Friday Round Up - 30 October, 2015

This week on Friday Round Up - FotoEvidence Book Award 2016, Photo Kathmandu makes its debut, two Australians take home Lucie Awards, Stephen Shores Complete Works, images from the photography competition run by  the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor raise questions about the aesthetic of documentary photography and Canada's Boreal Collective hits the streets.

News:
2016 FotoEvidence Book Award Open for Submissions

The 2016 FotoEvidence Book Award is now open for submissions from photographers whose projects demonstrate courage and commitment in the pursuit of human rights and social justice. The winning project will be published in a high quality, hardbound book and exhibited at the Bronx Documentary Center in New York City during the fall of 2016.

Entries are judged by an international jury of five. The 2016 jury members are international journalist Alison Stieven-Taylor, Visa Pour L’Image director Jean-François Leroy, photojournalist Robert Nickelsberg, Yahoo! News photo editor Kelli Grant and FotoEvidence publisher Svetlana Bachevanova.

“FotoEvidence Press was founded to support documentary photographers working on long-term projects that focus on human rights and social justice and to bring to light work that might otherwise not find publication,” says Svetlana.

The Book Award winner and up to four other selected finalists will be exhibited on the FotoEvidence web site and in the exhibition at the Bronx Documentary Center. FotoEvidence will also offer to collaborate with one of the finalists to crowdfund the publication of their work.

Past FotoEvidence Book Award recipients are Marcus Bleasdale (2015), Majid Saeedi (2014), Robin Hammond (2013), Alex Massi (2012) and Javier Arcenillas (2011).

Festival:
PHOTO KATHMANDU

Organised by photo.circle, a Nepali platform for photography, this is the first photography festival for Nepal. With the theme TIME the festival features 18 exhibitions, artist talks and workshops as well as projections.

“Despite and because we have had an extremely challenging year in Nepal this year (with the earthquake and political unrest), we are pushing forward with this festival because we truly believe that rebuilding a sense of identity can only be done through dialogue and the arts and culture is a powerful medium to facilitate these conversations.” says festival co-director NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati.

Australian photojournalist Philip Blenkinsop has documented Nepal’s political transitions for the past 15 years. A selection of this work will be on show in the old Court House at Mangal Bazar, Patan. He says the timing of the festival “means that there is much hard work to be done, but it amounts to lighting a candle in the darkness. The importance of Photo Kathmandu at this time cannot be overlooked. It is a time for consolidation, for sharing, for rebuilding, for sowing the seeds of inspiration.”

It’s great to see Photo Kathmandu go ahead with such enthusiasm and support. More than 500 photographers submitted bodies of work for consideration in the projections with 80 chosen representing 31 countries. 

(C) Amy Friend

(C) Frederic Lecloux

(C) Kevin Bubriski

(C) Mariya Kozhanova

(C) Matjaz Tancic

(C) Philip Blenkinsop

(C) Rajan Shrestha

(C) Sumitra Manandhar Gurung

Exhibitions will take place in a variety of public spaces in and around Patan including the alleyways, squares and courtyards of the historic city. The idea of exhibiting in public spaces is born from the desire to make Photo Kathmandu a festival for the people and to take photography to new audiences.

To find out more visit the website
3-9 November
Various venues
Patan, Lalitpur, Nepal

Winners:

The Lucie Awards

Two Australians were winners at this week's Lucie Awards in New York, the premiere annual event honouring the greatest achievements in photography. Kerry Payne Stailey took out the award for Moving Image Photographer of the Year and Ceiba was named publisher of the year for Sam Harris' book Middle of Somewhere. I've written about both Kerry and Sam in recent times. In fact I wrote about another winner, Sandro Miller who won Photographer of the Year for the second year in a row, earlier this year too! Congratulations to all the winners.

My cover story on Kerry Payne Stailey in Pro Photo

From Sam Harris' Middle of Somewhere

My feature interview with Sandro Miller in NZ Pro Photographer

Book Review: 

Stephen Shore - Uncommon Places
The Complete Works 

‘His work is Nabokovian for me: exposing so much, and yet leaving so much room for your imagination to roam and do what it will’ - Tennessee Williams

Stephen Shore is a master at photographing the ordinary in such a way as to make it extraordinary, capturing moments that are invisible to many until illuminated through Shore’s eyes. His love for the vernacular and his ability to frame seemingly banal scenes and tease out their idiosyncrasies has made him one of the most lauded American photographic artists living today.

In Uncommon Places Shore takes us along for a ride across America, a trip he made several times in the 1970s on what he calls “journeys of exploration: exploring the changing culture of America and exploring how a photograph renders the segment of time and space in its scope. I chose a view... (to read the full review and see more images please click on Book Reviews at the top of the blog).    

Uncommon Places
The Complete Works
Stephen Shore
Thames & Hudson 

Opinion:

The Documentary Aesthetic in Question

Bangladesh
Faisal Azim

This year’s photography competition run by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a World Bank initiative, attracted thousands of entries from more than 77 countries, yet the aesthetic of most of the winning images showcased on The Atlantic this week shows a concerning trend. Looking at these images I feel there is little differentiation in style, or voice. 

The premise for this competition is to document those business owners who are marginalised and who work outside of the world's banking systems. These photographs present an homogenised, glossy, richly coloured, and stylistically composed view of that world. Documentary photography, in my opinion, should not be so slick as to be mistaken for a scene from a movie or an advertisement. What do you think?

China
Liming Cao

India
Sujan Sarkar

Varanasi
Tatiana Sharapova

Vietnam
Loc Mai

Vietnam 

Tran Van Tuy

Vietnam
Lê Minh Quốc

Activism:
Taking it to the Streets in Canada

François Pesant's image of Officers using excessive force arrested 1,118 people during the G20 Summit held in Toronto in 2010. This is the biggest mass arrest in Canadian history. (C) Ian Willms, The Boreal Collective

In the lead to the federal election in Canada earlier this month a group of Canada’s foremost photojournalists, members of the Boreal Collective, took their images to the street in a bid to show the public what they believe has happened to their country. Canvassing topics of elderly care, environmental vandalism, violence against indigenous women and the excessive force of authorities, the Collective wheat-pasted large format black and white prints in public spaces in the hope to generate discussion. #dysturb, a French group, also uses large posters of works by leading photojournalists to draw attention to important global issues and have pasted their work in major cities around the world.

Boreal Collective member Laurence Butet-Roch says, “It's our hope that upon seeing these pictures, passersby will feel the need to get more details, do more research, and get the information they need to cast their vote”.

Ian Willms aerial photograph of the Tar Sands in Alberta pasted at Queen’s Park, Toronto. 

(C) Ian Willms, The Boreal Collective

Eighteen indigenous women have been killed while hitchhiking along Highway 16 and many more are reported missing. Investigation is slow and despite the gravity of the situation there has not been any public inquiry. In Toronto Rafal Gerszak pastes her photo of the Highway of Tears sign in British Columbia. (C) Ian Willms, The Boreal Collective

Marta Iwanek’s portrait of an elderly man caring for his wife with dementia in Toronto.

(C) Ian Willms, The Boreal Collective

Friday Round Up - 27 June, 2014

This week on Friday Round Up two new books to add to your collection - Stephen Shore's epic From Galilee to the Negev and the Roma's The Waters of Our Time. Plus new exhibitions for Strange Neighbour and Monash Gallery of Art in Melbourne, and Blackeye in Sydney, and a preview to my interview with New York-based Australian photographer Kerry Payne. And a new feature: Picture of the Week.

Picture of the Week:

Despite everything we know about climate change, coal continues to be the "energy of choice" with coal usage reaching a 44 year high in 2013 according to BP's annual Statistical Review of World Energy. While Western democracies point the finger of blame at the developing world, China and India in particular, passing responsibility rather than doing more to clean up their own act, will do nothing to halt the damage being done to the planet. Not to mention the human toll. To see more images from this story visit The Atlantic InFocus.

(C) Channi Anand - Jammu, India 2012

Book:

Stephen Shore - From Galilee to the Negev

“interpretations depend very much on who the interpreter is, who he or she is addressing, what his or her purpose is, at what historical moment the interpretation takes place” Edward W. Said
In Stephen Shore’s epic book ‘From Galilee to the Negev’ there is a distinct sense of Shore’s intent and focus from the first pages on this expansive book, which comes with its own map and designated “sites of interest” and “photographed locations”.

Shore’s capacity to pursue a story that took him 17 years to complete, is one of the hallmarks that have made him a master storyteller. Shore, who took to the road in the seventies with camera in hand and hasn’t looked back, is considered one of the pioneers in documentary colour photography. Cited as an influence by many – Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky and Wolfgang Tillmans amongst others – Shore was the first living photographer to be given a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1971; prior to Shore the last artist was Alfred Stieglitz in 1931.

Situated within ten dedicated chapters – Ashqelon, Galilee, Tel Hazor, Tel Aviv, Gaza, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, Negev and Sacred Stones - Shore’s idiosyncratic photographs stitch together the desert landscape, the passing of time, the rise of the modern and portraits of local residents to create a visual tapestry that is unique to Israel, and to Shore. ‘From Galilee to the Negev’ is Shore’s interpretation of this part of the world, and little has slipped his astute gaze. 

Tel Aviv, March 23, 2011

Large crater, Negev Desert, September 29, 2009

In the urban city of Tel Aviv, Shore captures cosmopolitan Israel in the bustling streets, busy cafes and growing number of high rises dotting the skyline. In the Negev the desert’s arid moonscapes and isolation draw the reader’s eye and in Jerusalem his portraits of local residents give context to daily life in this ancient holy city.

Shore says with this book it is his intention to tell a story about Israel that isn’t loaded with the stereotypes of “suffering and heroism, of victims and perpetrators”, labels often associated with this part of the world. 

Tel Aviv, June 17, 2010 


Jerusalem, September 23, 2009 


Ramallah, October 3, 2009

 
In "From Galilee to the Negev" each chapter leads with an essay that addresses one particular image. Written by leading artists, writers and academics the essays add another layer to this complex work. To give a flavour of the writing, the chapter ‘Galilee’ features the New Yorker’s Jane Kramer in response to Shore’s image ‘Sderot’ taken in September, 2009. This photograph comprises a map, a man’s hand pointing and his shadow cast across part of the image. Kramer writes: “The map in Stephen Shore’s photograph is, as maps go, neutral, something a pilot might use to get his bearings, benignly distant from the problems of the ground. Its divisions are faint, vague, even reassuring – thin red lines that in reality, have been drawn and redrawn, in the course of three wars, with the blood of thousands of young Arabs and Israeli soldiers”.

This is a book that takes time, you can’t rush through it if you have any intention of understanding it. Give the essayists their due and read their words, ingest the images, listen to others’ thoughts and allow your imagination to run free. Leave behind the snippets of history that dwell in memory and make you think you know Israel. Take Shore’s journey of discovery, meet the people, walk across the pebbled roadways, wipe the grit of sand from your face, and jostle for position at the local market. These are the joys of photography, allowing your imagination to drop you into a photograph to wonder.

From Galilee to the Negev, Stephen Shore £75 / €85 Phaidon 2014
Phaidon

Book:
The Waters of Our Time
Thomas and Giancarlo T. Roma

There is something quite seductive about The Waters of Our Time and its fictitious narrator, a woman who has lived all her life in Brooklyn. As she shares her intimate story, the words meld with the photographs of Thomas Roma, a master photographer, who has spent much of the past forty years photographing Brooklyn his hometown. 

(C) All images Thomas Roma - From The Waters of Our Time published by powerHouse Books

This is the second time Thomas and his son, Giancarlo T. Roma, have collaborated. In The Waters of Our Time Giancarlo pens what is at times truly lyrical verse that sings to his father’s photographs, which he has used as a visual storyboard on which to build his narrative.

"The Waters of Our Time" is a story of love, memories and the passing of time. And it is also a story about the relationship between a man and his father. I haven’t seen the hardcopy of this book, but if the PDF is any indication, it’s worth spending sometime in the Roma’s Brooklyn. Available from powerHouse Books New York

Exhibition: Melbourne
A Window that isn't there - Group Show

(C) Daniela Gullotta

This exhibition is based on the premise that there is a "tug of war between what we see with our eyes and what we see with our internal memories and visions". Works include photographs as well as multi-media. Exhibiting artists - Daniela Gullotta, Norian Paicu, Amelie Scalercio, Luhsun Tan, Michael Vale and Philippe Vranjes. Curated by Michael Vale.

Strange Neighbour
11 July - 2 August
395 Gore Street
Fitzroy

Exhibition: Melbourne
Rod McNicol - Memento Mori

Monash Gallery of Art (MGA) is currently showing a series of portraits from Australian photographer Rod McNicol. One of the Prahran College of the Arts alumni in the 1970s, McNicol has won numerous prizes for his portraiture work which is held in major institutional collections including the Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, National Library (Canberra), and MGA. 

In this exhibition there are a number of dual portraits of the same person taken years apart, as shown here. McNicol has clearly had a particular vision for this series, which he's carried through the years. Hanging together the images tell a story of the passing of time, and hint at the journey of the individual pictured. There are also solitary portraits, but these duo are in my opinion the strongest of the work on show.





(C) All images Rod McNicol

Until 31 August
Monash Gallery of Art
860 Ferntree Gully Road
Wheelers Hill

Exhibition: Sydney

Eden Diebel - Germinate

(C) Eden Diebel - Germinate

Blackeye Gallery
3/138 Darlinghurst Road
Darlinghurst (Sydney)
Until 13 July
Artist's Talk Saturday 28th June at 3pm

Coming Soon:
Interview with Kerry Payne

(C) Kerry Payne from Left Behind

Next week I am interviewing Australian photographer Kerry Payne who is now based in New York, but I wanted to share a couple of her images this week to hopefully whet your appetite. Sometimes you see work and are just blown away by it and that was my immediate reaction to Payne's photography. Deeply emotional and at times painful to view, Payne intimately explores issues around subjects that are largely still taboo in the modern world such as mental health and fertility. This is brave, courageous and infinitely important work.