Promoting change. Preventing it. Exposing it. Photographers capture images that speak the truth. But if an image isn’t seen, its truth isn’t heard. FiftyCrows is a nonprofit organization that exists to support documentary photographers and to assure that photo essays are seen, truth is heard. Essays from emerging photographers such as Sophia Evans, Ahikam Seri, Mark Leong, Diana Matar, Marcos Adandia, Jihan Ammar, Jack Picone. And perhaps from you. Using international television, the Internet, educational DVDs, innovative programs, and strategic partnerships, FiftyCrows breaks down the logistical walls that stand between photographers and their audience.
EI8HT PHOTOJOURNALISM V3N2 SEPT04
Announcing the 2004 FiftyCrows Photo Fund Competition. Winners will receive: a $5000 USD cash grant, a FiftyCrows Media television segment, a full photo essay exhibition on FiftyCrows website, career mentorship and networking, Adobe
EI8HT PHOTOJOURNALISM BATHS CHINA HAITI I-CAPTURE KOLLAR’S POSTCARDS SETTLERS SNAKE CHARMERS SPINKS VOL.3 NO.2 SEPT 2004 £8 WWW.FOTO8.COM
Tune in. Turn on. Take action.
CALUMET SUPPORTS PHOTOJOURNALISM
CALUMET IS PROUD TO SUPPORT LOSING THEIR CHARM A PHOTO STORY BY ADRIAN FISK
ONE SHOT
AN EXHIBITION BY REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHERS 16TH VISA POUR L’IMAGE FESTIVAL, PERPIGNAN 28 AUGUST – 12 SEPTEMBER www.reuters.com/pictures
CANON, NIKON, KODAK, FUJI, POLAROID, EPSON, OLYMPUS, MANFROTTO, LEXAR
08000 964396 www.calumetphoto.com
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
08.07.2004
10:28 Uhr
Seite 1
100% CMYK 01.06.04/VA
IMAGE TAKEN WITH THE OLYMPUS E-1: 11 mm, 1/500 sec, f7.1
OLY551-04_DSLR_Rally_210x260UK
Belichtung: Farbe: Datum:
OLYMPUS E-SYSTEM D-SLR WITH DUST PROTECTION FACILITY.
Bor Dobrin can’t choose where he’s going to get the perfect sports photograph. But he can choose what to shoot it with. For this job, the Olympus E-System was the perfect choice. Its “Supersonic Wave Filter” is the world’s first system for removing dust from the camera’s CCD. That means you can change lenses almost anywhere and at any time without risking a loss of picture quality.
Tr a v e l s a l l o v e r E u ro p e w o r k i n g for motorsport magazines, newspapers, a n d P l a y b o y. • H e h a s c o v e re d F o r m u l a 1 , t h e D a k a r R a l l y, a n d t h e D u b a i D e s e r t Challenge amongst others.
The Olympus E-1 also features a magnesium alloy chassis, splash protection for both camera body and lenses, and an ergonomic design, making it an ideal hard-working system for continual daily use. The FourThirds Standard gives unprecedented picture quality thanks to lenses specially designed for a digital image sensor. With their extremely high speed, near-telecentric construction and the highest resolution, they can make full use of the potential of Full Frame Transfer CCD. The FourThirds Standard is perfect for Bor as it makes the ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses half the size and therefore much lighter than conventional 35 mm camera lenses. Bor Dobrin is attracted to top performance, both in his subject matter and the Olympus E-System. www.olympus-pro.com/uk 0800 072 0070
THE SUPERSONIC WAVE FILTER USES ULTRASONIC VIBRATION TO REMOVE PARTICLES FROM THE IMAGE SENSOR WITHIN MILLISECONDS.
Format:
Kunde: Motiv:
Olympus 1/1-Anzeige DSLR E-1 Rally 2004 OLY 551-04 Adaption UK 210x260 mm
Titel: DU: Beschnitt: Dokument: Ausdruck:
Eight 10/07/04 3 mm OLY551-04_DSLR_Rally_210x260UK 100%
UNCOMPROMISINGLY DIGITAL – UNCOMPROMISINGLY FUNCTIONAL
B O R D O B R I N , S P O RT S P H O T O G R A P H E R •
ZUIKO DIGITAL LENSES
ELECTRONIC FLASH FL-50
OLYMPUS E-1
EDITOR’S LETTER
INDEX LOSING THEIR CHARM Adrian Fisk is currently making a film on the human hair trade in India, and is a member of the cutting edge street photographers’ collective In-Public (w w w.in-public.com). His work is represented by Eyevine, w w w.eyevine.com +44 (0)20 8709 8709 – Graham Cross
DIGITAL OR FILM – can you tell? Does it matter?
Absolutely not! Sure, stories differ in the choices a photographer makes in terms of colour, b/w, slides, negs or digital camera, but the over-riding consideration present in the stories we feature is that the images tell a story … and the story is not about the medium itself. On the pages of this issue digital and film sit side by side, brought together by a central purpose – to share a visual report or personal history. Sharing is the foundation upon which this magazine is built, a concept that is further discussed in our essay section where Fred Ritchin and Pedro Meyer question the impact that access to digital photography has had on taking and sending images – delivering the news. EI8HT itself continues to push its boundaries. With this issue, I am pleased to introduce a new, strong look for our logo and page layouts. Working closely with designers, Rob and Phil, our central message of putting pictures first is now supported by a bold and determined design. In terms of our development for the future I am happy to announce a new collaboration with DigitalRailroad (www.foto8.com/drr), the makers of a powerful Web-based application for managing and sharing image collections. We look forward to photographers seizing this opportunity to share their story proposals directly with EI8HT, while also opening up new avenues for them to produce and deliver photostories to global media outlets. Finally, a word of congratulation to two of our recent contributors, Alfredo D’Amato and Karim Ben Khelifa, who are recipients of the One World Broadcast Trust photojournalism award and the Fujifilm Young Photographer award, respectively, for work that was published in EI8HT. I thank you, our valued readers, for your continued support for and loyalty to the magazine and look forward to your comments and photographic proposals for the next and future editions. JON
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jon Levy FEATURES EDITOR Max Houghton
DOWN BY THE RIVER Tom Stoddart, who started his career as a newspaper press photographer, is the recipient of numerous awards for photojournalism. iWitness, his retrospective exhibition, is published in book form by Trolley (w w w.iwitness.net, w w w.trolleynet.com). The exhibition installation is available for hire. Stoddart is represented by IPG. w w w.tomstoddart.com and w w w.ipgphotographers.com +44 207 749 6060 – John Easterby
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Lauren Heinz
FREE RADICALS Ahikam Seri studied photography in Jerusalem, where he is now based. His work focuses on stories he finds in this region and he is a past recipient of the Fifty Crows International Fund for Photography grant. Seri is represented by Panos Pictures. w w w.panos.co.uk +44 20 7234 0010 – Michael Regnier
CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITOR Ludivine Morel
PLUS CA CHANGE Benjamin Lowy began his photojournalism career fresh from studying graphic design at college. He was embedded with US forces in Iraq for seven months and has since worked on other news assignments. Lowy is represented by Corbis in New York. www.corbis.com +1 212 777 6200 – Christina Cahill HAMMAMS Pascal Meunier has photographed the architecture and culture of the Arab-Muslim world for the past seven years. He has made a book of this work entitled Hammams, the Magic Baths and is seeking a publisher. An exhibition of Hammams will be shown at the Leica gallery, Solms, Germany, in 2005. Meunier is represented by Cosmos. w w w.cosmosphoto.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Sophie Batterbury Colin Jacobson PICTURE EDITOR Flora Bathurst
DESIGN DIRECTION Rob & Phil SPECIAL THANKS Maurice Geller Andrew Ferguson PUBLISHER Gordon Miller EUROPEAN ASSOCIATE Arnaud Blanchard REPROGRAPHICS John Doran at Wyndeham Graphics PRINT Pensord Press PAPER Galerie Art Silk: cover 250gsm, body 130gsm
MAKE A WISH Kirsty Mackay studied photography in Glasgow before working in New York and London as a photo-assistant. Make a Wish consists of one image taken every day over the course of a year on her mobile phone camera and forms part of her personal work. w w w.kirstymackay.com
DISTRIBUTION Specialist bookshops & galleries – Central Books 020 8986 4854, Newstrade – Comag 01895 433800
BEIJING IS WAITING Mark Leong lives in Beijing and has documented life in China over the last 15 years. His collection, China Obscura, is published by Chronicle Books. (w w w.chroniclebooks.com). He was awarded a Fifty Crows International Fund for Photography grant this year and is represented by Redux Pictures. w w w.reduxpictures.com +1 212 253 0399 – Kristy Reichert +44 (0)1962 732 664 – Chronicle Books (UK)
EIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY FOTO8 LTD 18 Great Portland Street London W1W 8QP.
POSTCARDS FROM A LAND OF RIDDLES Martin Kollar, born in Slovakia, studied film at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. Kollar was a recipient of the 3P Photography Grant, 2004 and is represented by l’Agence Vu. w w w.martinkollar.com and w w w.agencevu.com +33 (0)1 53 01 05 14 – Thomas Doubliez
EMAIL info@foto8.com
THE NEW VILLAGE John Spinks studied photography at the Surrey Institute and has been an independent photographer for seven years. He is based in the UK and represented by East. w w w.eastphotographic.com SCENE Jocelyn Bain Hogg studied photography at Newport College Wales. He is best known for The Firm, an intimate portrait of organised crime families in London’s East End, published by Trolley. Bain Hogg is based in London and represented by AWP. w w w.ashleywoods.com +33 (0)676 499 840 – Ashley Woods
6 EI8HT
CREDITS
ISSN 1476-6817
TELEPHONE +44 (0)20 7636 0399 FAX +44 (0)20 7636 8888
SUBSCRIPTIONS w w w.foto8.com 1 year from £25 +postage Previous Issues £8 w w w.foto8.com/subscribe.html The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of EI8HT or foto8 Ltd. Copyright © 2004 foto8 Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be copied or reproduced without the prior written consent of the publisher. PARTNER WEBSITES documentography.org/, photodocument.pl/, photographer.ru/, red-top.com/, reportage.org/, revue.com/, tangophoto.ch/
CONTENTS VOL.3 NO.2 SEPT 2004 22
MOMENTS
8
42
ESSAY
14
36
LOSING THEIR CHARM Adrian Fisk documents the decline of snake charming, a once valued tradition, in modern India
FREE RADICALS Ahikam Seri photographs Israel’s new breed of extremist settlers, the Hilltop Youth
10
22
MANY RIVERS TO CROSS Tom Stoddart talks about his recent outdoor exhibition, iWitness, presented in London in conjunction with the Disasters Emergency Committee
38
MAKE A WISH Kirsty Mackay records a year of her life on her mobile phone with a-picture-a-day. We present a montage across the four seasons 50
41
STATES OF THE UNION Graphic artist Christoph Niemann’s contribution to “Empire”, a collection on “the banality of our leaders’ imperial aspirations”
14
FEATURES
PLUS CA CHANGE Benjamin Lowy witnesses the latest coup in Haiti’s capital and rebel strongholds across the country
30
HAMMAMS Pascal Meunier’s ethereal images of an ancient and glorious indulgence
42
BEIJING IS WAITING Mark Leong’s 15 year long photographic document of China’s transformation from Communism to Capitalism
50
POSTCARDS FROM A LAND OF RIDDLES Humorous and puzzling scenes captured by Martin Kollar in his native Slovakia
BELIEVING THE UNBELIEVABLE Fred Ritchin contends that the work of amateur photographers can be more potent than that of professionals
40
DEAR JON Pedro Meyer asserts that the photographer’s right to digitally manipulate an image is justifiable FOCUS
54
MICHAEL VENNING An emerging talent talks about life after college and how he goes about finding commissions REVIEWS
62
BOOK / EXHIBITION REVIEWS The Fat Baby, Eurogeneration, Uncommon Places, Asians in Britain, The Red Couch, Field Studies, Satellite of Love, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Arles – a Survival Guide DIARY
56
THE NEW VILLAGE John Spinks provides a glimpse of a post-industrial English village after the closure of its coalmines
72
A guide to gallery exhibitions LISTINGS
74
Picture Agencies & Pro Services SCENE
82 COVER Beijing is Waiting. (p 42) © Mark Leong/Redux Pictures
STARFISH Jocelyn Bain Hogg points his camera at celebrity lifestyles EI8HT 7
MOMENTS
INDIA’S SAPERAS – snake
charmers – are fast becoming an emblem of an earlier, mystical age. Animal rights campaigners and police are evoking an old, previously unenforced law to stop the practice – except for when an inquisitive cobra entered the Prime Ministerial abode recently. Well, who you gonna’ call? Adrian Fisk had reasons of his own for
LOSING THEIR CHARM ADRIAN FISK Khageswar Das with his wife, Basanti, and their seven-yearold daughter, Sunati (left). Sunktia stands with his wife, Urinathy, and daughter Ruby (below). His father was a charmer, as are his two brothers
8 EI8HT
documenting their ancient craft: a morbid lifelong fear of snakes. “The first two years of my life were spent in a remote part of Zambia, close to the shores of Lake Tanganika. There were plenty of snakes – green mambas, puff adders and a host of other varieties. My father told me once about watching a woman hanging out her washing, when she screamed. He ran over and
found she had pegged a snake to the line. My mother told me snakes used to fall from our thatched roof during the night. Thud. “When I was 11, I almost stepped on an adder. It was a hot summer day on Dartmoor. I was running barefoot and missed the sleeping serpent by inches. I shot off, screaming. “Curiously, I find I frequently
hear and see snakes long before anyone else has spotted them. Of course that fuels my obsession that they are all around. “When I learnt that the snake charmers of India were rapidly disappearing, I thought I should film it and confront my fears at the same time. I felt a rush of excitement when I came across the first cobras. My fear was replaced
by fascination – for the snakes’ beautifully patterned hoods, their mesmerising eyes. A few weeks in, I charmed a snake myself; it was unbelievably intense. “As my fear of snakes has diminished, my fascination with these seductive, intoxicating creatures has increased. They are like a drug; I can’t wait until I see my next one” 8
The Das family (left) pose with their snakes in Padmakesharpur in the east of India. Sagah (below right) stands with his wife, Joti, and sons Tapas, Santosh and Akash
EI8HT 9
MOMENTS DOWN BY THE RIVER TOM STODDART
EI8HT 11
THE HEARTBROKEN MOTHER
about to evacuate her young son to safety during the siege of Sarajevo. The starving Sudanese boy, a polio sufferer too weak to stand, robbed of a sack of grain by a wealthy fellow countryman. The labouring woman, the infant and the corpse sharing shelter. These unforgettable faces of war, poverty and famine across the world have been brought together by the banks of the River Thames 12 EI8HT
this summer. “Spitting distance from the City of London, one of the richest places on earth,” says Tom Stoddart, the man whose left eye has framed a moment in these people’s lives, to be remembered forever by those unlikely to ever know such hardship. While respect and admiration for the photographic brilliance of these images is an automatic response, the purpose of this great and groundbreaking exhibition
lies elsewhere, as Stoddart would be the first to point out: “This is about the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and the work they do. It’s about the 300,000 people at risk in Sudan right now. It’s about the 10,600 people who died in the siege of Sarajevo and the 56,000 who were wounded. It’s about the 7,000 people who are dying every day in Africa. More money is spent looking for a cure for baldness than
for a cure for AIDS,” he says starkly. When he was first approached by the DEC, whose 40th anniversary this exhibition is marking, Stoddart put his considerable energy into finding a venue. “Gallery space doesn’t exist for pictures like this. If you’re not an artist, or with Magnum, or you’re not dead, there’s nowhere for contemporary photojournalists to
show their work.” So it was to everyone’s advantage when Thameside property company MoreLondon offered the space, which is between Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast, for free. The exhibition, intelligently designed by Steve Coleman, has attracted some 11,000 visitors per day. “We get all kinds of people looking at the pictures. Guys from the City, joggers, tourists. It’s so much better than a gallery would have been,” says Stoddart, clearly revelling in the decision to take the exhibition outside. “People stop what they’re doing and go quiet when they realise what they’re looking at. It’s almost spiritual.” In conversation with Stoddart he will talk a little about his craft, if pressed, but all his photographic conversations lead to the same place: to the people he’s photographing. “I always go close-up. The minutiae of detail in a woman’s face that tells you she’s trying to be brave. You lose all that with a telephoto lens. I’m right in front of them, and that gives me power. But I’m not stealing. I always spend time talking, collaborating. Like with Kelvin, the boy pictured being helped to bathe (previous page) – he wanted me to tell his story.” Stoddart is a passionate defender of reportage photography. He has no time for those who like to sound the death knell for photojournalism with such tedious regularity, and is delighted to recount a recent conversation with the editor of The Sunday Times Magazine who said they are using more photojournalism now than
they ever did in the glory days of the 1970s. He has a rousing call for practitioners, too: “In the photo community, we should get off our knees and be imaginative – and not just about what we’re photographing. What we need is an audience to change things. We should be making prints and sticking them on walls, hanging them from railings. People will help you if you have the right attitude. The camera is a powerful weapon. It can make change, but it’s drip, drip, drip.” In a 32-year career, it’s fair to say Stoddart’s images have caused ripples, even waves, of compassion, despair and anger. He began his career in local newspapers in his native northeast England, and soon left so he could tell stories, rather than illustrate them. His first venture? Beirut, 1982. “When you’re young, it’s a boy thing, you’re moving with the pack, there’s all that adrenaline. Basically you’re getting paid for being nosy. But what you see changes you. I can’t understand the cynicism that surrounds photojournalism. I really admire the foreign correspondents I’ve met. They have real energy and drive and they deserve to be there. “Of course it’s a massive privilege. What we do is insignificant compared to the work of doctors, nuns or priests. When you’re dying in the middle of the night, what you really need is someone to hold your hand” 8 Tom Stoddart was talking to Max Houghton. Stoddart’s Thameside exhibition ran until the beginning of August. For new venue details or to offer a location: www.i-witness.net
Tom Stoddart photographed his installation for EI8HT magazine (above and previous spread) against a stormy ‘summer’ City skyline. (right) From the exhibition, an anguished mother prepares to send away a child she may never see again, out of Sarajevo on a bus promised safe passage by the Serb forces. Families were torn apart when children were evacuated to the safety of other European capitals
EI8HT 13
I AM A PRIMITIVE MAN I LOVE TO HAVE A LOT OF CHILDREN I LOVE MY WIFE AND I LOVE MY LAND
Lift up mine eyes unto the hills… Facing east towards the Judean desert, a settler prays at the West Bank outpost of Tekoa – one of several unauthorised Jewish settlements which are due to be evacuated by the Israeli government
Bat A’in bikers: (main picture) The Hilltop Youth combine a radical, hippyish lifestyle – music, motorbikes and environmentalism – with a rigid and fundamental ideology, in ultraorthodox Jewish settlements. (left from top) A man bathes in an old fountain, on the outskirts of Bat A’in. A woman settler smokes a hookah, at the site of a religious music festival in Bat A’in. And Shaltiel and his wife, Tzipora, relax at their caravan home in Tekoa
16 EI8HT
“IT IS VERY JEWISH to be a
shepherd,” says Shaltiel, a young settler in Tekoa in the West Bank, who works as a shepherd for a living. “When I’m with the herd, I sing and pray in order to lift myself above the animal level. When staying too long with animals, you could easily start to behave like them. Look at the Arab shepherds, for example…” Shaltiel believes Jews dwell on a higher spiritual plane. He sees a role for the Jewish people as a bridge between the western world and the Arabs, but he has little to do with local Palestinians and forms no relationships with them. The community to which
Shaltiel belongs, and whose lives are portrayed here, is known as the Hilltop Youth, who are scattered among strategic outposts throughout the Occupied Territories of the West Bank. They consist mainly of secondgeneration settlers, their ideology much more fundamental than that of their parents. By contrast, their lifestyle seems to have more in common with the Woodstock generation. They have rejected established bourgeois settlements to follow a plain and rural way of life – environmentally conscious, working with the landscape, striving to get closer to a biblical EI8HT 17
We shall not be moved: (main picture) A Jewish settler fixes the Israeli flag onto a lighting pole, at the outpost of Migron, another West Bank settlement which is marked for evacuation by Israel, under the US-sponsored ‘Road Map’ for the Middle East. (left from top) A woman blows a ram’s horn, during a Purim holiday party, at the settlement of Elazar. Shaltiel, the shepherd from Tekoa, tends his herd, in sight of the Jewish hilltop settlement of Nokdim. A settler chills against a rock, enjoying music and the sunset, at the site of a religious music festival in Bat A'in
18 EIGHT
ideal. They talk about the seven commandments of the biblical sons of Noah – basic rules, like don’t murder and don’t steal– while at the same time insisting on their rightful ownership of the land, even, in extreme cases, to the extent of participating in terrorist attacks on their Palestinian neighbours. Three settlers from the West Bank Jewish outpost of Bat A’in were recently caught and jailed for attempting to bomb a girls’ school in a nearby Palestinian town. Even where non-violent, their very existence in these disputed territories is an act of deliberate provocation. Simply by being there
they serve as an obstacle – physical and political – to any resolution. Bat A’in is considered an “environmentally friendly” settlement and is a meeting point for these young radicals from all over the West Bank. Music is a major force in the spiritual life of the Hilltop Youth, with guitars and drums commonplace in their pastoral idyll. The settlers often dance into the night in an atmosphere of communal purpose. Then, by daybreak, they will be back at their outposts, staking their claim, tending their sheep as they believe God intended 8
EI8HT 19
Benny Shoham, from the settlement of Shilo, holds the body of his fivemonth-old boy, Yehuda, at a funeral procession in Jerusalem. As Shoham drove with his wife and son through the West Bank village of Luban aSharkiya, Yehuda was hit on the head by stones thrown by Palestinians. He died in hospital a week later. The funeral procession began outside the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a call for vengeance
20 EI8HT
EI8HT 21
22 EI8HT
PLUS CA CHANGE BENJAMIN LOWY The uprising that culminated in the sudden ousting of President Aristide in February 2004 was savage even by the standards of Haiti’s bloody history. But what it resolved remains deeply unclear. One thing is certain: it’s unlikely to be the last time that the streets of Haiti will run with blood
EI8HT 23
THE OUSTING of President Jean
Bertrand Aristide in February 2004 was the latest eruption in Haiti’s bloody modern history. Did Aristide supporters and his adversaries finally lose patience with the lack of progress over dismal living conditions and healthcare provision, amid escalating charges of corruption? Or was the uprising that led to his departure a violent prelude to a coup engineered by the US administration? It is safe to say quality of life for the Haitian 24 EI8HT
people hasn’t dramatically changed. Photographer Benjamin Lowy was in Haiti for two weeks during the heaviest fighting. He has produced a series of images capturing scenes from the key cities of Gonaïves and Cap Haïtien as they fell to the rebels. “The rebels who started the unrest spoke better English than Creole, they were more Miami than Haiti,” says Lowy, alluding to the vocal expatriate community established in the US. “The whole
scene was complete chaos, with people seeming to change sides all the time. “In Cap Haïtien, the rebels were trying to burn the mayor’s house down. The fire department wasn’t working, so people were throwing buckets of water to put it out. Somehow they succeeded.” What struck Lowy was the sheer brutality of the fighting. He saw people tied up and shot in the eyes, a man who had his heart cut out as a child sat watching nearby. In Gonaïves, where exactly 200
Celebration – and Retribution: (previous pages, left) Joyous Haitians parade through the streets of Port-au-Prince, the capital, after rebel leader Guy Phillip and his forces arrived in the city. (right) Keeping ‘order’, pistol-toting militia patrol the rear of a demonstration. (these pages, above) After a rebel patrol came under fire, anti-government militia members ran through a Cap Haïtien neighbourhood, spraying gunfire at houses sporting pro-Aristide graffiti and intimidating a possibly hostile population. (below left) A rebel toys with a bullet in his teeth while on patrol in Gonaïves. Having taken the city from government forces, the rebels fashioned themselves as the city’s police and administrators. (right) Aristide supporters, carrying his portrait, ‘lament’ the resignation of the president by burning and looting homes and businesses in Port-au-Prince
EI8HT 25
Devastation: (above) ‘The day after Aristide left people went insane,’ says Lowy. ‘Rioting, looting, killing. A whole quarter in Port-au-Prince was on fire.’ The photographer feared he was marked as the next victim of this masked marauder. But the rioter moved on. (below, from left) Haitian police respond gingerly to violent clashes between protesters and supporters of Aristide. On the outskirts of the capital, a body lies abandoned, tied and shot through the eyes. The morgues were full and few could afford to bury the dead. A woman in Gonaïves is comforted by neighbours after her husband’s death. And in Cap Haïtien, the mayor fled after rebels tried to burn his house down. Remarkably, locals with buckets managed to extinguish the blaze
26 EI8HT
EI8HT 27
28 EI8HT
After the storm (below): During the uprising, in the besieged city of Gonaïves, residents stampede over a small store of international food aid. Rebel forces took a large portion of food for themselves and their families before allowing locals to fight over the remaining scraps. Outside a whorehouse in Gonaïves – offering ‘free tricks for rebels’ – armed and intoxicated anti-Aristide forces linger before a nightly patrol. (above) President Aristide fled the country. In Port-au-Prince, jubilant anti-government forces celebrate. And the capital’s Avenue Dessalines lies awash with trash after rainfall
years ago Haiti declared its independence after defeating French troops sent by Napoleon, Lowy saw a man have his head ripped open, his brain removed and placed into his hands as he died. “I stopped photographing bodies after a while,” he says. “There didn’t seem any point.” Then Aristide was ousted, and as suddenly as the violence had flared up, the story died down and the news caravan moved on. But what fuelled the uprising and drove Aristide’s failure and
ultimate downfall is still open to question. His Lavalas Family party was hailed in 1990 as the party against poverty, on the side of urban poor who stitched clothes for giant multinational corporations and the rural poor, whose rice has been priced out of its home market by a surplus of cheap American exports. The truth about what went wrong with Aristide’s promised salvation of the nation remains in dispute. When it comes to Haiti, whichever images you look at,
whichever version of events you believe, the fact remains: this is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where changes in politics and geopolitical influences are played out like gang warfare in the streets 8
EI8HT 29
AT ANY MOMENT, Scheherazade
herself might emerge from the sweet water, beckoning. She is adamant that the pleasures of the hammam bring Paradise to Earth: the labyrinthine corridors, the uniquely relaxing atmosphere, the languid heat. How could you not be tempted? All great civilisations have understood the allure. The Greeks were enthused over the therapeutic benefits as well as the social aspect of steam baths. During the Roman Empire, huge architectural spaces were developed for public bathing. It is even said that when the Arabs conquered Alexandria in 642, books as remained from the celebrated library were burnt to fuel the hammams such was the relative importance of these pursuits. Cleanliness, then as now, was central to the Muslim faith. Next to every mosque, a steam bath and a school would be built, too. The entrance fee to the hammam would fund both the mosque and the school. In every city from Baghdad to Cordoba, public baths sprang up, providing peace for the body, soul and spirit, satisfying a ritual of absolution. Enveloped in water, we escape the stress of the world. The only sign of the outside world is dappled light dancing on the tiles from the domed roof above. No clock disturbs this humid refuge. In this infernal heat, of 40 degrees or more, we save movement, and save our words. Sleep is not far away, the dreamlike state broken only by the footsteps of the masseur, whose magic glove will deliver our bodies from impurity by hard scrubbing. Yet the time when the entry fee could support the neighbouring mosque and Koranic school is long gone. Domestic bathrooms and exclusive private spas mean steam baths are disappearing from daily life. Religious rites take place elsewhere, and people are choosing other solutions for purification. In Cairo as recently 20 years ago there were dozens of hammams; today just eight remain 8 Max Houghton
30 EIGHT
Tamboulie, Cairo, Egypt
HAMMAMS PASCAL MEUNIER
EIGHT 31
Yenikaplica, Bursa, Turkey
Tamboulie, Cairo, Egypt
32 EIGHT
El Mokhadem, Damascus, Syria
EIGHT 33
Al Salsila, Damascus, Syria
34 EIGHT
El Arba, Cairo, Egypt
Tamboulie, Cairo, Egypt
EIGHT 35
BELIEVING THE UNBELIEVABLE
f awards were to be given for the Most Important Photographs of 2004, certainly the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison would rank high on the list. As would the photographs of the caskets of American soldiers killed in Iraq; or the photographs of one year’s American war dead, shown on ABC television; or the photographs of the crowd revelling in the deaths of the four Americans in Fallujah. Interestingly, it would only be the images from Fallujah that were made by professional photojournalists. The others were made by amateurs, including soldiers and an employee of a Pentagon sub-contractor, or were simple identity photographs. And if an award was to be made in the category of Photo Illustration, the image of John Kerry and Jane Fonda together on a podium giving anti-Vietnam War speeches would be a contender – if the identity of the person who composited the two separate photographs together were to become known. Another contender would be the images of British troops supposedly abusing Iraqi prisoners that were later found out to have been staged. The grisly decapitation of Nick Berg would have to be considered one of the most important, if horrific, short documentaries in
I
36 EI8HT
IT IS THE AMATEURS WITH THEIR DIGITAL CAMERAS, FEELING FREER IN THEIR IMAGEMAKING, WHO CAME UP WITH THE MOST COMPELLING, PAINFUL AND SHOCKING IMAGERY
the Video category. Again, it was made by a non-professional photographer. Ultimately, any of the amateur-produced news photographs mentioned above did more to peel off layers of hype concealing the war effort and its sometimes catastrophic results than did any photography done by the “embedded” photojournalists, representing professional news organisations from around the world. Baghdad in flames? American troops in a firefight? Saddam Hussein’s statue being toppled? Perhaps some of the imagery of injured civilians began to get at the deeper realities of war. But for the most part the professionals seem, often unwittingly, to have become part of a major public relations campaign to make the war in Iraq appear to be a crusade for good against evil. The increasingly widespread use of digital cameras – creating images that do not need to be processed in labs, where they can be censored but instead can be immediately uploaded by the photographer and transmitted on the internet – have many arguing that a new age of openness is upon us. Governments will not be able to hide the multiple truths of war, or anything else, as they once did. The exclusion of professional photographers from the first Gulf War, then the decision to “embed” them in the Second, has
The iconic images of the Iraq war were taken by amateur photographers. Some of them turned out to be fake. Is this significant for the future of war photography, or simply a sign of the times? EI8HT introduces two responses by Fred Ritchin and Pedro Meyer to the now infamous ‘torture pictures’
now led to a “return of the repressed” – a Vietnam War-style depiction of war as at times horrific. Except that those operating the cameras most effectively are often amateurs. For professionals, life is not getting easier. The decision to “embed” photographers effectively diminished the independence of the press corps. Who wants to make critical images of the people who are essential to one’s survival on the battlefield? The increasing danger of covering conflicts where journalists are targeted (not just in Iraq, but all over the world) forces photographers to seek sanctuary as “embeds” or travel in groups for their own protection. But as the professional photographer became beholden to the military for access and safety, and responsive to back-home publications that wanted to tell the war in a “patriotic” way, some critical judgment seems to have been ceded. The multiple books and exhibitions that came out after the American “victory” seem both superficial and misguided one year after “mission accomplished”. It is the amateurs with their digital cameras, feeling freer in their image-making, who came up with the most compelling, painful and shocking imagery, at least for the moment. Undoubtedly the military will soon ban cameras for soldiers. Instead, officially
sanctioned army photographers will make the images to send home to families and friends. Professional photojournalists will be kept as far away as possible from sensitive areas like prisons and burials. And legions of people will – as with the faked photographs of British troops abusing Iraqis – attempt to create the most damning photo-composites or staged images possible to attack whomever and whatever it is they want to. But the major lesson seems to be that if one wants to communicate with many people, the best thing is to bypass conventional media. Go on the internet. There is a perception that contemporary media is too filtered, too tired, too constrained by advertising and by governments. Only a couple of months ago, it was reported that a powerful editor, Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair, accepted $100,000 for a movie idea from the same Hollywood people his magazine regularly covers. Numerous reporters and photographers have been fired over the last year for various well-publicised manipulations of the press. Given these developments, the unfiltered directness of the internet can be seen as refreshing. But of course media on the internet can be highly manipulated as well. The Kerry-Fonda faked photo-composite is but one example of
the possibilities for a large political impact based upon false information. As Ken Light, the author of the John Kerry half of the composite, pointed out: what if such a fabrication were to be published only a few days before the US elections in November? By the time the deception was uncovered, would more people have voted for George Bush? Might he win the national elections in part because of such fakery, considering that he won the last election by only some 600 votes? The amateur digital photographers, and not their professional colleagues, are the ones who have managed to reach the hearts and minds of so many people around the world. Their future at the centre of media seems assured, at least for the moment, as the world waits for the newest revelations from Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. But what then is the future for the professionals? Fred Ritchin Amateur Hour was first published on PixelPress (www.pixelpress.org)of which Fred is the founder and director. He is also Associate Professor of Photography and Communications at New York University
EI8HT 37
DEAR JON
he furore over the torture pictures is derived from a period in our history when a lot of people do not yet understand the full impact of what is going on with digital photography. For instance, look at what happened to Los Angeles Times photographer Brian Walski last year. (He merged two photographs, giving the impression that a US soldier was pointing a gun at someone holding a child. Walski was fired.) Frankly, I have no problem with what he did. The information he provided was in no way any misrepresentation of what went on at that time. Compare that to the manipulation with some apparently unaltered pictures by Colin Powell at the United Nations, stating that the mobile units were parts of the weapons of mass destruction and thus proof of why the US had to invade Iraq. So to lie with pictures is not something that requires the picture to be manipulated (digitally or not). The LA Times photographer’s mistake was to sign a contract with the paper, promising not to manipulate any pictures. So when he did, he was in breach of his contractual agreement. But in essence, what he did was not ethically wrong in my view. The picture he offered was a fair representation of what was going on before the photographer’s eyes in Iraq. I am of the opinion that photographers should be treated with the same trust that is offered to journalists who write. What is more, we should demand such treatment. That implies that the responsibility for the validity of what I state as a photographer is mine. It is not based on telling me what tools to use or how to use them. I should be afforded the freedom to use my tools as I see fit, and it’s up to me what I convey. After all, no audiotape or videotape is ever published in its entirety; it is always edited. So why should we not be afforded the same options of editing our work.
T
40 EI8HT
I SHOULD BE AFFORDED THE FREEDOM TO USE MY TOOLS AS I SEE FIT, AND IT’S UP TO ME WHAT I CONVEY
After all, this is what Walski did; he edited his image with criteria. He was wrong to breach his contract, but it is also important to understand that newspapers often pressure photographers into signing contracts that are disadvantageous to them. They frequently abuse their power in a labour market that offers few alternatives. Furthermore, I have been maintaining all along that the ever increasing presence of digital cameras (and now mobile phone cameras) will make it impossible for anything to be misrepresented through alterations. For the first time, we have the potential to crossreference everything in order to provide proof, rather than relying on the unsustainable reality that the photograph is reliable because it is a photograph. The recent scandal over the torture pictures from Iraq is a case in point. The fact that there are going to be 70 billion pictures taken with mobile phone cameras in 2005, compared to 7 billion with digital cameras already, tells us something about the ubiquitous nature of mobile phone cameras. These images are being published as we speak on the internet on moblogs (mobile logs) from where they can be retrieved and catalogued all
over the world, and used as cross references for anything under the sun. With images coming out of prisons and interrogation centres in Iraq, we at last have images to prove and make public what the Red Cross was not able to put across to the US and UK governments. It might just be that digital photography will have done to the Bush administration all the damage that traditional photography could have never delivered. Think of it that way as well. In the end, what we are discovering is what I have said all along: if we treat the photograph with the same notions we have toward text, we can then have a guideline for how to deal with photography. With text, you can write poetry, and you can write a contract. No one has any problem distinguishing which is which. No one has a problem understanding that a journalist can use words to lie or tell the truth, or that words could be used to write a novel or non-fiction. So we will learn to use photography in all these endeavours, and to offer the freedom to use the tools to everyone as they see fit. Personally, I welcome all this turmoil within photography. After the dust settles, there will be a lot more opportunities for photographers to use their talents. The number of photographers who are offered parity with writers is outrageously small, if not nonexistent. That will change. I hope. Best regards Pedro Pedro Meyer is the founder of ZoneZero (www.zonezero.com), a website dedicated to exploring the development of photography from analogue to digital
STATES OF THE UNION Invited to respond to a forum on concepts
of ‘empire’, New York-based graphic artist Christoph Niemann has redrawn the US, to depict the emotional climate of the most powerful nation in the world
States of the Union by Christoph Niemann from Empire: Nozone IX edited by Nicholas Blechman, published by Princeton Architectural Press
BEIJING IS WAITING MARK LEONG
43 EI8HT
grew up in Sunnyvale, California, returned to the land of his ancestors for the first time in 1989 – arriving by chance the day after “Tiananmen Square”. For the past 15 years he has travelled across the country capturing images, official and underground, of extraordinary changes – while wondering who he
MARK LEONG’S GRANDFATHER left China in the 1920s. Leong, who
might have been had his grandfather not emigrated to America so long ago: “When I first began to photograph people in China in the early 1990s, I gravitated toward the youth. I wanted to follow people I might have been. Not that I was a heroin addict back in San Francisco or even in a rock band, but this was the urban culture I was interested in. When I began attending
Kunming, 1998: A couple while away the longeurs of a rail journey. Beijing, 1999: The celebrated urban deconstructionist AK-47, known for his graffiti heads sprayed all over Beijing, also makes his mark in 3-D in one of the capital’s innumerable demolished neighbourhoods
45 EI8HT
the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, there was very little marginal culture at all. The Chinese learned to rock in the late 1980s, but clubs didn’t really open until the mid-1990s. Before then, there were no bars, so young people would just buy a case of beer, sit on the sidewalk and invite friends along. Actually, it was kinda’ cool. They just made their style up as they went
along. They didn’t have homegrown models, so they took their influences from movies and TV. The whole Seattle grunge scene was taking off at exactly the same time China was beginning to open up, so Nirvana were very popular. Kurt Cobain’s death is still commemorated. The festival image is from the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain festival, an
Beijing ,1998: ‘Slackers ‘ lounging around by the side of a hotel pool, hoping to meet foreign women. Beijing ,1998: ‘Blowback’ – blowing hash smoke into a friend’s mouth
47 EI8HT
attempt at a Chinese Woodstock in 2002, with Chinese bands playing. In the true spirit of festivals, it rained. Some people stayed in tents; camping has become a new leisure activity, as has rockclimbing. But people from the country wouldn’t want to spend time in a tent – it’s the urban kids who think that going to live outside for a weekend would be excellent. China is
seeing the rise of the middle class. Most of the people in these pictures are musicians, artists, or they work in advertising or computers. There’s a slacker generation thing going on, though they do work. But they wouldn’t work in the factories that are responsible for China’s huge manufacturing output; that’s not their class. That’s reserved for rural migrants – the endless
Beijing,2001: Edward Tian, CEO of China Netcom, is one of many who returned to China from the US to build technological infrastructure – but not all traditions have died out. Taishan, 1995: Eating dog meat is still believed to increase the body’s internal heat. Beijing, 1993: A traffic monitoring office
49 EI8HT
supply of workers. One billion people are coming into factories on the edge of towns, and so country people are becoming semi-urban. Everyone’s embracing Capitalism, but there’s a huge vacuum since Communism disappeared. The Party provided food, home, education, a spiritual centre, even, and now there’s nothing to replace them. If the void is going to be
filled, it will be filled by these people, the youth. Some will experiment with drugs, some terminally; some will create their own world through art, like urban deconstructionist AK-47, known for his graffiti heads sprayed all over Beijing. But generally, if there’s going to be a great surge of creativity, I haven’t seen it, yet. I’m watching, waiting” 8
Lijiang, 2002: Music fans gather at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain for China's first major outdoor festival, Woodstock-style. Beijing, 1994: ‘Beijing is waiting for you’ was the Slogan for the capital’s (unsuccessful) bid to host 2000 Olympics
POSTCARDS FROM A LAND OF RIDDLES MARTIN KOLLAR
50 EI8HT
EI8HT 51
52 EI8HT
“MY COUNTRY is neither big
nor small, neither rich nor poor, it’s just in the middle, pretty unremarkable compared to others. You could be anywhere.” Martin Kollar was born in Zilinia, eastern Czechoslovakia, in 1971. By 1993, Slovakia had become a separate republic and Kollar found himself keen to chart
the people of this “new” land. The migration from Communism to Capitalism proved a fruitful time for observation. He could see the people and himself changing and he wanted to capture that moment. He had travelled the continent of Europe with a camera, but found his inspiration came from society at home. Kollar described
his approach to taking the pictures: “I tried to be sad, serious, or political, but it was tragi-comic, even just comic, that worked best. I could communicate better through the images, people could look and either choose to laugh or cry.” His strangely disquieting, voyeuristic vignettes are never
staged, he simply catches moments with an eye for an almost surrealist humour. Each image does have an explanation – for instance the remarkably drunk man in a field is celebrating because he has just won a grass-cutting competition – but they work just as splendidly in isolation, leaving the viewer with a smile and a question mark 8
EI8HT 53
FOCUS MICHAEL VENNING MISSISSIPPI & OTHER STORIES
After graduation, what students want to know is how to catch the editor's commissioning eye. Chloe Howley asked Brighton photographer Michael Venning about how well he’s succeeded so far…
“I BELIEVE in following my heart, no matter what the obstacles are; creating an adventure, not sitting around waiting for things to happen. It’s important for me to find new experiences in life to keep my eye alive. If you want to begin an adventure, do it, and if you need an excuse take your camera.” Michael Venning, 34, a documentary photographer from Brighton, on England’s south coast, has followed his own advice since he first became interested in photography, in the United States in 1993, and spent much of the next three years photographing life in summer camps. His interest sparked, he joined a BTech photography course in Oxfordshire. For his main project, he immersed himself into the Jesus Army community, based in Northamptonshire. Venning used this work to apply to Brighton University, and in 1995 he won a place on the editorial photography degree course under the tuition of Mark Power. He found inspiration as he studied by exploring the work of Tony Ray Jones, Joel Sternfield and Bill Owens. During the degree programme,Venning decided to photograph England. He chose to focus on one very English icon: a cup of tea. He graduated in 1998, and exhibited Tea as an ongoing project at the Hereford Photography Festival in 1999. 54 EI8HT
After graduation, the need for exposure and paid commissions saw his work published in various national broadsheets and magazines, where a portrait of Robin and Lucien Day caught the eye of Terence Pepper, curator of photography at the National Portrait Gallery, who snapped it up for the Designer Faces exhibition. Putting his whole self into a project is an important part of his working practice and it wasn’t long before he started to feel the urge to plan a personally funded venture, to gain creative freedom to work without the constraints of a brief. So in 1999/2000 he sorted out the necessary finances and planned a trip down the Mississippi River. MISSISSIPPI
With friend and fellow artist Adam Ellyson from Wisconsin, Venning decided to take a 10-week trip down the Mississippi, making his friend’s home town the starting point. It took a month to buy, convert and test a boat, which they named The Beacon Cruiser. She cost $850 a snip for a “real beauty”, which caught the eye of many a passer-by. Venning photographed and made audio recordings of the 1,800-mile adventure along the way. From Swallows and Amazons to Easy Rider, Venning has always admired the adventurous life, and had a fantastic experience.
“I didn’t want my camera to lead me to anything– the camera was a companion and a way of recording my experiences and feelings along the great adventure. Recording the people and landscapes. Following in the American tradition of taking to the road, or in this case the river.” NEXT ADVENTURE
The Mississippi trip has been a catalyst for Venning to plan for his next adventure. When he came back to England, he spent a couple of years raising funds while working for Paul Reas, producing photographic commercials for the Department of Work and Pensions, Fosters and BT. His role was to find locations, cast people that he approached on the street and to manage the shoots. All of his knowledge and professional experience will come into force as he plans a second big trip. “I have been self-funding photographic projects and now have an office, studio and potential gallery space at the Phoenix Gallery in Brighton. “I love photographing everyday life and plan to make my doorstep mobile by travelling round parts of England and Europe on a bus. I am in the process of securing funding, with the aim of creating a large body of work, depicting life and different cultures in 2005” 8
Mississippians hang out bed sheets during Halloween.
This page, a showcase for emerging photographic talent, has been made possible thanks to the generous support of
EI8HT 55
56 EI8HT
THE NEW VILLAGE JOHN SPINKS
EI8HT 57
ARLEY IS A VILLAGE in the heart of the Midlands. It’s England’s dead centre, near as dammit, though it’s not a large place. The village, which is probably about a mile wide, is actually two places – Old Arley and New Arley. Until the turn of the 20th century, Old Arley was a farming community, but in 1908, they sank the shaft and opened the colliery. In its heyday, Arley Colliery employed nearly everyone in the village, probably 2,000 or 3,000 men. They closed the pit in 1968; the miners came up off a shift, and found a letter on their lampstands telling them that they no longer had a job. There was no other offer, 58 EI8HT
or retraining. They were just told, “that’s it”. Another pit, Daw Mill, had recently opened a couple of miles down the road, so some of the Arley miners went there, but most of them went to work at the car factories in Coventry or Birmingham. A lot of people found it traumatic because the idea of the community as a whole was shattered. But they had work. Then, during the 1970s, manufacturing in England went into decline – and in the 1980s it went into severe decline. The result was mass unemployment, and that’s when the real problems started in the village. Because the things you could rely on before
could not be relied upon any more. Not that I think my grandfather would have wanted his grandchildren to work in the mines, though – ironically enough, because there’s only three miners left in Arley, and one of them is my cousin. I used a large-format 5 x 4 camera to make these pictures because it made it obvious to people what I was doing. At the time, I’d say I was “going back” to photograph the mining community I was from. But “going back” brought up all these difficulties about who I am and where I belong and what I am able to speak of. I think while the mines were
still open, the idea of community and industry gave people a way of imagining the future that we don’t have now. It leads to an anxiety about the future but also a lack of expectation about what we settle for. I think that I had this grand, operatic idea of making a very political piece of work, but I don’t think it’s political at all. I think it’s about me 8 John Spinks was talking to Bella Bathurst
EI8HT 59
60 EI8HT
EI8HT 61
REVIEWS DIARY AGENCIES SCENE
THE FAT BABY STORIES BY EUGENE RICHARDS PUBLISHED BY PHAIDON WWW.PHAIDON.COM
£59.95 (432PP HARDBACK) The Fat Baby is a 432-page compilation of Magnum photojournalist Eugene Richards’ work that spans 15 stories during the 1990s. From the off, it’s an intense journey that you feel compelled to take, sometimes against your first instinct. To explain: firstly, most of the stories document those who live on the margins, be they the mentally ill at an asylum in Hidalgo, Mexico, or those suffering from alcoholism in Chicago, USA, and turning the page often makes one feel voyeuristically intrusive. Secondly, shot on black/white, Richards’ upclose photographic style leaves the viewer nowhere to go – except to turn away, and what’s the point of that? Lastly, it’s relentless. Story after story, each one is an intensely confrontational and demanding rollercoaster 62 EI8HT
ride. But neither is there any let up in pace or quality and that’s what makes it so damn good. But let’s go back to the beginning. “A flower in the desert” is the opening story that comes ’atcha like a bullet from a gun. It’s an in-your-face series of images of two families as they attempt to come to terms with the fact that the 10-year-old son of one family was convicted of pushing the child of the other family to his death from the 14th floor of an apartment block in Chicago’s South Side. Shot on assignment for American Esquire, it introduces motifs that are a thread through Richards’ stories: up close, snatched, black/white images of people playing, fighting, laughing, crying and grieving. It’s intrusive and, initially, seems insensitive until one reads that the family invited Richards to photograph them. The combination of pictures and narrative is instructive but also disquieting: the journalism is littered with authorial intrusion: “I have to admit I’m not in a good mood”; “It’s better to be sitting here in this apartment than standing up at that window”. When read alongside the images, the effect is unsettling as we are “reading” the story of others’ lives through the pictures, while simultaneously the author of the photographs is telling the story through prose, and including his own thoughts at the time in the written story. Such is the effect, I half expected him to complete the circle and appear at the end of the photo story with a caption “and here’s a picture of me with the whole family”. Certainly, this is a European sensibility at work (the technique is used to critical acclaim by American author Adrian Nicole Smith [with whom Richards has worked] in her docu-novel Random Family), and perhaps the secret is to read the pictures at one sitting, and the words at another, rather than move from one to another, seeking immediate clarification and understanding. The next story after“the wore-out farm”, a poignantly realised elegy for US farming, is “a little war”. Here, Richards documents the long, empty, drug-fuelled days of the Fremont Hustlers, a 70-strong gang of adolescent youths
EI8HT 63
Š Eugene Richards/Magnum Photos
64 EI8HT EI8HT
Photographs © Eugene Richards/Magnum Photos
in Kansas City. In his by now familiar intimate but unobserved style, we are introduced first to Lori, the 18-year-old gang leader, and then Sarah, “[She] had the palest blue eyes, which, no matter what, always looked worried, and dead white skin, meaning it had a greyish hue and no shine.” We see the “boys”, looking out of it, cocking guns, checking their arsenal and intimidating the “girls”. Later, several of the gang are recorded at the cemetery, ostensibly paying their respect to a dead gang member. However, one can’t help but wonder if, as Richards seemingly implies and however subconsciously, they are preparing themselves for a fate, given their lifestyle, that may be theirs before much longer. The gang’s journey, as documented by Richards, demonstrates the recurring theme through his work: life and death – literally. The latter we have witnessed in “a little war” and “a flower in the desert” but it is demonstrably the subject matter of “dr. death”, a series of images of the victims of violent homicide, “the run-on of time”, a four-part study of ageing and dying in America, and “evolution”, a portrait of his father’s final years. Elsewhere, we witness literal and graphic birth in “the next step”, and “here’s to love”, both trademark reportages of the beginning of a new life, the former to a heterosexual couple, and the latter to a gay family. In each essay one gets the sense of a proper storyteller knowing what he wants to achieve and realising it: each image has the same weight – there’s no money shot, or put another way, they are all money shots. In order to achieve such intimacy (to get so close to the individuals and for them to behave so naturally around him) one gets the impression Richards empathises with his subjects, and at times may do so too much for his own peace of mind, especially with particularly difficult stories such as “a flower in the desert”. The musings that are reproductions from an A4 jotter that pass for The Fat Baby’s foreword are streams of consciousness put down on the page; almost incomprehensible, littered with crossings out, annotations and doodles,
decipherable only to Richards, but one wonders if even by him. Similarly, there is seldom a beginning and an end to his narratives, or at any rate not conventional ones. This may be doing Richards a disservice (and maybe it’s a style he’s worked hard at perfecting) but while skilfully rendered and highly descriptive in tone, the narratives presented in the book often are vignettes that seem to be something he’s got to get off his chest for fear his head might explode if he doesn’t. Take “prospects”, where Richards tells the story of how his images of the 1992 Los Angeles riots are of the aftermath – a week later – because when he came to have his films developed of the days of the riot there was nothing on the 24 rolls of Tri-X. It’s a confessional, and a decade down the line he feels the need to reveal himself. It’s not delivered in a humorous aside, “look what happened to me”, or heaven forbid in a vainglorious “shit, it happens to the best of us” way. Rather, it’s as if it’s been a burden to carry the secret for so long and in telling what happened he’s publicly atoning. Perhaps the need to expose himself (as his photographs do his
subjects) is his motivation. Only he, if anyone, knows, but whatever drives Richards we should be thankful something does. There won’t be many more engrossing, dignified and profound photography books published in 2004, and probably for a few years yet. GM
IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WITHIN ALMOST EVERY PHOTOJOURNALIST LURKS AN ARTIST-PHOTOGRAPHER WHO WISHES TO SEE HIS OR HER EFFORTS REWARDED FOR MORE THAN THEIR JOURNALISTIC CONTENT
35ME RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE A SURVIVAL GUIDE TO ARLES The Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie 1 is the mother of all photography festivals. Conceived by Lucien Clergue and friends 35 years ago as an informal get-together of photographers and friends of photography, the RIP or, colloquially, Arles has had a long and honourable career as the summer meeting place of those interested in photography, whether as photographers or buyers or curators, not to mention publishers. Arles, which commences each July before Bastille Day, has spawned photography festivals around the world including the Houston FotoFest, itself 20 years old, and Visa pour l’Image, now 16. Where there is a broad market, niches develop. Visa, in Perpignan every August-September, is the photojournalists’ rendezvous. Houston and Arles are more about art and documentary photography. The comparison between Arles and Perpignan is especially illuminating, both in content and conduct of the photography business. After such a long time and the diversification of the photo world, Arles had grown stale. This year, under the direction of Martin Parr and François Hébel, former head of Magnum’s Paris office, the RIP recovered somewhat from a disastrous recent past wrought by strikes last year and a generally weak curatorial team. In producing a survival guide to Arles one sees how far it differs from Perpignan. It is important to remember that within almost every photojournalist lurks an artistphotographer who wishes to see his or her efforts Like any organisation under stress, the Rencontres is having identity problems. Traditionally known as the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, or RIP, it is now styled on some material as the Rencontres de la Photographie and the Rencontres d’Arles, perhaps to avoid the deathly stigma of the fatal phrase RIP. That the Rencontres chose golden lemons as its icon this year is another thing. 1
rewarded for more than their journalistic content. A venue such as Arles is one of the key places to make contact with the museums, galleries, curators and publishers who represent photography outside of journalistic contexts. Despite the fact that both Arles and Perpignan take place in southern France during the summer and that many of the same people attend both events, each festival functions very differently. Visa is more formal. The photo agencies, for example, Magnum, Panos, Vu and Corbis all have their stands. Appointments are taken and the dance between journalist and agency, however convoluted, retains that structure. It is also more directly contractual, and roles are more clearly defined. The RIP is much more informal, even vaguely unintelligible, because there are fewer time and money constraints as to the interests of museums, galleries, and collectors. (Yes. People do sometimes buy work directly at Arles.) There are no stands where people may make contact directly. Rather, it is necessary to learn who is who by name, face, and role. Whether it is by taking part in the daily juried competitions and portfolio reviews sponsored by Leica and Photoservice or in the reviews held under the auspices of Voies Off, or by being introduced by more experienced friends or colleagues over drinks and food at a restaurant or cafe, the crucial matters of networking and showing portfolios get done. There are differences, too, in the way photographs are seen at Arles. Unlike Perpignan, more attention is paid to finish, even presentations of gallery or museum quality, whether GSP, C-Print, or ink jet, than to slides. On this side of the photography-art world, a couple of tight portfolios with 10 to 20 images, whether of street photography or something more “conceptual”, matter far more than the breadth of work – as represented by hundreds of slides of dozens of picture stories, for example. Pictures and portfolios must also do more than just tell a story directly, no matter how poignant. They must, in Edward Weston’s oftrepeated phrase, show “more than the thing itself”. Gallerists, like photoeditors, have seen it
all, and it is vital to demonstrate a personal style and vision. With this in mind, a veteran of Perpignan or newcomer to Arles should have no trouble surviving the Rencontres. Good work sells. The problem is, as always, to find the right buyers and to make the right presentation. Information for next year’s festival will be announced in midSeptember and available via www.rencontresarles.com. That’s time enough to polish up the portfolio, steal some money, and make plans for the summer. Bon chance. BILL KOUWENHOVEN
Bill Kouwenhoven was editor of Photo Metro of San Francisco from 1996-200. He is a frequent contributor to FOAM, European Photography, Photonews, the ASMP Journal, and other publications. He lives and works in Berlin and New York. Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, runs 8 July-19 September 2004. Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan, runs 28 August12 September 2004
EI8HT 65
UNCOMMON PLACES, THE COMPLETE WORKS PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN SHORE PUBLISHED BY THAMES AND HUDSON WWW.THAMESANDHUDSON.COM
£29.95 (186PP HARDBACK) Stephen Shore has managed to capture the individuality of America by photographing the ordinary. He taught himself photography from an early age and was hugely influenced by the work of Walker Evans. Shore was the first living photographer to have a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, at the age of 23. Two years later in 1973 he began travelling around America with a 10 x 8 plate camera. The pictures from this and subsequent trips over the following eight years make up this collection. Although these images give the impression of being taken “on the hoof”, the practicalities of the plate camera meant that the subjects and composition are in fact much more considered. The time taken to set up the tripod and camera was considerable. The lengthy exposure times for colour 10 x 8 film meant that the cats and dogs that made up a significant part of his previous 35mm work became impossible to capture. Meanwhile, portraits became so formal as to be too far removed from the documentary style he was looking for. Much of the human presence in the book is provided by Shore himself, he even appears reflected in the glasses of an embracing couple taken in 1974. The opening image in this book taken on his first trip shows the legs and feet of the photographer stretched out on a motel bed in front of a single suitcase and chattering television. Thus the reader begins to build an intimate portrait of Shore – our own portrait, from where he travels and what he chooses to record. In fact, the one image that jars is the selfportrait taken in his bedroom in New York 1976. To have him so plainly revealed is like 66 EI8HT EIGH
watching a film of a favourite book and finding that the actors bear no resemblance to the characters of one’s imagination. From 1976 onwards, portraits of people we assume he encountered en route begin to appear. They are captured in the same stark style as the self-portrait, usually out of context, occasionally named but always, like everything in the book, with a precise location and date. The landscapes show America at its most mundane but also attractive: the view of a corner of Route 2, taken in July 1973, offers only a few cars in a muddy lot and a neon motel sign but strangely we all want to be there. This feeling is enhanced by the apparent casualness of the composition and the intense detail captured by the large format camera. The 10 x 8 images are reproduced very simply as contact prints, as in the opening image of Shore’s feet on the motel bed. Although the outside world can be clearly seen reflected in the television screen, the view through the window itself is completely devoid of detail. This heightens the feeling of isolation and the fact that the location is no more than a caption detail. The book was first published in 1982 but this is an expanded collection with more than 60 previously unpublished images. It illustrates why Shore has been considered a pioneer of colour photography. Although the images were all taken over 20 years ago, with so many photographers still strongly influenced by Shore, they remain relevant and important today. SB
EI8HT 67
EUROGENERATION PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONTRASTO – EYE PUBLISHED BY CONTRASTO WWW.EUROGENERATION.INFO
29.00 EUROS (223 PP SOFTBACK) The photo agency Contrasto is well known in Italy, where it’s been around now for 25 years. As well as the picture agency, some time ago it launched a book-publishing arm, one that not only promotes its own photographers’ work and that of other major Italian photographers but also reproduces works and translates significant essays and biographies that are largely unknown in Italy. In this, it has a role (and responsibility) to broaden the basin of photography readership and awareness and, ultimately, the status this field occupies within the Italian cultural landscape. Eurogeneration fits into this mould. Eurogeneration is an ambitious project that includes a book and an exhibition (see listings) – which is perhaps the format in which it works best. It is a time-driven portrait of the many countries that make up the colourful patchwork of contemporary Europe. We see club goers, activists, lovers, priests, fishermen, students, gay and straight couples, families, transvestites; in sum, the large extended community of people living under similar laws, and strict economic guidelines. Local identity meets this freshly woven European one that is still in the process of assessing its position and value. The book is a compendium of different styles: a digest of modern day European youth. Fourteen photographers (all but one tied to the agency) worked on individually selected subjects in the country of their choice – all 25 EU member states are reviewed – and each photographer was given the freedom of expressing his personal way of approaching and interpreting the subject. The pictures were taken between 1 October and 30 68 EI8HT EI8HT
November 2003; the people portrayed were to be roughly between 20 and 30 years old. The photographs were shot in colour and b/w; on film as well as digital, positive and negative, 35mm format and medium format, seemingly all formats aside from colour negative have been used. In the book, the captions – name, age and country and at times profession – are intentionally reduced to a minimum, which, contrary to an editorial approach is perhaps an indication that these images were indeed meant to be enjoyed as a group show. The overall choice of genres is portraiture, both straight and environmental (set up, arranged, documentary and street photography) the style alternates between one photographer and the other, at times perfectly exposed and sharply focused, at times blurry. Knowing some of these photographers’ previous work, what I find interesting is the fact they have been pushed into confronting themselves in a project that required them to research and pursue a story on their own, without an assigning editor and within a very strict time frame. Subsequently, they were asked to subject their work to the scrutiny of their close colleagues, therefore having to live with the space constraints each story was to have. A particularly striking set of pictures, compelling and original also from an editorial point of view, is the one shot in Finland by Luigi Gariglio. The story shows two different approaches the government took in response to the issues of imprisonment. On the one hand we see pictures of the “closed” prison system, with walls, doors and guards. On the other we see an “open” system, a humanising way to redress the relationship between a state and its criminal population. The opening shot shows a smiling blond, sturdy prison guard standing against a stark, white background. In the upper left-hand corner loose wires dangle from above, this disturbance is what obliges the viewer’s eye to hold still and absorb the guard’s serene stare. Another picture is a shot of a desolately snow-white
landscape: trees in the distance elegantly divide the frame in two, a frozen lake and a frosty white sky mirror one another. In the foreground three small sticks mark a square hole, the post-sauna cool down within the confines of an open prison, the caption being the only indication this is not a fishing hole in the middle of a park. Although all his pictures are well thought up, staged and arranged, the parallel with documentary photography is apparent. Yet I feel there is something missing: I can’t help but wonder about the pictures that complete the essay and have been edited out for space’s sake. Francesco Cocco’s b/w pictures of German football fans are a nice example of a set that works well together. The layout is built using two smaller pictures on the left hand that plays against a larger one spreading out on both pages. The frame is well composed and the action taking place leaves the viewer wondering about the exchange. Shot from behind, the two men are standing up and turned in the camera’s direction, their arms are stretched out and their tattoos in clear view. The viewer’s eye bounces back and forth between the three pictures, each one being a piece in the story. Mario Spada, a close-up, in-your-face William Klein-style photographer, shot a set of pictures of a far right Flemish political group. The subjects are young punks, caught goofing about perhaps during a booze trip; the joyful expressions on their faces clash with the many symbols tattooed on their bodies, the lingering doubt is if these smiling kids can just as quickly turn into violent racists? Lorenzo Cicconi Massi, a student of the impressionistic Italian photographer Mario Giacomelli, is given ample space – the entire last chapter. The style is quite diverse compared to what we’ve seen in the previous pages: the highlights are burned, the sky becomes a white backdrop and the black is deeply saturated. The frame is a space in which composition and form is balanced off; people’s outlines and the landscape
LEFT: Luigi Gariglio: Post-sauna plunge pool in an open prison, Finland RIGHT: Francesco Cocco: Bayern Munich fans cheering on their team, Germany
surrounding them gives off an abstract day dreamy atmosphere. The photographs are supplemented by six short stories written in Italian that give us a whiff of the air some of the protagonists in these pictures seem to breathe. “I live here, in a terribly mechanical and distracted fashion, I walk along the streets with my arms stretched out, my mind doesn’t register much along the route from home to school…” Eurogeneration is not beyond criticism. Sometimes, the way the pictures are laid out reminds me too much of agency stock books, sent out to buyers as reference, to be leafed
through and shelved. To serve ad agencies, perhaps, whose brief was altered or editorial clients in search of an image for an article whose content then changed. The contributions also run in a slightly chaotic fashion. The flow can be interrupted by varying quality between one author and the next: in short, it lacks tempo. However, I believe that the photographers’ achievements, as well as the efforts of Contrasto, which invested the money and its editors’ time, is very praiseworthy. I miss not seeing projects like this more often. I think photography can become extremely
interesting when you have different voices interacting together. I believe the resulting labour helps the viewer understand the diverse way of experiencing a particular reality; it gives you a real insight into your neighbour’s way of looking at things. LUCY CONTICELLO
EI8HT 69
ASIANS IN BRITAIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM SMITH PUBLISHED BY DEWI LEWIS WWW.DEWILEWISPUBLISHING.COM
£15.99 (132 PP HARDBACK) Tim Smith’s sensitive documentation of Britain’s Asian subculture serves not only as an exploratory tool into the inner workings of Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani life in this country, but also lends flashlit insight into how, as a nation, we function as a multicultural society. Showcasing the roles that the Asian community fills, Smith’s images provide quiet celebration of the transition from migratory workforce to vital presence. As much as this transition has not been simple or without discrepancy, the subdued tone and intuitive format of this publication perhaps hints at how a faction of society can so successfully install itself as a very necessary vertebra in a country’s backbone. Despite Smith’s preference for revealing individual distinctiveness there remains a strong sense of the
binding power of community. This, combined with Naseem Khan’s accompanying text, provides a gentle overview of a perpetually diversifying world, where values often collide and identities change but where ideology is seldom shifting. A criticism, as needs must, is that the printed project is entirely black and white. The Asian community is one of colour: in its appearance, in its diet, in its rich cultural heritage. I fail to understand why conveyance of this has been compromised by an insistence on the monochromatic. Nonetheless, this book is a testament to Asian success in Britain and moreover the UK’s success in cultural diversity. Smith’s exploration finds the Anglo-Indian wedding in Cumbria and the snow-capped Mosques of Bradford, the Glasgow-stani judge and Manchester’s “Curry Mile”, all in perfect harmony. And that is never an easy thing in those cities. AF
THE RED COUCH PHOTOGRAPHY BY HORST WACKERBARTH PUBLISHED BY GEO WWW.GEO.DE
49.00 EUROS (223 PP SOFTBACK) Holding in my hand, the special exhibition edition of this book, with its super-tactile scarlet suede cover, one might easily think the content was sex-related. In fact, as is well-know, Horst Wackerbarth is
70 EI8HT
a successful fashion and portrait photographer, and it is his Red Couch projects for which he is probably most famous. In 1984, The Red Couch, A Portrait of America was published, recording his travels around the United States, inviting people to sit and have their portrait taken. In this, his latest expedition, he journeyed over 100,000 kilometres in a Renault Kangoo towing the couch on a trailer through Europe, photographing people in over 30 countries in time for Mayday 2004, when ten new countries joined the European Union. (The exhibition will be shown at the European Parliament in Brussels from 6 September.) Used by both Freud and Bacon to great effect, the significance of the red couch has been widely aired in art and psychology. For Wackerbarth, the couch provides a common thread allowing all who sit in it – regardless of race, wealth, age or gender – to become equal, to be seen and heard in what might otherwise be a relatively boring selection of portraits.While he goes
to some lengths to make each portrait different and interesting, it is the question and moreover the answers that link you to the subjects. The simpler the set up – such as the man with his daughter by the edge of a lake in Ireland and the dog staring into the sky – the more you feel an empathy to what he is trying to achieve. The Red Couch and the idea behind it is a good one, but it is hard not to feel you have seen all these images before. Maybe because you have. It has featured in ad campaigns, on TV, in art shows. It’s been in books and exhibitions, it’s even changed colour. Sadly, it seems that the couch and its fame overshadows the people it is supposed to be showing off. FB
A BOOK OF FIELD STUDIES PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN GILL PUBLISHED BY BOOT WWW.CHRISBOOT.COM
£24.95 (240 PP HARDBACK) “MY THOUGHTS ON BEING PHOTOGRAPHED BY MR GILL” Although there had been few occurrences when a picture that I was in appeared in a newspaper or magazine, the last time this happened allowed me to enjoy my 15 minutes of fame. When a friend of mine told me in early 2004 that he saw a picture of me
giving directions, I wasn’t particularly excited. My university was close to the British Museum and a week wouldn’t pass without some tourist asking me how to get to the museum. I never saw the photograph until it appeared in an art magazine that came bundled in with The Guardian. That day several of my fellow students called and texted me that there was a photograph of me and another student in the newspaper. Needless to say, I went immediately and bought the issue. Imagine my surprise when I saw the photo and realised that neither I, nor my friend were lost! It was more than obvious, on every other photograph people were looking at maps, and the
two of us were staring at some random piece of paper. In fact, we were discussing different housing accommodations that were spread all over London, which may have led Mr Gill to believe that we were lost. I also don’t remember anyone approaching us and offering help, though chances are that we would have rejected it. Anyways, it was almost a year ago as I am writing the present paragraph so I may very well be wrong. To sum it all up, it was a mistake to print our picture in the magazines or the book, A Book of Field Studies, but it was a mistake that made me the topic of university gossip for a day! After all, several girls did call me to ask how I was feeling to be in a magazine so I can’t complain! So, Mr Gill, thanks for the photo. PESCHU (left)
STOP PRESS TROLLEY BOOKS Limited Editions from $300 (including a signed print by the photographer) are now available of the following: Ilkka Uimonen’s The Cycle; Chien-Chi Chang’s The Chain; Philip Jones Griffiths’ Agent Orange. WWW.TROLLEYNET.COM
JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE PHOTOGRAPHS EXHIBITION HAYWARD GALLERY WWW.HAYWARD.ORG.UK
SATELLITE OF LOVE KYOICHI TSUZUKI EXHIBITION SCOUT GALLERY WWW.SCOUTGALLERY.COM
The Satellite of Love exhibition is a nostalgic look at the disappearing love hotels in Japan. Tsuzuki’s images explore the erotic originality of Japanese culture. His passion for the subject is evident in the two panels of writing at the beginning of the exhibition. He pleads with the viewer to recognise the injustice of the New Public Morals Act, forbidding such hotels. Each of the 28 photos is a room in one of the love hotels that Tsuzuki sought out to document their existence. Rather than appearing sultry and squalid, each room has its own bizarre theme and shiny new gadgets. Anything from disco mirrored walls, wooden slides, and spinning beds to motifs more likely to be found in a theme park or a child’s bedroom, with painted cartoon characters and spaceship beds. Perhaps the exhibition would have benefited from displaying the photos at a larger scale to highlight the minute details. Instead we find ourselves standing nose to the photo, voyeuristically peering through the peephole – probably the effect that Tsuzuki was aiming for. Although in contradiction to the intention of sincerity, apparent through the sombre and simple display and description of the work, if anything, this exhibition provides a humorous look into the diversity of fetishes and fantasies that exist within the human psyche. Kyoichi Tsuzuki’s work will be exhibited at Paris Photo later this year. LH
Despite living through two world wars, Lartigue never sought his subjects in the political world around him. He chose instead to cast his eye upon the familiar and personal world of fun and games, a world with which his photographs have become synonymous. The exhibition begins with a portrait of the photographer as a boy: he has an enormous smile on his face and is holding his first ever camera. From then on the world we see is presented from this child’s standpoint. The narrative of his oeuvre is made up by a chronological collection of family albums, never aspiring for historical documentation but simply hoping to preserve individual moments in the artist’s life. There are pictures that are specific to the era; balloon races, automobile clubs and jazz singers, all indicative of the French Belle Epoque. But it is the images that portray experience outside the
public domain that seem to carry more resonance for the contemporary viewer. These are the portraits of his family and friends, his lovers and wives, many of which are made into games in themselves: a cousin jumping down the steps, a figure in mid-air as he leaps for the ball. It is hard not to respond to such images. Made with a camera that itself became Lartigue’s lifelong companion and toy, his photographs depict a truly joyous life and remind us of the apolitical potential of the medium. PHOEBE LING
EI8HT 71
DIARY AOP Gallery 81 Leonard Street London Shooting Fish Stories of food and other still life photography. Until 19 August AOP Open Short listed images from the annual AOP Open competition. 25 August – 20 October Aspex Gallery 27 Brougham Road Portsmouth Zhao Bandi, Uh-Oh! Pandaman The photographer and his toy panda illuminating social issues. Until 28 August
Globalizing World Viewing the effects of globalisation around the world. 2 – 19 September Ffotogallery Turner House Plymouth Road Penarth N. Cardiff Morten Nilsson, Dancers Young ballroom dancers captured after performing. 28 August – 10 October FOAM Keizergracht 609 Amsterdam Anne Frank and family photographs of Otto Frank
up-close and illuminated. 28 August – 9 October Forum fur Fotographie Schonhauser Strasse 8 Cologne The Photographic Portrait Portraits by 20 contemporary photographers, ranging in style from classic documentary images to fictional portraiture. Until 29 August Fotomuseum Winterthur Grüzenstrasse 44/45 Zurich Arnold Odermatt, Collisions Detailed images of wrecked cars after accidents.
ºFox Talbot Museum Lacock Abbey High Street Lacock, Wilts Wilfred Thesiger’s Iraq, 1949-1958 Vintage photos by the explorer and travel writer. Until 31 October The Fruitmarket Gallery 45 Market Street Edinburgh Fred Tomaselli, Monsters of Paradise Explosive and colourful photomontage. Until 3 October Gallery SSRobin West India Key Hertsmere Road London Anthony Suau, Beyond the Fall Documenting the former Soviet Republics after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Until 28 August
The Hub 123 Star Lane Canning Town London Sara Hannant, Bread Street A look at London’s bakeries. 4 October – 5 November
The John Hansard Gallery University of Southampton Highfield Southampton Patrick Shanahan, Esperantis Supernatural nocturnal urban environments. Until 28 August
Huis Marseille Keizersgracht 401 Amsterdam Luc Delahaye, Panoramas Panoramic photos of international news events. Elspeth Diederix and Marnix Goossens The photographers’ colourful
Kowasa Gallery Mallorca 235 Barcelona Tony Keeler, Salvador Dali Portraits of Dali, revealing the artist’s many facets. Until 28 August London Gallery West University of
occupation of Iraq. Until 27 August
© David Høgsholt Ian Parry awards at Tom Blau Gallery
Grazia Neri Cortille de Tribunale Verona Willy Ronis, Doni del Caso A retrospective glimpse at the French photographer’s oeuvre, exhibiting his political photographs alongside his better known figurative images. Until 30 October Hayward Gallery Belvedere Road London Jacques Henri Lartigue Photographs from throughout Lartigue’s life, including many from his family albums. Until 5 September ©Akinbode Akinbiyi, Globalizing World, Ewz-Unterwerk Selnau
Blink Gallery 11 Poland Street London Dominique Tarle, Exile Images documenting the Rolling Stones’ 1971 exile in France. 16 September – 21 October British Library 96 Euston Road London Shooting the Past Life along the Silk Road trade route. Until 12 September Ewz-Unterwerk Selnau Seinaustrasse 25 Zurich Tales from a 72 EI8HT
Images from the Franks’ family albums, taken by Anne’s father, that give an intimate glimpse. Until 12 September Sport! The game and the image Examining the aesthetic and cultural significance of sport at a time when huge events are taking place around Europe. Until 5 September Focal Point Gallery Southend Central Library Victoria Avenue Southend-on-Sea Essex Sian Bonnell, Glowing Displaced domestic objects,
Until 22 August The Eye and the Camera A history of photography from the collections of the Albertina in Vienna. Until 7 November Fotostiftung Schweiz Grüzenstrasse 45 Zurich Jean-Pascal Imsand, Retrospective Collection from the short career of this well-known photographer. Until 22 August The Life of Things Exploring the 20th century as a century of things. 4 September – 14 November
Helmut Newton Foundation’s Photography Museum Jebensstrasse 2 Berlin Helmut Newton, Sex and Landscapes Exhibiting a collection of the late photographer's infamous female nudes. Us and them A more intimate and personal look at portraits and selfportraits by the artist and his wife, June Newton. Until 31 January Henry Peacock Gallery 38a Foley Street London Peter Kennard and Cat Picton Phillipps, Award Photos and illustration commenting on the
©Dominick Tyler, The Forum show at Proud Central
view of nature. Until 12 September Impressions Gallery 29 Castlegate York Trish Morrissey, New Works Stylised family portraits featuring the artist and her sister. Until 11 September In Focus Galerie Marzellentrasse 9 Cologne FC Gundlach, Fashion Portraits: Vintage and Modern Prints 60s and 70s fashion photos. 10 September – 15 October
Westminster Harrow Campus Northwick Park Harrow, Middlesex Go West Emerging and established artists working or living in Borough of Harrow. Until 29 August Luici Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art Viale della Repubblica 227 Prato Massimo Vitali A major retrospecitve of the photojournalist’s career, featuring his raised viewpoints. Until 3 October
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS, GROUP SHOWS, PHOTO EVENTS AND FESTIVALS Manchester Art Gallery Mosley Street Manchester Mary Ellen Mark, American Odyssey & Twins Retrospective of work from the last 40 years of her career. Until 5 September Michael Hoppen Gallery 3 Jubilee Place London David Parker, Sirens Large-scale seascapes. 14 September – 31 October Entente Cordiale Vintage prints by Magnum photographers. 22 September – 31 October
Manchester Road Bradford Everything’s Gone Green: Photography and the Garden Cultural, social and aesthetic facets of the English garden, featuring anonymous photographers as well as work by figures such as Cameron and Carroll. Until 26 September National Portrait Gallery St. Martins Place London Off the Beaten Track Three centuries of female explorers documenting their travels. Until 31 October
60 Farringdon Road London The Observer Hodge Photographic Award Exhibition The winners and finalists of the Hodge award. Until 10 September Open Eye Gallery 28-32 Wood Street Liverpool Wolfgang Muller, Karat: Sky Over St. Petersburg Street children of Russia, addicted to drugs and forced into prostitution. Until 28 August Palazzo Reale Via Marco Polo 9
Photography Course at De Montfort University, Leicester. 13 – 18 September Nigel Green and Naglaa Walker, Physical Sites Merging science and photography. 1 October – 13 November The Photographers’ Gallery 8 Great Newport Street London Hatshem Madani, Mediterranean The inhabitants of a small town in southern Lebanon, alluding to the changing political climate. 14 October – 28 November Mediterranean: Between Reality and Utopia Views on the region from a range of photographers. Until 3 October PM Gallery House Mattock Lane London Roshini Kempadoo, Endless Projects Exploring black identity within a political and historical context. Until 12 September Proud Camden 10 Greenland Street London Enjoy the Silence Collection of urban skateboard photography from around Europe. Until 11 September Proud Central 5 Buckingham Street London Sometimes Words are too Slow Diverse photojournalism work from the Forumcreative group of photographers. Until 3 September
©Elspeth Diederix, Huis Marseille
Musée de l’Elysee 18 Avenue de l’Elysee Lausanne Rene Burri, Photographies Collections from the renowned photographer. Until 24 October Musée d'Orsay 62 rue de Lille Paris War Photographs from the Crimean War Reputedly, some of the first reportage photographs ever made. Until 13 September National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
Natural History Museum Cromwell Road London Wildlife Photographer of the Year Winners of the annual nature photography competition. 23 October – 17 April Netherlands Foto Institute Witte de Withstraat 63 Rotterdam The eye of the Century: Snapshots Bringing together a collection of pictures by 750 amateur photographers. Until 12 September The Newsroom
Milan Eurogeneration A new generation of photographers documenting life in the 25 EU countries. Until 5 September Photofusion 17A Electric Lane London Denis Gilbert, Modern Equations Relationship between photography and architecture when viewed in a series. John May, Picture for my Father Black/white industrial images. Until 11 September Room 2.8 Exhibition of the MA
Side Photographic Gallery 5-9 Side Newcastle upon Tyne Richard Grassick, Post Industrial Documenting the life of four miners coping with deindustrialisation. Until 22 August Sophia Evans, Mosquito Coast Revisiting her native Nicaragua and forgotten refugees from the Sandinista revolution. 4 September – 17 October The Spitz Gallery 109 Commercial Street
Old Spitalfields Market London Jason Taylor, Driven Images of truck drivers in India, exploring issues of sexuality and Aids awareness. 3 – 20 September Sprengel Museum Hannover Kurt-Schwitters-Platz Hannover Heinrich Riebesehl, Photographs 19632001 A retrospective selection of both his conceptual work and his series of agricultural landscapes. Until 13 October Tom Blau Gallery 21 Queen Elizabeth Street Butlers Wharf London Ian Parry Scholarship Work by the winners of the annual photojournalism award. Until 4 September Whitechapel Art Gallery Whitechapel High Street London East End Academy A mixed media showcase of emerging artists from the culture of East London. Until 29 August Zelda Cheatle Gallery 99 Mount Street London Stephanie Schneider, American Dreams Cinematic sequences of the American West in brash colour and expired film stock. Until 10 September Javier Silva Meinel, Recent Peruvian Portraits The indigenous peoples of Peru in theatrical poses. 14 September – 5 November
EVENTS The 3rd Space: Mapping the Cultural Periodicals of Photography, Birmingham This is the first conference to concentrate on photography magazines as being major institutions of photography and indicators of contemporary visual culture. The event comprises a two-day conference (4 –5 September), led by key speakers in the field, and an exhibition running
until 24 September. www.photographymag azines-the3rdspace.net The 11th Noorderlicht Photofestival: Nazar, Photographs from the Arab World This annual international festival, taking place from 5 September – 25 October in various locations around the Netherlands, focuses on the Arab world, through both Arab and Western photographers and historic photos from archives. www.noorderlicht.com Frankfurt Book Fair Encompassing books, newspapers, magazines and other print media, the Franfurt Book Fair is one of the year’s most important publishing events. Last year’s festival brought together individuals from around 100 countries worldwide. Running 6 –10 October, it provides an opportunity for photographers to make contacts within the publishing world. www.frankfurt-bookfair.com Paris Photo This annual event once again operates as a trade forum for private galleries to publicise themselves to a wider audience. This year’s fair is held in the Louvre and runs from 11 – 14 November, bringing together 85 galleries and 11 editors from around the world. www.parisphoto.fr
EI8HT welcomes exhibition listings. Please send news releases via email to: listings@foto8.com or post to: Listings, foto8, 18 Great Portland Street, London W1W 8QP. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is correct at time of going to press. EI8HT and foto8 Ltd accept no responsibility for any changes to dates of exhibitions.
EI8HT 73
PICTURE AGENCIES
PICTURE AGENCIES
Cyclists in the Tour du Faso ©
panos pictures
tel +44 20 7234 0010
fax +44 20 7357 0094
CHRIS KEULEN
email pics@panos.co.uk
|
PANOS PICTURES
web www.panos.co.uk
EXILEIMAGES
Darfur refugees in sandstorm, Chad 2004 © B. Heger / Exile Images
SEARCH ONLINE
VIEW NEW GALLERY
www.exileimages.co.uk
T. 44 (0)1273 208741 F. 44 (0)1273 382782 E. pics@exileimages.co.uk
PICTURE AGENCIES
PHOTOGRAPHERS FOR EDITORIAL AND COMMERCIAL ASSIGNMENTS
© Alessandro Rizzi/Grazia Neri
RENATO CERISOLA, ALBERTO GIULIANI, MARCO ANELLI, PABLO BALBONTIN PAUL LOWE, MASSIMO SESTINI, ZIJAH GAFIC, SEBA PAVIA, MAX & DOUGLAS, GUGLIELMO DE MICHELI, ALBERTO BEVILACQUA, GUGHI FASSINO, ALESSANDRO RIZZI
Heiner Mueller-Elsner/www.agentur-focus.de
Agenzia Grazia Neri Via Maroncelli, 14 - 20154 Milano - Italy Tel. 3902-625271 www.grazianeri.com photoagency@grazianeri.com desk@grazianeri.com
PICTURE AGENCIES
© Maro Kouri
PICTURE AGENCIES . Network Photographers
After the Omak Suicide Race, Colville Indian Reserve, USA (c) Gary Calton / Network Photographers
More than 100,000 images now available online to search and download
www.networkphotographers.com
PICTURE AGENCIES
PICTURE AGENCIES
PRO SERVICES
SCENE STARFISH JOCELYN BAIN HOGG
82 EI8HT
I TOOK THIS PICTURE in
Beverly Hills in August 2003, where I spent a month putting together a project on notions of celebrity. Not Cameron Diaz at the farmers’ market, but the trappings of fame. The pools of LA said it all. It was noon on a Sunday, and I was leaning out of a helicopter, trying to balance this unbelievably long lens I’d hired, when I saw her, floating. I can safely say it was my first and last foray into long-lens photography. The paparazzi’s osteopath bills must be huge. I love this picture because there’s no explanation for it. I love her starfish pose. Did the “man who does” not come to uncover the pool? Is she the lady of the house who simply couldn’t be bothered? Is she really that shape? I think we know the answer to the last question – there are two sizes in LA: ‘gorgeous’ or the size of a small semi-detached. After my last book [The Firm, Bain Hogg’s critically acclaimed investigation into the British underworld], I was keen to use humour to convey a serious message about our celebrity-obsessed times. Ultimately, I think the world of celebrity is much darker than the gangster world – given the power they exert over the daily lives of us mere mortals. It will be interesting to see if the celeb bubble bursts. I don’t think it will because it’s obviously in the interests of media organisations to pursue it. But it’s time someone blew the lid off. The recent privacy ruling at the European Court of Human Rights in favour of Princess Caroline is bound to have an impact eventually. It might bring about a change back to photography that’s concerned with movement, a return to the importance of the image itself, not who is in it. And back to the woman in the picture: the wife of a Hollywood mogul or the “lady who does”? As a photographer, all you can do is ask the question 8
CALUMET SUPPORTS PHOTOJOURNALISM
CALUMET IS PROUD TO SUPPORT LOSING THEIR CHARM A PHOTO STORY BY ADRIAN FISK
ONE SHOT
AN EXHIBITION BY REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHERS 16TH VISA POUR L’IMAGE FESTIVAL, PERPIGNAN 28 AUGUST – 12 SEPTEMBER www.reuters.com/pictures
CANON, NIKON, KODAK, FUJI, POLAROID, EPSON, OLYMPUS, MANFROTTO, LEXAR
08000 964396 www.calumetphoto.com
Promoting change. Preventing it. Exposing it. Photographers capture images that speak the truth. But if an image isn’t seen, its truth isn’t heard. FiftyCrows is a nonprofit organization that exists to support documentary photographers and to assure that photo essays are seen, truth is heard. Essays from emerging photographers such as Sophia Evans, Ahikam Seri, Mark Leong, Diana Matar, Marcos Adandia, Jihan Ammar, Jack Picone. And perhaps from you. Using international television, the Internet, educational DVDs, innovative programs, and strategic partnerships, FiftyCrows breaks down the logistical walls that stand between photographers and their audience.
EI8HT PHOTOJOURNALISM V3N2 SEPT04
Announcing the 2004 FiftyCrows Photo Fund Competition. Winners will receive: a $5000 USD cash grant, a FiftyCrows Media television segment, a full photo essay exhibition on FiftyCrows website, career mentorship and networking, Adobe
EI8HT PHOTOJOURNALISM BATHS CHINA HAITI I-CAPTURE KOLLAR’S POSTCARDS SETTLERS SNAKE CHARMERS SPINKS VOL.3 NO.2 SEPT 2004 £8 WWW.FOTO8.COM
Tune in. Turn on. Take action.