Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 28th July, 2017

This week Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up is dedicated to my wonderful mother-in-law Nancy Taylor who passed away this week at the age of 83. She was a very important figure in my life, a woman whose amazing spirit carried her through life with joy and dignity despite the hardships she faced. I'm going to miss her.

Nancy loved to travel and equally loved photography. Her own archive is quite extensive and contains photographs of her many trips to places where few women of her generation travelled on their own including Zimbabwe and China. I know she would like the collection I share with you today from Sebastião Salgado's Genesis, Edward Burtynsky's China and finally, Nick Brandt's, On this earth, a shadow falls. RIP dear Nan.

Genesis
Sebastião Salgado

(C) Sebastião Salgado

China
Edward Burtynsky







(C) Edward Burtynsky
On this earth, a shadow falls
Nick Brandt







(C) Nick Brandt

Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 21st July, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - Valentyn Odnoviun's Surveillance, the annual Swan Upping on the Thames, Monique Jaques Gaza Girls to become a book, and the winners of the Magnum Photography Awards are announced.

Photo Essay: 

Valentyn Odnoviun - Surveillance

Ukrainian photographer Valentyn Odnoviun, who is based in Vilnius, Lithuania, has spent the past few years creating images of the spy holes in the prison cell doors and the solitary walking yards of former prisoners of the KGB. 

It’s an intriguing series that leaves much to the imagination of the viewer, which is Odnoviun’s objective: “to create a more concrete communication with the help of interpretation and conceptual thinking”. 

 Thanks to Doug Spowart for introducing me to this work, which he discovered at this year's Vienna PhotoBook Festival. 

(C) All images Valentyn Odnoviun

Event: 

What's Swan Upping you might ask?

(C) Leon Neal

This week the annual count of the Queen's swans began on the Thames. Known as Swan Upping this is perhaps one of the more quaint and quirky of the British royals' rituals, but it makes for a fabulous photo opportunity. 

(C) Peter Macdiarmid

(C) Dan Kitwood

(C) Dan Kitwood

(C) Dan Kitwood

Book:
Monique Jaques - Gaza Girls: Growing Up in the Gaza Strip 

Over the past five years photojournalist Monique Jaques has travelled to the Gaza Strip to document what she describes as the “strength, creativity and vibrancy of Palestinian girls and young women”.

Now she has partnered with FotoEvidence to publish a book of her photographs. “Gaza Girls: Growing Up in the Gaza Strip” is a collection of photographic essays and written accounts of women coming of age in a place we more readily associate with war and conflict. It is intended to highlight the challenges of daily life, as well as moments of joy found in a complicated existence. 

(C) All photos Monique Jaques

To find out more check out the project at Kickstarter. 

Awards:
Magnum Photography Awards 2017 

This week the annual Magnum Photography Award winners were announced. Congratulations to all who won and a special shout out to Nick Hannes who has been featured on Photojournalism Now in the past with his Mediterranean and the Continuity of Man series. This week Nick took out the Documentary Series award for his brilliant Bread and Circuses, a photo essay on Dubai's elite. You can see all the winners on the Lensculture site.

All photos (C) Nick Hannes

Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 14th July, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - the 7th edition of Cortona on the Move International Photography Festival kicks off plus Michael Wolf's retrospective Life in Cities and a new exhibition for Black Eye Gallery Sydney. Also entries are now open for the Australian Photographic Book of the Year Awards and the Moran Portrait Prize.

Festival:
Cortona on the Move – Cortona, Italy

(C) Pete Souza

The 7th edition of this international festival of photography held in Tuscany, Italy presents an impressive and eclectic line-up of work from around the globe. 

My picks are former Obama photographer Pete Souza’s Obama: An Intimate Portrait, which is a real treat, providing a rare personal insight into the former President during his eight years in the White House.

(C) Pete Souza

(C) Pete Souza

(C) Pete Souza

(C) Pete Souza

(C) Pete Souza

Also, renowned American photojournalist and activist Donna Ferrato showcases Woman: 40 Years, which explores themes of sex, love, and violence. 

(C) Donna Ferrato

(C) Donna Ferrato

(C) Donna Ferrato

Last year’s Eugene Smith Grant recipient Justyna Mielnikiewicz exhibits photographs from her award-winning submission The Meaning of a Nation - Russia and its Neighbours: Georgia and Ukraine. 

(C) Justyna Mielnikiewicz

(C) Justyna Mielnikiewicz

(C) Justyna Mielnikiewicz

Australian Adam Ferguson presents The Afghans, and Matt Black’s epic Geography of Poverty is also on show. 

(C) Adam Ferguson

(C) Adam Ferguson

(C) Adam Ferguson

(C) Matt Black

(C) Matt Black

(C) Matt Black

French photographer Sandra Mehl presents her photo essay on the daily life of Ilona and Maddalena, two sisters living in the working class neighbourhood of Montpellier.

(C) Sandra Mehl 

(C) Sandra Mehl 

(C) Sandra Mehl 

(C) Sandra Mehl 

Michael Ewart’s I giardini selvatici della memoria - Tracce di una vetrina documents the changing face of Cortona. This collection, which he’s been working on since 1979, captures the transformation of what was a traditional agricultural market town to the luxury tourist destination it is today. 

(C) Michael Ewart

(C) Michael Ewart

(C) Michael Ewart

(C) Michael Ewart

In Danakil: Land of Salt and Fire Andrea Frazzetta discovers the Afar nomads of Ethiopia, who live in one of the most inhospitable locations on the planet. 

(C) Andrea Frazzetta

(C) Andrea Frazzetta

(C) Andrea Frazzetta

Exhibition sites are located around the historic centre of Cortona and in the old DeMedici hilltop fortress - Fortezza del Girifalco. 

Until 1 October
For more information visit the website.  

Exhibitions: Arles

Michael Wolf - Life in Cities

Architecture of Density (C) Michael Wolf

Architecture of Density (C) Michael Wolf

Architecture of Density (C) Michael Wolf

This is an exhibition I wish I could see. If you are in Arles, enjoy it for me! Michael Wolf's work on living in cities is sublime. Here is a very short selection from this amazing retrospective beginning with images from Hong Kong (above) from where I've just returned and featuring work from his Paris Rooftops series and Tokyo Compression. 

Paris Rooftops (C) Michael Wolf

Paris Rooftops (C) Michael Wolf

Paris Rooftops (C) Michael Wolf

Paris Rooftops (C) Michael Wolf

Tokyo Compression (C) Michael Wolf

Tokyo Compression (C) Michael Wolf

Tokyo Compression (C) Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf - Life in Cities

ÉGLISE DES FRÈRES PRÊCHEURS

Until 27 AUGUST

Sydney

Rob Love & SoonHoe - Luminosity & Momentum

(C) SoonHoe

(C) SoonHoe

(C) SoonHoe

Melbourne-based photographic artists Rob Love and SoonHoe team up to present Luminosity & Momentum at Sydney’s Black Eye Gallery. 

Love’s colour work draws on the relationship between water and light, his canvas Brighton beach in Melbourne. In contrast, SoonHoe’s black and white work was created on the shores of Malaysia’s fishing islands. Both artists focus on creating their images in-camera, with little post-production. It’s an interesting show worth checking out to see what the work looks like on the walls. 

(C) Rob Love

(C) Rob Love

(C) Rob Love

18 July to 6 August
Opening night 20 July 6-8pm
Black Eye Gallery
3/138 Darlinghurst Road
Darlinghurst (Sydney)