiz Koran.
Melanie DORNIER Balaknama, Slum Kid Reporters FRANCE www.melaniedornier.com Ten years ago, a couple of street children working and living in Delhi took the initiative to form themselves into Badhte Khadam – Walking Forward. They were tired of their voices not being taken into consideration, and decided to create their own newspaper to express themselves freely and loudly. To help them succeed, they received support from Chetna, an NGO that works with street children. Today, this federation has more than 10,000 of members in North India and will soon be publishing the 50th edition of Balaknama, Children’s Voices. Sadly, in India there are more than 60 million children who are forced to work. The power of the pen informs them about the value of education and many continue their education through distance learning. Usually, Balaknama’s reporters are between 12 and 17 years old, and they write about the struggles of working children’s life o the street. They also cover stories of success and bravery, as well as giving their opinion on both drugs and abuse. They report missing children and inform their readers about labour and education laws – after all , there is no better person to speak about slum children than themselves. Despite their personal challenges, these slum kid reporters find the energy to support and help others.
Abdollah HEIDARI Children With No Identity IRAN Since the beginning of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the war in December 1979, and also due to three decades of intense civil war, insecurity and poor economic conditions, a larger number of Afghans immigrated to neighbouring countries such as Iran. Almost three million Afghans entered Iran gradually, with the main reason being to get married to Iranian women so as to receive legal residency and to be able to consolidate their situation. These illegal marriages resulted in hundreds of thousands of children being born
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withou birth certificates and identity in Iran. According to Iranian law, these children are considered foreigners unless they apply for citizenship when they turn 18 years of age. Lacking birth certificates, these children cannot enter the education system, and are also without legal rights, civil rights, health rights, and security. In some cases, they have resulted in an increase of social anomalies. Furthermore, many of these children’s fathers live in Afghanistan with no commitment to their children. Apart from lobbying legislators, NGOs are trying also to provide education, health and protection for these children.
Patrick FIROUZIAN / GLOBAL ROOTS FRANCE globalroots.org Fish and Morning Glory (LAKE CLINIC CAMBODIA) Tonle Sap lake, an area blessed with natural beauty, provides over 70% of the proteins consumed in Cambodia. When there is less fish, costs increase, and there is domestic violence, alcoholism and more consequences that impact families living on the makeshift floating houses. They struggle to provide food and safety for their children. Lake Clinic and Global Roots collaborated to pioneer a floating garden technique. Sok’s family built a small vegetable floating garden to help improve nutrition with freshly grown morning glory, and this helps sustain their livelihood with supplemental income from sale of vegetables, allowing the children to go to school. Sok’s condition is not uncommon in a region of extremely hard living conditions compounded by poverty and even sometimes alcoholism, set admist the original beauty of the Tonle Sap lake. Thankfully, the area is rich in fish, bringing proteins and a small source of income for them to buy rice and other necessities. However, each season brings smaller and fewer fish, leaving fewer choices for poorly educated fisherman to survive: they just have to fish more. But now, they can also farm! Kenyan Schools and Greenhouse Synergies Mid-way between Nairobi and Mombassa is Mtito Andei, a rural town in Kenya that has been hard hit by both climate change and the AIDS epidemic. The town is popular stop for truck drivers to spend the night. The Global Roots Children’s Garden at Matangini elementary School has convinced impoverished families to send their children back to school, and also funded a greenhouse fitted with an optimal water drip system, making it possible to reduce the water footprint while producing vegetables all year around. Part of the production of vegetables at the school is used to feed HIV positive children before they take heavy doses of AIDS medication. Our Children’s Garden in Mtito Andei is not only convincing parents to send their children back to school, it is also saving lives. Keeping children in school in this part of Kenya is critical because Mtito Andei is a place where unattended boys are forcibly recruited into gangs and unskilled girls forced into a lifetime of sexual slavery.
Suman GHOSH
Friendship - Bangladesh BANGLADESH Since 2002, Friendship Bangladesh has been working to help address the needs of remote and marginalised communities in Bangladesh. From northern remote chars to the southern coastal belt, it has attempted to bring about a visible impact on those communities who can barely meet their basic needs. Our mission is to contribute to an environment of justice and equity that empowers people to reach their full potential through a sustainable and integrated development approach. Our work is based on five core values: integrity, dignity, justice, quality, and hope. So far, we have served 9.2 million remote underprivileged people, most of them living on chars. We developed an innovative and highlyrecognised three-tier healthcare hospitals on three hospital ships. A total of 4,650 children, who would otherwise have no access to any education, attend our primary schools in remote char areas. In addition, , 1,260 adolescents and adults attend our functional literacy classes at 73 adult literacy centers. We also endeavour to raise awareness about citizen rights amongst our beneficiaries, and offer them access to justice and legal services. We reach 70,000 people annually through our trained paralegals who travel to remote areas to share information related to basic law and rights.
Lionel JUSSERET Scene Of Childhood BELGIUM www.lioneljusseret.com Between the inadequacy of institutions, exile in Belgian mental hospitals and toxicity of modern psychiatry, autism is at the heart of contemporary media controversies. The French association ‘J’interviendrais’ offers autistic kids an opportunity to live collectively in different country houses. Most of these children do not speak. Communication is always a magical story. It is unique for every child. There is no manual to enter their own world. Immersion is powerful, the work is exhausting. This particular childhood is true, brute, savage. The idea is to find a gateway with every kid, and they only open the door if they want to. No one ever forces them to. It is always oscillating between ultra violence and pure sweetness. Lionel Jusseret has worked as animator since 2011. Finishing his documentary studies in a Belgian cinema school, he began to photograph these kids after two years among them.
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Jitu KALITA
Forest Man Of India INDIA One day in the autumn of 2007, I wanted to take pictures of birds around the Brahmaputra. Everything was normal until I saw vultures and a dense forest around the sandbars. I couldn’t believe my eyes. In 1979, Jadav Payeng started to plant a forest. It all began with a dream he had to plant trees on barren land for small animals and birds to build their homes on the tree tops. No one, including him, had the slightest idea that his effort would give birth to an entire forest on Majuli island in India. He located a riverine island, a few kilometres out on the banks of the mighty River Brahmaputra, and began to plant the samplings. The lush forest covering around 1,000 hectares of land, is now home to wild elephants, tigers, rhinos and deer. In 2012, India’s premier educational institution, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) named him the ‘Forest Man of India’. "Payeng is a true conservationist who is working generously on the issue, and he has shown what an ordinary person with good motive and will power can do," said Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
Thierry MICHEL Dr Mukwege BELGIUM
Dr Mukwege is internationally known as the man who mended thousands of women who were raped during the 20 years of conflict in the east of Congo, one of the poorest countries in the world. Dr Mukwege is fighting endlessly against these atrocities, and also denouncing the rapists’ impunity. After receiving death threats, the pastor doctor now lives cloistered in his Bukavu hospital, under the protection of peacekeepers. However, it is no longer only his struggle. At his side are the women whom he helped repair their physical strength and find their dignity. Thanks to him, they are now the activitits seeking justice and peace.
Fernando MOLERES / PANOS PICTURES Breaking The Circle SPAIN This project means to divulge the possibilities for change in the lives of young minors after their incarceration and the new realities these ex-prisoners face in Sierra Leone. I came across these boys in the maximum-security prison of Pademba, where they were serving time alongside 1,300 adult prisoners under terrible conditions. As minors, they should not have entered a maximum-security prison. The juveniles are released after long periods in prison without rehabilitation. Many of them were street boys or orphans from the civil war. Some of them had relatives but their relationships were damaged due to the stigma of prison. Some returned to the streets after their release, and three of them got into conflict with the law and returned to prison. They expressed to me a desire to change their lives; an opportunity to re-enter society. The lack of opportunities when they get out is directly related with recidivism rates. My documentary work is focused on the lives of six young former prisoners, and the human reality documented here could be extrapolated to Africa where there are thousands of minors in adult prisons in Africa. In 2012, I founded Free Minor Africa’s social rehabilitation program to help juveniles in conflict with law.
George NICKELS
Training for the K5 Belt UK www.georgenickels.com Cambodia is still one of the most landmine-affected countries in the world. Over 64,000 landmine and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties have been recorded in Cambodia since 1979. With over 25,000 amputees, Cambodia has the highest ratio of mine amputees per capita in the world. A recent baseline survey of 12 districts revealed that 1,914,818 m2 of land surface is contaminated by landmines and ERW. In addition, at least 26 million explosive submunitions were dropped on Cambodia during the Vietnam war, mostly in Eastern and North-Eastern areas bordering the Lao people’s democratic republic and Vietnam. The bombing is estimated to have left between 1.9 million and 5.8 million cluster munitions remnants. Belgian NGO Apopo, who have been training African giant poached rats in Tanzania, Angola and Mozambique to detect explosives and tuberculosis, invited me to document their training process as 3 mine detection rat (MDR) handlers drafted from Africa, taught a cmac demining platoon how to locate landmines and uxo using african giant poached rats. The demining project between CMAC and Apopo will be targeting 6 northwestern districts close to the infamous “K5 belt”. The K5 is one of the densest concentrations of mines on the planet and causes a significant proportion of Cambodia’s mine casualties. The K5 runs along the entire 750km length of the Cambodia-Thai border. In partnership with CMAC, land is released (through demining and survey) for casualty reduction, agriculture, resettlement and other infrastructure development (roads, wells, ponds and schools).
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Eric SANDER
Dr Beat Richner & Kantha Bopha FRANCE After receiving his medical degree in 1973, Dr. Beat Richner. was sent to Cambodia for the Swiss Red Cross. He worked at the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh in 1974 and 1975. When the Khmer Rouge overran Cambodia, he was forced to return to Switzerland where he continued his work at the Zurich Children's Hospital. In the process of pursuing his medical career and an interest in music and entertainment, Dr. Richner developed the character of "Beatocello", an artistic and comedic clown who plays the cello. In December 1991, Richner returned to Cambodia and saw the devastation that had taken place following the ensuing conflicts with the Khmer Rouge and Vietnam. He was asked to re-open and re-build Kantha Bopha by the Cambodian government. Creating the Kantha Bopha Foundation in March 1992, Richner officially returned to Cambodia to begin reconstruction and Kantha Bopha was reopened in November 1992. Since then, the foundation has funded the expansion of Kantha Bopha Children's Hospitals to include five hospitals in total. The five children's hospitals built by Richner and the Kantha Bopha Foundation are located in Cambodia's major cities. All of the hospitals provide treatment free of charge. In addition to medical care, the hospitals also provide an International Postgraduate Course. In 2003, he was named Swiss of the Year.
Sophal TRY [ WORKSHOP ALUMNI ] IKKT CAMBODIA
The IKTT specialises in the revival of the Cambodian silk ikat. Throughout history Khmer silk weaving has been regarded among the best in the world, however after years of war this ancient art form was almost lost. The beauty of such silk has been its saviour. Having started in 1996 by Kikuo Morimoto, we take a purist approach to the reproduction of traditional textiles, not just by recreating the style but also by following the traditional practice seen a thousand years ago in the ancient times of the Angkor Dynasty. This has meant the planting of a traditional forest where everything from the natural dyes to the silk can be harvested in the rich natural environment. The traditional Khmer lifestyle and culture in Cambodia was disrupted for a quarter of a century during the reign of Commanderin-Chief Lon Nol ( 1970-1975), the Khmer Rouge(1975-1979), and Vietnamese intervention in 1979 until the foundation of the transitional government in 1993. Among those traditions affected, the old Cambodian art of woven cloth was one of them. Now a number of young weavers are being born into the art and the traditional textile culture is being received in Takeo and in Kompong Cham. However the distribution is totally in the hands of middlemen, who supply weavers with raw silk. The weavers' pay is low, so they try to produce as many cloths as possible to make the most possible money. High standard sericulture is vital for fine weaving. However, my research found out that traditional silkworm raising had almost died out in Cambodia apart from a few villages in Kampot. I, together with people from the villages, set forth on a mission to revive traditional sericulture.. Some old tools had been preserved , and most importantly , some elderly people who remembered the techniques still there. As a result of my effort to rejuvenate the Cambodian textiles tradition, a restored natural environment is vital for the survival of traditional culture. Traditional exists together with nature, a relationship which will never change. Morimoto Kikuo, Institute For Khmer Traditional Textiles
Kadir VAN LOHUIZEN / NOOR IMAGES Mzuzu Prison NETHERLANDS
Kadir van Lohuizen travelled to Malawi to complete the first phase of a collaborative project with ‘Young in Prison’, a Dutch NGO that campaigns for the rights of juveniles in prisons. The first chapter of this long-term project starts at the Mzuzu prison in Malawi. The project consists of a photo essay produced by Kadir documenting their living conditions and day-to-day life, and a workshop of practical photography exercised with 11 juvenile inmates. The prizon in Muzuzu holds 450 prisoners, of which 60 are juveniles. Living conditions are harsh – the prison is so overcrowded the inmates cannot lie down to sleep, and eat once a day. For the few hours they are allowed outside, they often sleep sitting or lying down in the courtyard. Many prisoners only commited minor or no real crimes, mostly due to economic and social troubles the country is facing. Kadir produced a black and white photo essay about the prison while the 11 students also produced a series of color photographs. The outcome is quite impressive, considering that none of the boys had ever touched a camera before.
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Tatevik VARDANYAN
Future Voters ARMENIA tatevikvardanyan.com Since Armenia gained independence, no election held since has ever been regarded as fair. This makes the people angry and aggressive every election season. In every step of the election, there are demonstrations and meetings. This year, I wanted to be a part of the election process and to research and understand the elections. I became an observer for the ‘Presidential Elections of Armenia’ and the ‘Yerevan Council of Aldermen’ elections. The stories I heard before became true with these elections; I realized that my country still has a long way to go before achieving truly fair elections. But one thing that gives me hope were the kids who came with their parents to vote and to learn what the process was and why it was happening. The elections are now over, but I will never forget the emotions on the kids’ faces. Each of them were so proud to be there and to be a part of something big.
Ann-Christine WOEHRL Yellamas Daughters GERMANY www.ann-christine-woehrl.com “We all have the right to be children“ says Prema Kundarghi, as she opens the gate to the orphanage “Ingrid Paradise“. Prema Kundarghi was raised as an orphan herself and knows what she is fighting for: Yellamma’s daughters – girls, who out of Hindu tradition have been promised to the Goddess Yellamma and forced to prostitution. Between the ages of 5 and 12, the girls get initiated in the temple through a ceremony and have to serve men. This is a tradition in India that was officially banned in the 1980s, but nonetheless persists in secret under the guise of religion. Today, there are around 25,000 girls and women that face this life. Annually, hundreds of mothers sacrifice their daughters behind closed doors to the Goddess Yellamma, passing over their hereditary role of a sacred prostitute. Before founding the orphanage in 2008, Prema took care of Devadasis, the so-called sacred prostitutes, and tried to unchain them from the vicious cycle. Witnessing the countless women dying from AIDS and the daughters they left behind, Prema decided to shelter the orphans and wanted to offer them a better life. As an orphan, Prema herself was in the same situation when a German woman Ingrid Müller entered her life. “My adoptive mother saved me“, she says with a warm smile. She named her house in Siruguppa, Karnataka after her, where she provides 26 girls shelter in safety and comfort.
FROM THE HEART: WESTMEAD CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL Emmanuel Angelicas Operating Theatres Geordie Cargill Clowns Gilbert Bel-Bachir Delta Society Therapy Dogs AUSTRALIA “From the Heart” is a photographic and video project documenting the life of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, commemorating the 20 years since the hospital moved from Camperdown to Westmead. The Australian Museum of Contemporary Photography (AMCP) initiated the project and invited 20 photographers to participate. The photographers had access to different areas of the Hospital, capturing images from behind the scenes as well as brave young patients, their families and dedicated staff. The Children’s Hospital at Westmead is world-renowned for providing the best care for sick children and their families. This specialist care, combined with community education, advocacy for improved child health and ground-breaking research into childhood illnesses, is blended within a positive, caring and healing environment.
SKATEISTAN
skateistan.org Paballo Thesiko, Rudi Jeggle, Jessica Fulton-Dobson, Sam Jam AFGHANISTAN, CAMBODIA, SOUTH AFRICA Skateistan is an award-winning international NGO that uses skateboarding as a tool for empowering youth, to create new opportunities and the potential for change. Located in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa, Skateistan is the first international development initiative to combine skateboarding with educational outcomes. The NGO focuses on at-risk youth ages 5-18. Over 40% of Skateistan students are girls. Over 50% of Skateistan students are street working children. Skateboarding is 'the hook' that is combined with programming such as arts-based education classes, a Back-to-School program, a Street Outreach program and a Youth Leadership program. The project started in 2007 and Skateistan currently works with over 1,200 youths weekly. Supporters include the Tony Hawk Foundation and the governments of Germany, Denmark, Finland and Switzerland.
YVES MARRE, THE SOLIDARY SAILOR Zeppelin FRANCE
Yves Marre sailed from France to Bangladesh in 1994 on a large river barge with the will to transform it into a floating hospital in the country. With his wife Run, he created the NGO Friendship, aimed to provide health and emergency aid. In 2012, Yves Marre was rewarded
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for his actions in Bangladesh for the last 20 years: he received a French award for his commitment to humanitarian actions abroad. In 2015, Yves Marre wrote a new book ‘Navigateur Solidaire’, and received a French award for the best book about the sea. Today, he has created M.S.R.S (Maritime Security and Rescue Society at sea) in Bangladesh, sparked by his concern dramatic occurrences in the Bay of Bengal and the major river routes. The Admiral Taher (retired Navy Chief of Bangladesh), Yves Marre and Watever gathered their friends to create a non-profit and non-government society to help enhance security and to rescue of seafarers. Facing the tragic reality of the fishermen’s living conditions at the Bay of Bengal and the users of major rivers, the protagonists of the new society refused to evade their responsibility of solidarity. They offer their skills, their energy, their enthusiasm and their lives to the service of safety and rescue to the seafarers of Bangladesh. With Marc Van Peteghem, a boatwright, they developed and produced the first unsinkable boats for the fishermen, the Moon Boat.
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EXHIBITIONS James Whitlow DELANO [ GREENLIGHT SERIES ] Scorched Earth / China's Wounded Environment. USA jameswhitlowdelano.photoshelter.com Every time I have returned to China over the past two decades, it has seemed like the air has grown more intensely polluted with every return journey. Last winter air quality index numbers entered the realm of science fiction; twice as bad, three times as bad and sometimes over 4 times as bad as a SMOGGY day in Los Angeles, infamous for its air pollution. I live downwind in Tokyo and wanted to see for myself what was going on. In 2008, the US Embassy in Beijing began monitoring air pollution against the wishes of the Chinese government because the results, which were tweeted out, revealed the air in Beijing to be worse than the government had been willing to admit. In 2013, the central government relented and set up roughly 500 air pollution monitoring stations around the country, revealing that the worst air in the country was in Hebei, the province that wraps around Beijing like a collar, meaning that the families of the political elite were allowing their own families to be slowly poisoned. The largest sources of this airborne contamination are coal-burning steel and glass factories that place several cities in Hebei in the top ten of the most air-polluted cities in China and Xingtai, Hebei as of January 2015 earned the dubious distinction as being the most air polluted city in that nation. Pollution infiltrates houses, agricultural fields, butchered meat, and the water people drink. Coal ash slowly rains down and coats everything. Everything. Then there is the issue of greenhouse gases leading to global warming and climate change. China recently surpassed the United States in production of greenhouse gases to become the planet’s top emitter and it consumes more coal than the rest of the world combined. So, where goes China, so goes the planet’s climate. Hebei may also be a canary in the coal mine for difficult economic times ahead for the entire country. With the economic slowdown in China, Hebei’s steel mills, which produce ¼ of China’s steel output, have been running well below capacity. Add to that, a government restructuring scheme to clean the capital’s air has led to closing down the oldest and mostpolluting steel mills and glass factories. The Hebei Provincial Development and Reform
Commission estimates that up to 200,000 jobs could be lost. Money in Hebei is drying up. The first chapter in China’s post nation-building history has arrived early in Hebei. To view more climate change work, check out @everydayclimatechange or @jameswhitlowdelano, both on Instagram. Biography James Whitlow Delano has lived in Asia for over 20 years. His work has been awarded internationally: the Alfred Eisenstadt Award (from Columbia University and Life Magazine), Leica’s Oskar Barnack, Picture of the Year International, NPPA Best of Photojournalism, PDN and others for work from China, Japan, Afghanistan and Burma, etc. His first monograph book, Empire: Impressions from China was the first ever one-person show of photography at La Triennale di Milano Museum of Art. The Mercy Project / Inochi his charity photo book for hospice received the PX3 Gold Award and the Award of Excellence from Communication Arts. His work has appeared in magazines and photo festivals on five continents. His latest award-winning monograph book, Black Tsunami: Japan 2011 (FotoEvidence) explored the aftermath of Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear disaster. He’s a grantee for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, for work documenting the destruction of equatorial rainforests and human rights violations of indigenous inhabitants there. In 2015, Delano founded EverydayClimateChange Instagram feed, where photographers from 6 continents document global climate change on 7 continents. Sergine LALOUX At The Heart Of Tibetan Buddhism BELGIUM www.serginelaloux.com I discovered the Tibetan people during a first trip to attend the celebrations of Losar, the Tibetan New Year. I felt directly in harmony with people, its culture, its fervor. Back in Brussels, I knew this trip would be the first of a history. My guide was called Pierre. He was physiotherapist and acupuncturist and lived with a Tibetan companion. Eight months later, he asked me to follow him on a humanitarian mission of acupuncture in remote villages of the Diqing region. Living in the home of the Tibetan doctor and sharing daily family while welcoming the many patients, it was a wonderful experience. In 2002, he returned to Belgium where he lives with his wife and 2 children. Several times I almost return to Tibet with them but every time something prevented. When he finally
proposed to be part of a trip focused on Buddhism, I did not hesitate a moment. These photos are a selection of the privileged and intense journey from monastery to monastery in the historic part of Tibet from Sichuan région. Biography After a career as a professional dancer, Sergine Laloux set her sights on photography. 1987 saw the birth of a long working relationship with choreographer Michèle Noiret. From 1989 onwards, following a workshop in China with Guy Le Querrec of the Magnum agency, she turned her attention to black and white reporting. In 1993, she received a prize from the Leica International Contest, entitled ‘The Fascination of black and white’ for her portfolio ‘Looking into Africa’ and was selected for the ‘Leica Magic Moments’ exhibition to celebrate 40 years of the Leica M. In 1995, she took part in an exhibition shown at the Charleroi Museum of Photography called ‘The Three Great Egyptians’, the Giseh pyramids through the history of photography. In 1999, reports "The Fall of the Wall" and "The Wall, 10 years on...?" gave the exhibition "Berlin" created in Brussels. From 1991 to 1995, she lived in Portugal, working around two central themes: The disappearing rural way of life in the Alentejo region. The life of Alentejo’s tziganes. In 2001 a large-scale reporting assignment took her two time to Tibet where she followed the Losar Ceremony in Labrang Monastery and a humanitarian mission in the isolated villages of the Diqing region. In summer 2014, 13 years later she decided to return to that Tibetan culture she loved and traveling from monastery to monastery in the heart of Buddhism. Since 1991 she has taken part in a large number of personal and collective exhibitions, both in Brussels and abroad. Remissa MAK / ASIA MOTION Left 3 Days CAMBODIA www.asiamotion.net/photographers/57/remissa-mak Like other Cambodians, some of my family members died from the killing, starvation, forced labor and torture under the Khmer Rouge regime. Most of those who have survived the regime do not wish to recall such painful memories nor do they try to remember in order to avoid continues emotional suffering. Therefore, the story of the genocide that happened between 1975 and 1979 in Cambodia has faded gradually away from people’s mind, like smoke being blown away by the wind. Indeed, we, Cambodians, don’t want such a tragic and
painful event to ever happen again in our motherland. That is why, right now, in order for the next generations to know our history so that it won't disappear with the passage of time, it is important to reconcile the victims with the view of mending their fragile memories and emotional suffering. “Left 3 Days” is a keyword to recall some memories during my childhood at that time; particularly on 17 April 1975 when Khmer Rouge troops took control and occupied the capital city ‘Phnom Penh’. On that day the earsplitting gunfire shots could be heard for miles around the city. For every shot fired, a shiver would run down my spine. The soldiers clad in black -most were very young - ordered all residents to leave their homes for three days, even patients had to leave the hospitals without any clear information. My family hide in our house over a night, hoping the situation may change for the better. However, to our dismay, the capital city that was once so lively and rich with life became a ghost town. As ordered, everyone was evicted out of the capital city. The only living human beings left were the Khmer Rouge troops that kept searching for any people who remained, they went from house to house. Due to the worsening situation, my father decided to leave Phnom Penh the next day. My parents and other family members left the city carrying heavy and overburdening belongings. We headed out of the city, along the national road "3", walking to Angkor Chey district in Kampot province, my father’s hometown. Crowds of the city residents walked from dusk till dawn. Some would wander around with no clear destination in mind. If one of them was too tired, they were not able to rest, for the Khmer Rouge troops were chasing behind them and forcing them to continue onward. Whenever night fell, people would rest by the roadside. Many dead bodies lay on both sides of the road and corpses would float upward in ponds, lakes and water canals. Due to the severe drought and corpses floating in what little water sources were left, finding drinking water was extremely difficult. Words alone cannot describe the horror and pain inflicted on each and every family. What has been described is just a fraction of the events which occurred and a glimpse into the primary plan of the Khmer Rouge to evict the citizens from Phnom Penh to rural areas. I wish to dedicate this work as a memorial to my respectful father, grandfather and three uncles as well as all the victims who died during the heinous Khmer Rouge regime. Phnom Penh, 05 December 2014 Biography
MAK Remissa is regarded as one of the most successful Khmer photographers of his generation. He credits his first and third place awards in the 1997 National Photojournalism competition, held by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club and chaired by Phillip Jones Griffiths, as a major catalyst in his career. Currently working as a photojournalist for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), his work is often seen on the international news wires. His 2005 fine art photography exhibition, titled after a traditional Khmer proverb: “When the water rises, the fish eats the ant; when the water recedes, the ant eats the fish”, was shown in Phnom Penh galleries like Popil and Java, as well as at the Angkor Photo Festival. Born in 1970, Remissa and his family were moved from Phnom Penh five years later by the Khmer Rouge and relocated in Takeo province. In 1995, he graduated in Fine Art and Photography at the Royal Fine Arts School in Phnom Penh, and his work soon appeared in numerous publications such as Cambodge Soir and the Phnom Penh Post. He has also worked for Reuters and other organisations. Remissa has exhibited his fine art photography in Cambodia, France, Canada and the US, and after spending a few years in Canada, he has returned to live and record events in the country of his birth. Seven pieces of Remissa's Fish and Ants work was recently made part of the Singapore Art Museum's permanent collection. Mak Remissa exposes « Water is Life » in Hotel De La Paix in Siem Reap, during Angkor Photo Festival 2011.This exhibition was sponsored by AIR France. Mak Remissa exposed « Water is Life » in the Institut Français de Birmanie (formerly Alliance Française) during Yangon Photo Festival 2012. Remissa “Water is Life” was exposed during the «Ruptures and Revival: Cambodian Photography in the Last Decade» exhibition in the ICA Gallery2,Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, in Singapore in March 2012. Further more Mak Remissa’s « Fish And Ants » was exposed in the « Life Being, Earth Being » exhibition in the Theory of Clouds Gallery in Kobe, Japan in April-May 2013. « Life Being, Earth Being » exhibition is a group exhibition showing work of Hajime Kimura / Andrea Star Reese / Abir Abdullah / Remissa Mak / Zalmai. Remissa "Water is Life" was exposed at the Xishuangbanna Festival 2014 in China. January 8 - February 8 2014. Fish & Ants was exposed in GETXOPHOTO festival in September 2014 in Bilbao, Spain. Finally "Left 3days" was exposed at The French Cultural Centre in Phnom Penh, during PhotoPhnomPenh 2015.
Mak Remissa has been a member of Asia Motion since 2010. Palani MOHAN Hunting With Eagles AUSTRALIA palanimohan.com Kazakh nomads have been grazing their livestock near the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia for many hundreds of years. Here, in this desolate landscape, where temperatures plummet to minus 40 degrees Celsius in winter, live the last of the men who use eagles to hunt on horseback. Rugged, formidable, proud, the golden eagles share the same qualities as the men with whom they ride. Only the toughest survive here. Fascinated by the special bond that develops between hunter and eagle, photographer Palani Mohan has spent the last four years documenting the burkitshi, as the hunters are known in Kazakh. There are no more than 50 to 60 ‘true’ hunters left, and each winter claims a few more. Having taken a pup from the nest, given it pride of place in their home and trained it, all hunters describe the eagle as part of their family. With its massive wingspan, sharp eyesight and powerful, flesh-tearing beak and talons, the golden eagle is the perfect predator. Its usual prey, fox, provides a welcome meal for the hunter’s family, while the pelt can be made into warm clothing. Mohan’s photographs of the stark landscape, the isolation of the hunt, and most of all the trusting relationship between man and bird, convey the huge importance that the eagle plays in the lives of the last remaining Kazakh hunters. This is an timely record of these noble men and their majestic eagles in an unforgiving part of the planet before they disappear. Biography Indian born, Australian raised, and now living in Hong Kong, Palani Mohan’s work has been widely published by many of the world’s leading publications. He is the author of four books and has just completed his fifth, on the Eagle Hunters of Mongolia, which will be published in September 2015. His work is part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London and his images have been shown widely around the globe and he has been recognized with awards including World Press Photo, Picture of the Year International, CHIPP, Communication Arts, and Sony International.
Vlad SOKHIN / COSMOS / PANOS PICTURES [ GREENLIGHT SERIES ] Kiribati
RUSSIA-PORTUGAL www.vladsokhin.com The tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati is among countries that are most vulnerable to the climate change. Sea level rise, coastal erosion, soil salinisation and extreme weather events already proving climate change scientists' worst prediction that the country might disappear under the sea in decades. The best example that the climate change is real is seen in Tebunginako village in Abaiang atoll. The village is called by the country's government a "barometer for what Kiribati can expect in the future". Since 1970s the villagers have seen the sea rise. Eventually the erosion was so great that the major part of the village had to be abandoned. In South Tarawa, which is Kiribati official capital, some villages also slowly dissipating under the sea water. Among others, Tebikenikoora village suffers from flooding every high tide. Before the high tide events locals park their cars on a high areas of the village and stay in their homes. Trying to fight the fate, the country’s government started Kiribati Adaptation Program. In 2011 over 37000 mangroves were planted in North and South Tarawa as well as in other atolls of Kiribati. Although there are still debates among the scientists about what exactly causes the sea level rise, Kiribati government is already has been looking for a place to relocate the entire nation if the country disappears under the sea. Kiribati purchashed land in Fiji for $8.77 million in May 2014 where its residents would be relocated in the event that sea-level rise drowns the Pacific island nation and displaces its population of just over 100,000 people. Biography Vlad Sokhin (Russia/Portugal) is a documentary photographer, videographer and multimedia producer. He covers social, cultural, environmental, health and human rights issues around the world, including post-conflict and natural disaster zones. Vlad has worked on photo, video and radio projects, collaborating with various international media and with the United Nations and international NGOs. Vlad’s work has been exhibited and published internationally, including at Visa Pour L’Image and Head On photo festivals and in the International Herald Tribune, BBC World Service, the Guardian, National Geographic Traveler, GEO, ABC, NPR, The Atlantic, Stern, Le Monde, Paris Match, Esquire, Das Magazin, WIRE Amnesty International, Sydney Morning Herald, Marie Claire, The Global Mail, Russian Reporter and others.
Vlad has produced short multimedia films as well as fundraising and campaign videos for UNICEF, UNAIDS, UN Women, OHCHR, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Amnesty International and ChildFund. Vlad has lived and worked in Russia, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Mozambique and Australia and he currently works between Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He is fluent in English, Russian and Portuguese and also speaks Spanish and Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea). He is currently learning French and Arabic.
ÉCOLE FRANÇAISE D'EXTRÊME-ORIENT (E.F.E.O) A Journey into 20th Century Cambodia through EFEO Photographic Archives FRANCE-CAMBODIA www.efeo.fr In 1900, the French Mission archéologique d’Indochine was renamed École française d’Extrême-Orient, with its main missions defined as archaeological exploration, collection of manuscripts, preservation of monuments, inventorying of ethnic groups, linguistic studies and, more generally, the study of the history of all Asian civilizations from India to Japan. In Cambodia, in particular, numerous scholars where sent since 1907, mainly to study and restore the fascinating Angkor archaeological site. During seventy years, those architects, epigraphists and archeologists gathered notably a huge amount of photographs, and if they were of course focusing on the Angkorian patrimony, they have also been the passionate witnesses of Cambodia through the 20th century. This exhibition offers a great opportunity to discover a selection of the photographical archives of the EFEO. It tries to give an overview of its diversity, by including, of course, the work of these scholars and some of their portraits, but also remarquable daily life scenes. Gabi BEN AVRAHAM Street Portfolio - Gabi Ben Avraham ISRAEL www.gabibest.com America The American street is the heart of the Western civilization - the civilization of consumption. The individual is swallowed by an inflation of images, full of colors and symbols. Human figures are assimilated in this visual abundance. Their clothes are printed using the same images; sometimes they are tattooed right on their skins. Man loses his individuality for a set of symbols flooding the reality in which he acts, thus becoming another product
controlled by economic firms that thrive thanks to him. Pop-art has taken the commercial representations out of their context and redefined them as art. The modern street takes Pop-art, duplicates the images it created and reuses them as a design, commercial tool, that of the mass-media. One can find Andy Warholl and Jeff Koons on posters and street signs, recycled and industrialized, downgraded into banal and common advertisement, stand or ad. Pop-art has turned the banal into art, but the street takes art and returns it into the banal. When the photographer separates the street from the spectator by means of the camera frame, he continues, ironically speaking, the perpetual oscillation art -industry - art. The industry, which has been redefined by Pop-art as art, and has returned to the street to serve Capitalism, is redefined as art. The photographer invites the spectator to also take part in this endless conversion concept. The irony depicted in the chaining of quotations brings into awareness the whole system of popular culture industry. Cuba Those who visit Cuba experience a strong feeling of travelling in time, of people living in a bubble disconnected from the Western world as we know it. Far from abundance and comfort, distant from the mighty communication industry and the consuming culture, they live the human side of life as opposed to the industrial and mechanical side. Communication is face to face, people are outside, in the street most of the time, there are very poor resources, everything crumbles, severe poverty. This is their world, and they live it to the full. Nonetheless, they seem strong and maintain their joie de vivre. Biograpbhy My name is Gabi (Gavriel) Ben-Avraham. I am 55 years old, and married with three children aged 24, 26 and 19. I work in a software company and live in a quiet neighborhood of Tel Aviv, the city which I grew up in, have never left and is a part of me and my hobby photography. I enjoy cinema and music, and during the 1980’s photographed using film cameras. I then did not touch a camera for 20 years until I received a digital camera as a gift for my birthday from my wife 2 years ago. The rest is history…. Process Description: “The Street is not a Studio”. Sometimes I stand and wait for things to converge – a cyclist, a dancer, a child – moving along. They are not aware that they are moving towards a certain object, but I am. Street Photography is my favorite way of looking at the world. My camera has become an integral part of me and I cannot imagine myself without it. Everywhere I go I take it with me thinking ‘maybe today will be my lucky day and I will take the photo of my life’. Via the camera lens I am constantly looking around me, searching for that ‘decisive’ moment that will never return, unless I catch it. When pushing the button, I try to make some sense, restore order to the chaotic scheme of things in the composition. The components 'speak' with each other in a special dialogue, either by color, shape, or light. Capturing the elusive, special moment
after which things will never be the same and making it eternal – that is my goal. Forgotten, transparent people in urban surroundings are being granted their moment of grace. The shadows, fragile outlines, reflections within daily lives that are not noticed in the busy and thick urban landscape and sometimes are even crushed by it – these are precious to me. Those expressions, compositions – flickering like dim lights on the horizon – I treasure these before they are lost in time. I enjoy looking at other photographers’ works and am inspired by websites such as IN-public and Magnum.
PROJECTIONS Ying ANG 2009 - 2010 SINGAPORE www.yingangphoto.com Photographed over a period over 2009 and 2010, I found myself in a time of transition. Between relationships, homes, careers, this undefined space is all I had to call my own. Within the gap of what I left behind and what I was still yet to find, grew these fragments of flesh, flowers and communion with the dawn.
Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP Rohingya Migrant Crisis FRANCE The Rohingya Muslim minority has been living for generations in western Myanmar, bordering Bangladesh. Since they are not recognised by the Burmese authorities, they live in a regime of discrimination in Rakhine state, where their civil rights are severely limited, not only for their families and citizenship issues, but also in terms of access to education, health and work. In 2012, after the political opening of Burma when power was returned to civilian rule, violent riots broke out between Buddhist Rakhine and Rohingya Muslims, killing dozens of people. Numerous Rohingya villages were razed, and their inhabitants moved to camps for displaced people. This already existed before 2012, but has increased even more since as thousands chose to live in exile in hopes for a better future in other countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. Many undertook the journey by sea through the Bay of Bengal in the worst exodus that Southeast Asia has seen since the end of the Vietnam War. They are now in the hands of human traffickers who control the sea routes. No long-term decision has been taken by the countries of the region to support the exiles, and the international community is not reacting. The UN considers the Rohingya as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Maryam ASHRAFI Kurdish Women Fighters IRAN-UK www.maryamashrafi.com In the heart of the Middle East, a region plagued by religious fundamentalism and where women are known to be almost invisible in political and social activities, a Kurdish political and social movement has emerged in which women play a substantial practical role in the decision-making process in both politics and military. It is only just recently that the Kurdish movement turned into an international media phenomenon widely covered in the global news outlets, many of which focus on the particular role of women fighters and their courage being impetus of the Kurdish movement. The extensive media coverage of the Kurdish women fighters comes in addition to the fact that the role of women and war has a historical trend in Kurdistan, the Middle east and internationally, particularly the struggle for gender quality against patriarchy. The on-going focus on the role of Kurdish fighters in Rojova (Syria’s Kurdish region) and the resistance that they put against the group calling itself Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS/ISL is perhaps a turning point in the sense it has gained international recognition of the history of such movements. The war of those Kurdish fighters is completely different to all the other conflicts raging across the Middle East, especially when all the wars taking place in the Middle East can be easily classified as sectarian ethnic and religious conflicts, yet the Rojava war is neither ethnic nor religious. The Kurdish freedom fighters are simultaneously fighting on two dissimilar fronts, one being the militarily fight against IS and other extremist Islamic groups and the other softer, yet crucial political and social war against traditional conservative Middle Eastern beliefs, norms, and values that are truly unfair to society and extremely against liberal values, gender equality in particular. After years of denial of their rights, the Kurds of Rojava in Syria rose, struggled and launched the political and social project of “Democratic Autonomy” on 19 July 2012. The “Democratic Autonomy” or sometimes called “Democratic Con-federalism” project was designed to ensure a future not only for the Kurds, but also for the region’s many different religious and ethnic entities, including Arabs, Assyrians, Syriacs, Armenians, Greek Orthodox Christians, Yazidis, and Chechens. The people of Rojava have declared autonomy in three cantons: Afrin, Kobane and Cizire. In the heart of this Kurdish-led revolution in Syria, women, who had taken leadership roles in all walks of life, felt the need for armed self-defense and founded the Women's Protection Units, better known by its Kurdish acronym, the YPJ, on 2 December 2013. Subsequently, it was the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) that fought alongside the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the battle for Kobane, in which they fought a modern urban guerrilla warfare while under siege for months, defeated IS and declared Kobane liberated in January 2015. It is worth mentioning that the phenomenon of an all-out women participation in politics and military in such a Kurdish movement is not only limited to the Kurdish region in Syria. Similar experiences happened and continue taking place in the Kurdish region of Iran, where women’s involvement in politics and military affairs witnessed three different historical stages. The first of such an experience, although limited, occurred just after the establishment of the self-declared Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad in 1946 under the leadership of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI or PDKI). The second phase was the emergence of the Komalah (also known as Komele), a Kurdish left-wing movement first founded as a loose Kurdish student network in the late 1960s in Iran and transformed into a mass political and popular guerrilla movement by 1979. The third stage came after the founding of the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), a political and military organization founded in 2004, operating under the banner of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella united front organization led and founded by the Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Kurdish women have managed to attain more gender
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equality, and some of the fighters had fled conservative backgrounds solely due to the simple fact that they had been brought up in openminded and educated families that praise university qualifications. However, similar to their involvement in intellectual activities, they see participation in the military campaigns as a way of attaining their national and gender rights. Women have proven that they are capable of working in command positions and leading prominent roles in the Kurdish society, advocating a set of pattern for changes and revitalization that could one day inspire other societies across the Middle East.
Manuel BAUER / FOCUS / COSMOS
The Dalaï Lama, a Pictorial Portrait Project SWITZERLAND www.manuelbauer.ch The Pictorial Portrait Project is a comprehensive visual archive of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, whose non-violent engagement for Tibet and for peaceful cohabitation places him among the most outstanding personalities of our time. The project is the work of Swiss photographer Manuel Bauer, renowned for his work on Tibet and the Tibetan diaspora. The archive aims to preserve a comprehensive body of photographic work of the 14th Dalai Lama, with the goal of strengthening and building the identity of the Tibetan people as well as of men around the world and future generations. The Pictorial Portrait Project is under the patronage of The Private Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Kürşat BAYHAN Away from Home TURKEY www.salon.io/kursadbayhan The project "Away from Home" which I began nearly 5 years ago, covers the inhabitants of Eminonu, Kucukpazar as one of the areas in Istanbul largely populated by migrants. Thousands of young migrants chasing their hopes and dreams are fighting for their living under challenging conditions. This group of people which we could name as the 4th generation, after the migration in the 1960's,1980's, and 90's, work in day jobs due to the lack of a professional education. They dwell in single room houses with limited supplies of electricity and water. Individual rooms of apartment suites are rented on a monthly basis. One room is typically occupied by a minimum of 10 people. Oftentimes, rooms in houses that lack a kitchen and bathroom are used for cooking and bathing. Migrants usually occupied with peddling, junk and scrap dealing, make approximately $200 US in a month. After spending $50 for rental, migrants send the balance of their income to their families in their hometown. Only a few are able to achieve their goals of a better life and manage to bring their families to Istanbul.
BELO MONTE DAM / AMAZON WATCH Maira IRIGARAY, Rafael SALAZAR, Atossa SOLTANI BRAZIL amazonwatch.org The Brazilian government is building the world's third largest hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River, a major Amazon tributary. Now over 50% complete, the Belo Monte Dam complex is designed to divert 80% of the Xingu River's flow which will thus devastate an area of over 1,500 square kilometers of Brazilian rainforest and cause the forced displacement of up to 40,000 people. This project gravely impacts the land and livelihoods of thousands of riverine, urban families and communities, and indigenous peoples from several neighboring areas. The Xingu River basin is a living symbol of Brazil's cultural and biological diversity; it is home to 25,000 indigenous people from 40 ethnic groups. The Xingu flows north 2,271 kilometers from the central savanna region of Mato Grosso to the Amazon River. Nominally protected throughout most of its course by indigenous reserves and conservation units, the Xingu basin is severely impacted by cattle ranching and soy monocultures. Belo Monte is the first in a planned network of mega-dam projects which will pose additional devastation to an already threatened region. No one knows the true cost of the Belo Monte Dam. What is clear is that Belo Monte will be one of the largest, most devastating infrastructure projects ever built in the Amazon. As costs rocket above all previous estimates and the full extent of its impacts across the region become more evident, it's clear that Brazil doesn't need Belo Monte, and that the project brings destruction – not development – to a precious region. Since the initiation of construction in 2011, the city of Altamira has witnessed a massive influx of migrants, provoking a spike in criminal activities, as well as the collapse of health, education, and sanitation services. For local indigenous communities, especially the Juruna and Arara peoples of the Xingu's "Big Bend" region, alcoholism, depression, internal divisions and conflict have become commonplace, leading to a process of cultural disintegration. Dam construction has profoundly impacted the quality of the river's water, jeopardizing both water and food security for indigenous and traditional peoples who rely on the Xingu for drinking, bathing, fishing, and transport. The construction of Belo Monte has already led to a drastic reduction in the river's once biodiverse fish species and it portends more serious impacts if completed. Amazon Watch has led an international campaign to stop Belo Monte since 2010. Our efforts have been instrumental in shining a spotlight on the inherent human rights and legal violations behind the dam and the environmental chaos it has left behind in its wake. Amazon
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Watch continues to work alongside a coalition of Brazilian and international organizations to support the struggle of local social movements and affected communities against Belo Monte.
Valerio BISPURI / ECHOPHOTOAGENCY Encerrados, Travel to South American Jails ITALY www.valeriobispuri.it
I spent 10 years travelling for South-America jails. A different and complex world in which violence and abuse are part of convicts’ lives. I saw, during the time, how convicts try to find a space similar to that one they had outside of the jails. They try to preserve their dignity. Jails are a reflection of society, a mirror of a country both in terms of small problems and also big economic and social issues. The necessity to recreate their space is the only way to defend themselves. They hardly try to maintain their habits in a human boundary condition and overcrowding status. Violence and power management inside the jails are the direct consequences of these conditions. Thus, for instance in Brazil, even if I got the permission for taking pictures inside the jails, the jail director had to seek the approval of a “control” group who ran the prison. In Santiago, in Chile, the convicts, irritated by such bad life conditions are used to fight during their autonomy hour. The jails rules are the same in life: who has more money and power, supervises and has authority. Life in jail is not only about power games and fights. In daily life there is time to play football, to talk, to joke. For women,there are moments when they dress up and apply make-up. This work is not to denounce the situation in jails but to discover and share the similarities and differences in South American countries. I went to 74 male and female jails in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia e Venezuela. I was in contact with prisoners and guards, both in fear and anger, and with both hope and diffidence. Some convicts considered me a distraction, others looked at me with envy, others with contempt because they thought that I was only there to photograph their confined life. Every jail was a way to see the country from inside and outside. Even if everything seems to be just a reflection of violence, the contrast of life and violence belongs to one line. This corresponds to the history of South America.
Cees BOL Sophie And Sarah Two Old English Sheepdog Sisters NETHERLANDS www.dewollewei.com Pictures of our two old English sheepdogs Sophie and Sarah, along with their friends.
Ferhat BOUDA / AGENCE VU'
Oran, on Kamel Daoud's Traces ALGERIA www.bouda-photographie.com In the city of Oran, the photographer Ferhat Bouda met the Algerian intellectual and journalist Kamel Daoud. The latter confided about Algeria and ‘the Radiant City’. Between the man and the town, an astonishing proximity is forged. “To be Algerian is to be schizophrenic.” Kamel Daoud uses these words to describe his feelings concerning his nation, Algeria. A journalist for Le Quotidien d'Oran with his 12-year-old column titled ‘Raïana Rakoum’ (My opinion, Your opinion), Kamel Daoud symbolises freedom of speech in his country. A defender of individual freedom, the intellectual collided with radical muslims who claimed in December 2014 a fatwa against him. He does take a critical look at his homeland. Neither secular, nor religious, according to him the Algerian State assumes a deliberate indecision. For Kamel Daoud, Algerians barely dare admit their modernity. Torn between Western capitalism and religious dogmas, Algerians still have to take over their own identity. Oran is the reflection of this tension. Wearing a Mediterranean hallmark, Oran reinvents itself day after day. Commercial port and small fishermen harbors, Portuguese basilicas and Ottoman ramparts, former French emblems and Raï labels, Oran is a melting pot where Berber, Arab, Jewish, Spanish, Ottoman and French people meet each other. The Sidi El Houari district is a good example of this multicultural evidence, where differences are expressed daily. While churches and mosques are places for sociability and culture, the musical scene which in olden days had revealed Raï stars, still is in full swing, gathering a dynamic youth. Women do not hesitate to go out to take a walk in pedestrian streets without their husband, letting themselves be lured by luxury brands. Between fresh start and tradition, freedom and introspection, a complex wind lulls Oran beautiful coast which inspired Albert Camus and his contradictory modern counterpart , Kamel Daoud.
Arno BRIGNON / SIGNATURES Joséphine FRANCE www.arno-brignon.fr Initially there was doubt and fear, ubiquitous. The doubt about my ability to be a father, the doubt about my ability to succeed in loving. The fear that this intensely close couple, my selfish desires, will not survive the arrival of this child which was at the same time so much
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desired and feared. Josephine is now six years old and those doubts have been dispelled, driven out by new ones. Love is obvious. The fear of death is another one. I live with both. Then with all my heart and soul, I photograph both of us, the three of us. Love, fears, joys, angers and sorrows come together in my photographs. Others are not welcome in this imaginary paradise that I build. It is a constant struggle against the inevitable ending (that I fear so much) of this love microcosm. Since 2009 I have been photographing our family, first without paying attention, with the camera that comes to hand, and then the series starts to build itself, and photography becomes less spontaneous. I found a suitable photographic process, and I stick to it. I look for a good picture, probably a little too much. For a while, I realise, I am not really taking any more family pictures, I am taking pictures for the series… So, today, it is time to stop. Time flies and now more than ever it is clear that ""nothing precludes the night, there is no reason ...""* and I have yet to dare all. * From the song “Osez Joséphine” by Alain Bashung"
Paula BRONSTEIN / GETTY IMAGES The Unwanted: Burma’S Rohingyas USA www.paulaphoto.com
As a photojournalist based in Bangkok, Myanmar is a close neighbor and a country that I have become quite familiar with. My extensive work in Burma has been published globally showing a more intimate look at daily life of the people, their hardships and the flow of change both economically and politically. This includes my photography of the unending plight of the Rohingya. Although the Burmese government has become conscious of the negative publicity created by the long-standing discrimination against Rohingyas it offers no resolution to the on going problems. Myanmar’s president, Thein Sein, has also denied there have been human rights abuses against the Rohingya. Along Burma’s western coast in Rakhine state the situation is quite dire. Years ago the Buddhists who are the majority along with the minority Rohingya lived peacefully together. After a wave of religious violence swept the region approximately 135,000 Rohingya have been closed off for more than two years living as virtual prisoners in over crowded, unsanitary camps for internally displaced persons racially segregated from the Rakhine Buddhists. Rohingya Muslims are officially considered illegal “immigrants” from Bangladesh and denied the rights of citizenship, though many of their families have lived in the country for generations. They have scarce food, water and health care. Many have died from preventable medical conditions such as malnutrition. With only basic health care available inside the camps most cannot even afford to get medicine. The Rohingya also have severe restrictions on marriage, employment, and education. International media and human rights organizations have described Rohingyas as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Between January and March this year, around 25,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshis boarded boats run by smugglers which is twice as many as in 2014, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Currently an escalating migrant crisis is stranding thousands of refugees at sea as they escape on overcrowded vessels, most are ethnic Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
Giacomo BRUNELLI Eternal London ITALY www.giacomobrunelli.com Eternal London was commissioned by The Photographers’Gallery and was shot over a period of two years. In this series, Giacomo Brunelli uses his distinct film-noir style to create a unique and evocative view of the capital and its famous landmarks. The images are framed around the silhouettes of people and animals, including the statue of Winston Churchill depicted alongside Big Ben, a dog running into the Thames and a woman featured against the backdrop of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Brunelli takes his photographs during daily early morning walks, randomly choosing a person to follow before focusing his camera on them. Working discreetly, Brunelli often uses a removable viewfinder to be able to photograph his subjects from waist level and other unusual angles, such as directly from behind and with extreme close-ups. Working entirely in analogue format, Brunelli shoots his photographs with a 1960s Miranda Sensomat camera given to him by his father.
CALIFORNIA: PARADISE BURNING
The New Yorker Photobooth / Matt BLACK & Ed KASHI USA www.mattblack.com www.edkashi.com Since 2012, California has been suffering through a historically severe drought that has affected over 90% of the Golden State. Residents continue to reel from the consequences as another rainy season has left the snowpack well below average, the reservoirs dangerously low, and the cities, towns and agricultural communities jockeying for whatever water is left. As wells go dry, orchards are uprooted or left to die, livestock is destroyed, and workers remain unemployed and feeling useless. On assignment for The New Yorker, photographers Matt Black and Ed Kashi spent time with farmers and shepherds of the Central Valley, documenting their ongoing struggles and the evident domino effect of severe water shortages. As Dana Goodyear writes in the magazine article, for the farmers of the Central Valley, “the country’s fruit basket, salad bowl, and dairy case,” the future seems especially bleak.
Pelle CASS
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Selected People USA pellecass.com My work reveals a surprising world that is visible only with a camera. These composite photographs examine a particular place over time (compressing time like a time-lapse film). I simply select which figures to retain and omit the rest, while looking for patterns, shapes, and coincidences. However, I scrupulously leave each figure in its original position so the photographs represent things as they really happened. I have two aims in this work. One is to show the strangeness of time conveyed in this old saying: “the purpose of time is to keep everything from happening at once.” My other goal is to capture people in ordinary, non-dramatic moments because that’s most of what life is: a random mess of coincidences that go mostly unmarked and unnoticed, a series of tiny tragedies. I record these moments, re-sequence them, and make them, in some way, memorable.
Juan Manuel CASTRO PRIETO / AGENCE VU' Peru, The Sacred Valley SPAIN www.castroprieto.com
In 1990, Juan Manuel Castro Prieto packed his black & white gear and set off for Peru to do enlarged versions of shots by the great Martín Chambi. He has since made many more trips to the country that is still a source of wonderment for him. In the footsteps of Martín Chambi, the photographer he admires so much, he used a large format view camera to explore sites photographed by the master, seeking to understand his fascination for the Andes and the influence on his work and life.
Luca CATALANO GONZAGA / WITNESS IMAGE The Hidden Focus ITALY www.witnessimage.com www.catalanogonzaga.com Every day, an average of 1,000 new Somali refugees cross the border into Kenya and walk another 80km in order to queue in front of the UNHCR Registration site of Dadaab in Kenya. In the U.N. designated area, each and every single refugee is photographed and fingerprinted. Here, registration seems to have a miraculous effect: it means access to tents, lavatories, drinking water, healthcare facilities and food passes. At the time, the three camps in Dadaab provided shelter for almost half a million refugees, and over 40 thousand more lived next to the outer fences of the camps, not benefiting from the U.N. jurisdiction.
Tadas ČERNIAUSKAS LITHUANIA tadaocern.com Blow Job My studio is located in loft block in Vilnius and they have an annual tradition to have an Open Day for everyone who wants to visit. That was new to me, so I wanted to makes something that would be entertaining, make people laugh and that everyone could participate in the process. The idea to blow wind in to the face and make a portrait somehow came to my head instantly. I wanted to create images that would be clean, simple and in meet high aesthetic quality standards. So I've built my own lights that helped me achieving visual concept that I had in my mind. It took me only few seconds to take one picture. The person in front of my camera had to breath in and hold it until my assistant was blowing 300km/h wind in to his face. Comfort Zone This project is about the seaside, sunbathing, and holiday somnolence that is free from the world surrounding you. These photos are not staged, and people did not suspect that they were being photographed by me.
Cyril COSTILHES Grand Circle Diego FRANCE www.sikost-photography.com This project stems from the need to make sense to an impossible family situation. The wish to face up to a psychic abyss. Urgent! Photographic exorcism. My father left to live in Diego Suarez, Madagascar in 2001. Two years later he was the victim of a serious motorbike accident. Repatriated to France suffering from a major frontal dementia, he has remained interned, shut in. Enclosed in his own dreams. I set out to follow his traces. At Diego, I wandered.
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Scarlett COTEN Still Alive FRANCE www.scarlettcoten.com It's six o'clock in the morning in February and for the first time in my life I'm crossing a border on foot! It gives me a real sense of adventure. A deserted road at the water's edge, bordered to the west by the mountains of South Sinai. Later on I will travel the desert from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Gulf of Suez, from Rafah to Dahab, from Abu-Zenima to Naqhl, from Sarabit to Ras Abu Galium. Day after day I photograph my journey. What's going on, what surrounds me, the people I meet. My backdrop is the desert, our travels and halts. These are my guiding lines. I photograph my hosts; those that ask me to, those that pose. Gestures and laughter replace the spoken word. Time seems different, the people too. It's a hot summer. From one area of shade to another, we reach for each breath of air, each lift of the breeze. I no longer know which day it is; we live in the present. I gain the trust of the women who show me their private quarters. In their brightly colored robes, between a heartshaped clock and a stylized palm-tree on the wall, the Bedouin pose with all the seriousness and attention that this new experience requires. They smoke, raising their veil with one hand. I fall in love with this cheerful and curious people, who consent to pose for me, and do so with delight. Thus, between reality and fiction, I photograph this inner journey that bears witness to my experience, guided by my inspiration; play and staging bring us together, beyond our different cultures, for a moment of shared happiness. At each meeting, I am greeted with the words: "still alive!" These photographs are the illustration of the humour, enthusiasm and modernity of this astonishing people. Forgotten, destitute, but alive!
Thomas CRISTOFOLETTI / RUOM Polygamy Inc. ITALY www.thomascristofoletti.com Although polygamy is legal in Malaysia, it is rarely practiced in the open or with the knowledge and approval of all the wives involved in such a relationship. However, one company in the country - Global Ikhwan - only employs women, who view polygamy as the integral element of “the Islamic way of life.” Global Ikhwan is a Malaysia-based multinational company associated with the banned Al-Arqam Islamic sect, whose founder Ashaari Mohammad was once held under the Internal Security Act. The enterprise employs 4,000 people worldwide through its complicated network of subsidiaries, operates restaurants, clothing shops, noodle factories and health clinics - just to name a few. It also runs its own schools, care homes and rehabilitation centres. Since the banning of the sect in 1994, some activities funded by the company have attracted widespread media attention and criticism. In 2012 for example, the female employees of Global Ikhwan established the Obedient Wives Club - a move seen by the authorities as an attempt to revive the sect. The Club encouraged women to act “like first class whores” in order to keep their husbands from straying.
Rahul Kumar DAS Sanguinity BANGLADESH rahultripta.wordpress.com If Cubist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz claimed that art is a denial of death, then photographer Rahul Kumar Das audaciously disproves this assertion in his photographic essay “Sanguinity.” In his piece, Das becomes not only witness to, but documentarian of the art of dying. What makes this work all the more striking is that the subject is the artist’s father. During the last three years of his father’s life, Das became his primary caretaker. Remaining true to his artist soul, he employs his camera to capture the disturbing paradox of the human condition in its final days: indignity and dignity, frailty and resilience, sadness and beauty, love and fear. In his work, he draws back the curtain on the most sacred of human experiences to reveal the truth of our common mortality.
Miquel DEWEVER PLANA / AGENCE VU' Hach Winik FRANCE www.miquel-dewever-plana.com
As a child, I always dreamed of living in the forest, with the Lacandons Indians, Hach Winik, i.e. “real men”. I can’t remember how I got to know them, but it doesn’t really matter, because for almost ten years now, I have never stopped coming back, and the happiness of sharing their daily life remains the same. Nevertheless, during my first trip, I was confused by this world, which I had so much dreamed about, and that I discovered in an afternoon of January, 1999. In front of this changing world, I needed time to forget about all the clichés that my mind had built and to realize that a people’s essence is not in what it shows, but, on the contrary, in what it keeps for itself, in what it hides and keeps secret, as the precious stone in the heart of a rock. I had to question all my beliefs and prejudices to see at last beyond the image of picturesque Indians with white tunics and long hair.
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Lacandons were the last free and independent people of the Chiapas. But, in 1695, the Spanish subjected the last Indian resistance fighters, announcing the start of a long death. Today’s Lacandons are probably the descendants of the Mayas from the Yucatan peninsula, in Mexico, and from Pétén, in Guatemala, who escaped the Spanish colonization in the 18th century, and took refuge under the great protector trees of Chiapas, the territory of their ancestors. Currently, only two old men of the Naha’ village practice the traditional rites, list the thousand of characters, mythical beings and divinities, who are part of their world view, and know the songs about the world in which Lacandons used to live as “real men”, as sovereigns of the woods. However, the roar of evangelic preachers has replaced the beautiful voices from the past. Unlike Lacanhal, converted to sects “Made in USA”, since the arrival of northern-American missionaries, at the end of 1950, (…) Naha’ preserved its own spiritual independence until 1996. But the death of Chan K’in Viejo, the charismatic leader of the community and keeper of the traditions, plunged this small world of two hundred souls into a deep identity crisis, making easier the return of a multitude of pastors and their apocalyptical sermons.
Gabrielle DUPLANTIER
Voltar a Portugal FRANCE www.gabrielleduplantier.com (...) Sometimes I hear the wind blow, And I feel that it was worth being born just to hear the wind blow (…) Fernando Pessoa
Federico Rios ESCOBAR Identidad COLOMBIA www.federicorios.net Identity is a search for roots. Any questions about the indigenous peoples of Colombia and its political situation. It is a review of how the conflict has directly affected the roots of Colombians. The Nukak Maku, one of the last nomadic tribes of the planet, live in the dense jungle of Guaviare in the south. Its territories have become theater of war and heavy armed confrontations. The Wayuu indigenous people of the Guajira, who has been massacred by paramilitary, state resources never reach them and multinationals steal the little water they have and is killing them with thirst. In recent years, thousands of children have died from malnutrition. The first attempt to exterminate the people who worked on the rubber plantations in Uitoto, a village in the Amazon rainforest, was decimated when the British tried to enslave entrepreneurs to trade rubber. Today their land is a theater of war and the scene of dispute between the public forces, guerrillas and drug traffickers. The Embera Katío, a village of Indians who inhabit the humid tropical forests of northern Choco in the Colombian Pacific, have been displaced by the presence of armed groups in their communities. Today, almost 10 years after displacement, communities have not fully returned to their lands, their rights have not been restored and the Colombian government responds only palliative to the plight of indigenous communities. With the passage of time they will lose their language, customs, traditions and knowledge. Women are essential in any society and are the structure of indigenous groups, so this tribute - reflection on the faces of four women, from around the country, with so many different languages that they could not interact with each other, but the structure of their society and their way of life is the same. They also share the pain and misfortune being victims in a foreign conflict. Forgotten and neglected by the government.
Lucas FOGLIA
A Natural Order USA lucasfoglia.com Lucas Foglia grew up with his extended family on a small farm in the suburbs of New York City. While malls and supermarkets developed around them, they heated their house with wood, farmed and canned their food, and bartered the plants they grew for everything from shoes to dental work. But while his family followed many of the principles of the back-to-the-land movement, by the time he was 18 they owned three tractors, four cars, and five computers. This mixture of the modern world in their otherwise rustic life made him curious to see what a completely self-sufficient way of living might look like. From 2006 through 2010, Foglia traveled throughout the southeastern United States befriending, photographing, and interviewing a network of people who left cities and suburbs to live off the grid. Motivated by environmental concerns, religious beliefs or the global economic recession, they chose to build their homes from local materials, obtain their water from nearby springs, and hunt, gather, or grow their own food. All the people in Foglia’s photographs are working to maintain a self-sufficient lifestyle, but no one he found lives in complete isolation from the mainstream. Many have websites that they update using laptop computers, and cell phones that they charge on car batteries or
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solar panels. They do not wholly reject the modern world. Instead, they step away from it and choose the parts that they want to bring with them.
Jost FRANKO Farming On The Frontline SLOVENIA www.jostfranko.com A story about palestinian farmers, living and working in the buffer zones, before and after the 2014 war.
Claudia GAUDELLI
Women Boxers ARGENTINA www.claudiagaudelli.com This photoessay was born from a desire to show women from an unusual perspective: fighting in the boxing ring. By highlighting a side of women that is commonly associated with masculinity—what many would even call a dark side—my hope is to broaden our perception of the limits of womanhood. Each one of these female athletes has her own story but all of them shared something in common: humble origins and family environments in which the prevailing atmosphere was need and poverty. None of my subjects hailed from ‘conventional’ families, from nice homes with gardens, or from airy apartments with balcony views. For these women, their past became their identity and situated them in a present where sacrifice, respect and love for boxing are the very air they breath. For these brave women, boxing is a form of art: the art of hitting and not being hit. These athletes live a life of discipline and strict training. Every day when they get up, they are looking for a different future for themselves. They spend what free time they have on long commuter rides from poor, suburban neighborhoods, traveling for the chance to get in the ring. They train every morning, sometimes evenings too, day after day. All of them are pouring their hearts out for the chance to fulfill a dream, a shot at the world championship. This dream is what keeps them standing on their feet, this dream has kept them from falling, kept them waking up, training, struggling and fighting
Eugeni GAY MARÍN From Quantum Island SPAIN www.eugenigay.com La Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca is located at 3800m altitude. Old sacred place, legends say Manco Capac and Mamma Occlio departed from there to found the city of Cusco and the Inca empire. Today is inhabited by three Aymara communities. Two and a half hours by boat from the nearest town has remained relatively isolated for a long time, until the entry, not many years ago, tourism and motorboats. The island keeps ancestral rites, sacrifices of llamas or night ceremonies at mountain tops. It is a magical place, eagles predict the fate of people, are able to predict death, flying women, light entering the lake, gold comes and goes, souls who attack by night, a sacred city sunk around and even someone believes the island is the ark of Noah and the Titicaca Lake is originated during the Global Flood. They live in harmony with the earth, grown, grazing animals and fish, the lake gives them life. Make offerings to Pachamama every time they drink, when they kill animals, in ceremonies with coca leaves. I went there for the first time in 2006 and since then I have returned 5 times, first attracted by the landscape and calm that there were, later I started to realize that the island was much more, a way of understanding the world around us completely different from the Western vision, other values, other priorities who have made this place so special.
Eddie GERALD A Jewish State ISRAEL www.ge0-pix.com This conceptual series offers an insight into the complex contradictions of Israeli society. By combining a variety of everyday scenes and transforming them into photographic impressions I use the images as a means to pursue the question of the country's identity.
Cédric GERBEHAYE / AGENCE VU' A View From the Middle BELGIUM After spending most of his life abroad, Cedric Gerbehaye went back to Belgium.
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Belgium, a cramped country born in 1830, is now at a turning point. A tipping point or a critical threshold? Having now moved past separatist ideologies and industrial restructuring plans, what does this society said to be used to compromise look like? A far cry from the fictional self-mocking Belgium, CĂŠdric Gerbehaye presents a homeland of people and strategies focused on survival. He offers an interlude of images and interpretations that unveil his real Belgium.
Chiara GOIA Maldives: A Delicate Balance ITALY The Maldives is an island nation of 1,192 islands stretched over 900 kilometers in the Indian Ocean. Being the lowest country in the world, it is seriously threatened by the sea level rise caused by global warming. The Maldives are a memory to become. A place in continuous transformation, into its own duality: a touristic, heavenly escape from usual life and one of the first countries in the world that, according to scientists, will disappear from the geographical maps. For decades the reality of this place has been hidden by a thirty-year dictatorship, engaged in taking advantage of the natural resources. A brief period of serenity and the beginning of an awareness campaign over the global warming issue brought by the first democratically elected president, ended with a coup in 2013 and was followed by political turmoil and instability that lasts to this day. In the meantime, tourists keep pouring every day from all over the world, mostly unaware of the ecological and political issues of the country. I have photographed in the Maldives between 2009 and 2011, documenting the first years in which the local life was finally unveiled after the dictatorship and showing its contradictions as well as its preciousness and vulnerability.
Mohammad GOLCHIN Education In Iran IRAN
Iran's population reached 70 million in 2006. More than two-thirds of the Iranians are under the age of 30, and the literacy rate stands above 80%. There are both free public schools and private schools in Iran at all levels, from elementary school through university. Education in Iran is highly centralized. The Ministry of Education is in charge of educational planning, financing, administration, curriculum, and textbook development. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, the educational system of the country has gone under qualitative and quantitative changes. As far as quantitative changes are concerned, this education profile provides an overview of the Iranian education system. A critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Iranian education system requires an in-depth analysis of its structure.
Marco GUALAZZINI
Haiti: 5 Years And 54 Seconds Later ITALY www.marcogualazzini.com On 12 January, 2010 Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, was flattened by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake, which lasted for 54 never-ending seconds, killed over 220,000 people, left 300,000 injured and half a million homeless. Five years after this catastrophic event the Caribbean island is still in a disastrous state: 250,000 people still have no homes, only a tiny fraction of hospitals and schools have been rebuilt and the cholera epidemic, which erupted in the months following the earthquake, has still not subsided. There is, however, another Haiti - one of stories of individuals and daily acts of heroism impregnated with hope - that some of the international media have reported on in a piecemeal manner. My photo feature gathers together and tells the stories of these individual experiences, demonstrating how the rebirth of a nation and hope in the future begin with the involvement of each and every individual.
Amnon GUTMAN
The Land ROMANIA www.amnongutman.com In June 2002, the government of Israel decided to erect a physical barrier to separate Israel and the West Bank in an attempt to minimize the entry of Palestinian terrorists into the country. This has partially solved today's terrorist infiltration problem but has caused grief and pain to innocent Palestinians in every area in which it was constructed, along the 1967 Green Line. In the southern region of Mt. Hebron, the movement of Palestinians who are coming into the country to find work has been disrupted. These people and their families are paying the price for the system of collective control that Israel has decided to implement with the erection of the Separation Barrier. Typically, a day's work in the West Bank for a builder usually comes to about $18, while a day's work in Israel brings them $60 - $110. Their families have come to rely on this income.
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Ironically, these Palestinian men, who are determined to keep providing for their families are the ones who are physically building the State of Israel. They endure terrible conditions as illegal workers, sleeping rough in river creeks, under bridges, on building sites and under highways in the Beer Sheva area, trying to avoid getting caught. If the Palestinians are apprehended, they go through a security check and when found innocent of terrorist intentions, they are sent back to their homes. And so the wearisome cycle continues. Israeli border patrol police and the army are in a constant but only partially successful race to apprehend these Palestinians. Every wall has its weak points. For a young man determined enough, it becomes a way of life- waiting for the right moment, for the pre paid accomplice driver waiting on the other side, depending on his faithful cellphone and on his buddies, all of whom are adjusting strategies to accomodate for the Seaparation Barrier. The village of Ar Ramadin in the southern region of Mt Hebron presents a unique example of the kind of effect that the separation barrier has had. The village was established by the Bedouin tribe Ar Ramadin whose former lands, in areas north of Beer Sheva, they abandoned in the face of oncoming Israeli troops in the War of Independence in 1948. The lands the tribe left became part of the new Jewish state and the Ar Ramadin were forced to purchase land from Palestinian land owners in Dahariya, an Arab falachim village 15 kilometers to the north. After the six day war in 1967, Ar Ramadin became part of Israel. The building of the fence in 2002 left the village on the West Bank side. The people of Ar Ramadin are often exposed to arrests, beatings, and confiscations of herds. Houses and water wells have been demolished under the pretext of lack of licensing, and illegal building. The people are often prevented from working their own fields, because they are located so close to the fence. As the Arab world is historically changing by the day and the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are on hold once again. One cannot predict what will happen next in this ongoing conflict. It is solely to the credit of these resilient people, the Ar Ramadinim and their heightened understanding of the ironies of history that they have not yet taken on the role that is being pushed onto them- that of a violent resistance. In 2012 the Israeli government decided to annex land in the southern Judean Mountains of the West Bank.
Nick HANNES Mediterranean. The Continuity Of Man BELGIUM www.continuityofman.com The Mediterranean (The Med) region has many faces. Rich in history and blessed with a pleasant climat, the Med is the most popular tourist destination in the world. Over 200 million tourists flock to the Mediterranean beaches every year, putting great pressure on its natural scenery. At the same time the Med functions as an unintentional castle-moat around Fortress Europe. Despite the danger, thousands of desperate immigrants from Africa and Asia continuously attempt to cross the water in shabby boats. From 2010 to 2014 Nick Hannes traveled the shores of the Mediterranean, documenting various contemporary issues such as tourism, urbanization and migration. While working on this project, the region continuously hit the headlines: Crisis in Greece, the Arab Spring, boat refugees on Lampedusa, wars in Libya, Syria, Gaza. One thing is for sure: The Mediterranean has moved centre stage once more. The images of Nick Hannes comprise the paradoxes of this region and the spirit of the time in a significant way. His kaleidoscopic portrait of the region puts things in perspective. Serious and moving at one moment, hilarious and ironic the next.
Noriko HAYASHI / PANOS PICTURES [ WORKSHOP ALUMNI ] Stairway To Heaven JAPAN www.norikohayashi.com
Rituals embody the thinking of a society; death rites in particular reveal notions of life, death, and the afterlife. Looking at the new ways in which people in Japan are buried made me think about the transformations in city landscapes, lifestyle and social structure. First, land has become increasingly scarce in cities. In Tokyo, a plot at an urban cemetery can be astronomically expensive, reaching $100,000 in central areas. If one adds the purchase of the tomb and other associated costs the final price tag can be very costly. Second, access is key at the time of choosing a burial site. Most people will not visit the deceased regularly if they have to travel for two hours just to get to the grave (in Japanese tradition, ashes were placed next to one’s ancestors, often in far areas). Thus, easy access within the city, closeness to shopping areas, restaurants, etc. make a more marketable package for urban charnels. They do not require maintenance; because they are indoor they can be visited all year round regardless of the weather, and wheelchair access is readily available. Most impressive to me was to the way technology is incorporated in a non-disruptive way. Visitors use an electronic card to enter the cemetery room. LED lights are computerized in very sophisticated lighting programs, and none of this felt strange.
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Another interesting thing is how mentalities are changing. For example, in traditional Japanese cemeteries it was difficult for same-sex couples to be buried together next to the family’s tomb. But the charnel houses I visited are inclusive of all individuals regardless of religion, sexual orientation, or background. So I think this tendency will only increase in the future and propagate to other global cities as well. Urban burial sites will probably need to start using technology if they want to keep up with the times.
Brendan HOFFMAN / PRIME COLLECTIVE Brotherland: War In Ukraine USA www.brendanhoffman.com Since protests in Kyiv drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014, Eastern Ukraine has been convulsed by a separatist insurgency that has evolved into a full-fledged civil war centered in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, an industrial region known as the Donbass. At heart is a desire among the rebels for greater autonomy, out of widespread fear—justified or not—that Russian-speaking Ukrainians are at risk of political repression by the government in Kyiv. Russian propaganda has carried this storyline further, implying that the Ukrainian government is comprised of fascists and backed by neo-Nazi Ukrainian nationalists. Russia itself has been widely accused of backing the rebels with weapons, cash, training, and fighters, prompting the deepest divide between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. Ukraine’s economy has taken a massive blow. Huge expenditures on the war effort, combined with the loss of Crimea and much of the industrial output of Donbass, mean that international bailouts intended to stave off default may yet prove insufficient. Political reforms are inching along, and the overall atmosphere of instability has kept away foreign investment. Meanwhile, as always, civilians are falling victim to the indiscriminate effects of uncaring weapons. According to the United Nations, more than 6,500 people have died in the conflict as of july 2015.
Corinna KERN
George's World GERMANY www.foto-kern.com This project gives a glimpse into the world of George Fowler, 72, who is affected by hoarding. George collects all sorts of items from pavements and dustbins hoping that they find a better purpose than perishing in landfills. After 33 years of living in the same place, the accumulation of clutter got to a state that his four-bedroom house is barely accessible – ‘an accumulated illness’, as George calls it. However, after an experience of strong shortages during post-war times, his compulsive behaviour becomes a logical response to a society in which mass-production and excess-consumption have become the norm. For more than one year I spent time with George and eventually started to live at his place, allowing me to understand the human nature that lies behind his unusual condition. Capturing intimate moments of George’s everyday life, this project explores the relation between his condition and inner world, his domestic environment and his life outside his dwellings, blurring the lines between neurotic compulsion, humanity and non-conformist lifestyle.
Michael Vince KIM
The Koreans Of Kazakhstan USA www.michaelvincekim.com In 1937, 180,000 Koreans that had settled in the Russian Far East to escape famine, poverty, and Japanese colonial oppression were forcefully deported to Central Asia under Stalin’s ethnic cleansing. They were deemed to be “unreliable people” due to suspicions of Japanese espionage, an accusation for which proofhas never been found. 40,000 Koreans died during the month-long journey in precarious and overcrowded cattle trains and the harsh Kazakh winters following the relocation. They were left with no means of survival nor the compensation they had been promised. Starvation and illness became commonplace, taking mainly the lives of children and the elders. They lived in earth dug-outs while being ordered to grow rice in the desertic Kazakh steppe, surrounded by Soviet troops to ensure they would not leave their designated area. The Koreans received medalsof honour for their hard labour and success in collective farms as well as their participation in war, yet they were denied the right to learn their own language, a Soviet Korean dialect distinct from the language spoken in modern Korea. Along with cultural assimilation and intermarriage, the Soviet Korean dialect is almost extinct. Nevertheless, the Koreans of Kazakhstan have retained a sense of identity as ethnic Koreans as well as traditions and rituals still practiced in the Korean peninsula today.
Valeriy KLAMM Siberians RUSSIA www.vklamm.ru
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What does Siberia mean – beyond clichés like the Trans-Siberian train, Lake Baikal, oil, cold, or vodka? Who are the inhabitants of the vast Rural Russia and what is their daily reality? What means Russia – out of political agenda, on the level of simple daily things? My ‘Siberians’ tries to reflect on some of these very questions, to bring deeper understanding of one of the most un-captured of lands. This mosaic contains my works from ‘Birthmark On the Map’ blog community (doc project that I launched in 2009 and which is devoted to Russian provinces), captured in Western Siberia region – Altay, Kemerovo, Khakassia, Tomsk), or made in my home city Novosibirsk.
Sri KOLARI [ WORKSHOP ALUMNI ] India: Land of million mutinies INDIA
In spite of the global economical difficulties and high inflation rate, the Indian economy has shown great resilience and has grown at an average of 8 percent across the period of the 11th five-year plan. The objective of the 11th five-year plan was “faster and more inclusive growth” and much has been achieved in fulfilling this objective. However, many challenges remain, high growth rates have led to a gradual reduction in poverty but the levels of poverty remain unacceptably high and many sections of the population continue to struggle to meet their basic needs and to receive their entitlements. Nearly 300 million people live in extreme poverty in India and face deprivation in terms of access to basic services, including education, health, water, sanitation and electricity. According to the 2014 Human Development Report India ranked 135 in a list of 187 countries.
Philippe KOUDJINA / REVUE NOIRE The Nights of Philippe Koudjina in Niamey NIGER
In Niger, during daytime it's always summer. Even during the night, the heat is still there. Niamey is right in the middle of the Sahel desert, crossed by the flow of the majestic Niger River. Night-clubs are Philippe Koudjina's universe, a photographer-reporter of the Niamey nights since 1960. This is the great era of Independences, the joy of living a free discovery, the pride of being African. In the heat of the night the youth is dancing on the frenzied sounds of Afro-Cuban and Zairian rumbas and European twists. When Koudjina is not there, everyone request him, then is he has the feeling of missing something. On the next morning he promises himself not to miss the next night. Who doesn't know the photographer of the night, the one who's taking photos of hearts that bind and never separate? The Benin-Togolese chose to settle in Niger in 1959, he was a geometre and was travelling al lot, he was already taken by his passion for photography. He finally lands in Niamey to photograph the crazy nights and left his other activities.After our meeting in 1997 and the presentation of his work in "Revue Noire", in 2001, a solo exhibition was devoted to him at "Les Rencontres de la Photographie de Bamako" in Mali and another one in 2015 as a tribute.
Senthil KUMARAN [ Workshop Alumni ] Human vs Tiger Conflict [ HOPE FRANÇOISE DEMULDER GRANT ] INDIA trikayaphotos.com/photographers/4-Kumaran.S India is home to an estimated 2300 of the 3700 - odd last surviving wild tigers on this planet. The country has 55 tiger sanctuaries but very often the animals have to share space with humans who are dependent on the forest for their livelihood. Tigers pose serious threat to the humans by the man eating behavior & preying on their livestock which many local communities depend on for their livelihood.. This is due to the fact that the densities of wild prey are lower because of hunting and competition with livestock. In reciprocating to the behavior of the tiger, the local people poison their livestock to kill the tiger. It's also created a major human – tiger co-existence crisis in many sanctuaries across the country. In order to mitigate the human-tiger conflict government has also strategized the approach of human relocation which again has many practical hurdles.
Olivier LABAN-MATTEI / MYOP On The Other Side Of The Lake FRANCE labanmattei.photoshelter.com More than 18,000 people have already come here in search of safety. On January 3rd, these men and women fled the atrocities of the Boko Haram on the port city of Baga and its surrounding villages. Cornered by the fighting, they boarded canoes to escape what Amnesty International considers, “the most deadly attack” every perpetrated by the Islamic sect. The United Nations Refugee Agency and the Chadian commission for receiving refugees are working to bring aid these survivors, exhausted after weeks of wandering the lake. But conditions are extreme in this underdeveloped region. More than 7,000 refugees are scattered across the dozens of islands on the lake. Bringing them all to one place is the only way to help them.
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For several days, Laban-Mattei documented the rescue and relocation operations led by the UN Refugee Agency and local authorities. But their efforts have been hindered by the threat of Boko Haram in Chad. On February 13th, Islamists burned and pillaged the village of Ngoubou, killing ten, which until January had served as the main Nigerian refugee camp. The majority of them had been transferred to the Dar es Salaam camp, considered safer at 70 kilometers from the border. Today, 3,800 refugees reside in Dar es Salaam. Each family is given shelter, food and medical care. Many more are likely to arrive.
Duy Phuong LE NGUYEN Holding Water VIETNAM www.fuongle.com Water haunts my dreams. It has always been source of obsession since I was a little boy. In my obscure childhood recollections, water stirs up unsettling feelings. I found myself in Tri An Lake by chance, one of the biggest hydroelectric dams in the South of Vietnam. Here, water is the fate of the people. It is also their dreams, their hopes and hopelessness. They are the water and the water is their lives. As my acquaintance with the place deepened, I was allowed to tag along the people whose lives revolve around the rising and ebbing of the tides. Somehow my life became interwoven into their daily life and interior world, amidst a sublime and spellbinding background. Humans, nature and memories appear and vanish, like the glimmering reflections in the river of life. The lake, with both its dreamlike characteristics and the physicality of its landscapes, merges with the people and their existence, all becoming an oneiric part of my work. I immersed myself in the waters, carried away by its currents, the way a stranger immerses himself in the life of the local people, carried away by the intimacy and confidence they shared with me. Water is the spirit that you can only understand by being immersed in its essence.
Diambra MARIANI & Francesco MION Anastasia ITALY www.diambramariani.com Anastasia is now 17 years old and she lives in Verona, northern Italy. She is daughter of street performers. Between 2010 and 2015 she lived in an apartment that the owner Vincenzo, professor of physics, had decided to share with people who find themselves in a state of housing emergency. Her mother Alice, her brother Andrej and their dog Leo were among them. She now lives on her own in a flat she rent with her boyfriend Andrea. The photographic project, which initially aimed to investigate an alternative way of living, a sort of cohousing during a period of great economic uncertainty and existential fragility, was then transformed into the story of the delicate and difficult transition from childhood to adolescence and then adulthood, lived in an atypical contest.
David MAURICE SMITH / OCULI
Living In The Shadows CANADA www.davidmauricesmith.com In 1835 the town of Wilcannia, Australia was "discovered" by explorer Major Thomas Mitchell. Located inland on the Darling river, the name originates from the local Barkindji people and translates to either 'gap in the bank where the floodwaters escape' or 'wild dog'. The polarity of this lost translation reflects the identity of the Barkindji who called the area home long before Mitchell arrived. The Barkindji strive to rewrite a cultural story torn from them through historical wrongs. They face the challenge of adapting to external influences while living in deep shadows cast by institutionalized racism. As traditional keepers of one of the most prosperous countries on the planet they endure third world conditions. Barkindji men have a life expectancy of only 37yrs, domestic violence rates are 13 times that of other Australian communities and infant mortality rates are 3 times higher than non-Aboriginal people. Dependency on government subsidies for survival, overcrowding, violence, alcohol and drug abuse keep the community in a cycle of survival mode. Although damaged, the spirit of the Barkindji carries on. There is rhythm and meaning despite the shadows cast on the Barlkindji. The fact that even shreds of their culture remain is a testament to their resilience.
Tshepiso MAZIBUKO Encounters SOUTH AFRICA
Encounters is a series about peoples homes and the aftermath of the apartheid era.
Myriam MELONI / PICTURETANK Behind The Absence
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FRANCE-ITALY www.myriammeloni.com In the Republic of Moldova, the poorest country in Eastern Europe, over 100,000 children and adolescents are growing up without their parents. They are social orphans whose fathers and mothers have emigrated in search of a job that will enable them to survive, driven by the hope to ensure a better future for their families. Due to the direct and indirect consequences of mass migration, which according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) involves one fourth of Moldova's working-age population, thousands of children too young to get by on their own being raised by their grandparents, who in turn have become too old for this job; and thousands of children with living parents, placed in ramshackle orphanages originally built in the last century to host orphans from the Second World War. The money sent home by emigrants, worth some $500 million per year, is now the driving force of internal consumption in Moldova, but the other side of the coin is deep rifts in the country's social fabric.
NEPAL PHOTO PROJECT NEPAL Nepal Photo Project Nepal Photo Project is an aggregated stream of critical and functional visuals covering the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated Nepal on April 25 2015, killing thousands and displacing millions. It is primarily powered by Instagram and has a corresponding Facebook page, twitter account and website which have links to various resources like credible online fundraising campaigns, volunteer opportunities, news updates, crisis reporting platforms like quakemap.org, etc. What started as a team of 6 friends and colleagues resulted in a stream of content contributed by over 70 Instagrammers – professional photographers, volunteers and citizens of Nepal who picked up their phones, and gave the world a real time window into what was actually going on on the ground. Rather than giving a macro and editorialized view, Nepal Photo Project aims look inwards, and through the stories and personal accounts of its contributors, piece together a very crucial moment in the narrative of Nepal.
Virginie NGUYEN HOANG / HANS LUCAS Gaza, The Aftermath BELGIUM virginie-nguyen.photoshelter.com
The last war in Gaza during the Israeli operation “Protective Edge� has made 2,502 victims on the Palestinians side and 71 on the Israeli side (according to the UN numbers). But the damages do not end at the number of casualties. Indeed, more than 18,000 houses have been destroyed, not including the cost of damaged commercial and agricultural lands. According the UN, more than 108,000 are homeless on the Gaza Strip. Some of those who lost their homes are now living in UNRWA schools used as shelters, others went back to the homes to try to live in whatever is left; some are in improvised tents, and there are those who benefited from temporary housing. However, the citizens of Gaza are still waiting for the reconstruction to begin as the international community has pledged $5.4billion to rebuild Gaza. In October and November 2014, just a few trucks with building materials passed the border of Israel. On the Egyptian side of the border, the authorities have closed the border to any Gazan willing to enter the country. The tunnels from Egypt have been destroyed, and no more goods or medicine can pass into the area. As a consequence, prices have risen and daily life has become more and more difficult in an environment alrady undermined by the last war and the blockade. Three months after the last ceasefire in August 2014, this series try to portray the daily life of Gazans. Hanging between a certain normality and the open scars of a conflict.
Marion NORMAND / HANS LUCAS Bab El Tebanneh FRANCE www.marion-normand.com
Walkie-talkies allow information to flow between men at Bab el-Tebbaneh. A new confrontation is about to break out between fighters in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Tripoli and snipers are perched on the opposite hill: Jabal Mohsen. This district with its Alawite majority has been their nemesis for over 30 years. We must act quickly. Armed men lead children away from their homes; inside, brides and mothers remain hidden. They have already created food reserves to prevent the necessity of leaving the home and being under fire. Hiding in the safest part of the bullet-riddled apartment, they cook for the soldiers while the children play, or fill arms with ammunition for their fathers. Outside, tarps were strung between buildings to protect the people from enemy snipers. Only the eyes of the the martyrs whose faces are posted on every street corner are visible from the balconies. Here neighbors exchange news from the front, as well as cooking ingredients. Stashed in an abandoned movie theater or behind a little wall overlooking Syria's demarcation line, young men ready themselves to fight and risk their lives. They do this to protect their families. For the majority of the inhabitants of the Land of the Cedars, Bab el-Tebbaneh is a jihadist landmark devoid of morality; a hopeless territory of which we can only condemn the existence and attempt to isolate. Women and children try to live between bursts of bullets, locked in a cycle of violence that they cannot escape. But between two mortars and a patrol of army tanks (the area once dubbed "golden
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door" for its rich market) you can see a young married couple in the process of moving, a young man running to class at the University, and his sister running to her football training.
Frédéric NOY / COSMOS FRANCE Rwanda, Burundi, Ouganda: être gay au cœur du continent africain For over a year, Frédéric Noy documents the daily life of African homosexuals, gays, lesbians and transsexuals, in three countries in the heart of Africa: Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, three countries where the situation is very different: - In Rwanda, homosexuality is not criminalized and authorized - In Burundi, the penalty in case of flagrante delicto homosexual act is 5 years imprisonment and a fine Uganda, just a denunciation to risk life in prison. That's the legal aspect. But African homosexuals also fight in their life every day against what is one of the most entrenched taboos of African society in all countries. Their families, friends reject or refuse to see reality in the face. They are victims of all sorts of physical and psychological violence, the first is the denial of their right to exist as they are. It is very delicate work, requiring weeks of approach before people accept the presence of the photographer. But if they do, they have decided to fight for their rights: they refuse to resign themselves to live in fear and hidden. School in Temporary Shelter South Sudanese refugees Nyumanzi camp, in Adjumani district, Northern Uganda. Due to the high amount of pupils Alaak, the teacher and headmaster, is forced to teach his primary four class in the partially built Anglican Church adjacent to the two classrooms he has already set up. Despite these challenges Alaak never waivers in his zeal for education. “South Sudan has been at war a long time and we need to bring up the young generation – they are the backbone of tomorrow.” There are only 4 schools for refugees across the Nyumanzi settlement. In fact, around 70% of the population are of school-going age – putting extra pressure on the already stretched schools. As a result local refugee-run schools have begun popping up across the settlement to meet the huge demand for education.
Brennan O'CONNOR
Dividing Lines - China CANADA www.brennanoconnor.photoshelter.com Dividing Lines profiles some of the countless millions pushed against and over Burma’s borders following decades of civil war between ethnic armed groups and several military regimes. Many are displaced ethnic minorities that have been uprooted by conflict. They make up thousands of internally displaced persons in the country. Others have left the country only to languish for decades ‘warehoused’ in overcrowded Thai refugee camps. More numerous are economic refugees that have suffered from unemployment and extreme poverty in their homeland forcing them to seek work in Thailand, China or India.
Swastik PAL [ WORKSHOP ALUMNI ] My Uncle Tukka INDIA swastikpal.wordpress.com When I was seven, my uncle was in his late 20s. Today I am 20 and he in his late 40s; it’s been a long journey of two decades. This project, if at all I can call it a project, is a tribute to my uncle. This is a very personal project. My uncle lost his hearing and speaking ability at a very tender age due to medical negligence and financial incapability of his family at that time. Years of social isolation led to his unstable mental condition as well. Though many can be held responsible for his state, to begin with the family itself, the social attitude towards the disabled and many more. In my work here, I do not tend to blame anyone, find reason or talk of any social issue related to his situation. This is my personal tribute to a man, a human being who continues to live in utmost silence for more than four decades now. This is just about him, the way he is, with all his perfections and imperfections. One life, one room and how he passes one day at a time. His world clock perhaps is very slow, silent and very different from our competitive world clock. This is his own little space, a room of 10×10, his own and only world. I wanted to be a voice, perhaps his response to the way he perceives the world. His waking up to the morning sun, his little luncheon, his fear of the dark, his frustrations, his pain, his little world of amusement and also his dreams perhaps. Maybe these are my desperate wishes and hopes to give his practically non-existent life a befitting tribute. He breathed his last on 22/01/2015.
Agung PARAMESWARA Devotion INDONESIA www.agungparameswara.com It is said there is never a day in Bali without a ceremony of some kind. Balinese spiritual and religion have its root in Indian Hinduism, Buddhism, and the ancient animism belief. The theological basis of Hindu Bali comes from the Indian Philosophy, while the animism
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underlies most of the rituals. An important belief from Balinese Hindu is that the occurrence of natural incidents are affected by the spirits. Therefore the offerings, which are made from the harvests and crops, are offered to the spirits. During some ceremonies people are entering into trance. Trance is a culturally valuable trait in Bali. Trance behaviour has many manifestations and is an important shamanistic virtue.
Kaushal PARIKH Emerging From Darkness INDIA www.kaushalp.com Dark. Black. Dusty. Beautiful. This hinterland in interior Jharkhand paints a vivid picture nuanced by an overpowering mood of being forgotten. Home to a proud indigenous people and several smaller tribal groups, Hazaribagh translates into a ‘thousand gardens’ — a far cry from the reality seen in the region today. Hazaribagh is plagued by an inefficient governance mechanism that encroaches on more land every year to feed the increasing need for coal. Displacement, land encroachment, loss of forests and a deteriorating environment thanks to coal mining are only some of the challenges faced by the people in the region. The deterioration in the quality of soil, water and the strain on the local economy has only resulted in the entire production system shifting from simple agriculture to a more commercially profitable and seemingly viable coal industry. Most government services and the self-governance system are either defunct or dysfunctional. The deplorable situation and lack of livelihood opportunities have permitted exploitation of families including children. From injuries to widespread illnesses and respiratory problems — coal mining has created unsafe and unhealthy work environments for adults and children alike. The unavailability of child immunisation, birth registration and widespread malnourishment only elevate these issues. The children of Hazaribagh rarely attend school. Elder siblings in the family are forced to work or contribute in some other way to the meagre family income. If not, they are saddled with the responsibility of looking after livestock or caring for younger siblings. The schools in the area are almost always empty. As a photographer, I try and work on at least one social project a year to raise awareness and funds for those living in difficult conditions. Visiting Hazaribagh made me realise how several parts of India are still nowhere close to the development we claim has been achieved. With this project I attempt to document the existing problems of coal mining and to showcase progress facilitated with the help of organisations such as the Swaraj Foundation that is supported by the premier Indian NGO CRY Child Rights and You. So as you read this, rest assured there is some advancement for the marginalized sections in Hazaribagh. There is a good network of social organisations at the district level that understand the immediacy of reacting to children's issues. Children are encouraged to attend school, and are offered free lunch as an incentive to get them out of the mines and into the classroom. This helps address the cause of education as well as nutrition —many of these children would otherwise have no access to a healthy meal. There are also regular health camps organised for child immunisation and for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition. Today, there are more than 6,000 children enrolled in schools and more than 1,500 children immunised and these numbers are increasing. So work is being done against the most difficult of odds. But a lot more needs to be achieved to restore the rights of the marginalized and the childhoods of children in Hazirabagh.
Renaud PHILIPPE / HANS LUCAS CANADA www.renaudphilippe.com
Earthquake Aftermath: Nepal Barpak, epicenter of the earthquake that shook Nepal last April. No Way Home In the early 20th century, hundreds of families left Nepal to settle in Bhutan, on the invitation of a Bhutanese government eager to fill an acute labour shortage. Known as Lhotshampa (southerners), these migrants and their descendants lived in relative isolation for eight generations, retaining a highly distinct Nepali culture that set them apart from the Bhutanese majority. In the1980s, as part of its Gross National Happiness policy, the Bhutanese government pursued a “One Nation, One People” campaign designed to strengthen Bhutanese national identify. The Lhotshampa were declared illegal immigrants in their own country of birth and forced into exile. They returned to Nepal to find themselves refugees in their ancestral homeland: unable to work, dependent on NGOs, and deprived of any hope of living freely. Lhotshampa refugees were forced to settle in camps deep in the jungle of eastern Nepal to await an eventual return to Bhutan. This return would never come. After 30 years of waiting, with both Nepal and Bhutan taking no action to settle the issue, the UN decided to close the refugee camps in 2007. Agreements were signed and eight countries opened their doors to the Lhotshampa: the United States, Canada, Norway, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. For six years now life in the refugee camps has been geared toward leaving. Every week, 200 to 400 refugees board International
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Organization of Migrations (IOM) buses, the start of a new life in a faraway land unlike any they have known.
Giulio PISCITELLI / CONTRASTO
From There To Here, Immigration In The Time Of Fortress Europe ITALY www.giuliopiscitelli.viewbook.com Immigration to Europe by people from different corners of the world is a phenomenon that has been increasing over the last 30 years, mainly because of the recent political and social upheavals in the Middle East and the sub-Saharan Africa. What is the current status of the management of migration flows in Europe? What strategies have been implemented to manage - and often to contrast - the phenomenon? What are the results? Europe has the important task of welcoming those who are looking for a safe place to live in: the old continent is surrounded by wars and socio-political upheavals, which are partly the result of wrong Western policies. The increase in migration flows has not gone hand in hand with the development of policies for the management of this phenomenon. As a matter of fact, in recent years, the EU has often responded by intensifying border controls, detention and expulsion of immigrants. Such management often fails to take account of the basic human rights of those looking for a life far from poverty and war. Before they access the benefits of legal residence in Europe, immigrants face a number of dangers, violence and restrictions on freedom, which act as a "filter". Only the most resolute are going to be rewarded with a regular residence permit, which often will not be definitive and will not grant to the applicant the same rights of European native citizens. European borders (and European countries too) are filled with refugee camps inhabited by thousands of people waiting to hear about their future; thousands of human beings who have often suffered unprecedented violence as they were trying to reach the European continent. The management of migration flows is often regulated by laws that ignore the reality of the areas where migrants arrive; as the Dublin II, which prevents the lawful movement of those people on the European territory, increasing so the business of criminal groups, who profit on the smuggling of migrants, especially in transit and first reception countries. In the last four years, the work of documentation of this crisis embraced most of the countries that are affected by this phenomenon; in particular those representing the doors of Europe, such as Italy, Greece, Spain; but also the nations that represent passage territories for people looking for a better life, such as Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Serbia, and Bulgaria. "From there to Here" is a testimony of this historic period, a visual archive that strives to tell, but whose target is mostly to remember the facts concerning the management of migration flows, explaining through the visual medium of photography the difficulties and the risks that thousands of human beings face to arrive - and live - in Europe. A warning that aims to create awareness in those who govern and in those who are going to enjoy this documentation work, prompting an adjustment to the policies governing access and permanence in Europe; policies that should create secure humanitarian channels for those fleeing from conflicts, repression, or poverty; policies that should give access to a normal and decent life for those who arrive in our countries. Telling the phenomenon of immigration in recent years means telling the catastrophic consequences of the political and social upheavals that the world is experiencing. It’s important to develop a single, consistent documentation of the phenomenon for the purpose of a collective memory, a story through images that keeps the lights on how Europe has decided to manage and satisfy the requests to access to a better life. Those trying to get there consider Europe as a paradise, but the reality is different, because recently this "paradise" is increasingly becoming an impregnable fortress.
Igor PISUK
Deceitful Reverence POLAND www.igorpisuk.com In this long-term project I try to be honest to my inner feelings and dreams. This cycle is a kind of poem, a diary entry, and also a confession. It is a multi-layered story about loneliness and emigration, an individual, personal look at the inner and outer world, which is constantly stirred and interacting with one another, pervading...
Pavel PROKOPCHIK Amerika NETHERLANDS www.prokopchik.com The term American Dream is largely associated with the previous generation, when the USA was going through a period or large economic growth. Most of the people from that generation is currently in their golden years. Perhaps it will be the last generation in the USA’s near future that will have the opportunity to retire in such comfort. I grew up in a country which I thought to be the antipode of the USA – the Soviet Union. AMERIKA is my experience of the USA in its period of change. It is an exploration of the myth – the American Dream.
Farhad RAHMAN [ WORKSHOP ALUMNI ] Song Of A Coast BANGLADESH www.mdfarhadrahman.com Sea changes by time. Land lost with reaming past. New story created with a new settlement. Time changes with changing people life beside the sea. Mood of coast swing randomly with changing its landscape.
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This project started with an aim to portray the changes along the 580km coastline of Bangladesh situation by the Bay of Bengal.
Magda RAKITA
God Made Woman , Then He Jerked POLAND www.magdarakita.com “God made woman then he jerked”, reads a mural on the street of Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, a country mostly remembered for its fourteen-year civil war in which an estimated 250,000 people lost their lives and more recently – the Ebola epidemic. It’s also a title of a project I began to work on in 2013. As Liberia celebrated its 10th anniversary of peace in summer 2013, and with a woman occupying its highest political office, this project explores the lived experience of a post-war generation of girls growing up among a war-scarred population. The “lived experience” can be seen as extremely broad idea, but it also allows incorporating many aspects that affect girls and young women in Liberia: limited access to education, exploitation and gender based violence. Those issues became exaggerated by conflict, but they also existed before the war, as they do endure in many other societies. They also rarely exist alone, as if feeding on each other, and laying heavy burden on the population of women and population as whole. In fact, the situation of women can very well represent the situation of society as a whole: with very few enjoying success and position of more or less undisputable power and vast majority struggling.
Aun RAZA
New Year In Uzbekistan PAKISTAN aun.photoshelter.com Uzbekistan is a two-sided postcard. On one side are the glorious remains of the Silk Road days, and on the other side is the heavily lingering Soviet shadow which keeps getting crossed over by the seemingly distant American popular culture. Around New Year days, Uzbek Islamic-nationalism takes the back seat and Santa Clauses roam around doing everyday jobs while dreams of a different world float in the air. This series is a glimpse of my new-year experiences in Uzbekistan.
Anne REARICK / AGENCE VU' Idaho - True West of Memory and Myth USA www.annerearick.com I was born in the American West. It’s been more than a century, in 1896, when my great-great-grandmother, Maggie Jones, made the trip from the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma, to Boise, Idaho, with her husband Robert and their two children, in a cart full of hope and scarce resources. The best memories of my childhood were those summer days spent fishing with the grand-son of Maggie Jones, and my grandfather, a dead ringer for Robert Mitchum, for salmon and trout on board his small boat on the reservoir Lucky Peak, in the countryside of Boise. These warm dry days and cool air from the desert at night are part of me forever. Just like rodeos, the open-air cinema, soft drinks and corn dogs served at the drive-in A&W by young girls on skates, fairs, horses, real cowboys and Indians, firearms and drunken family brawls. The Boise from my childhood has become a haven for Californians, high-tech industry employees and retirees, with its expanses covered suburban shopping centers and flashy houses. Nevertheless, the remains of a more authentic West still exist - small family farms, pow wow Indian of the Paiute-Shoshone tribe in the reserve Duck Valley, picnics after church in the city park, teenagers jumping from a rope in the Boise River, county fairs, life in small towns. Although I no longer live in Idaho for over 30 years now, it's always a place that I claim myself. These images are a journey through memory and myth and together they are still part of the present.
Reiner RIEDLER / ANZENBERGER Fake Holidays AUSTRIA www.photography.at
Fake Holidays is a project dealing with consumption of holidays in industrial countries – it deals with the idea of the simulation of nature and the creation of artificial holiday places. When wishes are out of reach, simulation is taking over our leisure time and our holidays. Imaginary worlds are created, often under massive technological exertion, in order to offer us experience as reproducible merchandise. Although the quality of these adventures on demand sometimes proves to be rather dubious, the boom does shed light on one thing: the yearnings and dreams underlying people’s daily lives.
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Tourists now go on “fake holidays” that mimic the experience that travel to “real places” used to bring. Indeed, the new theme parks are themselves destinations for holidays both “real” and “fake.” The range of “artificial” experiences available is increasing steadily, as is public acceptance of them, while the rapid pace of technological innovation is making them more realistic all the time. In the long run, widespread interaction with such attractions will likely diminish their novelty value and establish their position as another aspect of entertainment culture. There is no doubt that simulations will increasingly become a part of everyday life – hopefully enhancing it and not replacing it.
Martin ROEMERS / Cosmos Metropolis NETHERLANDS www.martinroemers.com According to calculations by the UNO, by 2050 around seventy percent of the global population will be living in cities. For his spectacular series Metropolis, Martin Roemers sets his sights on megacities worldwide with more than ten million inhabitants in which people often live under difficult circumstances in densely populated areas. Roemer lets us immerse ourselves in these extreme, urban lifeworlds: in his atmospheric photographs consisting of agglomerations and taken with long exposure times, traffic and people merge to become blurred, swirling currents. Motionless individuals or street merchants come across as unearthed islands around which surge colorful crowds. Roemers presents these breathtaking urbanscapes from a slightly elevated perspective, and in doing so calls our attention to the stress that this lifestyle involves as well as the admirable resilience of the countless people who lead this life day in and day out.
Leon ROSE
Live, Train, Fight Like Thai NEW ZEALAND www.leonrose.co.nz "Live, Train, Fight like Thai" is a photo essay/documentary that documents the sport of Muay Thai in New Zealand over the last 10 years. I have spent many hours at gyms and fight nights in that time, mostly at the invitation of City Lee Gar, which is the first Muay Thai based gym to be established in NZ. This exhibition and book is the culmination of my work.
Tiago SANTANA The Sky of Luiz BRAZIL
Book in honor of the centenary of the Brazilian musician Luiz Gonzaga depicts the Gonzaga universe, from their identification with the hinterland, particularly the region of Pernambuco and Ceará Cariri, which is culturally one of the most representative of popular culture in the Northeast of Brazil . Eshu, where Luiz Gonzaga was born, was the starting point for his artistic career, is also the starting point of the book, which reflects what we may call the Gonzaga of heaven. The common thread is the man Luiz and the place where he was born, he spent his childhood, discovered the world and built his work. The book features the photo essay carried out by photographer James Santana, and the texts of the journalist and writer Audalio Dantas and repeated the double success in The Graciliano Floor ( Ed Weather d' Image, 2006 ). - Book received among other awards, the APCA São Paulo Art Critics Association and the Conrado Wessel Award in 2007. The book has cultural support of the Ceará State Government and the State Government of Pernambuco. “Ainda hoje, e creio que por muito tempo, ou para sempre, escutaremos sua voz trovejante e veremos seu semblante altivo toda vez que andarmos pelos lugares do Brasil. Cidade grande e interior, interior e cidade grande, Luiz Gonzaga andará sempre com a gente por ai”. (GILBERTO GIL) “Today , and I think for a long time or forever , will hear his booming voice and see his haughty face every time we walk by places in Brazil . Large, inner city , interior and big city , Luiz Gonzaga will always walk with us out there” (GILBERTO GIL)
Mahesh SHANTARAM Matrimania INDIA thecontrarian.in
Everything that's great about India and everything that's wrong with it can be summarised in a single wedding. Young men and women assume the role of prince and princess in a bollywood fantasy. On the periphery, a multitude of workers facilitate the creation of Disneyland-like sets, entertain crowds, cater to thousands of guests, and generally keep the show going on for days. The answers to just about any socioeconomic question can be explained as a cause or effect of wedding culture. Weddings will always be the greatest enterprise of consumption in India, no holds barred.
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Matrimania is my personal take on 21st century India seen through the prism of its wedding culture. Matrimania is not a documentary of ‘Indian weddings’ as much as it is a fictional narrative of one long night in India tearing at the seams. Matrimania is a dark narrative to the great Coming Together and what is left behind in its wake.
Shahria SHARMIN
Call Me Heena BANGLADESH www.shahriasharmin.com Hijra, a South Asian term with no exact match in the modern western taxonomy of gender, is a person designated as a male at birth with feminine gender identity who eventually adopts feminine gender roles. They are often grossly labeled as hermaphrodites, eunuchs, transgender or transsexual women in literature. Presently, a more justified social term for them is the Third Gender. Transcending the biological definition, Hijras are more a social phenomena, as a minority group having a long recorded history in South Asia. However, their overall social acceptance vary significantly in countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Perhaps the Hijras in Bangladesh faces the worst situation, forcing a good number of them to leave their motherland and migrate to India. Previously, a particular Hindu belief that Hijras can bless one's house with prosperity, was assimilated in the Muslim culture of Bangladesh. But times have changed and Hijras have lost their admired and often sacred space in the society. Now they make a living by walking around the streets collecting money from shopkeepers, bus and train passengers or by prostitution. I, like almost everyone else in my society, grew up seeing them as less than human. Then on a project work during my student years I met Heena, who showed me how wrong I was. She opened her life to me, made me a part of her world and helped me to get close to the other members of her community, as mothers, daughters, friends and lovers, as they actually are.
Alice SMEETS
The Ghetto Tarot BELGIUM www.alicesmeets.com The Ghetto Tarot is a photographic interpretation of the traditional tarot deck in the ghetto. The scenes are inspired by the Rider Waite Tarot deck (originally designed in 1909 by artist Pamela Colman Smith) and were replicated together with a group of Haitian artists called Atis Rezistans (resistant artists) in the Haitian slums using only material we were able to find or create locally. Atis rezistans are claiming the word “Ghetto”, freeing themselves of its depreciating undertone and turning it into something beautiful. Their act of appropriating a word loaded with unfavorable sentiments by altering its meaning is an act of inspiration. This undertaking of the Haitians made me realize that it lies only within us to assign value or judgment towards a tangible or intangible thing, which creates a positive or negative emotion. If we realize that we can choose if we look at destruction and see despair or if we choose to see the start of something new, we can change the meaning of every word, action and emotion. That is something I learned from the Haitian artists and we are sharing it together with the world through the Ghetto Tarot. And isn’t the confrontation of our inner feelings and emotions what tarot is all about?
Mansi THAPLIYAL [ Workshop Alumni ]
We Sing Along [ HOPE FRANÇOISE DEMULDER GRANT ] INDIA www.mansithapliyal.com I found a Karaoke Bar on the outskirts of Siem Reap where women are both entertainers and escorts. As different as their daily lives are from mine, in their expressions of intimacy and loneliness, I felt that I recognized those parts of myself that I rarely brought to the surface. As I watched them with the men that came to them for comfort, I was surprised at how their range of gestures – comfortable with one customer, irritable, but needy with the next, ambivalent and prop-like with the third – moved from desirable to dependent.
Tomasz TOMASZEWSKI Cyganie (Gypsies) POLAND www.tomasztomaszewski.com The origins of the Romany people remain unclear. A comparison of the language they use with Indic dialects seems to confirm the assumption that they came from the region of North-Western India, having abandoned it about the 9th century. Today, the Romany population in Europe is estimated at about 12 million - a considerable majority of the 16 million living all over the globe. Traditionally perceived as strangers, surrounded by distrust, or even spite, they have always existed as isolated groups on the margins of developing European communities - even though their contribution to the general cultural heritage, especially in music, dance and various handicrafts, is unquestionable. My journeys tracing the lives of present-day Gypsies have confirmed my earlier belief that little has changed for the Romany. It seems that we have not yet learned the lesson of tolerance towards people who live differently form ourselves. I strongly believe that my project explains man to man. It is addressed to everybody, especially to the young who, through these portraits, may better realize the absurdities of Holocaust, xenophobia and intolerance.
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All the photographs where taken between 1999 and year 2000 in Czech Republic, England, France, Hungary, India, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and The United States.
UNEARTHING MYANMAR'S MINING PRACTICES / NATURAL RESOURCE GOVERNANCE INSTITUTE Yu Yu Myint THAN Social Impact of Shwe Gas Lauren DECICCA Copper Mining in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region MIN ZAYAR Jade mining in Kachin Matt GRACE Artisanal Oil Drilling Andre MALERBA Gold Mining, Gun Disease Suthep KRITSANAVARIN Living with the Coal Mine MYANMAR
Myanmar is still in transition, and remains at an important juncture wherein continued pressure on certain issues can have positive longterm effects. As Myanmar continues the application process for EITI (extractive industries transparency issue) membership, it is required to bring accountability and transparency to mining initiatives within the country. This means reporting revenue as well as discussing social issues and conduction safe environmental practices. With EITI membership comes greater freedom in international investment in Myanmar's mining sector, and it is imperative that the host of issues surrounding mining practices in Myanmar are not forgotten in the face of increased income. Andre Malerba (US), Eugenie Stone (MM), Lauren DeCicca (US), Minzayar Oo (MM), Matt Grace (UK) and Suthep Kritsanavarin (TH) have each focused on a particular aspect of the extraction industry including: jade, natural gas, oil, copper, rubies, and gold. By doing so, issues such as lost revenue, environmental damages, work related medical issues, activism, and land grabs are covered, among others. Each photographer has gained access to a difficult or restricted area in order to document a facet of mining, and has returned with original work that provides new insight into mining in Myanmar. Collectively it forms a growing body of work that will serve as evidence in the fight for a fair and equal industry of extractive resources.
Michel VANDEN EECKHOUDT / AGENCE VU' Dogs BELGIUM Beauty contest, veterinary schools, trainings – for 10 years Michel Van den Eeckhoudt photographed dogs in all their ways. From Switzerland to Nepal, Scotland to Mauritius, his sensitive and hilarious photographs go along with interviews in which, in a direct style, a dog trainer, a veterinary surgeon, a blind person, a breeder and a circus artist talk about their deep relation with dogs.
Tim J. VELING
D/P/O NEW ZEALAND www.timjveling.com This body of work is about my father and friend, Peter Veling. At the end of October 2014, Dad sent me a text message. I was at work and in the middle of a meeting, but my iPhone happened to be on the desk in front of me. I glanced at the message that flashed up on the screen. It read, “I have been admitted to hospital. Please don’t worry, but call me when you can. Lots of love, D / P / O.” That’s how he always signed off his text messages; shorthand for Dad, Pete, Opa. I excused myself from the room and called him straight away. Exactly what he said to me I can’t recall, but I do remember him saying the words “lung cancer” and “Maybe three of four months, if I’m lucky.” I felt like the ground had been pulled out from under me. Over the coming months, twice a day, my wife Lizzie and I would bundle our seven-month-old daughter, Frankie in the car and drive to Dad’s house. We’d spend at least an hour with him, drinking coffee in the morning and beer at night. My mother, dad’s ex-wife and still good friend, travelled down from her home on the Kapiti Coast to visit every three or four weeks. She’d cook him roast chicken dinners to make sure he was eating. Frankie would run around the room with crackers coated in Marmite spread and smear dirty fingerprints all over dad’s furniture. We’d talk and laugh and sometimes cry, but mostly we’d sit and just be. Everyday dad told us how lucky he was to be leaving this world knowing how happy our little family was. “A job well overseen on my part, I reckon,” he’d say with a wry smile. “I can’t think of anything more rewarding than witnessing that for my only child. Honestly, what more could a man want for his life?” In the end, he went downhill very quickly and was admitted into Nurse Maude Hospice when he could no longer take care of himself. “It’s the end of the line for me,” I overhead him say to Mum while I packed his overnight bag. A day later, he fell into a coma. During the early evening of the 24th of March 2015, I kissed dad on the forehead then traced the shape of a crucifix with my thumb, just like he’d always do to me when saying goodbye. I held his hand and said it was okay to pass if he wanted.
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With that, he drew his last breath. The room fell silent. Just Dad and me, together. His wish was to go, “Straight from bed to the oven.” So that’s exactly what happened. He was cremated with photos of family and friends in the pockets of his well-worn blue jeans. He is Dad to me; Pete to Lizzie, family and friends; Opa to Frankie. We’ll all catch up over coffee and beer soon, just like he promised.
Marylise VIGNEAU
Phnom Penh Of The Future FRANCE www.marylisevigneau.com In April 1975, the city of Phnom Penh was falling, emptying of its inhabitants. A spell of death, destruction and terror followed. Forty years later the scars are barely visible on the outside. Peace seems to be well established, and under the iron fist of the prime minister Hun Sen, the city is booming. The skyline is rapidly changing, the post-Independence heritage is getting destroyed, and scaffolding is ubiquitous. Workers are moving in from the provinces and building landscapes of columned mansions, fountains and manicured gardens. Satellite cities are mushrooming, and these gated communities epitomize the aspirations of an emerging middle-class. There is recklessness in the air, a very palpable thirst for a modernity that appears to be built on layers of oblivion. Oblivion of history, oblivion of the squalor that lies just two steps away from the golden decor of the latest karaoke bar; as well as an enduring poetry.
Alessandro VINCENZI Weird Animals ITALY www.alessandrovincenzi.it When it comes to creativity and recycling, besides being useful, it is also always fascinating and interesting. Maybe this is the reason why I share the phrase “Once, old and broken things were not being throw away, but were repaired.” Before being thrown away and replaced by something new, these pieces that are considered recyclable were once owned by people who gave them use and a life. Unfortunately, it is now a common behaviour among all of us to replace things with something new. However, some people are doing everything possible to try and recover the damange that has been done, and is still being done, to our planet. L’Animalada is an example of creativity and positive thinking. This is a series of animals created by Sandra Sarda Cabero, which combines three different worlds – waste reduction, recycling of materials, and retrieving objects. Driven by the passion for the game, and the reaction when it is introduced into the public space, the need to create and look for aesthetic correspondence between the recovered and/or found objects and animals. The result has several interpretations, but the most satisfying and poetic is how Sandra’s work gives these objects a new life. They return to the life cycle; metaphorically, as the first level and most genuine, and also to the natural world, from where everything, toxic or not, is returned. Weird Animals has the ambition to talk about the importance of recycling by addressing the issue in an unusual way.
John VINK / MAGNUM PHOTOS The Cycle of Rice BELGIUM www.johnvink.com ‘The Cycle of Rice’ is an ongoing project in collaboration with ‘The Cambodia Daily’. Over a series of 12 publications in a time span of one year ‘The Cycle of Rice’ proposes to document the various aspects of rice growing in Cambodia. So far only four instalments were published: transplanting, ‘light rice’ harvest, Pchum Ben and the polders of Prey Nob. Stay tuned for the rest of the story until the end of June on my Instagram feed @vinkjohn
Hiroshi WATANABE Sarumawashi JAPAN-USA www.hiroshiwatanabe.com When I grew up in Japan, Sarumawashi (pronounced SA-ROO-MA-WA-SHE) was a common thing to see on streets of towns and villages. The Sarumawashi came on holidays and for festivals, but they also came unexpectedly when there were no apparent reasons to celebrate. I was enchanted by the monkeys. What child wouldn’t be? Here are small creatures dressed up, doing tricks, dancing and acting like miniature people. I would stay with them until my parent grabbed my hands and pulled me away. As I grew older, I forgot about the monkeys, or I just didn’t pay attention any more. The Sarumawashi were disappearing anyway. They had become a thing of the past.
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Several years ago I went to the Bronx Zoo in New York and visited their so-called 'Congo Gorilla Forest.' I was amazed how expressive the gorillas were. After that experience, I had no doubt that these animals had the same intricate, subtle feelings and emotions as people. So, I wondered, “Are the monkeys from my childhood like the gorillas I saw? Do they really have feelings like us?” I decided to revisit my past and go see the performing monkeys once again. I visited monkey theater companies and all day long I photographed the monkeys. In front of the camera, the monkeys stood up straight and struck poses from the plays over and over. Then, after a while, they started to fall back to their own inner selves, revealing their true monkey personalities.
John WENDLE
Glory!: The Fight For Ukraine's East USA www.johnwendle.com Bit by bit, Ukraine lost pieces of itself last year. First it lost its pro-Russian president, then it lost Crimea, then it lost its two eastern provinces. Some say its identity has been lost as well. By May 2014, people in the east were sharply divided between those who supported Ukraine and those who supported Russia. The only thing everyone agreed on was that the common person suffers during war at the hands of the rich and mighty, that everyone wanted the war to end soon and that the "other side" was to blame. This is a history of the suffering meted out by both sides and of the civilians caught in the middle.
Magnus WENNMAN / COSMOS Night Time Is Horrible SWEDEN One child misses her bed. Another misses her dark-eyed doll. A third dreams of the old days, when her pillow didn’t feel like an enemy. Two million children have fled Syria. Leaving behind their friends, their homes, their beds. A dozen of these children have invited us to come and see where they now sleep, now that everything they once had is gone. The journey takes us through seven refugee camps, three countries, and countless traumas.
John WILHELM Photoholic Selection SWITZERLAND www.johnwilhelm.ch Compositings from John Wilhelm is a Photoholic.
Yankang YANG / AGENCE VU'
"The Great Strength of Faith" / Buddhism in Tibet CHINA Despite unceasing oppression, indoctrination and spying, the photographs taken by Yang Yankang show Buddhism is still alive in Tibet. For years now, religious communities have organized their religious activities independently. Thanks to the serious political application of free religion practices, everybody shows respect to one another, and daily life remains harmonious. The black and white pictures of Yang Yangkang in Tibet, photographed in areas of Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan an Qinghai, translate the power of faith. Buddhism is seen as an incarnation of a feasible peace in Tibet.
Rony ZAKARIA [ WORKSHOP ALUMNI ] Encounters INDONESIA www.ronyzakaria.com
The only constant in life is change. Through time one's life changes, a city develops, a journey continues or ends. In the last six years I lived in and out of Jakarta, I collect snapshots as I became part of the big city, and also when I travel, unattached from the system temporarily. It is a continuing voyage of witnessing dreams and hopes, which sometimes one step darker, and the other time, lighter. As like looking through a glass window, all seems absurd and yet real as reality. And we differently kept collecting questions that seeks for answers, the ones that is right for each of us, so we can keep on living through these encounters.
Arjen ZWART No One Dies At A Gypsy Wedding NETHERLANDS
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An encounter with the Roma in Istanbul provided the impetus for my photographic project. Their lifestyle and their ability to survive in a rough environment like Istanbul attracted me to them. I started this project in 2001. During the following 14 years I have been photographing the members of one romani family. I saw their children grow up and witnessed important events and stages in their lives.
Zalmaï [Human Rights Watch]
AFGHANISTAN-SWITZERLAND WWW.ZALMAI.COM Dreads And Dreams Afghan-born photographer Zalmaï was forced to flee to Switzerland at the age of 15 after the 1980 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As a freelance photographer, Zalmaï has spent years capturing the human cost of war around the world and in his home country, Afghanistan, where he also sees signs of hope. Dreads and Dreams brings together photographs Zalmaï made between 2008 and 2013 against the backdrop of the 14-year U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan that culminated in 2014 with the withdrawal of American troops. The book presents two contrasting bodies of work. Zalmaï’s epic duotone photographs reveal the stark reality of life in Afghanistan for the millions of Afghan refugees who have returned to their country since 2002, only to find they cannot go back to their homes. They are instead forced to live in squalid conditions in makeshift refugee camps and urban slums where most live on the brink of survival, and many take refuge in drugs. In counterpoint to this series, Zalmaï presents sun-tinged color photographs that reflect the hopes and dreams of the Afghan people. Here, Zalmaï takes us away from the monumental humanitarian crisis wrought by war to reveal signs of positive life force permeating his country. Empathetic, indignant and still hopeful, Zalmaï’s photographs draw attention to Afghanistan’s ongoing struggle, that has largely left the headlines, by focusing on the Afghan people and their lived experience of war, insecurity, chronic governmental mismanagement, corruption in a huge scale and international negligence. The crossing Leaving everything behind, fleeing from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq the war, the violence, the destruction on the road of hope where they have to cross borders and borders without knowing where dose borders are ending, to find some sense of security - they to have crossed mountains, rivers the cold of winter, As soonest they arrive in the European soil they have a senses of relief but where the humiliation , misunderstanding start. My work is about the journey of those people where they’re challenging the humanity, humanity of others as the humanity was vanished from their homeland by war.
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