Photojournalism Now

December 13, 2013

Friday Round Up - 13 December

This week on Friday Round Up a photo essay on Russia's remote Norilsk mining city, Peter Turnley's exquisite French Kiss, photojournalist Jack Picone releases an exclusive Hong Kong boxed set and a new exhibition for Berliners.

Photo Essay:
Elena Chernyshova – Days of Night – Nights of Day

From the moment I read about Norilsk in a magazine in 1999 and saw Paul Blackmore’s amazing black and white photographs I became fascinated with this nickel-mining city in Russia's far north where temperatures plummet to below 50 (Celsius) in winter and never make it into positive numbers in the summer. For two months of the year the inhabitants live in darkness, separated from civilisation by vast distances. 170,000 people live in this outpost that was built by Gulag prisoners and has the dubious honour of being counted in the top ten most polluted cities on earth.

Russian photographer Elena Chernyshova documented the inhabitants of Norilsk over a 12-month period commencing in February 2012. Her rich colour photographs are nothing short of startling, presenting a foreign environment in every context of the word. Yet the connecting thread are the people of this city and Chernyshova’s images give us an insight into daily routines in this manufactured city where the things we take for granted – fresh fruit and vegetables, sunlight, a warm breeze – are absent.

These images are hauntingly beautiful and Chernyshova has brilliantly melded her creative vision with a strong documentary element that reinforces the significance of this visual study into a unique community. Unreservedly this is one of my favourite photographic essays for 2013.

All images (C) Elena Chernyshova
Supported by the Lagardére Foundation Grant for Photography

To view more of Elena's work visit her website here

Book:

Peter Turnley - French Kiss – A Love Letter to Paris

From 1984 to 2003 acclaimed American photojournalist Peter Turnley focused his camera on world events covering most of the wars on the planet and documenting the historical moments that shaped the geopolitical landscape. From his base in Paris he traversed the globe from Iraq and Afghanistan to Bosnia and Kosovo, documenting the human experience in times of conflict as well as photographing many natural disasters. He’s photographed in more than 90 countries and his pictures have made the covers of the world’s leading news magazines countless times.

Of his career Turnley says, "I came in contact with a tremendous amount of human suffering, of moments when life was much less than what it can be…Paris has offered for me an incredible balance. When I am in Paris I am constantly reminded of how beautiful and wonderful and poetic life can be".

"When I make photographs of people it is very important that I look them in the eye ... there is an amazing connection that can take place through eye contact.” The photographs in “French Kiss – A Love Letter to Paris” are testament to this philosophy. Warm, intimate and ultimately engaging, these exquisite black and white portraits convey the joy of dancing under the Eiffel Tower and of lying in the arms of the one you love on a summer’s day in the Jardin des Tuileries. They inspire and comfort and above all reinforce the joie de vivre that Paris arouses.

(C) Peter Turnley

Turnley says French Kiss “is a tribute to everything this city has brought me over the past 40 years ... when I photograph I try to put my heart and my concentration and my energy and maybe everything that I know about the world at the service of trying to make a photograph that is going to touch other people and say what I would like people to feel that I felt when I observed the moment”.

“French Kiss – A Love Letter to Paris” is simply beautiful. From the moment I opened the FedEx bag I fell in love with this book and its brilliant red linen slipcase, its glossy red cover with the evocative black and white photograph of couples walking in the rain along the Seine. I too love Paris and French Kiss with its images that span almost 40 years is a sumptuous reminder that this is truly the most romantic city in the world.

Peter Turnley

You can buy your copy directly from Peter by clicking here

Boxed Set:
Jack Picone - Hong Kong Panoramas

(C) Jack Picone

Another award-winning photojournalist who has been mining his archives is Australian Jack Picone who has released a limited edition fine art boxed set of superb black and white prints.

“Hong Kong Panoramas” features photographs taken by Picone between 2005 and 2012 and he says, “Each photograph invites interpretation and captures fragments of life in one of the world’s most vibrant, and most vertical, cities. Together they ask the viewer to reflect on the past, present and future of Hong Kong”.

Picone has shot these images on the Hasselblad X Pan 11 Panoramic film camera and each photograph is handcrafted and individually signed. Printed on archival gallery paper, there are seven black and white silver gelatin prints (24 x 8 inches) in each set. Presented in a stylish, tailor-made box “Hong Kong Panoramas” is certain to peak the interest of fine art collectors.

To find out more about Hong Kong Panoramas click here

Exhibition: Berlin
So Gesehen – Group Show
So Gesehen (As Seen) is the latest exhibition for the Neue Schule Fur Fotographie (New School of Photography) in Berlin. The exhibition features work from emerging photographers Jenny Fitz, Alex Giegold, Marjola Rukaj, Cina F. Sommerfeld and Markus Ulrich, all of who have worked with lecturer Eva Bertram over the past year to explore themes of identity.

Have a great weekend wherever you are.

December 06, 2013

Friday Round Up - 6 December

This week on Friday Round Up Edward Steichen on show in Melbourne and Antanas Sutkus in Paris, Yellow Korner Sydney, Ormond Gigli's Girls in the Windows book and an update from A Day Without News?

Exhibition:
Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion

In the exhibition “Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion” more than 200 original vintage photographs are showcased with various Art Deco fashion items from the National Gallery of Victoria’s (NGV) collection. Edward Steichen was the primary photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue in the 1920s and 1930s and is said to have “transformed fashion photography to capture the sophistication of the newly liberated modern woman”.

All images courtesy Condé Nast Archive

Tony Ellwood, Director NGV said, “Steichen’s evocative images are regarded as among the most striking in early-to-mid-20th century photography and his fashion work in particular revolutionised the genre of fashion photography. This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to view such a large body of his work”. If you are a fan of Steichen's work, as am I, then this exhibition is a wonderful tribute to a true pioneer.

Until 2 March 2014
National Gallery of Victoria
St. Kilda Road
Melbourne

Exhibition: Paris
Antanas Sutkus - The Unpublished
The Russiantearoom Gallery (RTR) presents the world premiere of “Antanas Sutkus – The Unpublished”, an exhibition that features 35 photographs from the expansive archive of one of Russia’s most prolific and highly regarded photographers.

Throughout a career that has spanned decades Sutkus has turned his camera to the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. Sutkus’ archives contain more than half a million negatives and evoke humanity in all its guises. "I started taking pictures at the age of 13. When I put the paper in the developer for the first time, I saw a face appearing and I felt I was God,” says Sutkus.

He likens taking a photograph to sifting sand for gold. “You take a spade and shovel until you are completely exhausted…Sometimes you find a grain of gold in the first shovel, sometimes in the last. Sometimes all your efforts are in vain”.

All images (C) Antanas Sutkus

Curated by RTR’s Liza Fetissova, "Antanas Sutkus – The Unpublished” delivers a unique opportunity to discover a master at work.

6 December to 26 February 2014
RTR
42 rue Volta
75003 Paris

Gallery:
YellowKorner Sydney
In 2006 Alexandre de Metz and Paul-Antoine Briat, self confessed photography devotees, began YellowKorner with the objective of taking great photography to a wider audience by offering photographic prints at affordable prices.

Since their first gallery began in Paris the pair has rolled out the concept to more than 60 locations including Sydney’s Bondi Junction. YellowKorner carry photographs from iconic photographers such as Man Ray and Dorothea Lange through to new talent. They also publish portfolios and carry limited edition high-end prints and books. You can buy prints in the gallery or online.

YellowKorner Sydney
Shop 5026, Level 5
Railway Station Bondi Junction

Book:
Girls in the Windows and Other Stories

In a career that spanned more than 40 years American photographer Ormond Gigli shot thousands of images and was widely published in titles such as Life, Paris Match, Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post and Time. But the photograph for which he is remembered is “Girls in the Windows” an extraordinary image that has stood the test of time to become an iconic image of New York in the 1960s.

The large Brownstone building which features in the photograph was opposite Gigli’s home in New York. When he learned that the building was slated for demolition he decided to photograph it before the wrecking balls swept it aside in the name of progress. He was given permission on the proviso that the wife of the demolition supervisor could be in the photograph. He had 24 hours to organize the women and his props and one hour to shoot.

Gigli began his career in 1941 working as a photographic assistant in New York. He was 17 years old. When America entered the Second World War Gigli joined the Navy as a photographer. By the time 1950 rolled around “I was living the life of a starving artist in Paris…and it was a beautiful place to be,” he said. But it wasn’t long before he was shooting for Life magazine and from then his career took off.

Recounting his first meeting with Life in Paris Gigli said the editor asked him, “If I give you an assignment, will you give me what I ask for? I said yes, as long as I could inject my own thoughts into the picture”. “Girls in the Windows and Other Stories” is proof that Gigli never compromised on his unique visual signature.

Of his most enduring image Gigli said in an interview earlier this year, “I have a big print of it up on my wall. I still smile whenever I look at it, even after all these years”.

Published by powerHouse Books New York
All images: From Girls in the Windows: And Other Stories by Ormond Gigli, published by powerHouse Books.

A Day Without News? – Update

Less than twelve months after the campaign, A Day Without News? (ADWN) was launched on the anniversary of the death of Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik in Syria (22 February 2012) the team reports another fantastic achievement.

Here’s a missive from ADWN’s Aidan Sullivan, Vice President Photo Assignment, Editorial Partnerships and Development Getty Images:

“Since we launched the A Day Without News? campaign in February this year, we have been instrumental in achieving two important goals.

On 26 November the UN General assembly adopted resolution on journalists’ safety. This is a significant and important step towards ending impunity and follows on from an earlier success this summer.

As a result of our meetings with both the UK and US UN Security Council missions urging them, during their respective presidencies of the council, to adopt a motion to discuss the protection of journalists and debate the strengthening of resolution 1738, the UN Security Council held an open debate on the protection of journalists on July 17, 2013. A Security Council Report stated:

This was the first time the Council considered this issue in a separate meeting since the adoption of resolution 1738 on the protection of journalists on 23 December 2006. . . A key issue for the Council is whether further steps can be taken to enhance implementation of resolution 1738 and improve protection of journalists on the ground. . .

‘It appears that the idea of having a meeting on the protection of journalists initially came from the UK. For practical reasons it preferred not to schedule such a meeting during its own presidency in June and therefore proposed it for July instead.’

We are proud to have played a part under the guidance of Sir Daniel Bethlehem and to help The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch in their continuing efforts.

And the new Resolution as of 26th November -

UN General Assembly adopts resolution on journalists’ safety.

The General Assembly resolution condemns all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers in both conflict and non-conflict situations and underlines the important role played by all news providers by stating that “journalism is continuously evolving to include inputs from media institutions, private individuals and a range of organizations that seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, online as well as offline.”

It also underlines states’ obligations to prevent violence and to bring perpetrators to justice, by urging “Member States to do their utmost to prevent violence against journalists and media workers, to ensure accountability through the conduct of impartial, speedy and effective investigations into all alleged violence against journalists and media workers’ falling within their jurisdiction, and to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice and to ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies.”

Finally, it “invites the relevant agencies, organizations, funds and programmes of the United Nations system to consider identifying focal points for the exchange of information about the implementation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, in cooperation with Member States under the overall coordination of UNESCO.”

To find out more about ADWN? Visit the website here.

November 29, 2013

Friday Round Up - 29 November

This week on Friday Round Up Sean Gallagher heads to India, three new exhibitions for Melbourne - Bill Henson, Guy Vinciguerra and Melbourne Now, Alison Stieven-Taylor's feature interview with Barat Ali Batoor this year's winner of the Nikon-Walkley Photo of the Year Award and more.

Photo Project:
Sean Gallagher - Toxic Development: Pollution in India

Sean Gallagher is one of the most respected photojournalists covering environmental issues today. He’s embarked on a new project with the aid of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to document the effects of pollution in India from both an environmental and social perspective.

In my opinion toxic waste, and particularly e-waste, is one of the greatest threats we face in the Digital Age and Gallagher’s unique visual insight and his erudition bring focus to this grossly under-reported issue. You can follow his work at Project Live – India!

Exhibition:
Guy Vinciguerra – Metropolis

I first came across Italian-born photographer Guy Vinciguerra’s work at this year’s Ballarat International Foto Biennale with his exhibition of photographs shot in China, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as part of his ten year exploration of the Silk Road.

In his new exhibition opening at the Colour Factory next week Vinciguerra presents a series of monochrome images of Tokyo and its inhabitants in the series “Metropolis”. Of this series he says he wanted to “draw attention to the restraints that are imposed on us, those we impose on ourselves and the universal absurdity of life”.

(C) All photos Guy Vinciguerra

Metropolis
5 December 2013 to 25 January 2014
Colour Factory Gallery
409-429 Gore Street
Fitzroy (Melbourne)

Exhibition:
Bill Henson – Untitled 1985/86

Currently on show at Tolarno Galleries in Melbourne is a selection of works by renowned Australian photographic artist Bill Henson. These photographs feature both portraits and landscapes and give an insight into the breadth of his oeuvre and his talent to create photographs that are like painterly still lifes. This is a rare opportunity to see the works of one of our truly great artists in his hometown.

Bill Henson
Untitled 1985/86
Until 14 December 2013
Tolarno Galleries
Level 4 104 Exhibition St
Melbourne

Award:
Barat Ali Batoor – Walkley Award Winner

Earlier this year I interviewed a young Afghan photojournalist about his extraordinary photo essay – the Unseen Road to Asylum – which documented his flight from Indonesia to Australia on board a boat that sank at sea. Last night in Brisbane (Australia), Barat Ali Batoor, who is now settled in Australia, accepted the inaugural award for Photo of the Year and Feature/Photographic Essay in the 2013 Nikon-Walkley Awards for Excellence in Photojournalism. Congratulations! To read my feature interview with Batoor, please click on the Feature Articles tab at the top of this blog.

Photo Essay:
Denis Sinyakov – The Changing Face of Russia

Photographer Denis Sinyakov’s photo essay – The Changing Face of Russia - shows a country unsuccessfully grappling with the influx of low paid labour from Central Asia and a declining “native” population. Many new residents are illegal migrants who have fled from their homelands of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan where there is a high rate of unemployment and the economic outlook dismal. Sinyakov says these immigrants are “despised by most natives” creating a volatile atmosphere in a country that is still reeling from the collapse of the Soviet empire and the economic fissure that continues to divide the country.

Sinyakov was one of 30 people arrested in September at the Greenpeace protest on Artic oil drilling. He was released from jail in St. Petersburg on 21 November.

Sinyakov released from jail

Exhibition:
Melbourne Now

More than 400 artists and over 250 artworks, installations and photographs comprise a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria - Melbourne Now – which is on until March 2014.

Reportedly curated to reflect the “complexity of Melbourne and its unique and dynamic cultural identity” Melbourne Now presents a diverse range of creative pursuits, but I have to say I am somewhat disappointed that the photographic line up features what could be termed “the usual suspects” and there is nothing very “new” or "now" about the content. From a curatorial perspective the net could have been thrown wider to encompass cutting edge concepts, experimental works and photographic art being created by lesser known artists.