Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 24 November, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - the recipient of the 2017 Bob & Diane Fund Grant. Also, Chinese photographer Lu Guang's exhibition 'Bloodwood: photographs of exploited African forest' on show in Shanghai, plus 2018 FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo is open for entries. (Apologies for the earlier glitch with the new site, which I'm working to remedy).

Grantee: 2017 Bob & Diane Fund

Christopher Nunn

British photographer, Christopher Nunn is the recipient of this year’s Bob & Diane Fund, which is dedicated to promoting awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Nunn’s ‘Falling into the Day’ was chosen from the 67 entries received from 22 countries.

One of the Fund’s judges, National Geographic Director of Photography, Sarah Leen, said, "Christopher's work puts me in the shoes of a person who has Alzheimer’s. I can feel the isolation and loneliness with the progression of the disease. This work is very tenderly done."

Nunn photographed “David” over a number of years, but says it was only in 2009 that David’s behaviour began to change; it was the onset of Alzheimer’s and Nunn’s photographs captured the last years of David’s independence. “David had lived an incredible, productive and full life, and I slowly watched all this disappear,” said Nunn.

Gina Martin, who started the fund in 2016 in honour of her parents, said “The visual stories of patients and caregivers can humanize what is, in fact, a very cruel and dehumanizing disease. My hope is that the work funded today and in the future will have a profound and lasting effect on people, persuading them to support and advocate for a cure”.

To find out more about the Bob & Diane Fund click here.

(C) All photos Christopher Nunn

Exhibition: Shanghai

Lu Guang - Bloodwood: photographs of exploited African forest

In this series, Chinese photojournalist Lu Guang continues to focus his lens on the devastation of the natural world at the hands of progress and rampant consumerism.

Jean Loh, owner of the Beau Geste Gallery in Shanghai, and a close friend of Lu Guang says the Chinese photojournalist's work exposes "the impact of China’s fast and furious development in the poorest and most turbulent places in the world, namely the African rainforest. (It) deserves that we stop and pause and think about our identity as members of the one club: planet earth".



















 

Until February 23, 2018
Beau Geste Gallery
210 Taikang Rd,
DaPuQiao 卢湾区
Shanghai Shi China 200025
(C) All photos Lu Guang

Entries Open: FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo - Deadline 15 December, 2017

The annual FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo is open for entries from documentary photographers who are working in the humanistic tradition to bring to light violations of human rights. The winning project will be published in FotoEvidence's catalogue of books dedicated to long-form visual narratives. The FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo winner and two other selected finalists will be exhibited during the World Press Photo Exhibition 2018 in Amsterdam in conjunction with the launch of the book.

To find out more visit FotoEvidence.

Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 10 November, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - Lauren Greenfield's epic Generation Wealth at ICP New York, World Press Photo exhibition in Washington DC and the 24th Noorderlicht Festival in Groningen, The Netherlands. Photojournalism Now is on hiatus now until 24 November. See you then!

Exhibition: New York
Lauren Greenfield - Generation Wealth



Las Vegas strippers showered in dollar bills and LA rappers weighted down with bling; celebrities and socialites consuming more than they could ever use; teenagers crippled by eating disorders; parties for children that cost thousands; luxury homeowners now homeless...these are just some of the scenarios photographer Lauren Greenfield has captured in her expansive study of what it means to live the so-called American Dream.

In this massive, and incredibly impressive, retrospective that spans more than 25 years of Greenfield's work, including photographs and videos, Generation Wealth paints an extraordinary picture of the age of consumerism and a world driven by rampant consumption where the dollar is worshipped beyond comprehension. This is a must-see. I'd go so far as to say, it is the exhibition of the year, for me. If you are in New York check it out. Also Phaidon has an amazing deal on shipping - only $10 to the US for the book! Much cheaper than excess baggage or postage!














(C) All images Lauren Greenfield

Until 7 January, 2018
International Center for Photography
250 Bowery

Exhibition: Washington DC
World Press Photo 2017

This week I had the opportunity to see the World Press Photo exhibition in Washington DC. In the awesome space that is the Dupont Underground, a disused tram (or trolley car) station underneath Dupont Circle, the exhibition presented by World Press Photo and Lightscape DC, is truly impressive. I've seen many of the images before, online and in print, but on the walls of this super cool venue, the large prints, and the numerous projections, make the work even more impactful. If you're in DC, check it out.









Until 26 November
Dupont Underground

Festival: The Netherlands
Noorderlicht  


Jay Gould
The 24th edition of the Noorderlicht International Photography Festival features the work of 74 photographers from 26 countries. With the theme ‘NUCLEUS, imagining science’ this expansive festival celebrates science and its representation with exhibitions across six locations in Groningen, Eelde and Assen. I visited Groningen and Noorderlicht in 2013 and it is one of the best festivals of photography in the world. Here is a brief selection of work I've chosen from this year's programme. Visit the website for more information.


Karin Borghouts


Monica Alcazar Duarte


Francesca Catastini


Edmund Clark


Marcus Desieno


Todd Forsgren


Michael Najjar

Henk Wildschut

Ulrike Schmitz

Caleb Charland

Until 26 November
Various venues
Visit Noorderlicht for more information

Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 3 November, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up a group show opens in New York, Gabriela Herman launches her book The Kids: The Children of LGBTQ Parents in the USA and Australian  Leila Jeffreys at Olsen Gruin. Next week Photojournalism Now comes from Washington and the 2017 World Press Photo exhibition.

Exhibitions: New York

The Photocloser - Group Show

On Wednesday night Frank Meo, aka the Photocloser, launched his inaugural exhibition with a group NYC show featuring the works of Donna Ferrato, Ron Haviv, Salem Krieger, Ken Hamm, Robert Ripps, Mara Catalan, Doug Winter, Maddi Ring, Patricia Gilman, Danielle Kelly, Shravya Kag, Bruce Byers, Ethel Wolvovitz and Bob Zahn. I popped in for a few minutes to see the work and say hi to Frank. Then it was off to the next opening. New York is awash with photography exhibitions.... 

(C) Ken Hamm

(C) Ethel Wolvovitz

(C) Bruce Byers

(C) Salem Krieger

Until 4 December
Paulaner 265 Bowery NYC

Leila Jeffreys - ORNITHURAE VOLUME 1

(C) All images Leila Jeffreys

I reviewed Leila Jeffreys' Conversation with a Cockatoo a couple of years ago and absolutely loved the way she captured the personalities of these iconic Australian birds. In her collection - ORNITHURAE VOLUME 1 - Jeffreys once again creates portraits that sing with individuality and vibrancy. It was fantastic to discover the Olsen Gruin gallery, which is the New York iteration of Sydney's Olsen Gallery, in New York and to view this work in an extraordinary space. The works are also presented beautifully and at a large size, are extremely impressive. 

 

Until 12 November
Olsen Gruin
30 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002
T: + 1 (646) 613-7011

Book Launch: New York

The Kids - The Children of LGBTQ Parents in the USA

Gabriela Herman

Brooklyn photographer, Gabriela Herman, whose parents split up after her mother came out, has created a book The Kids: The Children of LGBTQ Parents in the USA featuring the stories and portraits of 75 children who were raised in LGBTQI families. Over seven years Herman worked on this project traversing the US taking portraits and gathering anecdotes from her subjects. Last night she held a signing at Aperture and there were a number of those pictured in the book in attendance, along with an enthusiastic and rowdy crowd!

(C) Gabriela Herman

Savanna raised by her mom and step mom: "My high school was an art school in Tempe, Phoenix, which is a good half-hour drive from where my town is. I would carpool with a good friend of mine, and her mother, surprisingly enough, is very conservative. It’s very strange to me that I love these people so much, and yet their mind-set can be very different from mine. She knows my parents. She loves my parents. We’ve been friends since second grade. So we were driving to school and we were listening to the radio, and I think it was the beginning of gay marriage becoming legal. They were read- ing this email that this woman had sent to somebody on the radio station, saying, “Who we need to worry about are the children of these gay people.” That was her email, and it was like, “We need to make that a priority. We just can’t let them be raised by these people.” And I got so angry, and they said, “If you have any comments, please call in—we want to hear you.” And I kept calling and calling, and my friend and her mom were like, “Keep doing it! Keep calling!” I finally got through, and I just went off. I couldn’t even tell you what I said. I was like, “I am a child with gay parents, and I am truly appalled at this email. No one needs to feel sorry for me. My parents are amazing.”

(C) Gabriela Herman

Zach was raised by his two adoptive moms: I was born in New Orleans. My mother was sixteen. Patricia— she’s Vietnamese. My father, Charles, was seventeen. He was black and Spanish. I was adopted by Barbara and Kim, so I have two moms. As Americans, we’re pretty quick to put people in a box or judge them, whether it’s about having two moms or what your race or ethnicity is. I had less trouble with having two moms and more issues with finding myself in terms of race and ethnicity. People said stuff about my moms, but I made it clear that if you want to talk smack . . . I called people out the first couple times. The first time that I had a real issue with having two moms was in third grade, because prior to that, everyone was like, “Oh, my God, Zach is so lucky. He has two moms. I’m so jealous.” I think for little children, that whole concept of being lesbian or gay, it’s like, “Whatever.” Honestly, I feel like sometimes parents worry about that too much for their children. They’re so afraid of what the world has in store for them. At that age, I remember people used to ask, “Why are you black and they’re white?” or “Why are you Asian?” I remember saying, “I’m adopted.” For a lot of kids, for what they understood of adoption, that was good enough for a long time.