Photojournalism Now: journalism

Showing posts with label journalism. Show all posts

May 13, 2016

Friday Round Up - 13th May, 2016

This week on Friday Round Up a photo essay by Italian photographer Pierpaolo Mittica, a new book that documents the history of the Greek milk bars in Australia, Sandro Miller's amazing Homage: Malkovich and the Masters opens in New York, and some interesting weekend reading. Don't forget if you're in Sydney Head On Photo Festival is on until 22nd May. You can read my Head On Diary for L'Oeil de la Photographie here.

Photo Essay:
Pierpaolo Mittica - Living Toxic

The 13,000 odd residents of Karabash, a remote Russian copper mining town about 160km north of Kazakhstan, live in a polluted environment that Italian photographer Pierpaolo Mittica describes as “post-apocalyptic”. Mittica photographed Karabash for his ongoing series Living Toxic which he began in 2013. Living Toxic documents some of the world’s most environmentally damaged towns. Here the stench from the copper smelting plant makes the air virtually unbreathable, the river is poisoned and a huge black slag heap runs for about 1.5km through the town.

In the 1940s Greek milk bars started springing up around Australia, becoming focal points for regional towns where entertainment options were limited. This wonderful new book Greek Cafes & Milk Bars of Australia features hundred of photographs, stories and even old sample menus. It’s a great addition to Australia’s rich migrant history. How bland our world would have been without immigration. To find out more or buy the book click here.

Exhibition: New York

Sandro Miller - Homage: Malkovich and the Masters

Andres Serrano / Piss Christ (C) Sandro Miller

Dorothea Lange/ Migrant Mother (C) Sandro Miller

Herb Ritts/Jack Nicholson The Joker (C) Sandro Miller

Coinciding with the release of the book, which I'll be reviewing in the coming weeks, Chicago photographer Sandro Miller's Homage: Malkovich and the Masters opened last night in New York. I interviewed Sandro when he was in Australia last year for Head On Photo Festival and since then I've written a number of stories on his work. He's collaborated with John Malkovich for more than two decades and this body of work is nothing short of extraordinary - he and Mallkovich have painstakingly recreated some of the most iconic images of the 20th Century. Sandro is one of the most generous and talented photographers I've had the pleasure to interview and his work with Malkovich will be exhibited far and wide this year - from New York it goes to Amsterdam and then onto Russia. If you're in New York check it out. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Until 1 July

Yancey Richardson Gallery
525 West 22nd Street,
New York, NY. 10011

Weekend Reading:

BJP interview the new CEO of NOOR Clément Saccomani

Don McCullin on Digital Photography (an older article but still relevant)

Visa pour l'image previews its 2016 programme

Caleb Cain Marcus's photo essay on the Ganges on National Geographic Proof Why Facts Aren’t Always Truths in Photography - Peter van Agtmael TIME magazine

March 18, 2016

Friday Round Up - 18th March, 2016

This week Friday Round Up kicks off with The Lovers, a beautiful series of portraits of couples that have been together for 50 years or more by Lauren Fleishman. Also this week Muhammed Muheisen's portraits of child refugees from Syria, a touching story on an Indian dog rescuer, alarming statistics on the issue of trust in the media and other interesting articles.

The Lovers - Lauren Fleishman

This is a heart-warming series of images, which feature in the book of the same name along with interviews of those couples pictured. When I first saw this series last year I immediately thought of my grandparents who were together for almost 60 years and spent every day with each other working in their wine shop. Theirs was a love I imagined few would experience. Lauren's beautiful book is both nostalgic and uplifting. I am delighted to share some of her images here. To see more visit Lauren's website.

Muhammed Muheisen – Portraits of Syria's Child Refugees in Jordan

Rakan Raslan, 11, from Hama. “I used to go to the school back in Hama,” Raslan said. “I used to have friends there. Our home was destroyed in the war and we had to flee to Jordan.” Rakan said that without an education, his future is in doubt. “The best I can become is a driver".

This week TIME magazine ran a series of portraits by Muhammed Muheisen, who has been photographing conflict for the past 15 years. I met up with Muhammed at Visa Pour L'Image a couple of years ago and we spoke about his work. At the time he told me: “I was born in Jerusalem and raised in conflict, so it has always been part of my life". Given his own experience, it is not surprising he is drawn to telling the stories of those who are also growing up in conflict.

At college he studied journalism and political science, “but my passion is photography” he said. In 2001 he got a chance to work with Associated Press (AP) as a journalist. “But I also had my camera and I found myself taking pictures. For me a picture is worth millions of words…I don’t want to offend anyone, I studied journalism, but for me I found a connection with photography and storytelling”.

Mariam Aloush, 8, from Homs. "I remember our home in Syria and my school there. I just want to go back".

Zahra al-Jassim, 10, from Hama. "I dream of going back to Syria to see my friends Raghd, Halima, and Najwa".

Covering conflict zones for AP as a photographer Muhammed said he began to think about what happened to the people he’d photographed once the stories dropped from the news headlines. “I started to take steps away from news events”. The more he travelled, the more he was drawn to the human side of conflict, to the contrast, to those moment where life goes on despite what’s happening around it.

These portraits not only show the faces of some of the youngest victims of the Syrian conflict who now call the tent camps near Mafraq, in Jordan home. They put a human face on the conflict and give these children the opportunity to tell their stories in both pictures and words (because words are important too in putting images into context!). To see more images visit TIME.

Meghanadan A S - The Dog Saviour

In this photo essay Indian photographer Meghanadan A S captures the work of Arun Pasare and his wife Suvarna as they care for stray dogs found on the streets of Pune, India. The couple has been looking after, and feeding, strays for the past nine years and their act of kindness is in contrast to the way stray dogs are usually treated.