Inspired by a Song Guest Curated by Patrick Sansone of Wilco + The Autumn Defense
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contents
From the Pit The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s remind Julia Zave why she shoots live music. pg 12
Inspired by a Song Our contributors visually interpret the songs that move them. pg 14
A Photographic Journey Patrick Sansone shares Polaroids he took while touring with his bands Wilco and The Autumn Defense. pg 32
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contents
56 Heroes 4 Sea Gypsies
82 Photo Challenge
6 In Memory Of
84 My Photography Bible
8 Leather Report
85 Mobile Moments
10 Up a Creek
86 Meeting Her Match
80 Renaissance Art Redux
88 Quite a Stretch
A family living on the ocean catches Victor Ursabia’s attention.
In places of peace, awareness is raised about soldiers who have died in war.
38 Traditions
Andrea Gamba documents a traditional way of making leather.
A method for cleaning carrots in Bolivia surprises Tom Weller.
Klaus Enrique Gerdes revives Arcimboldo’s iconic paintings.
74 Silence is Golden 2
Our contributors’ touching portraits of their better half.
Christine Lebrasseur reviews the book Icons of Photography: The 20th Century
Intriguing sights JPG members shared in an instant.
Basak Buyukcelen discovers the story behind one woman’s marriage.
An 84-year-old demonstrates her flexibility to Mark Trockman.
HOW IT WORKS
JPG Magazine issue 25 chief technical officer Devin Hayes creative director Rannie Balias editor Darlene Bouchard copy editor Nathaniel Jue
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2 SUBMIT FOR PEER REVIEW
JPG members all over document their worlds.
Photos and stories submitted are voted on by the JPG community.
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3 FINAL SELECTION
4 PUBLICATION
Editors create the issue with the best of the best.
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On the Cover: Untitled By Caitlin Bellah
jpgmag.com/photos/2508180 jpgmag.com/photos/2214583 JPG ((ISSN 1935-0414)) Issue 25 by 8020 Media, Inc. 660 4th Street #249, San Francisco, CA 94107. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: JPG, 660 4th Street #249, San Francisco, CA 94107 Š2011 JPG
Visit jpgmag.com/themes/282 to check out all the great photos from the year in the Best of 2010 theme!
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SIGHTINGS 6
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BABY ON BOARD While traveling through the Philippines, Victor Ursabia encounters a family of sea gypsies. jpgmag.com/people/dancescape
When this family came alongside the ship taking me to Cagayan de Oro in the southern Philippines, crew members told me that they were Bajau, an ethnic group native to the region that survives on the ocean. Apparently they come up to boats with tourists in hopes of receiving money donations, so I threw a few coins overboard. The father happily dove deep down into the sea to retrieve them, and when he surfaced, he showed them off as encouragement for me to throw some more. It isn’t so much a person’s ethnicity that makes someone Bajau, but rather their lifestyle. Bajau is a collective term used to describe several closely related indigenous groups that live in extreme poverty primarily on small handmade boats. I hesitated taking this picture because I felt sympathetic towards the family, but realized that by doing so I might bring attention to their situation.
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SIGHTINGS
EYEFUL OF POWER Franklin Pham’s project about soldiers who have died in war catches the public’s attention. jpgmag.com/people/canaanproject
When I heard the news of an incident in the Iraq War in July of 2004 that killed numerous civilians and American soldiers, I was struck by the possibility that those who died in this event would most likely remain anonymous. This idea haunted me because I was attending San Jose State University in California and knew of several soldiers who had died in the Middle East. Inspired by the people who had lost their lives while fighting in combat, I decided to see how several anonymous body bags would look in an urban setting where war isn’t taking place. I recruited some friends on campus and they stood covered with two garbage bags – the closest visual representation of a body bag that I could find. I feel that the result was successful, and it inspired me to take the project all over the world. The goal is to offer a visual that is an act of curiosity in hopes that viewers will connect emotionally with those who have died in battle. With the help of others, I have been doing this project in as many locations as possible because I feel that people around the world have lost so much due to war. When I traveled back to my native France in the winter of 2006, several of my friends asked to participate. So we brought the idea to Paris, where 15 individuals braved the extreme cold for two days to help deliver this message. I believe that the young servicemen and women who have died in war deserve more recognition. I realize that this war is a mess, and I know many people want to forget about it as quickly as possible. I also want to forget, but at the same time, I hope this project encourages us not to. 6
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These visual displays are currently organized under the Canaan Project. Visit their website for more information: http://facebook.com/pages/canaan-project/393418463254
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^
the last step ^ Treating the leather in these
large vats is the last step of the process at this tannery in Morocco. Here they follow tradition by using dried plants or spices for color when dyeing the leather.
01› coming and going
Workers at the tannery chat during a shift change.
02› taking it in
A man rests at the entrance of the tannery workshop.
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SIGHTINGS
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UNDER THE LEATHER A stranger leads Andrea Gamba to one of the oldest tanneries in the world. jpgmag.com/people/andreagamba
While walking through one of the world’s oldest medinas in Fez, Morocco, I followed the distinct smell that was coming from the tanneries. Suddenly I found myself in a bedlam of people, near a long row of buildings that created a wall down the narrow street. In an instant, a man grabbed me in the
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particular way that only Moroccan dealers do and pushed me into a workshop. The ground floor of the building was full of colorful leather products and frenetic people pressuring unsuspecting visitors to buy something. I followed my guide to the top of a tiny staircase where there was a panoramic view of the grounds. It was here that I discovered that I was in one of several tanneries in Fez that date back about 900 years. Moroccans boast about how they create leather using ancient natural techniques, a system that can be traced back to centuries ago. The process begins by soaking different animals hides—goat, cow, donkey, or camel—in vats of lime and water for at least a day to remove any fat or hair. Next, the hides are bathed in an ammonia solution in order to soften them. This mixture sometimes includes urine or pigeon excrement, and is what produces the tannery’s famous acrid odor. The last step involves using dried plants or spices to dye the leather. For example, they use saffron for a yellow pigment, mint for green, and henna for a brown coloring. At the end of the tour, I am forced to look at the rich and colorful assortment of leather products that they sell. Then I stepped out the door of the tannery, and as the noise and smell grew fainter, I found myself lost again inside the medina. 9
SIGHTINGS
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DAM IT Locals in the highlands of Bolivia show Tom Weller a natural way to clean produce. jpgmag.com/people/tomweller
Since industrialization has yet to completely reach the Bolivian Altiplano, it is quite common for people to use traditional and innovative methods to complete tasks, like cleaning carrots. These workers still employ a somewhat basic technique for preparing the produce by wrapping their trousers in plastic and then using rocks to form a dam in the cold river, where the carrots are rinsed. Once clean, they are then taken to be sold in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital city.
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SIGHTINGS FROM THE PIT
O YEAH! Julia Zave captures the energy of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs through lead vocalist Karen O. jpgmag.com/people/photojules322
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ passion for music emanates and encapsulates everything around them every time they take the stage. This show at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, New York was no exception—it was exciting, energizing, and ethereal all at the same time. At one point, red glittery Y’s were blasted into the air, covering everyone in the audience. I still carry one of them in my wallet because, as cheesy as it sounds, it helps me remember the people and the experiences from that concert, and reminds me why I shoot live music.
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