F8Magazine #Zero October 2010 by F8 Magazine

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R.J. Facun Charles Pertwee Kevin German Q.R. Mattingly Jonh Lander V. Urbani

and more...

Staff Editor MIGUEL A. MOYA miguel.moya@f8mag.com

Production Manager & Managing Editor PAULA FONCEA paula.foncea@f8mag.com Design & Layout Ana Vida ana.vida@f8mag.com Web: F8MAG

Collaborators:

Translators: MARLEN GARCÍA ANA ALONSO CLAIRE TURNER MANUELA GHIULAI MARTA GUILARTE PATRICIA HERRERO LARA MOYANO ISA DÍAZ

BEATRIZ ROSA DOMÍNGUEZ TAMARA PINTO MANUEL NAÑEZ Thanks to: MARIA EUGENIA MARIAM ANA MOHEDAS FATIMA DE ACEVEDO ELSYMARIE VEGA

Contact Information

©F8MAGAZINE 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without permission from the publishers. The views expressed in F8Magazine are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. © Copyright Notice: All images displayed on this magazine are the property of their respective photographers. YOU MAY NOT DISTRIBUTE, COPY, PUBLISH OR USE THE IMAGES OR ANY PART OF THE IMAGES IN ANY WAY WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER. YOU MAY NOT ALTER, MANIPULATE, ANY PART OF AN IMAGE WITHOUT CONSENT. Contact the photographer if you wish to obtain a reproduction of an image or if you wish to obtain permission to redisplay an image on another web site.

Editorial Editorlial Everything starts with an idea. To have the idea and to keep it alive until it becomes reality, to feed it with joy and effort.

This is reality what you are actually reading, the photos and the articles that you can see on the other side of the screen.

The Idea of F8 Magazine is not just to show the work of the best photographers worldwide, we also want to see with their eyes, to get to know the inquietudes and wishes, the personal daily grind and of course the professional too. That they can help us by knowing how the live and think the persons of every other country or culture, beyond the natural disasters, social conflicts or current events. To understand the world through this photos. Thanks to all photographers who believed in us, when we hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t nothing to offer them yet and thank thanks to all of you who read this words. We hope that you enjoy what we are offering. One advice, this is the first issue, the best is still coming.

MIGUEL A. MOYA

Contents

A. Rius

EFTI R. J. Facun

J.Lander

V. Urbani

Q.R. Mattingly

C. Pertwee

K. German

Naomi Harris Taschen

R. Robledo

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Charles

ertwee The photojournalist who specializes in conflict zones brings us a first-person insight on some of the hottest areas of Asia. From Afghanistan to Indonesia, a journey through earthquakes, wars and hopes.

Text by M. A. MOYA Photography Charles Pertwe

A worker with a t-shirt wrapped around his head works in the grounds of a temple transferring bodies to refrigerated containers in Phuket, Thailand. December 2004

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I was born in Tokyo in 1970. My mother is Japanese. My father is English. I studied History of the East Asia at the University in London. My hobby is the triathlon. When did you decide to become a photographer? What do you want to tell us through your photos? I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think I ever consciously decided to become a photographer. It was something I did when I traveled, and gradually I started to make money from selling stories and photos to the magazines. Eventually I was able to make a living from it. My ultimate aim is to, hopefully, show

people interesting stuff and, to tell an interesting story. Quite simple really. Tell us about your jobs. Are you freelance or staff photographer? What media have you worked for? I am freelance. I always have been. I worked for a short while on the picture desk at Reuters, but other than that, I have always been shooting. I have worked for many newspapers in the US and Europe, including the New York Times, the Times, Dahgens Nyheter, etc. and a bunch of magazines, including Time, Wired, etc. What are the pros and cons about being a photojournalist? The pros: the freedom, a way to express yourself, the variety, the emotional highs and lows. The knowledge that many times

My ultimate aim is to, hopefully, show people interesting stuff, to tell an interesting story. Quite simple really

Images of Afghan police being trained by US advisors in Kabul and Gardez

Hello Charles, Tell us about you, your birthplace, your studies, your hobbies, etc.

you are a witness to history in the taking. Even on the most boring assignments, I still thank God that I am taking pictures and not sitting behind a desk doing a pointless job in a bank or something like that. This is of course not a full list, there are many more. The cons: there are times when I have to take pictures, I do not feel comfortable taking - where I feel like I am really intruding on someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s privacy, or a private moment. It is up to your own judgement, wether that picture is necessary for the story. The emotional highs and lows, yes, it is both a pro and a con I think. Again, this is not a full list, but I am certain there are many more pros than cons. You have lived the earthquakes that took place in Pakistan in December 2005 and in Indonesia in October 2009. How is work in those extreme conditions? What main differences did you find in these two horrible events? Of course working in these kind of conditions is difficult, physically and emotionally. The physical challenges the need to stay healthy, the logistical challenges of finding clean water and food for yourself in a situation where many other people also need the same. Also, finding a safe place to sleep and keep your equipment. The emotional challenges witnessing the after effects of a massive natural disaster on people, watching people deal with the loss of loved ones, the loss of everything they ever owned. The main difference between the two events - the terrain in Pakistan was a huge hurdle. Many of the victims were quite high up in the mountains where access was very limited, in fact, impossible by land. In a lot of cases the quake destroyed the already very poor roads accessing the stricken areas. The area around Padang, Indonesia, is quite densely populated and the infrastructure is far better. Plus the Indonesians are very experienced in >

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> dealing with large earthquakes and the aftermath. Indonesia is on the “Ring of Fire” so unfortunately earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are not that uncommon. At every disaster, I have covered in Indonesia; I have seen first hand very capable and caring Indonesian aid organizations at work, with volunteers from all over the country getting involved in large numbers. You have also been in Thailand during the Tsunami in December 2004. I have seen some of your photos showing the disaster and some others showing people celebrating the New Year. How did you view the contrast from your personal point of view?

How was that experience? It was a little bit surreal but that is a very obvious thing to say. On one had the celebrations were a triumph of the human spirit, evidence that life goes on no matter what happens. That area of southern Thailand also depends on tourism so the sooner the situation could normalize the better for everyone. But among the people drinking and partying; there were a few who were holding candles for family members who were still missing, or whose bodies had been found, and that was an emotional thing to witness and to photograph. This is the kind thing I mention in the “cons” section above.

Images from Afghanistan 2002-2006

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effort, and you have to remember to take pictures too. The people who live in this region are superbly adapted to it, and are some of the toughest people on earth. The environment, the weather and other natural factors shape the people and how they live. Also it brings a certain simplicity to their lives. There is no way of people dominating and shaping the environment to suit them in this region, as they have done in other parts of the world, it is simply too extreme.

New Years Eve festivities in Patong, Phuket, Thailand. December 2004.

The pros: the freedom, a way to express yourself, the variety, the emotional highs and lows, the knowledge that many times you are a witness to history in the taking. Even on the most boring assignments, I still thank God that I am taking pictures and not sitting behind a desk doing a pointless job in a bank or something like that.

In your series of photos about Khumbu’s region in Nepal, I can see that you often leave a lot of space around the people in your photos, showing the hostile environment in which they live and how nature dominates humans. Was it difficult to work in those conditions? It was very difficult for me, physically. The altitude was the main difficulty. I was working at up to about 5500 meters, and that is very hard going for someone who spends most of the time at sea level, like me. Carrying a camera backpack and trekking along steep trails at that altitude is a 100%

You have photos in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2006. How was work there? Did you live any situation of risk for you? How do you see Afghans’ situation as a population in conflict?

A woman walks throught St. Theresia´s church, damaged in the earthquake, in Padang, Indonesia, on Sunday Oct. 4, 2009

Afghanistan is the most fascinating place; a place that has seen more than its fair share of conflict due largely to its location. The Afghan people have seen nothing but war for the last 30 years or so. There are so many factors involved in destabilizing the country - the corruption, the poverty, the poppies, the tribalism, the Taliban, the foreign military presence, the foreign NGO presence - its a cycle of cause and effect that seems overwhelming. Working in Kabul was really not much of a problem. Outside of >

Indah, 8, who´s legs were broken by a wall that collapsed due to the eartquaque, sits on her bed in the M. Djamil hospital in Padang, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. Photos of victims of the tsunami are displayed on the ends of temporary coffins in Phuket, Thailand. December 2004.

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A tank starts advancing towards us, and a small boy comes running and lands next to me behind the mound of dirt. He must have been about 12 or so. He sees I am taking pictures, so he starts speaking to me. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t speak Arabic but I could understand what he was getting at - and that was that he was going to jump out in front of the tank and throw rocks at it, and he wanted me to take photos of him.

Residents cross a bridge with their possessions from a village destroyed by a landslide triggered by the earthquake around Lubuh Lawek Village in Padang Pariaman, outside Padang, Indonesia, Oct. 5, 2009

A boy and his friends looked for the bodies of missing friends and relatives in Lubuh Lawek village in Padang Pariaman, outside Padang, Indonesia, on Monday, Oct. 5, 2009

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Shanghai

> Kabul, I found shooting to be quite challenging as there is an element of risk. You are either with the military, which are not the kind of images, I am very interested in taking, or you are trying to keep a low profile and working fast and not staying in one place for too long. I do believe things are more precarious now as the security situation continues to deteriorate. Now you live in Singapore, tell us what brought you there and the cause of your interest in Asian countries.

Shanghai

I went to Singapore to work on the Global Picture desk at Reuters. I was estationed in Tokyo at the time. Singapore is where Reuters have their main picture desk and pretty much all the images shot around the world are sent to Singapore where they are edited and sent out to clients worldwide. It was an interesting experience, very educational for me; I was able to work with some of the most talented wire photographers and some of

the most experienced editors in the world. I do feel strongly that all photojournalists can benefit from working on a picture desk somewhere. My interest in Asian countries contributed to the fact that I have lived most of my life in various parts of Asia, and traveled to many other. It is such an amazing region, and the broad term - Asia - hides the enormous diversity that can be found there. Once I had finished at Reuters and started photographing again I found that Singapore was a very good hub for traveling around the region. I have actually just moved to Paris, within the last month. What projects are you working in at the moment, or you think of working in a near future? I was working on a few different things in Asia, a project on the Mekong, a project on water/ agriculture in the region, not really imagining that I would be moving so quickly to France. It will be harder to >

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Curious Sherpa girl look throught the window of a lodge in the Khumbu region of Nepal

Shanghai

Can you tell us any anecdote or personal experience that has marked you, related to your work of photojournalist? I was in Gaza about eight years ago, and I remember hiding behind a pile of dirt as Israeli soldiers were shooting at some Palestinian kids throwing rocks at them. A tank starts advancing towards us, and a small boy comes running and lands next to me behind the mound of dirt. He

must have been about 12 or so. He sees I am taking pictures, so he starts speaking to me. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t speak Arabic but I could understand what he was getting at - and that was that he was going to jump out in front of the tank and throw rocks at it, and he wanted me to take photos of him.

Prayer flags flutter in the wind in the Khumbu region of Nepal

> keep working on those projects now so I will be looking for projects around my new home. I am sure there will be something interesting, and that I feel strongly about.

importance of ethics in journalism and of course the importance of the ethics of each and every journalist. Thank you very much Charles and congratulations for your work.

There was a pretty good chance that he would have been killed. I put my camera down on the floor and told him very emphatically that no way was I going to take pictures of him, and he better stay right where he was! I learnt so many things from that small incident - the power and scope of the media and how it can be manipulated, the

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Charles P ertwee http://pertwee.com/

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of the Ambacang Hotel in Padang, Indonesia, on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009

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EFTI Photography school

EFTI Photography EFTI Photography school school EFTI photography school has achieved over its history become a national benchmark in the teaching of this discipline, giving importance to creativity and personality of each student. We talked about school, their present and future, with José Luis Amores, his co-director with Agustín Pérez de Guzmán.

Miguel A. Moya. Álvaro Rojas. Galeria Cero hall and facilities

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Jorge Salgado. EFTI photo sets.

What is EFTI? 22 years ago, I am talking about the year 1988, we decided to create a school. We wanted that the central theme was going to be photography, but we had a main idea, which we were developing during all this time. We wanted to get an active space where the education could mix itself with exhibitions, activities, conferences, etc. We love other kinds of disciplines, but we decided to specialize ourselves in photography, though in the last years the digital photography and the video had been producing so, obviously, we have been changing our courses, which have been adapting to the new technologies. We work with the best photographers of the world and also with the best national photographers, and they can come and pass on an idea: what is photography for them? The school has about 30 courses, but we want to emphasize that everything starts with the professional course, which starts from zero, and it takes a year and then everything continues with the master in photography, which has an important international renown. The professional course is, basically, technical as well as the master, but we emphasize the creative and the documental ways. We make much collaboration with other entities of photography because we think EFTI without the rest would be nothing; and this was our mind since our first steps.

Galeria Cero photo sets

Apart from that we were talking about, what differences would you emphasize between EFTI and others photography school?

EFTI showroom

We try to teach the student that this subject cannot just be studied, but it has to be lived in all ways. One can learn more photography in the library than in the classroom but both places are necessary. The exchange of experience with other photographers is also important because the students know how the it all started, how the work is made or how the photographer is moving around the world. We have conferences, book presentations, debates…everything around the photography. We try that the student find his place, know how is the world where he is going to live if he is a professional photographer or just amateur, and we offer him a relationship with the photography. We believe the technique and the concept are very important;

the student must know the technique to develop his personal project and not only copy the famous photographers. The main characteristic of EFTI is trying to teach each student his own language and his attitude to the photography theme.

Between all the courses you are offering, the personal language course stands out from the rest, what more can you tell me about this course? To fact to find your own language and your own way to say the things is very important if a photographer decides to follow his creativity to sell and make exhibitions. The easiest thing is trying to copy the language of another photographer, but we want to avoid that.

As well as his experience and professional knowledge when you select a teacher, do you keep in mind the human quality that This subject is deep studying in the master but not really deep in he can pass on to the students? the professional courses. The students who have not access to the master or who are studying the professional course or who come This is of vital importance for us. We believe from other schools have a very good technical basis, but they have the student need proximity, attention. Our to find their own way of communication. This course is especially for group of teachers has a lot of experience, this kind of students. The teachers of this course are Ciuco Gutiérrez, and they know very well the specific subPaco Gil Escalante, Carmen Damao o Espido Freire Espido, for example, jects of photography that they are teaching is a writer, and she teaches how the images were used from the prehisbut especially they know what EFTI is. Most tory till today. This way helps the students to understand and enrich the of the senior teachers were once students. photograph language of a person who aspires to be creative. Miguel Oriola or Pablo Esgueva are profesThat means that you do not just base photography professionals for sionals who are in the school for more than this course? twelve years, and they have seen how the prestige of the school has been growing. No, we have literature teachers, art teachThey have been the teacher of miles of ers, writers… we teach something really “We make students, and they know perfectly needs of important. You have to know how to do a student. a description about what you want to say much collaboraOur school has more than 950 students just with the picture. You also have to know per year and this, unfortunately, means how to achieve that, how to write it, how tion with other that sometimes the teacher has a lot of to give it shades, how to correct it, how to work with his classes and maybe cannot set it out and, from there. You can find the entities of photoggive as time as he wants to a student. We way of what you can change in it and how want to avoid that, and we have tutorships you work in it. The world of the creation which are similar than an ordinary class so raphy because we and the world of the personal language cross the teacher can help to the student with themselves into the photography way, or the all doubts he has. Moreover, the contact paint way, or the way of the sculpture, dance, think EFTI without per email is continued and this makes music… We cannot close the creative world the relationship between students and around the photography because, of course, the rest would be teachers easier. the creativity is something global. nothing; and this was The groups are reduced to 15 persons Another new course you are offering is the more or less and this also makes it more video creation with reflex; do you think personal and with a direct attention our mind since our first that, maybe in the future, the photografrom the teacher to the student. phers will have to work with the video edit, like tell stories with movement apart steps. But the most important thing from pictures? for us by selecting a teacher his capacity; he has to be a part of We cannot doubt that every day the world EFTI; if he feels that EFTI is a wants to have professionals even more educommon project, the curricucated. Today the prototypes of photogralum is not as important as it. phers who went into a city or conflict and >

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We believe the technique and the concept are very important; > took pictures and then gave the way free for the video professional is changing. With the video on the reflex camera, the photographer can make both: the fashion documental and the photographs. Of course, we cannot expect to remove the video professionals, but the industry is changing. We have been performing a conference of Juan Santacruz, on the Aranjuez photography conferences, about photography and video. There were fashion videos, which were presented in festivals, and pictures that were taken for a magazine. IThe internet llows advertising or conceptual messages through some Internet web pages about video and photography. The photography and the video are going to join and the photographer will be able to create a video and edit it, exactly like today he eeditshis pictures with Photoshop. What is Espacio Cero?

the student must know the technique to develop his personal project and not only copy the famous photographers. The main

characteristic of EFTI is trying to teach each student his own language and attitude to the photography

F8 Magazine. José Luis Amores, EFTI´s coDirector

As I already mentioned, that we want EFTI theme.” to be an active space and on the inside of this space we join new initiatives every year. One example of that are the Aranjuez conferences where hundred percent of the benefits are destined to “Tenemos un objetivo” ONG. This group will realize photography projects in developing countries. We will bring photographers and we will built “casas de luz” which are facilities where young people can meet the photography and maybe, they can get a job through it. We were already in countries like Tanzania, India or Cuba. At the same time, we work with young photographers who are not strong enough to access to art galleries. Obviously, these galleries are interested in sales, and they do not support new and young photographers. We create “Galería Cero” to give them a chance: we are the representation of some of them, and we exhibit the work of the others. “Galería Cero” is an art gallery, which supports new languages and young people.

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We work with young photographers who

The Roberto Villagraz scholarships supports in a financial way people who want to do a master in the EFTI, what can you tell me about this scholarship?

are not strong enough to access to art galleries. Obviously, these galleries are interested in sales, and they do not bet for new and young photographers. We create “Galería Cero” to support them: we are the representation of some of them, and we exhibit the work of the others. “Galería Cero” is an art gallery which bet for new languages and for young people.

Right now, because of the position of the photography in Spain and because it is not recognized, we cannot access to scholarships like, for example, Erasmus scholarships; so EFTI provides to give two scholarships for the master per year. Thousand of photographers try to get one every year, and they come from fifty or sixty countries.

Where will EFTI be in some years? We would like to be exactly who we are, with the same staff who is working in EFTI and with the attention of our teachers. We do not want to take another way that we already took. In these twenty-two years, we, which means the people who found the school and the people who have been incorporating to it made a really good job. There is still a lot of work to do, and it is a very big responsibility but if you have hope, you will be able to get up tomorrow.

We want to maintain this way of work and enjoy the photography.

Would you like to add something? Thank you for the opportunity that you offer with this article, herewe are for what you . need

We would like to have more support and more help but right now we cannot do more. We have created the biggest photography award of the world, which is eighteen thousand Euros of resources for one picture.

“We would like to have more support and more help but right now we cannot do more. We have created the biggest photography award of the world, which

is eighteen thousand Euros of resources for one picture.

F8 Magazine. José Luis Amores, EFTI´s coDirector

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John

ander A passion for asia

Text by M. A. MOYA Photography John Lander

Ninnaji Temple Monks- Kyoto

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“Queen” at the festival in honor of the Holy Child in the City of Cebu, The Philippines

Japanese Tea Ceremony

Hello John. In the time that you have been here in Japan, tell us how many years you have been in this country and what was the thing you feel attracted you, when you decided to live and work here.

Tell us about your experience when you first visited Japan.

I’ve been here for 25 years and still counting. At first, I thought it was going to be for one or two years only. I was a young EFL teacher, fresh graduated. I needed some experience and a way to pay off my student loans. Though I stopped teaching about five years ago, I’m still here. Now I’m writing feature articles about Japan and places I would consider special. My specialty is Japanese gardens.

In your photographs, we can find various images that range from different countries, crowded festivals, personal moments to ritual such as the Tea Ceremony. What attracts you the most about the way you live in Japan, and what do you want to reflect in your photographs?

At first I was overwhelmed by the crowds. Though I spent seven years in San Francisco, also a big city, it seemed like a small town compared to Tokyo.

Although places like Tokyo are crowded, once you get back home it is an oasis of peace and quiet. >

Shisendo, hermitage and garden in eastern Kyoto.

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Bamrung Muang Road near Bangkok City Hall and Wat Suthat is the largest center for Buddhist supply shops in the country

>Neighbors tend to be respectful of others’ privacy and loud parties (in decent neighborhoods) are almost unheard of. After a long trip, or even a day in the city, I am so relieved to be at home with wooden floors and tatami, mats that I sometimes don’t leave the house for days after being out. It’s such a relief to be back in my old Japanese house. Japanese people are well known for bieng very reserved with strangers. Tell us if you have some trick to be near them and take photographs of these personal moments from Japanese rituals and traditions. Politeness and showing respect are the keys to getting anywhere in Japan. Though my use of the Japanese language is still not great, I manage to get by and always try to show a bit of humbleness and be as polite as possible. Doing so has opened many doors for me in Japan. Foreigners are often given a lot

of space, and rules are usually bent a bit for them as well. As for photography, the Japanese people are shutterbugs. Come to think of it, they will photograph anything that moves or doesn’t move. So photographing things, and people, is quite common. Onsen, or hot springs, usually have restrictions or signs saying “No Photography”. Last year I was at an outdoor hot springs up in the mountains and I was just dying to photograph the place with its waterfall “shower” but after seeing signs restricting the area, I refrained. Then a group of wild Japanese bikers arrived on the scene, and it became a photo fest of them photographing each other. Not minding the nudity, I grabbed my camera and to take pictures, and went to town! It was all a big “Whee” for the bikers who got a kick out of it. Nevertheless, in the past couple of years I have noticed a certain concern about “privacy” that wasn’t there before.

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Sumo “keiko” or practice at a sumo stable in Tokyo

Politeness and showing respect are the keys to getting anywhere in Japan. Though my use of the Japanese language is still not great, I manage to get by and always try to show a bit of humbleness and be as polite as possible. Doing so has opened many doors for me in Japan. Foreigners are often given a lot of space, and rules are usually bent a bit for them as well.

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“Cosplay” (Costume Play) Bloody Nurse. Harajuku, Tokyo.“

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You have expanded your work to other Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia… What are the biggest differences, regarding both the people and places that you have noticed between Japan and the countries around it? People in Southeast Asia are very friendly and welcoming of foreign visitors. In recent years, Vietnam and Cambodia have seen a huge influx of tourism, and so they are used to foreigners, and used to cameras being whipped out in the market, at festivals. Nowadays, I find that the results are far better if you chat with people, get to know them a little bit, make them feel comfortable with you before getting the camera out of the bag. Just shots of market vendors sometimes works, but the smile is more genuine, and the photo more engaging if you talk to the vendor, buy a bundle of strawberries or whatever, then take the shot. What do you think about the current stock photography market? Is it possible to compete against the big image distribution companies (Getty Images, for example)? Tough question. The past couple of years have been difficult. I contribute to two large stock photography companies as well as one small niche one. Happily, I’m starting to see a big improvement in sales of stock photos which began early this year. According to Photoshelter, where I archive my photos along with about 50,000 other photographers, the trend is web-based. If the photographers images are very well keyworded they are captioned, and easily found on Google or Google Images. It is supposedly going to shake things up. Happily, Google Images has been improving in recent months due to some tweaks over at Google (they say). Other things that go along with this future trend is PicScout, where any image on the web that has been tagged by PicScout it has info on licensing and pricing that goes back to the

Nowadays, I find that the results are far better if you chat with people, get to know them a little bit, make them feel comfortable with you before getting the camera out of the bag. Just pot shots of market vendors sometimes works, but the smile is more genuine, and the photo more engaging if you talk to the vendor, buy a bundle of strawberries or whatever, then take the shot.

photographer, not a big agency. I believe almost all my photos have been spidered by PicScout - it is a feature of Photoshelter. Very recently Flickr users can select “License This Image” for their entire photostream via Getty. So far, I have not had any results at all through PicScout or “License This” via Getty on Flickr, but I am hopeful. You’ve done a lot of shooting across Asia. Do you ever use a translator? I often travel in Japan with my Japanese partner, which takes care of any complicated transactions. Simple stuff I can handle in Japanese by myself. I find that in Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, etc. more people are likely to speak English, and like to do so. Nevertheless, when choosing a tuk-tuk driver, say, at Angkor Wat, I make sure to get one who speaks English pretty well, or who has some understanding of what we’re going to be doing (early morning, late afternoons for shooting, 11-3 siesta). Also someone who seems to have interactive skills, in case we go to the market or chat up someone that I may want to photograph.

John Lander

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Chinese dancers in Beijing

Do you have in mind to settle down anywhere in Japan or in any other Asian country?

personal living that has impressed you while you were developing your work in Asia.

I feel I am already settled very nicely in Japan. Having said that, Bangkok appears in the horizon as the next headquarters. It’s ideally situated for me. All the discount air carriers use Bangkok airport (Air Asia, Tiger, Jetstar, Cebu Pacific) so it’s quick, cheap and easy to get to anywhere in Asia from there. Plus, Thailand has always been my favorite place anyways.

At this point, I’ve been in Asia so long that being in a western country (The US, Europe or Australia) seems more foreign to me than anywhere in Asia. I think they used to say, back in Somerset Maughham’s day that one had “gone bamboo”. I can think of worse fates!

Where could we find you in 10 years? In the centre of Tokyo surrounded by thousands of people or staring peacefully at a Zen garden?

Thank you so much for your answers and the time you have devoted to us, John. Miguel, my pleasure.

Hopefully at the beach in Burma or Thailand in a thatched hut. To conclude, tell us some anecdote or

Jizo images and statues are popular in Japan as Bodhisattva who console beings awaiting rebirth and travelers

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Monks on the banks of the river in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

jONH laNDER asian-images.photoshelter.com asiaimages.blogspot.com www.youtube.com/asiaimages

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Rich-Joseph

acun

Documentary Photographer

texto M. A. MOYA fotografía R.J. FACUN

Evan Burgoon, 5, watches his father Lt Cmdr. Ian Burgoon.

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Hello Rich. To start with, tell us something about you, your birthplace, how old you were when you took your first photo. I was born in a military hospital in Pensacola, Florida. My father was an immigrant to the US from the Philippines via the US Navy. My mother’s family is originally from Mexico, specifically from the indigenous tribe of the Otomi Indians, this makes me “mestizo,” or of mixed blood and native ancestry. I don’t recall the first photograph I took. It might have been sometime in the Seventies probably with a Kodak camera and some 110 film. It was most likely a picture of my sister or my mom and dad. There was never any profound moment for me

that drove me to picture making, I never experienced any sort of epiphany - I never intended to become a working photographer.

The clerk told me a photography course was my only option. I scowled at the idea. It wasn’t that I didn’t like photography - in fact, I had just bought an old Canon AE-1 from my brother-in-law - but I knew the class would be expensive. I was putting myself through school, paying my rent, had living expenses, etc, not to mention a young daughter. I was worried about having to pay for supplies such as film, paper, chemicals and so forth.

What formal training do you have? During college, I was one class shy from transferring from a community college to an actual university but I needed a fine art credit. Originally, I was enrolled in a sculpture class. At the time, I was working in the construction industry and had also done some other trades that involved working with my hands so I assumed sculpture might be a good fight for my abilities at the time.

With no other options, I took the course at the Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. I worked on a portrait series and entered it into a juried exhibition. To my surprise, it earned 1st place in the black and white division. A few weeks later I enrolled in the Truth with a Camera workshop founded by Dr. Vme Edom Smith. Afterwards, I was encouraged by her and other instructors such as Bill Eppridge and Carol Guzy, to continue pursuing my photography.

Just before the semester started I was informed that the class had been cancelled.

A few months later I ended up at Ohio

Makar Sankrant, Sagar Island, India

Tohono O’odham reservation. Xavier, Arizona. 2003

University where I studied photojournalism. I had no idea what I was doing there. I honestly didn’t know what defined documentary photography or photojournalism. In fact, when I first met with the head of the department and he asked me what my intentions were I told him I wanted to make books. That was it. I never intended to work for newspapers, magazines, etc. I really just stumbled into the whole field of journalism. ¿How many years have you been dedicated professionally to photography? Photography, for me, all began around the end of 1998. I started working professionally in 2001 but in 2002 I took a year off (never picked the camera up once) and was looking into earning my Judicial Degree in order to practice law. In the end I chose photography. Professionally, I think I have been shooting for about eight years.

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Where do you live in the present time? Who are you working for? (A newspaper, an agency...) Currently I’m based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and work as a staff photographer for The National. My work is also represented by arabianEye and select prints of my photography are available through www.52selects.com. The National keeps me busy with daily news photography, the good people at arabianEye take great care of me and generate commercial work to help fund my documentary projects and 52selects turns over a profit with my prints. The idea is to diversify and earn a profit from as many sources possible. I have a few other ideas in mind - hopefully I’ll tap into them eventually. When did you realize that you wanted to work with documentary photography? I never made a conscious decision to take my photography in this direction.

Refugees. Tucson, Arizona. 2004

It manifested itself in my work from the beginning. I was always drawn to photographing people. My first portrait series were of people on the streets followed by a love for street photography. Early on, the photography books and work I was most inspired by were those by Garry Winogrand, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Lee Friedlander, Diane Arbus, Burk Uzzle and Josef Koudelka. We know that you have studied philosophy. This must have broadened a lot your way of thinking and perceiving others’ behaviours. Have your philosophy works helped you get closer to people who take part in your works and better understand their interests and desires? I think education and the knowledge it generates has broadened my way of thinking as did studying philosophy. However, prior to returning to university at the age of 27, I had worked numerous jobs ranging from a laborer to working as a door-to-door salesman. I also had traveled and > >moved

Tohono O’odham youth. Xavier, Arizona. 2003

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You are really interested in showing how people follow their dreams and how they look for and discover their way to their self-discovery. Do these interests come from your own personal experience? I never intentionally aimed to work on this genre of subject matter - it was to some degree something in my subconscious that came out in conscious form through my work. This fact is what compelled me to continue working at this craft.

Hinton Carter, 9, visits the site where his cousin Carter Stephenson, 14, was killed in traffic accident.

around the US, at times as a sponsored skateboarder and other times as a dreaded Rastafarian living out of the back of an old truck; this too was educational. I had a child at the age of 17, I collected food stamps, I was homeless for a short stint, I had run-ins with the law. Like a lot of people, I struggled. My overall education had to do with my life experiences. That said, it has been a conglomerate of all of these experiences that assist me with the subjects that I tend to photograph. The philosophy courses were just a brick in the wall within the overall scheme of things. In the end we’re all just humans and understanding one another comes with knowing oneself. The more I discover and learn about myself the more honest I can be to my subjects. I believe this honesty opens a lot of doors for me. If I’m hiding something from my subjects they will hide themselves from me. It’s like any relationship.

That said, in regards to the pursuit of dreams and self discovery, the US citizen living and working in America can essentially pursue any avenue of work and lifestyle to which that person aspires. Many Americans take great pride in their independence and individuality and truly value this gift. On the other hand, sometimes this freedom can backfire and become tainted in that it is interpreted as an entitlement.

every opportunity in the world in front of me. To them the “American Dream” is still a very real and tangible entity. Are your photos parts of your way to your self-discovery? Without a doubt. At some level every long term project I work on reflects something of myself. In fact, everything I involve myself in is to some degree a part of my own self-discovery. Sometimes, it is not until after the fact of making an image or working on a longer project, that upon deeper reflection I find something further about myself. In the end, I think all photographs are a mirror into some part of the human psyche. We have the feeling that in your job there is a big proximity among you and the people you take photos from,

a great closeness and warmth in the composition, the colours and the search for light. I would say that your photography is very human and close. Does this photographic language come from the deep need of better understanding how the world works through the rest of people? I don’t know that the photographic language I use stems from a deep need to better understand how the world works through others. In fact, I think that a more honest statement might be that I strive to communicate how an experience feels in a given situation. I think through photography the human experience can be delicately conveyed through the use of color, light, texture, and overall composition. In my work, I would prefer to inspire questions > >

Outside of the States, in countries such as Pakistan, India and even here in the United Arab Emirates, one’s place in life is accepted in simple terms. That is to say that the life the individual is born into is more or less where he will remain, at least in this life. There are no options of any social mobility. Americans, on the other hand, can indeed rise from nothingness, from poverty, from dysfunction and build their own personal empire. This is not an omnipotent right or reality available to those existing within all cultures. The freedom to define one’s self, to pursue one’s dreams, to reap what you sow is an eccentric philosophy and social phenomena outside of the Western world and to me, this is fascinating. Here in the UAE, many of the working class people I meet are so enthusiastic when they find out that I have a US passport; to them it means everything. To them it means I have “I love Elvis and my wife loves Elvis”

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Moksha, Varanasi. India

rather than answer them. I don’t think it is my place to interpret the truth as there is no objective truth. Which photographers or people from other artistic disciplines have inspired your career? Like many in the creative field, I find inspiration in so many shapes, sizes and forms. Inspiration can be found in music, people, design, lifestyles, cultures, literature, art, etc. Specifically, I have been inspired by the photography of many various skill levels. That said, here are a few of those people off the top of my head... Vanessa Winship, Ross Garrett, Stacia Spragg-Braude, Andres Gonzalez, Harvey Wang, Andy Spyra, Trent Parke... Really there is just so much great work to see out there. Presently, I can go online and come across photographs that have been around for awhile but I’ve never personally seen, so it’s new and fresh to me. I typically come across something inspiring online on a daily basis. The crew over at Luceo Images always have something fresh and new to look at. I often stop by www.dvafoto.com to see what new content they have going on. Sometimes I find some inspiration at: www.jmcolberg.com/weblog I’ve also been inspired by literature like On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and even the Bible or the Tao Te Ching. Lastly, I’m often inspired by my wife. She’s been a great friend, a mentor and inspiration. I’m pretty sure I would not have gotten this far had she not become a part of my life.

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You are preparing your first book about the Roller Derby’s resurgence. Tell us about your experience and if you have thought of preparing more books about your work. It’s been going on for several years and it is well past due in its completion. The shooting end of the work is complete, that was the easy part. Currently, it is close to being in the final stages of the edit and sequencing. In fact, at this moment it is spread along the wall in my living room with yellow sticky notes attached to each image and so forth. I don’t know anyone personally who has ever had a book of their work published so it has been a learning process. I’ve done a lot of research and poked around scratching the surface in regards to convincing a publisher to actually produce this body of work into a profitable book. I’ve also done some market research and think I have a viable product and a subject matter that could attract several markets. Additionally, I’ve been studying the different publishing houses in order to determine who might be the best fit based upon the topics and subject matters they have printed in the past. We’ll see what happens, all in good time. For now, I’ll just keep on keeping on with it. Currently, I don’t have any concrete plans for future book projects. Well... my personal project “Darshana Ganga” could take me down that path....

States. One particular project that I have often thought about would involve visiting Mexico. I think it could be personally intriguing to trace back my family roots to the Otomi Indian. I can’t honestly say that this is something that will happen without a lot of effort, but it’s possible. Where do you see yourself in about ten years from a professional point of view? I intend to be shooting high-end commercial assignments and film stills, taking on editorial work from magazines and other publications, working on long-term documentary books, that are well-received by the communities involved, complemented by gallery shows, and perhaps an active member of a photo collective that pushes one another’s professional and creative growth. F8Mag: And the last question: which advices would you give to a person who aspires to work as a documentary photographer? There is no silver bullet. Remain curious about life and humanity. Believe strongly in your self. Be open to others’ knowledge. Handle rejection amicably. Shoot what moves you. Diversify - you’re never too good for any paying assignment. Have a purpose even if that purpose is not to have one. Follow your dreams. Listen to your heart. Keep company with logic and reason. Love and be in love. Give thanks and praises.

Do you have any project in mind that you have always wanted to carry out? When do you think that you will be able to do it? Actually, I do have a couple projects in mind that I would like to do but they will have to wait until I’m living back in the “Visions of Jasmine”. Descanso. Mchenry, Illinois. 2003

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Vincent

rbani

Placing lights and shadows

text by M. A. MOYA Photography Vincent Urbani

Let there be light fashion editorial for Status Magazine, stylist: Pilar Cortes, make-up: Raul Gonzalez, model: Giuseppe Di Bella, producer: VANDER creative management

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Portfolio Let there be light fashion editorial for Status Magazine, stylist: Pilar Cortes, make-up: Raul Gonzalez, model: Giuseppe Di Bella, producer: VANDER creative management

When did you begin to think about becoming a professional photographer? I started to make photos when I was a little boy, with my grandfather. I used to go into his lab. I chose to undertake photography as a professional many years later. I studied marketing and advertising at university and I studied photography at EFTI and went on to turn it into work from there. Officially, I have been working in photography for about three years and a half. Has the fact that you studied advertising and marketing helped you in your career? Yes, I studied in a university for foreigners in Italy, and being in touch with people from other countries has benefitted me a lot. Studying marketing helped me indirectly to boost my personal image in terms of public relations and taught me how advertising world goes, but it’s also true that you never learn too much. How was your journey through EFTI? Very good. It is a school completely focused on photography. I had projects every week and I could also use the studio whenever I needed to. In the library, I could borrow all the books I needed. They teach you without eliminating your own style. Why Spain? I came here to finish my thesis about how photography and advertising are related and how this can become art. Then things took their own way, I kept on studing in Madrid and started working here in Spain. What differences do you find between Spain and doing it in other countries? I think that in countries as Holland, UK, Spain or Germany, creativity and photo’s capacity to grab people’s attention is very highly valued. Young creatives in general (not only photographers) are free to >

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It is normal to be influenced by other photographers at the beginning of your career. This is something that gradually disappears as you go creating your own style. It is very important to make contacts and to show your photos, because succeeding in this world is not something that just happens… you have to work a lot and be constant. Zidane portrait for “La cosa de las peliculas”

I prefer to prepare portraits, I like to give a role to the models which, in my opinion, suits them. I want them to act and get out of their normal attitude, but doing this in the most natural way…I know it’s a contradiction, but I think that everyone hides a part of himself and I want my portraits to show that part.

we are colours pictures from the music video: Face2Face by The Hmmm model - Ignazio Arizmendi

> express, even if it doesn’t mean that they can always live of their work (unfortunately). In Italy, technique is what makes the difference, perhaps because it has an artistic tradition and fewer groundbreaking concepts or perhaps because it’s not as open as other countries…I don’t know the reason why, but this is the first difference I noticed getting out of Italy. I think that right now Berlin and London are the cities where creativity is combined with good technique, and that makes them the perfect place for young creatives. Do contacts have more influence than the quality of a photographer? Quality is something that can’t be understood by everyone in this world. People are more impressed by a photo of a famous photographer. Of course contacts are important, but it’s also true that time put everyone in his place so…If there is talent, in the end you will achieve your aims. Which photographers do you like?

Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, David LaChapelle, Richard Avedon, Rankin, Hedi Slimane, cause he mixes fashion and music and Helmut Newton. In terms of influences, I also have a few which come from film directors like Fellini, De Sica, Wong Kar Wai, Spike Jonze and Sophia Coppola. Do you think that photographers, with the incorporation of videos in reflex cameras, will add the role of producer to their role as a photographer? Yes. I myself did the video clip of the single Face2Face for THE HMMM a group from Los Angeles, it was something simple because I’m still not that expert in video and I want to go step by step. I was inspired by Andy Warhol’s Interview Movies: a fixed shot on a character who talks to the camera, in black and white mixed with images in saturated colours, in a seventies style, reflected over the bodies of the characters. In a photograph exhibition, the inclusion of video is quite complimentary. Photography and

Cristiano Ronaldo. Making of Clear TVC por “la cosa de las peliculas”

video have completely different techniques and languages, although they are similar at the same time, so even if knowledge of photography does indeed help with videos, it is not enough, and vice versa The good thing about video is that it’s the union of images and text & music and this can be very interesting Photography just doesn’t need words. When I take a photo, I try to give it a meaning and when I show it to my collaborators they tend to have a different interpretation of it, so I prefer not to add any descriptions so as not to limit the viewer’s imagination. Would you like to specialise in a specific field?

Fashion photography and portraits is what I like the most. I really enjoy the process. Talk to us about your portraits. I prefer to prepare portraits, I like to give a role to the models which, in my opinion, suits them. I want them to act and get out of their normal attitude, but doing this in the most natural way…I know it’s a contradiction, but I think that everyone hides a part of himself and I want my portraits to show that part.

Does it influence you in any way if the person being photographed is someone who is well known? No. When you get to the studio you know who they are, because you have seen their face everywhere, but during the photo shoot, they are just the subject of the photo. If we are talking about I become more interested, cause I really love music but if the person to photograph is a footballer, for example, I do my work as usual, worrying about lighting and other technical issues and trying to make him feel as comfortable as possible. What advice would you give a photographer who is just getting started his career? First and foremost to study, and after forget it all (smiling).Always try to be inspired by the best, and avoid to waste time paying attention to projects with no talent. It is normal to be influenced by other photographers at the beginning of your career. This is something that gradually disappears as you go creating your own style. It is very important to make contacts

and to show your photos, because succeeding in this world is not something that just happens… you have to work a lot and be constant. What would you like to do in the next few years? Fashion and portrait it’s what I prefer. Maybe learning more about video but without leaving photography behind, obviously.. Within ten years I would like to continue with what I do and be able to experiment, travel to Japan, China and New York. As long as I can express myself with freedom, I am open to living in other parts of the world. The fact that I have changed cities, surroundings and culture several times has taught me how to adapt myself better to any situation which arises. In that sense, I have evolved.

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Bullring model bernar calderilla, stylist - vicky phillips, producer – vander, creative management

vincent portrait

Cocorosie live at facyl festival 2010

Portfolio

chronique noir d’une historie d’amour Rugby calendar

october 2010

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Face2Face pictures from the music video: Face2Face by The Hmmm models - Santi Carbonari y Ruby Fernandez

Vincent Urbani www.vincenturbani.com www.vincent-urbani.blogspot.com

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Alicia

ius

Discovering the magic of abandoned places

Text by M. A. MOYA Photography Alicia Rius

Korean War

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Portfolio

Portfolio Paint Bucket

because there are some photos that stares at you. Is good not to be overconfident, fear protects you.

Do you run away from black and white? Colors fascinate me. They are a part of the identity of the object and my objective is to bring out its beauty. They soften with the passage of time and they deserve to be shown just like they are, keeping their purity.

Do you find out things in the photos you had not noticed at first? If you mean seeing paranormal stuff, no, I do not. I can spend one hour taking photos to the same object and, believe me, I do not miss a thing. However, in my Facebook group, some people assure that they see faces or women in the photos; still I do not see them. What a pity!

How is the data search process done when you decide to start a report?

When did the idea of taking photos of abandoned places start?

Since I was a child I have been very interested by the fact of knowing stories about someone else’s houses. One day, in the countryside, I found an abandoned country house. When I had a look at the inside, I saw objects from the early 90’s and hand-written letters in the kitchen. All that fascinated me, so I decided to look for more in order, to keep on feeling this way. Above all, this attraction is due to the questions these places arouse in me: why are they like that, what has happened here? why? Sometimes there are valuable objects and it seems as if the residents had rushed off. One wonders how and why, no one has claimed anything and everything is just left as if nothing had happened. Do you take photographs the way things are or do you place the scene for the camera? Both things. Sometimes I am lucky and things are displaced in a poetic and gorgeous way. Other times I must do it myself. There are many objects thrown away or hidden, so I replace them to show their beauty, granting them the dignity they deserve.

Almost always, I plan it in advance. First, I find out basic things such as location, difficulty to get into the site, if there is a good light or if it is a very crowded place. However, although you plan it very well, it does not always turn out as you expect. For instance, I had to come back three times to end up the report of El Castillo Invisible (The Invisible Castle) Something always happened!

Once I am in, time stops for me. I can spend eight hours and not even notice it.

Does a photographer like you have to be independent? Yes, you have to in order to lock yourself eight hours in a place. It is very hard to > Secret entrance

Once I am in, time stops for me. I can spend eight hours and not even notice it. When I end up with the data search and finish taking photos, I write stories that go with the report so people can know the context and feel the same things am done. In company or on your own? In company, just in case something unexpected happens: from finding someone inside the house to having an accident because of the bad conditions of the place. Is fear present? Absolutely. Going with someone does not mean being with the other person all the time. Each person photographs what he or she wants and splitting up is unavoidable. In the report of El Refugio de los Templarios (The refuge of the Knights Templar) I had to phone my partner on his cell phone because we could not hear each other if we screamed. I spend a lot of time alone and I always have the opposite feeling, either because of the presence of some objects or

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Disorder

The Cure

Portfolio

> find someone with exactly the same patience as yours, so the best thing is to go alone or go with another photographer who can follow your own pace. I sometimes get up at four oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock in the morning, I have some breakfast and go take photos with the first lights of the day; and, actually, nobody goes crazy for coming with me. (Laughs). It is the camera and me almost always. I do not like to have distractions so for me this is a way out. How much from Tim Burton is in your photographies? Sometimes there are more and other times less, but I recognize there is a little bit in every single photo. He is an artist mixing gloomy things with romantic ones, which has inspired me to mix the hardness of abandoned places with the delicacy and romanticism that surrounds them. How do you handle light in your reports?

I spend a lot of time alone and I always have the opposite feeling, either because of the presence of some objects or because there are some photos that stares at you. Is good not to be over-confident, fear protects you.

Depends...I come into a place and if the light is perfect I take photos. If not, I go to another corner. Sometimes you are in a hurry, the weather is bad, it gets dark very quickly and light plays a dirty trick on you. I also use torches to focus objects, though >

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Six souls

>I try to avoid it since it usually does not work. You started with a second-hand DSLR and you still keep it. Is there a consumer fever regarding equipment? A good photograph is the result of several things: accuracy, the equipment, you have to know where there is a good photo and how to process it. I think you can get amazing things with a camera like the one I have, which, by the way, is already out of catalogue. People can do whatever they want with their money. However, you do not need either massive equipment or take very expensive courses in order to take good photos. In my case, I have not studied photography in an academy: I have learned all I know from magazines, forums and video-tutorials from YouTube. All based on patience, and spending a lot of time in it. In just seven months, you’re preparing your fourth exhibition. How did you feel the first time someone gave you the opportunity of showing your photos? My first exposition was in a café at my aunt and uncle’s village. It did succeed and people started to spread the rumors. Then, I auditioned for the International Photography Exhibition and I was selected to show in the Bienal of Olot When I saw my name in the chosen list I got excited. For the first time my work was valued by a professional team who decided that it had enough quality to be exhibited. Also, I had the honor of showing my exhibits next to Jordi Cohen , the winner of the first EISA award (European Imaging and Sound Association). Thanks to this, a gallery in Barcelona saw my work and got in touch with me to do another exhibition. Another offer has come out of it. The most important thing is to start and keep on doing things. Afterwards, step by step, more >

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> offers will show up. However, you have to work hard and be persistent, of course. Where do you see yourself in a few years? I would like to get far: I want my work to be known and exhibit in other countries and in well-known art galleries. I want people that see my work to get excited and feel the passion like I do. Also, I wish that dozens of brands would want to be my sponsors. It´s not bad, isn´t it? (Laughs).

Holidays

Alicia Rius

Backseat

Working Alicia Rius

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alicia RIUS www.aliciriusphotography.com www.facebook.com/AliciaRiusPhotography

Ghosts

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Books: Taschen

Africa Leni Riefenstahl Life with the Nuba Leni Riefenstahl’s remarkable Africa oeuvre “If Leni Riefenstahl had done nothing but visit Africa and bring back her photographs, her place in history would be secure.” Kevin Brownlow, from the introduction When she was in her early sixties, Leni Riefenstahl began traveling frequently to the African continent, where she has worked on various film and photography projects over the last half century. Her favorite destination was in Sudan, where she lived with and photographed the Nuba tribespeople, learning their language and becoming their friend. The Nuba were a loving and peaceful people who welcomed Riefenstahl as one of their own. Her images of the Nuba, as well as of the Dinka, Shilluk, Masai, and other tribes, are gathered in this monumental book. Riefenstahl remembers her experiences in Africa as the happiest moments in her life. Her beautiful, skilled photographs represent a landmark in the extraordinary career of the 20th century’s most unforgettable artistic pioneer. * Interview by Kevin Brownlow * Extensive bibliography and biography section Editor: Angelika Taschen studied art history and German literature in Heidelberg, gaining her doctorate in 1986. Working for TASCHEN from 1987 to 2010, she has published numerous titles on art, architecture, photography, design, travel, and lifestyle.

©Leni Riefenstahl Archive,Wrestling Festival

©Leni Riefenstahl Archive, 3 dancers

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Books Taschen

Early Travel Photography Burton Holmes The Greatest Traveler of His Time Wanderlust: Burton Holmes, the man who brought the world home “This stunning and genuinely fascinating book is a record of the best of his archive of over 30,000 photographs and 500,000 feet of film... Beg, borrow, or steal to get your hands on a copy of this book” —Sunday Telegraph, Londres.

It was the Belle Époque, a time before air travel or radio, at the brink of a revolution in photography and filmmaking, when Burton Holmes (1870–1958) began a lifelong journey to bring the world home. From the grand boulevards of Paris to China’s Great Wall, from the construction of the Panama canal to the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Holmes delighted in finding “the beautiful way around the world” and made a career of sharing his stories, colorful photographs, and films with audiences across America. As a young man, Holmes was mentored by John L. Stoddard, a pioneer of the U.S. travel lecture circuit, who passed on his well-established mantle when he retired. Holmes roamed the globe throughout the summer and traversed the United States all winter, transforming the staid lecture tradition into an entertaining show. He coined the term “travelogue” in 1904 to advertise his unique performance and thrilled audiences with two-hour sets of stories timed to projections of multihued hand-painted glass-lantern slides and some of the first “moving pictures.” Paris, Peking, Dehli, Dubrovnik, Moscow, Manila, Jakarta, Jerusalem: Burton Holmes was there. He visited every continent and nearly every country on the planet, shooting over 30,000 photographs and nearly 500,000 feet of film. This book represents the best of the Holmes archive, brimming with brilliant color photographs. A rare window on the world of 100 years ago, Burton Holmes’s Early Travel Photography will transport you to a time that has all but evaporated, and inspire you to strike out on a journey of your own. Editor: In the 1960s, Genoa Caldwell was the New Yorkbased photo researcher for theLondon Sunday Times, as well as photo editor for both Black Star and Magnum. While operating her own photo agency in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Caldwell was introduced to the work of Burton Holmes and became private archivist for the extensive and unique photographic collection. Caldwell has maintained the collection for over 30 years and has lectured and published on the life and work of Burton Holmes.

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Books Taschen

Books: Taschen

Trespass:

Design for Obama.

History of Uncommissioned Urban Art

Posters for Change: A Grassroots Anthology

The last outlaw of visual disciplines In recent years street art has grown bolder, more ornate, more sophisticated and—in many cases—more acceptable. Yet unsanctioned public art remains the problem child of cultural expression, the last outlaw of visual disciplines. It has also become a global phenomenon of the 21st century.

Made in collaboration with featured artists, Trespass examines the rise and global reach of graffiti and urban art, tracing key figures, events and movements of self-expression in the city’s social space, and the history of urban reclamation, protest, and illicit performance. The first book to present the full historical sweep, global reach and technical developments of the street art movement, Trespass features key works by 150 artists, and connects four generations of visionary outlaws including Jean Tinguely, Spencer Tunick,Keith Haring, Os Gemeos, Jenny Holzer, Barry McGee, Gordon Matta-Clark, Shepard Fairey, Blu, Billboard Liberation Front, Guerrilla Girls and Banksy, among others. It also includes dozens of previously unpublished photographs of long-lost works and legendary, ephemeral urban artworks. Author: Carlo McCormick is a pop culture critic, curator and Senior Editor of Papermagazine. His numerous books, monographs and catalogs include Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture, The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene 19741984, and Dondi White: Style Master General. His work has appeared in Art in America, Art News, Artforum and many other publications. Curator: Marc and Sara Schiller founded Wooster Collective in 2001, a website that celebrates and plays a crucial role in documenting otherwise ephemeral street art. Based in New York City, the collective curated most of the contemporary images inTrespass. Its “Wooster On Paper” series presents the work of international artists in limited edition books.

Poster Art of the Obama ’08 Electoral Campaign Graphic innovation that helped make history Hundreds of artists and designers expressed support for the Obama candidacy by designing posters and submitting them to designforobama.org for free download. This selection of the very best—curated by Spike Lee and Aaron Perry-Zucker—is a visual document of the most inspirational U.S. presidential campaign in living history. From its inception, the Barack Obama campaign was destined to make history. Its message of inclusion and empowerment was spread by thousands of volunteers, a grassroots organization of unprecedented size and enthusiasm. Design for Obama built on this spirit with an online forum where artists, designers and supporters could upload their Aaron Perry-Zucker graduated from RISD and co-founded a artworks and download others. Shepard Fairey’s social realist “Hope” design studio and consultancy, Big New Ideas, specializing in big, poster became 2008’s enduring image, inspiring scores of designs new ideas across all design disciplines. He is currently writing a that appeared on the streets, at rallies and registration drives, and in reality TV show, designing a new collective poster project, and living homes and offices around the country. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Edited by designforobama.org founder Aaron Perry-Zucker and filmmaker Spike Lee, this collection showcases over 200 of the best pro-Obama posters. Contributors range from prominent graphic and street artists to young up-and-comers. With essays by Spike Lee, Perry-Zucker, and design historian Steven Heller, this outstanding collection serves as a matchless historical document of the widespread visual creativity that helped spur Obama to victory. Author: Steven Heller, co-chair of the School of Visual Arts MFA Designer as Author Program, writes the “Visuals” column for the New York Times Book Review, and is the author of 120 books on design, illustration, and satiric art.

Editor: Ethel Seno received her BA in the College of Letters from Wesleyan University before teaming with TASCHEN, where she worked with William Claxton on Jazzlifeand New Orleans 1960, and David LaChapelle on Artists & Prostitutes and Heaven to Hell

Editors and authors: Spike Lee is a writer-director, actor, and producer whose groundbreaking movies include She’s Gotta Have It (1986), and the Oscar-nominated Do the Right Thing(1989) and Malcolm X (1992). The producer and director of numerous documentaries, music videos and commercials, he heads the advertising agency Spike/DDB and is the author of several books. He is a professor at NYU’s Graduate Film program, and its artistic director.

©Mr. Brainwash, Obama Superman

©ZEVS, Liquidated McDonald’s, Paris, Francia, 2005

©PPaolo Buggiani, Minotaur, Brooklyn Bridge, NYC, 1980

©Faile, Boxers, Israel–Palestine Wall, Palestine, 2007

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Discovering the magic of simple thing Text by M. A. MOYA Photography RaiRobledo

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I’m a normal guy. I enjoy pursuing my hobbies, which photography is the main one, so I spend most part of time taking photos off the job.

How is Rai Robledo when he is not taking photos? I´m a normal guy. I enjoy pursuing my hobbies, which photography is the main one, so I spend most part of time taking photos off the job. I also try to enjoy the city, spend time with my friends and play drums in my band, ”Alta Cabeza” (High Head) The band is mainly just a friend and me. Our style is a kind of mixture of punk and rock. Whenever we play we corporate with different musicians. I also love to travel.

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What provoked you to take the camera and to make it to your profession? Since I was a little boy, I took pictures of anything that was in front of me, until that day that digitalization of DSLR cameras brought me to buy one and take even more pictures. It was something very natural. My camera is really good and reproduces high quality pictures. But my vision are continuously changing and as I progress as a person so the pictures do. I try to experiment with new tools, and I don’t refuse to use the analogical format. In the end, the essence remains the same. You show a tendency to portrayal pictures, are you the kind of portraitist who tries to get people’s soul coined their time, or do you let the persons be shown themselves? It’s one the things I like most. There are people who opens themselves more easily and their human nature can be seen easily too, but if you find a very closed person, with shields, is much more difficult. This emotion can captured in the portrait. A professional photographer should try to get the photographed to open himself as much as possible.>

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I try to experiment with new tools, and I don’t refuse to use the analogical format. In the end the essence remains the same.

> In only a single photo session, you can find out how this person really is. The process to achieve is quite long, and you get to know them better. Which historical character would you have liked to portrait? Marilyn Monroe or the Catholic Kings. (Laughs) I really would like to take pictures of almost anyone. From the most influential people to the most despicable. Color or Black & White? Both of them. Black & white are very thankful and has a lot of charm. It’s also

very visual and in portraits the result is great, but I think that a photo, to be actually good, has to be in color. We see everything in colors, and all this range vanishes with black & white. When a color photo doesn’t work out very well, you can make it to a black & white version before you throw it away, and the result can be quite acceptable. However, if the picture is good, it has to be good either way. Photography does not need to reflect reality, although I show a tendency to that. Which character, of the ones you have photographed, has coined you most? In almost all sessions I had a lot

of fun, the personal handling was nice and the vibes were good, but it’s always easier to forget the good things that the bad ones. There have been moments where I could have been felt a little bit more uncomfortable with someone, or I didn’t have a good connection because this person didn’t corporate. I really like them to bring up some ideas. Your photography is quotidianly perfect in a slightly showing magic, do you leave it to its fate? It depends on the session. When I work, everything is accurately prepared, although I like to leave a door open for improvisation, and thanks to that, we sometimes get

some really cool stuff. Otherwise, you always would know what’s going to happen. It’s just the opposite when I take photos as a hobby. I just grab my camera and go out, to see what comes. Everything is left to fate. You like the photography in live concerts, is it your ideal way to enjoy a concert, catching the gesture, the energy of the artist? It’s a good way to keep a nice archive, but sometimes you can get too obsessive to get a good photo that you actually can miss the concert. I have lately been going to some concerts without my camera, and once I >

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> wished I would had brought it. Actually, it’s there where everything can happen, you have to be ready for whatever that eventually can come. The light is bad, and the artists on stage are moving all the time. It’s stressful and difficult. I have a very complicated relationship with concerts, so when I take my camera with me it’s because I really like the artist. If that isn’t the case, I just grab the compact camera, and I take pictures for fun. In former times, I used to take more pictures in concerts. Besides, I was working with a fanzine, and that was great. What kind of music do you like Musically, I have a huge collection of viniles and others in Spotify. When I was younger I used to listen heavy music, then I was more into indie, pop, Manchester sound, I had my punk era, and now I’m into every genre, depending on the >

When I work, everything is accurately prepared, although I like to leave a door open for improvisation, and thanks to that, we sometimes get some really cool stuff.

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> frame of mind. I have lately been listening to soul and funky. In addition, in another way of listening, I listen to my friends, although I usually don’t ask for advice. Who would you dedicate one of your photos? Whoever asks me to. It’s always a pleasure. Tell us more about the three principle sins you have completely forgot about. To envy. The rest of them are actually still present. If I would envy somebody, it would be because of the fact that I’d like to happen the same to me, and not because I wish to happen bad things for this person.

Is there one thing more you want to add? Before summer, I started my first exposition, in “La Mona Checa” , with random photos. It was something I’ve always felt lazy about, because I thought that was unnecessary while the internet is actually the perfect window for the public. The exposition was open for a couple of months and it was a great experience, thanks to that, I realized that to see the photo in your computer screen has nothing to do with looking at it hanging on the wall, so if someone offers me another exposition, I’d be glad.

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rai r obledo www.rairobledo.com rairobledo.blogspot.com

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Quinn Ryan

attingly Nomad photography Text by M. A. MOYA Photography Quinn Ryan Mattingly

Nomadic Rajasthani Boy

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Rural scene in Cambodia

Hau Giang Province, Vietnam

Hello Quinn. Where do you live right now and what brought you there? For the past several years, I’ve been based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, or Saigon as I tend to favor calling it. I get the question a lot about how I ended up here. Sometimes I’m not sure myself, but technically I guess the answer is pretty simple. While living in Korea a few years ago, I came down to Vietnam on holiday to visit a friend. I think from those first moments here, something about the country and people have just captivated me and kept me here this for long, and I guess for the foreseeable future too.

Tell us more about you, about your job. How do you define your photography? What kind of message do you want it to transmit? Currently, I’m the photographer and photo editor for an English publication here in Saigon. That allows me to learn about and shoot interesting things in the city, and while I do enjoy it, frankly food and event photography is just not where my passions lie. The type photography I enjoy the most is learning about and documenting the lives of all who call this part of the world home. The stories here are nearly endless, and to me, there is just something inherently fascinating about interacting with, and capturing people who live in very different conditions than I spent most of my life in.

You’ve travelled a lot all over Asia. What countries or places have personally characterized you the most? That’s another hard question. I have been able to see a decent amount of Asia, since I’ve lived here, but I still have a lot more to go, I think. Each place to me has its own character, beauty and reason it enchants me. If I was forced to choose somewhere, I would have to say one place is Mongolia. I visited there on two trips in 2007 and there is just no other place on Earth like it. So vast, so empty, but with some of the most fascinating people in the world. The second would have to be Cambodia. Its short distance from Saigon has allowed me to cross borders on quite a few occasions. The Khmer people are incredibly warm and open, and the wide open country side

landscapes are just stunningly beautiful. I’m traveling to Myanmar in a few weeks, so who knows. I may have a few favorite places soon. Often, children are very important in your photos. What do you try to give them with your work? Do you want to show their situation and also give these children the possibility to say something? Yes, I guess that it was I hope for. I work with less fortunate kids here in Saigon very often, and have always enjoyed being around children because they are so full of life and energy. When I first started photographing, I would shoot a lot of kids, for one, because I was drawn to the way they saw life; with naivety, almost magic in their eyes, and secondly because they were generally easy subjects. I have sort of

realized this in my photos, and have started challenging myself more by not making as many photos of kids, though of course, there are almost always doing something interesting, and I still shoot them when the scenes are right. You usually take your photos in black and white. Do you think that you add more strength to its content? Yes and no. I think if there is no strength and emotion in the photograph to begin with, then just making in black and white is not going to put it there. For me, some photos are best in black and white, and some are best in color. Admiring great black and white photographs is what has really drawn me into this passion for photography, and they will always be a significant part of the way I see the world.>

“The type photography I enjoy the most is learning about and documenting the lives of all who call this part of the world home. The stories here are nearly endless…”

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113 Mui Ne, Vietnam

…as I understand life, suffering is just an integral part of human existence, whether we like it, or accept it or not. From the dawn of time, until its end, there will always be people suffering through their life.

> Recently, I’ve been trying to challenge myself with more color work. For me, every color captured must add something to the frame, so it’s a bit more of a challenge to compose for this, as well as to process to put each color in harmony with the others. You published two photography books. Tell us, how was the experience? Do you think that it’s a good work option for a documentary photographer? And, do you want to publish more books about your work? Those two books I made in late 2008 when the self publishing services were becoming popular. Basically, I’ve always enjoyed looking at great photo books, and wanted to try one for myself. My first one was made with a very little idea of layouts, text or anything, and looking back it now, it’s probably a bit

of a bore to flip through. Live and learn I guess. My second book I made with all the photos I had of children from several recent trips to Cambodia. I spent a lot more time on the layout and flow of it, and though I perhaps like it a bit more, looking back now, I think I’ve learned and grown a lot as a photographer since making it, and maybe the images don’t speak to me as much as they used to. I think going this self publishing route can be great for those with little budget and great images and stories they want to share. However, I’ve found that it’s perhaps a little more difficult to sell a book like this online. They are still slightly costly, and once you add in a bit of a profit, the price may tend to make people a bit hesitant about buying a book of photos they’ve not yet physically seen and perhaps from a photographer they’re not familiar with. But I guess a photographer with great images and marketing skills could overcome this easily and produce a very successful book. I have wanted to make another one recently. I’m just waiting for the inspiration and story to come together again. In your serial of photographs “Behind Open Eyes” you show the home of an orphan in Ho Chi Minh City, fit out for children with physical and mental problems. It’s a very hard serial that made me think a lot about how many innocent children are suffering. This question may be a bit personal so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Did this feature affect you emotionally? When you arrived home, didn’t you feel the need of crying or expressing in any other way the anger this situation cause? Phu My Orphanage is a place very near my house that I try to visit when I have time. Actually, I haven’t visited for a few months now, so perhaps this will be the impetus that will help me get back there soon. To answer your question, yes, spending time there>

Cu Chi, Vietnam

Mekong Delta

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Stung Meanchey Garbage Dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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Portfolio Phu My Orphanage

have the resources to properly support them. I’ve spent a countless amount of time with them during my stay in Vietnam, and all of them are very close to me. I wanted to think of a way that I could introduce them to photography, and see how they would view and capture this city we live in. At first, I had grand ideas of teaching them all about exposure, aperture and all the other technical knowledge we photographers understand. Once I realized this might be too much theoretical knowledge, and not

> does affect me emotionally. I don’t see how it couldn’t affect anyone who spends time with the children there. Though perhaps I view things a bit differently that some people might. Of course it’s a terrible tragedy when an innocent child has their ability to live stripped from them before they even have a chance. However, as I understand life, suffering is just an integral part of human existence, whether we like it, or accept it or not. From the dawn of time, until its end, there will always be people suffering through their life. Some are able to overcome, but as in the case of many of the children at Phu My, their condition will remain basically static, and their prognosis for improvement is very bleak. Accepting this is perhaps the hardest step. However, once it has been, and you are able to see the children for who they are, and what they will be, you’re able to deal with the situation for what it is. The scenes here play out in similar ways in probably nearly every country on Earth. Suffering children are of course not exclusive to Vietnam or Phu My. In your serial “A Life Collected” you show people in Cambodia getting pieces of garbage to survive. Do these kinds of situations make you look at life differently than occidental people may do?

Similar to the answer above, yes these situations I photograph do make my view the world in a different way. Living in South East Asia has very much changed many of my ideas about what we actually need to live. I think I used to be quite materialistic, as many Americans are brought up, believing you need a constant stream of new products to survive. Since I’ve been exposed to the rest of the world, a lot of my ideas have changed. Of course we do need to buy things, and in this profession, most of the things we need are not exactly cheap. For me, it’s been about realizing what I really need, versus what I think I want. When you find people living on just a dollar or two a day, and you see the happiness that emerges from their soul, it should make you stop and think about what’s really necessary and what’s not. Right now, you’re working on the photography project “Streeteyes”, related to children who live in the streets in Ho Chi Minh City. Tell us more about this project, how is it developing? Which aims do you want to achieve? I conducted the project late last year with the boys I work with on a daily basis here. They live in a shelter in downtown Saigon called Green Bamboo, and either come directly from the streets as runaways, or from homes and families that just don’t

enough photos to show for it, it dawned on me that the Holga would be perfect. It requires basically no upfront know how, yet is able to capture great images when pointed at the right things. Myself and a few others had upcoming plans for an event where the boys showcase their artistic skills in hopes of raising some money for the shelter and their families. Starting a few weeks prior to the event, I accompanied each boy on a walkabout around a random part of the city, giving only one instruction; shoot what you find interesting, but reminded him

there were only eleven frames (one frame was used for a self portrait of each photographer). Each came back with photos of things they were fascinated by, in a city they’ve always known. A selection of each boys photos were printed and displayed at the exhibition, and all of them were sold, which raised some money directly for the kids and their families. Overall, I was happy with its success, and working on plans for a continuation, or otherwise new chapter of it soon.>

Living in South East Asia has very much changed many of my ideas about what we actually need to live. I think I used to be quite materialistic, as many Americans are brought up, believing you need a constant stream of new products to survive. Since I’ve been exposed to the rest of the world, a lot of my ideas have changed.

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“Puja”, religious ritual in India

Sometimes you work with medium-size cheap analog cameras such as Holga that don’t have a high quality of the focus or the lens. Do you like the spell produced by the imprecision of these cameras? Oh yeah, I love my Holga! It really can produce magic if you let it. There are times when I just get digital fatigue. So much worrying about all the technical things you have to constantly be aware of if you want to make good images sometimes does my head in. When I pick up a Holga, all that is gone, and I see very different photographs than when I’m using my dslr. Setting your mind free to not have to worry about camera settings can be good therapy I think if you’re ever feeling jaded or uninspired. Not to mention the images it can capture are just beautiful in their own special way. In your serial “Ghosts of S21” you show people who were executed by the Khmer rouge in Cambodia. How was your personal experience when you saw a place where so many barbarities were committed? Yea, it’s hard to sort of reckon with. I also visited Auschwitz in Poland a few years ago, and the things you think about when you see sites like these are just mind boggling. Though there have been many examples in the past and present of humans treating each other with such coarseness, I still find it nearly impossible to understand how we can do that to each other. The way I deal with it, I guess is to think that if there is such pure evil in the world, then there must also be pure good in each of us too, and that’s the part of life where I want to spend my time.

When you find people living on just a dollar or two a day, and you see the happiness that emerges from their soul, it should make you stop and think about what’s really necessary and what’s not. Finally, which projects are you getting into next years? I’m always looking around for things that would make good photographic projects. As of now, I have a few things in mind, but I’m still searching for a bigger, overall theme to tie them together. Thank you very much for answering these questions and congratulations for your work.

Quinn self portrait

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Quinn Ryan Mattingly http://quinnmattingly.com www.facebook.com/quinnryanmattinglyphotography vimeo.com/quinnmattingly www.youtube.com/user/QuinnRMattingly S21 Victims - The Killing Fields Museum - Cambodia

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nderful Machine nderful Machine

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Putting photographers in touch with their clients. It’s both a simple but an excellent idea. Promotion, graphic design, portfolios’ edition... let’s know something of this enterprise that is revolutionizing the way in which a photographer can make his name all around the world

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What is Wonderful Machine? How did you get the idea of creating a company of this kind?

Second, we’re very active in promoting those photographers. Our online directory is just a starting point for us. We aggressively promote our photographers using print ads, web ads, emails, phone calls, and face-toface portfolio meetings.

Wonderful Machine started out as a cooperative of commercial photographers in Philadelphia. I had been thinking that just as Additionally, we offer our members customdoctors and lawyers work together to share ized branding, marketing and production expenses and to grow revenue, photograsupport when they need it. phers should be able to do the same thing. What types of clients do you target? So about five years ago, I convinced a few colleagues to join me in this experiment. Our photographers are mostly interested Five of us now share facilities, equipment, in advertising clients (which tend to be the supplies, insurance and staff. Not only do most lucrative), so that accounts for about we save on overhead costs, but we’ve also half of our efforts. The rest include magabeen able to help each other grow revenue. zines, corporations, institutions, graphic We refer work back and forth and we’ve design firms, record companies, and book been able to cultivate several high-volume publishers – generally any client that hires clients who like having multiple photograhigh-end commercial photographers. phers at their disposal. What geographic area do your marketing More recently, I saw an opportunity to take efforts cover? what we learned in our small cooperative, and offer parts of that idea to photograAt the moment, about 3/4 of our promophers everywhere. I looked around at the tional efforts are aimed at English-speaking other commercial photography portals and First World clients. We do our best to cover decided that they weren’t doing everything the rest of Europe, South America and Asia they could to help their photographers. So as well. This emphasis is partly a result of the three years ago, we launched Wonderful fact that clients are very easy to identify in Machine for photographers in the U.S. and North America. There are many companies then a year later to the rest of the world. (like Agency Access, AdBase y Freshlists) who track ad agencies, magazines and corWhat services do you offer? porations, and it’s also been easy to do our own research to supplement the lists that Our main job is to provide marketing supwe license. port for our photographers. We also offer a variety of consulting services, like help with We have to dig a lot harder to identify good estimates, production, portfolio editing and prospects overseas, especially in Asia where graphic design. photographers are often hired based on their personal connections more than other How does Wonderful Machine promote places around the world. But certainly, we’re photographers, and what makes you working hard to develop a completely global unique? approach to our promotions. We are unique in two main ways. First, we’re In the mean time, we have found that the fairly selective about the photographers we clients that we have established relationships work with. We limit the number of photogwith, need photographers in all parts of the raphers in each of our locations, and we do world. So we’ve been able to deliver good our best to show the most eclectic mix of value to all of our photographers, wherever high-quality photographers in all parts of they might be based. the world.

Do you have customers in different countries? Yes. We are seeing steady growth in interest from clients outside of the U.S. How do you select your photographers?

Secondly, we want to offer clients diversity across many different specialties, and in many parts of the world. We want to be the most comprehensive source of high-quality photographers anywhere.

As a practical matter, our photographer Certainly quality is the most important liaison Amanda Hanley evaluates prospecthing to us. We want to work with the best tive photographers every day. She decides photographers and promote them to the whether they meet our standards of quality, best clients. And of course, good photogand she decides whether their geography or raphers want to be associated with other specialty will help us appeal to important good photographers. clients.

Bill Cramer, CEO, at his desk

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Certainly quality is the most important thing to us. We want to work with the best photographers and promote them to the best clients. And of course, good photographers want to be associated with other good photographers.”

mercial photography. So our U.S. photographers benefit from the traffic our overseas photographers generate even though their financial contribution is much less.

Does Wonderful Machine offer any guidance to their photographers?

Though most of our photographers simply use us to get more assignments, our expertise has allowed us to help many of our photographers in a much broader way.

Though someone may be an excellent photographer, that doesn’t mean that they are going to understand which clients are appropriate for them or how to present their work in a way that will communicate the right message to the right people.

We have a team of photo editors and How much does it cost photographers to designers who are expert at helping photogjoin? Do you charge a commission? raphers recognize their interests, understand their strengths and then help them edit, We charge U.S. photographers a memberorganize and present their photographs in a ship fee of $100.00/month to be included way that will appeal to the right audience. in our regular marketing efforts, and we offer a range of consulting services (such as Just as every athlete needs a coach to help estimates, production, graphic design, web them maximize their efforts, we provide design or portfolio editing) for $75.00/hour valuable assistance to our photographers so upon request. We never charge commisthat they can not only get the most out of sions. their marketing, but insure that they’re getting the most out of their career. Do you charge your international photog-

raphers the same rates as your American photographers?

What you have growth expectations for the near future?

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“We have a team of photo

editors and designers who are The main focus of our current growth is to be aware of and communicate with every single expert at helping photograsignificant client around the world, and to provide them with the most eclectic selection phers recognize their interests, of highly skilled photographers. So as our revenue grows, we’ll be adding more producers to research and connect with those clients. understand their strengths and The site itself will also continue to evolve, so that we can offer the quickest and easiest photographer search for clients. The quality of your work is your best guarantee, but what would you say to a photographer to convince him to join Wonderful Machine? The simple answer is that any photographer’s greatest concern is getting a good >

then help them edit, organize and present their photographs in a way that will appeal to the right

audience.

With your email campaigns, telephone marketing, advertising, press releases, social networking, portfolio events ... your services for photographers are very broad. What results can photographers expect from appearing on Wonderful Machine?

Since we’re still building up our presence outside the U.S., we discount our membership rates accordingly. We charge half-price to Canadian photographers, 1/3-price to photographers in English-speaking First With all of our promotionals, some photogWorld countries, 1/4 to photographers in raphers join our site and are disappointed non-English-speaking First World counthat they are not instantly transformed into tries, 1/5 to photographers in the Englishinternational superstars. The actual results speaking developing world, and 1/6 to vary widely. We have had some photographotographers in the non-English-speaking phers report that they’ve gotten an assigndeveloping world. We think those fees are ment through us the first week they joined. in proportion to the value we’re delivering Others say it took six months. Either way, to those photographers. And even though we have found it rare when a photographer they account for a small portion of our doesn’t recoup their investment in their first revenue, our clients love having a compreyear on the site. hensive source for high-quality com-

from top left: Bill Cramer, Jess Dudley. from left: Paul Stanek, Amanda Hanley, Adrienne Watts, Bryan Mills, Asad Haider, Heather Astorga, Peter Clark, Sean Stone, Ben Weldon, Caleb Raynor (not pictured Maria Luci)

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“But when you put the right group of photographers together, not only can you pool those resources to make it affordable, but you can create a really

> return on investment (ROI). He wants to know that if he spends $1000 on a promotion, he has a good chance of getting several times that in return. We have a proven track record of success, and that’s why we continue to grow.

But the reason we’ve been able to deliver that value to our photographers is because we have 15 people in our office every day cultivating relationships with clients and building awareness for our photographers.

Very few individual photographers have the means to connect with every major client on their own. But when you put the right that make them want group of photographers together, not only can you pool those resources to make it to come to the pho- affordable, but you can create a really valuable tool for clients that make them want tographers. What to come to the photographers. What we’ve done is build a bridge between clients and we’ve done is build photographers that serve them both.

valuable tool for clients

Asad Haider, Publicity director

Amanda Hanley, Photographer liaison

Ben Weldon, Producer

a bridge between clients and photographers that serve them both.” Bryan Mills, Web developer

Paul Stanek, Photo editor

Jess Dudley, Producer, on the phone

Peter Clark, Designer, working on an ad

Sean Stone, Director of photography, doing a portfolio edit

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The look of an American in Vietnam

text by M. A. MOYA Photography Kevin Germane

A tourist boat flies the Vietnamese Communist flag in Ha Long Bay

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Mental illness patients line up for lunch

A boy cools off in a polluted river outside of Ho Chi Minh City

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culture all together. It would be impossible for me to work without a basic understanding of who or what I am photographing. These images have changed my perspective entirely. I had always worked for newspapers with daily deadlines. Many times, I would not have enough time to tell the story thoroughly. Today, I take my time. I have been working on the same project going on two years now - by far a record for me. How would you describe the type of photography you do? What do you think sets you apart from other photographers?

Thanh quietly looks out the back window of his car while his driver sits in traffic. Thanh is an investor who recently lost several hundred thousand US dollars in the Vietnamese stock market.

Living in a foreign country for the first time has forced me to understand an entirely different culture all together. It would be impossible for me to work without a basic understanding of who or what I am photographing. These images have changed my perspective entirely.

Hey Kevin, Where are you stationed, and how did you end up there? I´m stationed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, but I have covered most of Southeast Asia. I first left the United States at the end of 2006. I traveled to the Philippines and to Vietnam for about three weeks. I instantly fell in love with the country, so when I had to return to my newspaper job in California, I knew I wasn’t the same. I longed to return to Ho Chi Minh City in order to start a longterm project. In March of 2008, I quit my job at The Sacramento Bee sold everything I owned and moved to Vietnam. I have been here ever since.

I consider myself a documentary photographer but I would say that if I had a medium preference, it would be 35mm black and white. Although, I think the subject matter should dictate an artist’s decision of media type. I really can’t compare myself to other photographers. But I would say being a foreign photographer working in Vietnam, I have a decent grasp of a difficult language for Western people. A lot of my foreign photographer friends do not make as much of an effort. I photograph people and in order to do that well, I have to make them feel comfortable with me. A language barrier just gets in the way so I attempt to remove that.

Many people do not understand that, and I need to do a better job of accepting that. You are part of Luceo Images, a partnership of photographers. You think this type of partnership is a good way for joint efforts to enhance the work of each of its members? What can you tell me about Luceo Images? LUCEO Images began three years ago, in December of 2007. Six photographers flew to Atlanta to meet each other for the first time. We simply had an idea during a faltering US industry. I had the highest respect for the work of these photographers, so it was an easy thing for me to

consider forming a collective. Now, three years later, Luceo Images is a cooperative. We are a fully incorporated company in the US. Our main mission is to help support each other and continue working on important documentary projects. LUCEO recently formed the “LUCEO Project Fund”, which takes a percentage of every single job we do and goes back into a fund. The fund is then granted to one or more of the members to help finance a personal project that would otherwise go unfunded. LUCEO also launched the annual “LUCEO Student Award” this year. We awarded $1,000 to a Bangladeship photography student whose work was worthy of merit. This is a difficult time for photography in the US and the >

I am incredibly interested in people’s lives, their stories, and their paths. In a way, it helps me to understand my own life, my own emotions.

Why are you a photographer?

How do you feel living in Vietnam has affected your photography?

I honestly can’t be anything else. I went to Washington State University to be a fire fighter, began the sequence and then immediately switched to Journalism major. I am incredibly interested in people’s lives, their stories, and their paths. In a way, it helps me to understand my own life, my own emotions.

It has affected me tremendously. I have become a much better journalist and a more self-reliant person. Living in a foreign country for the first time has forced me to understand an entirely different

I genuinely want to help people learn from the things I photograph; but I would be lying if I said there were no selfish motives. I have a need to create and to understand myself. It’s like a drug … it’s never enough. Rice farmers harvest their fields next to the highway from Da Nang to Hoi An. Their combined salery would not be enough to purchase an Apple iPhone

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>rest of the world. I feel that coming together to share costs and promote each other is a very smart way to do things. Without the support of my colleagues, I would be in a very different place right now. In the “In the Footsteps of Ghosts” project, you photographed in Vietnam as a country trying to recover from the impact of a 40-year-old war. As an American citizen, how did you

Vietnam had no idea a national treasure was slowly dying on top of a small furniture store on Ba Thang Hai Street. A tourist floats in the South China Sea

go about making contacts and gaining the trust of the people you were photographing? “In the Footsteps of Ghosts” is a book that I have been working on two years. I hope to complete it in a next year and publish in 2012. As an American citizen, I am lumped into the generalization that I have ties with Vietnam. My country shares both a beautiful and shameful past with Vietnam. My family did not fight in the war and I had no relationship with the SE Asian country before moving there. I had an ex-girlfriend in the States before moving to Vietnam. She is Vietnamese, but was born in California. I love her family. They are artists and scholars. Their story of fleeing Vietnam is not any different from the millions of others who fled before and after the fall of Saigon: Sadness, separation, amazement. Do you think it’s important for aspiring photographers to go through a university photography program? How do you feel about the time you spent studying at the Washington State University? Like I said earlier, I chose Washington State University to study fire science and become a fire fighter. When I switched majors, I went into the Journalism sequence. There were no photojournalism courses offered at the School. I am about 50% self-taught and I owe the other 50% to so many people who have helped me throughout my ca-

reer. I had about five internships throughout the US during my time in college. It was at those places that I really learned the art of story telling. Now there have been times when I have wondered what it would have been liked to go to a proper photography school. I have a lot of friends who have gone to some of the top schools in the world, and their work is amazing, but in anything that you do, you get out what you put into it. No school can teach you real life experiences dealing with the interactions of human beings. That knowledge is gained through experience. Can you tell me about any of the interesting characters you’ve met or relationships you’ve developed as a direct result of being a photojournalist? I have met thousands of people due to being a photographer. I wish I could remember them all but I will tell you of a few people related to Vietnam, who have touched my heart and affected my being. I met Vo Anh Ninh before he died in 2009 who was considered the father of photography in Vietnam. He photographed everything from the great famine to French and Japanese occupation to Ho Chi Minh himself. When I met him, he was dying on a children’s mattress in a room above his son’s furniture shop in Ho Chi Minh City. His great >

A Vietnamese prostitute waits for customers in a small brothel ouside of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Vietnamese women are often sold as sex workers in Cambodia

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Portfolio Vietnamese soldiers burn incense to honor their relatives killed in the American-Vietnam War in Truong Son National Cemetery in Vietnam. More than 10,000 soldiers are buried there

Fans photograph actors on the red carpet at the premier of the action movie “Clash”

> grandchildren were instant messaging their friends on either side of him. He was quite incoherent. He thought I was French and kept speaking to me in French mutterings. He published one book of his works during his life. He died without having a copy of his own. I tried to track down one within Vietnam, but I couldn´t find it in time. His entire archive belongs to the National Museum. Vietnam had no idea a national treasure was slowly dying on top of a small furniture store on Ba Thang Hai Street. I first met the adopted uncle of my exgirlfriend in 2009. Everyone called him Ong Nuoi. His adopted father found him wandering in the forest where their logging company was working when he was a young boy. They assumed his family was killed by the French, and he was used as a servant boy. The Le family took him in as one of their own. Ong Nuoi had a slight mental disorder. Though he was never diagnosed, he was always slower than everyone else. Ong Nuoi loved everything American. He attempted to join the South Vietnamese Army in the hopes to fight with American soldiers. Due to his mental disorder, he failed the minimum requirements for enlistment. He would wear nothing but US Army fatigues until his death earlier this year. When the North Vietnamese over took the mountain town of Da Lat, where Ong Nuoi lived, he was out there in his US Army uniform standing tall. Finally, my ex-girlfriend. Perhaps the most influential person in my life thus far. I met her

while working at the newspaper in Sacramento, CA. She was a business reporter. If it was not for her, I would never have found Vietnam. I would never have found the strength to pursue a life outside of newspapers. I would not be the photographer I am today. She is deeply missed. Have you ever found yourself in an especially dangerous situation while shooting? If so, what happened? I have never feared for my life. I am quite fortunate for that. I traveled to Burma after the 2008 cyclone devastated the Irrawaddy Delta region leaving more than 100,000-suspected dead. The government shut down the country to journalists and aid workers. They confined all foreigners within the city of Yangon. Traveling to the delta proved to be quite difficult during the week following the cyclone. I made many attempts to get down there. I attempted to hire a boat and smuggle myself in the engine area. The two-day plan feels through. Finally, a taxi driver agreed to take me across the county to the western seaboard where I would attempt to hire a boat once again and travel down to the mouth of the river. The taxi was waved through four checkpoints. I was hiding under a blanket in the back seat at night. At the fifth checkpoint, a military guard opened the back door and poked me in the arm with the barrel of this assault rifle. When he saw my face, he yelled out “foreigner! foreigner!”

I was detained and questioned for about an hour. I was finally able to persuade them that I was simply trying to get to the beach. I was sent back to the city in the taxi. Do you have a favorite country where you enjoy shooting? Which would it be, and why? I would have to say Vietnam because I understand the culture and the language more than any other country I have been to. That’s important to me. Otherwise, everything else is merely topical. What other individuals do you respect in photojournalism today, and why do they get your appreciation? Every member of LUCEO owns of forming such an undertaking. Their work is ever inspiring and it motivates me to keep pushing myself. I would say the two photographers who have influenced me the most early in my career where Robert Capa and Richard Avedon . Even though they are two very different photographers, I am constantly pulled in both of those genres, who I have high regards for. Living today, I often admire young photojournalists who are making a name for themselves because I know how hard it is. I am still there, trying to do it. I often follow the work of Thomas Van Houtryve, Antonin Kratochvil, James Nachtwey, and Ed Kashi, along with many others.

The taxi was waved through four check points. I was hiding under a blanket in the back seat at night. At the fifth checkpoint, a military guard opened the back door and poked me in the arm with the barrel of this assault rifle. When he saw my face, he yelled out “foreigner! foreigner!

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Phong Quyen, 16, takes a break from scraping salt and stares up at the night sky. Farmers harvest salt cultivated in rice-patty like fields in Ben Tre, a village in southern Vietnam.

Do you currently have any big projects underway? I am continuing work on my book, “In the Footsteps of Ghosts”. That will always be my main objective while living in this country. But for the next two months, I accepted the position as Director of Still Photography for the television show, Vietnam’s Next Top Model. It’s a new hat for me, but one that I am very excited about. The CBS licensed show will premier for the first time in Vietnam. My book is about transitional Vietnam. I have witnessed and been a part of so many things here as the country changes. This is just an opportunity for me to take part in some of those changes. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? I appreciate your time and the interest in my photography. This is a fickle time for photojournalism. There has been a lot of talk lately that its death has arrived. To that, I say bullshit. I have never been more excited to be an independent photographer and journalist. We have the means to reach millions with a click of a button. Voices are heard and images are seen. If you’re not impacting someone some where then you have no one to blame but yourself. I look forward to be apart of the media developments in our industry.And it’s magazines such as this that help get the work seen, so I thank you.

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Patients fight over the last of a cigarette in My Tho Mental Illness Hospital

KEVIN gERMAN www.kevingerman.com http://www.luceoimages.com www.facebook.com/kpgerman

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One of the men, he was probably near 60 years old about the time, or something like that, he asked me “I wanna go to a club Sunday night, I know you’re a photographer,-’cause I used to take pictures of the beach,- and I think you could be interested in . Come with me, ‘cause I can’t go alone, I need a date, come with me, but you don’t have to do anything.

How you did have the idea of making this book? Was it your own idea or someone talked you about this “swinger world”? I used to live in Miami, and when I went to the beach, I used go to a beach called Haulover, and it was a nude beach. A lot of people at the nude beach, also used to be swingers. I heard them talking like “Uh, that party was so good last night” or “Are you going tonight?” I was “Oh, OK.” I was sitting next to the same people over times. As a single grown-up in a nude beach, you don’t want to sit alone ‘cause people come and bother you and talk to you so I had my friends, my crew I was with. One of the men, he was probably near 60 years old about the time, or something like that, he asked me “I wanna go to a club Sunday night, I know you’re a photographer,-’cause I used to take pictures of the beach,- and I think you could be interested in . Come with me, ‘cause I can’t go alone, I need a date, come with me, but you don’t have to do anything. Just come and see what’s all about.” I’ thought OK, why not. Well, it became that I also was invited to a swinger club.

I went with him to the party and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I mean, first of all, you walk in and everyone looks so normal like the person that you are..., you know, in line behind at the bank, or in line at the supermarket. Everyone imagines a bit like wearing like hoochie mama, like crazy stripped shoes and shiny shorts and whatever... But they’re just regular ordinary looking people. First, they have like a giant buffet, and they

have a shaft in their carving, you know, roast beef, potatoes and everyone stops in their faces and then 20 minutes later, they all go back and have brute sex. I just couldn’t believe anything like this could happen! I said, I don’t know anyone else who photographs this side of photography. One year and a half later, I joined for the first time a party. A year and a half later?

Yeah! I moved back to New York, and then I had a boyfriend and then I broke up with the him. Then I said to me, OK, it’s time, and I contacted a club. It was a group called “SwingsStock.” It was a four-day camping and fornication festival. There were a thousand people in the woods in Wisconsin and...yeah, that was the very first party I photographed. When did you have the idea to make a book from all this? A few years later, when you had lots of material? I always knew I wanted to make a book from day one when I photographed people and said “Hi, I’m Naomi. I’m photographing, I’m gonna make a book and it’s gonna be a book about swingers. Are you OK with that?” I always knew I wanted to make a book. It took five years to get enough pictures to make a book. But, yeah, there was always the intention.

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I guess during these five years, you have done other projects of photography. So, did your experience with swingers influence your other photographies? I wasn’t doing any other personal projects. My only personal project was that of the swingers. Work like for magazines, portraits... I did that to earn money, but this was the only thing I was working on for those five years. No, I wouldn’t say it really influenced my other work. I mean... I would say that my pictures changed when I was shooting the swingers. OK, I learned how... ‘cause I was doing it all by myself, my lightning got better. I learned... I taught myself how to take better portraits, and how to light things better. Maybe that affected my other work, but it wasn’t like... it was more technical, not material. Your shoots remind me to Martin Parr, because there is like a sarcastic background. You show things like they are, normal, but when we look at the pictures, we smile. Do you agree? Yes and no. I’m a huge fan of Martin Parr’s work, and it’s definitely a compliment to say, that reminds you to Martin Parr and I don’t believe, and maybe I’m wrong in saying, ‘cause I don’t know Martin, I’ve met him a couple of times, but I don’t know how he works, but I’ve seen some stuff, and I believe he doesn’t have anything to do with people. I don’t think he talks to people. Once I was in Miami-NADA , an art fair, and he was there photographing, and I watched him a little bit, and he never talks to anyone. Where as when I photograph, I really talk to people and there is a very... It’s very important for me to communicate and to get more out of the person by having conversation and making them feel more comfortable. At the same time, as I’m trying to catch the moments that are just happening, I also want to make sure that the person feels comfortable, so I do have

a lot of interaction with the people. There is interaction and then I step back , and I just let things happen. I definitely talk to the people. But as far as being sarcastic, yes and no. I mean, I’m not trying to be mean or rude or pass judgment on people. But it is a documentary, it is what’s there. I’ve been criticized like “How come that you don’t show younger people in the book? How come everyone’s fat? How come...?” , and it’s because of two reasons. I approached younger better-looking people, and they saw some of my other pictures and then they were “Oh, no, we can’t be in a book with people like that. People are going to think we are OK with those people. No, if you had good-looking partner, we would do it.” OK, I can’t control that... The other thing is that people who swing... it’s still very taboo. You can lose your job. I’ve heard of people who say, they’ve been on documentaries and then their boss saw a picture of them or saw them on a Playboy station or whatever, and they lost their jobs, or let’s say it’s a couple that... or someone is getting divorced, or they already are, and if their pals or ex-pals find out they are doing this, they would hold the custody of the children over them. A lot of people are not able to appear in a book like this. People who are agree with that, are usually the kind of people who are older, so they are retired or their children are grown up, they own their own business and they don’t care. I wasn’t purposely trying to focus on just this slim group of people, it was because as the subject matter, I rely on people saying “Yes, I can sign it morally, I’m OK with this.” I’ve been criticized for being maybe too selective, but it’s not true, it was more the circumstances not that I chose to...oh, no good-looking young people, only old fat people! (She laughs)

I’ve been criticized like “How come that you don’t show younger people in the book? How come everyone’s fat? How come...?” , and it’s because of two reasons. I approached younger better looking people, and they saw some of my other pictures and then they were “Oh, no, we can’t be in a book with people like that. People are going to think we are OK with those people. No, if you had goodlooking partner, we would do it.” OK, I can’t control that... The other thing is that people who swing... it’s still very taboo. You can lose your job…

As Europeans, for us it’s quite a bit strange to have these people appearing in this kind of books. I’m wondering if it has something to do with American personality and the way of being, because for us it’s very strange... But this exists here! I mean, it definitely does. It exists everywhere! It’s in Germany, England, Canada...I read a very interesting article on the New York Times a couple of months ago that a man went to jail for, I think, five or six years. He was sentenced to jail in China because he had swinger parties at his house and the Communists think, “No, you can’t do that.” This exists everywhere although the people don’t look like this...To me this is a crossed section of what America looks like. Over 30 per cent of Americans are all this! If you go to a shopping mall in Minnesota or in Texas or Florida, put these people close on, this is what you see. These are the people across America. It is not that these swingers are specifically looking like this, this is what America looks like. If you were to do this type of project in Spain, depending on the club you go to, they may are very good looking people, not everyone in Europe is beautiful! I have been to places; I used to believe that everyone was good-looking and fit, not so much anymore. I mean, I was in Germany...around the world there would be cities getting up there. We used to say, not only in America “Ugh!”... It’s starting to get everywhere, unfortunately, but it’s our culture, it’s the way we are...Yes, it’s definitely very American, but I wouldn’t say that it’s like. If you would be photographing swingers in England, they would look the same. If you did the same project in Germany, they would probably look the same.

how the house and people looked like, like I’m shooting with the flash. I’m not doing anything technical to make it. I don’t put any prop. I mean, occasionally, I bought like a little Christmas tree for myself, and then for the portraits occasionally I put something in like a Christmas tree to show, but otherwise I didn’t change anything on the interior of the house, furniture, the clothes ore the style of the people... I didn’t do anything! So if it looks seventies and eighties, it’s because of these people... (she laughs) I mean I didn’t shoot it with an intention to create it. Or do you mean because swinging started in the seventies with that idea that it should be retro... No, if it looks that way, it just kinda happened that way! (She laughs)

I always knew I wanted to make a book from day one when I photographed people and said “Hi, I’m Naomi. I’m photographing, I’m gonna make a book and it’s gonna be a book about swingers. Are you OK with that

Your pictures remind him to the 70s and 80s atmosphere. So are you giving this atmosphere on purpose or do you think it comes all naturally? I’m not sure what you mean by that 70s and 80s atmosphere. I’m just shooting ©Photography Naomi Harris, Thanksgiving Dinner/ Big Lake, MN/ November 2004

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Was it difficult for you to get into these swingers? Did you have to talk a lot with them before getting into these parties? Yes and no. I mean, the very first party I went to, the SwingsStock, I don’t know if you have heard about that. We have a programme on the station HPO called “Real Sex” and it’s like each episode is three little segments and they show different things around the world. Everything has to do with sex. I was watching TV, and I saw SwingStock. I thought, if they are OK with being on television, the chances are good that they would let a photographer like me come. I visit the website, I send them an email, and I said that I’m a photographer, I want do a book, I want to do a project on swinging, I’ve never been to a club. I’ve seen it, but I haven’t photographed anything. I have nothing I can show you. This is my website; this is who I work for, etc. They e-mailed me back and said “OK, sure, you can come. That’s fine, no problem.” That’s how the first party started. Once I had one party though, then I went to another event where those people had at Valentine’s Day. Then through that, I actually got an assignment for a magazine that was a club in Las Vegas, so in a while I had a few parties already, it was easier to go to other parties. I also met people who were like “Oh, you should talk to this guy at this club, or you should talk to...” and so people were recommending me to other club owners “Let her go and photograph your party”, and believe me I contacted everybody just to show you... you know, I tried to really travel across the country, the north, the south, the east, the west. I would look up parties and I would try to find, you know, a line. Not for every party I contacted I was invited. A lot of clubs said “No, we’re not interested in”, so it wasn’t always the easiest thing to get them to let me come, but...

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”I remember when I was shooting once at the nude beach, there was a guy flushing his teeth after eating lunch. I just thought that funny to see someone do that naked. To me it’s more interesting. It’s not the fact of being naked, but about doing things everyday normal and ordinary...But when you do it naked, I like it and it make is funny, so...

Was it the first time they were photographed? Usually they don’t let photographers in. I mean, they might have their own pointed shoot cameras or whatever, but ...Even that, many clubs don’t allow cameras, Blackberries or an Iphones weren’t allowed... no, and as you can see, well it’s not the greatest picture of me, but I also used to dress up. I didn’t go to a party and turn up in jeans or whatever. If it were a theme party like Halloween, I dressed up for Halloween. If it were a loungerie party, I would wear loungerie. I would try to dress according to what the theme was to fit in. But I do that all for my photography, not for the swinger party, like if I’d go to a spring break, I’m gonna wear a bikini, if I’d go to a fancy party, I’m gonna wear something... you know? I always tried to feel the people comfortable and dress according to what the atmosphere would be. Do you have any personal opinion of these people after finishing this project? I don’t wanna pass judgment on people for what they do. I always thought, “I’m experimental, I’m wild”, whatever. What I learned from this, is that I’m the most boring, monogamous, vanilla person in the world in the missionary style, three minutes... and let’s gonna sleep! (She laughs) Because I sometimes saw that no condoms are being used, what happened a, and often I saw people starting having sex, and you never saw them “Hi, etc, my last doctor`s appointment was two months ago and I’m clean, I have no diseases.” I felt uncomfortable with that, and the statistics in America, I think, one of four people have herpes. You know, here I am, I’m 37 years old now, I’ve never had a sexually transmitted disease. I’m not starting now, like I’d rather have no sex, than that sex you might end up with gonorrhea, you know what I’m saying? That was one thing it kind of scared me to. We tried to pick who we wanted to interview from the book. A lot of people we called, said “Oh,

can we interview you for the book?” or “We’re getting divorced...” or “Don’t call us again...” A lot of people who said swinging were the glue that held their marriages together. The same people we would contact them later on, like a year they were getting divorced. Swingers say that if you are a jealous person, you shouldn’t swing, because you can’t have jealousies. I’m sorry, human beings...that’s one thing what makes us different than animals. I think even animals get jealous, but you can’t control the emotion of jealousy, really, unless you have actually no emotions... you’re a psychopath or something! How do you control jealousy? If you’re a couple, or you have a boyfriend that does certain things with that woman that he never did with me, I think I would get jealous! You can say all you want to protest, “No, I’m not jealous...” It’s gonna come out one day. I’ve met people who ended up leaving their spouses for someone else that they met in this lifestyles. I don’t know, personally, I think that a lot of people are also just bored. That’s why some of the pictures look so ordinary. You know, it’s like heroin. I’ve never tried heroin. From what I heared, the chasing, the dragging, like the first time is so “Wow, this is amazing, this drug is so great. You keep trying to get the same experience over and over again, you know, it’s never goint to happen but that’s why people keep doing heroin. I think that’s the same thing with the swingers. That first experience is like “Oh, my God, I just had sex with him, and her and that...Oh, my God, this is amazing!” and then you keep on trying to get that same experience, but I don’t think it will happen, at least as an observer. I think that’s why you look at a lot of people, they look so bored, they don’t look like they’re having the sex. It’s just going something emotional. Maybe for some people it’s great.

I read in your website that you like to attend nudist beaches. Are you thinking about the possibility to start a project about that? Before I start to photographed this, I was photographing nude beaches, and that’s how I found the swingers. Then I went there for many years, you know... I actually don’t like the sun very much and I don’t like heat. I maybe would consider to do again, it’s just that I’ve been living in New York. We do have some nude beaches, but they’re not so easy to find. People get very uncomfortable if you pull out a camera being naked. Maybe, some day on the road, I’ll start again. It just happens I’m working on a few other things. I think its funny, ‘cause the fact that I like about nude beaches is that you don’t have any clothes, you can’t show your personality through what you wear. You have to show your personality through yourself, accessories like jewelry or hats, even your lounge furniture. I also think it’s just funny to see people everyday doing things being nude. I remember when I was shooting once at the nude beach, there was a guy flushing his teeth after eating lunch. I just thought that funny to see someone do that naked. To me it’s more interesting. It’s not the fact of being naked, but about doing things everyday normal and ordinary... But when you do it naked, I like it and it make is funny, so...

bit bored, I think it’s a bit of both. For some people there is a sense of “OK, Saturday night, what are we gonna do? Let’s go to the swing party” Other people would go like “Let’s gonna go to the movies” So there is that sort of routine after all. But I also think ‘cause a lot of these people I also feel they are part of a secret. I don’t know about here but there are certain clubs that are online groups and they have like a logo. There is one called LifestyleLounge. The logo is like the yin/yang sign, black and white. They all get luggage tags, so then if they’re at the airport and they have that tag on their bag and they see someone else with that tag on their bag, they know they are also swingers. It’s kinda like “Hey, secret society!” So I think people like that they do and don’t forget to be a swinger, for the most part, not everybody, most of the people are middle class, they have some money, they often are educated, well, they’re church-goers as

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well... The parties often involve travel. So maybe there’ll be a convention in Las Vegas, Florida, so it’s not necessarily that the people are from Las Vegas or Florida... The People really are traveling a lot. You are on vacation, you are enjoying yourself... I think that people are having a good time with that. For a lot of people, they’re also altered. They may have been monogamous; they may have lost their virginity to their husbands. Nowadays, it’s different, but a lot of these people, they’re 50 or 60 years old, their first lover could have been the only person... and now they are in the sort of “the twilight years”, doing the things that they wished they had done when they were teenagers. Thank you, Naomi you very much.

Thank

I have the impression these people feel very free during these parties. You have been there, so do you agree? Totally, yeah. Oh, no, I think these people... for a lot of them, they take sex very seriously, it’s almost like a sport to them. At the same time I think there’s always a lot of laughter, there’s always a lot of joking around, there’s always food...The thing that makes life, drinking, food, it’s the step that makes life enjoyable, and I think these people do have better sex and do enjoy life more. I know that’s kind of, like critical to what I said before, that people were a ©Photography Naomi Harris, Enterview by Richard Prince, Edited by Dian Hanson. Taschen Books

Nº Z

October 2010

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