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)
 

Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 7th July, 2017

This week Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up comes to you from Hong Kong where I'm a lecturer on a master tour for global journalism studies.

It is a fascinating time to be here given the city has just celebrated, or commiserated depending on your perspective, the 20th anniversary (1 July) of the handover from Britain to China. Meeting with the major media organisations has also delivered different perspectives on the future of journalism and the significance of this city as a hub of global media.

But this Hong Kong visit has not only been about media and politics, it has also been about seeing exhibitions. Today I share my favourite with you, the retrospective of Fan Ho's work.

Profile: 
Fan Ho (1931-2016) - The Cartier-Bresson of the East


Fan Ho



Born in Shanghai in 1931, Fan Ho began his love of photography at the age of 14 after he was given a Kodak Brownie. Four years later he bought a Rolleiflex, which became his camera of choice. When he moved with his family in 1949 to Hong Kong he began documenting the city, spending long days waiting for the right light, the right scene, his imagination sparked by the daily happenings on the street.

Fan Ho experimented with lighting using the elements he found on the streets - smoke, shadow, steam, water - as special effects. He favoured shooting at dusk and his subjects were the ordinary people on the streets and in the markets.





















As is often the case, Fan Ho never set out to create an historical visual document of Hong Kong, but that is exactly what his collection, shot in the 1950s and 1960s, has become. Later Fan Ho went on to work in motion pictures and is also revered as a film director, but his love for still photography remained throughout his life. He also shared his knowledge teaching at various universities around the world.

Considered the father of street photography in Hong Kong, in 1959 Fan Ho published his book of essays, "Thoughts on Street Photography" which is still in print today, but only available in Chinese.

Fan Ho saw photography's "special link to reality" as its greatest asset, yet he also acknowledged the complexities involved in capturing that decisive moment.

He spoke on ideas of objectivity and subjectivity, debates that still occupy photographers' thoughts today. Fan Ho believed objectivity "seeks to portray reality in a direct, straightforward manner," while subjectivity "aimed at portraying another type of truth and had to be seen more as a reflection of one's soul and spirit in nature".
















(C) All works Fan Ho


To find out more about Fan Ho's work and to buy his books visit the website here.

Next week I'll be back blogging in the freeze of Melbourne's winter, but for now I'm enjoying the 80+% humidity, the massive daily thunderstorms and pelting rain and the heat of the East. Have a great weekend.