Friday Round Up - 14 August, 2015

This week it's all about the sixth edition of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale which opens in Ballarat, 90 minutes west of Melbourne, on Saturday 22 August. The Festival runs until 20 September and Festival Director Jeff Moorfoot and his team have put together an impressive program. This week Friday Round Up features a selection of the international exhibitions in the Core Program. Next week it's opening night and a preview to the Australians that will be on show.

Festival Feature:

Workshops:

This year in addition to the core program and fringe exhibitions there are a host of workshops too - 15 in total - including Getting Loose with Your Camera a one-day workshop by Sam Harris whose book The Middle of Somewhere has its official Australian launch at the Festival. Visual Storytelling: The Fundamentals of Documentary Photography is a three-day workshop run by Oculi members Dean Sewell and David Maurice Smith - this is a truly fantastic opportunity to learn from two of the most respected and accomplished documentary photographers in Australia. For those who are keen to get their portfolio into shape, Sally Brownbill is holding a one day workshop Editing Images and Building a Portfolio. And there's a Photo Book Making Marathon Workshop with Blurb. Check out the program for the full list of workshops. Check out the festival website for the full workshop program.

Core Program - Selected International Exhibitions

Boryana Katsarova - Freezing

In the series Freezing, Bulgarian photojournalist Boryana Katsarova has created exquisite portraits of commuters peering out through frosted windows during the coldest winter on record in Bulgaria. The series was shot in 2012 in Sofia, during a winter that saw temperatures of minus 20 Celsius and heavy snow storms that crippled the city's transport system and isolated villages. Boryana continues to work on this series while also pursuing projects as a Pulitzer Centre for Crisis Reporting grantee. 

On show at St Patrick’s Community

Thomas Kellner - Genius Loci 

German visual artist, curator and educator Thomas Kellner's interest lies in experimental and conceptual photography. In his career he has developed different pinhole series, photogram work and printings in alternative techniques such as cyanotype, saltpaper and others. Since 2003 Thomas has been working on architectural exteriors and interiors around the world as seen in his exhibition Genius Loci. The buildings, which appear to be broken apart, are designed to evoke the vulnerability of our values and creations. Thomas has exhibited around the world and his work is held in private and public collections.

On show at St Patrick’s Community

Alejandro Chaskielberg - La Creciente









With a background as a photojournalist and DOP, Argentinian photographic artist Alejandro Chaskielberg works with photography "in the border between document and fiction". He's been named one of PDN magazine's 30 new and emerging photographers to watch and is the winner of the POYi award for the best Latin American portrait. His work has been exhibited in Brazil, Argentina, New York, Norway, The Netherlands and Japan.

On show at the Ballarat Mining Exchange

In brief:

China: Pang Xiang Liang - The Drilling Workers

at Ballarat Trades Hall

France: Nicolas Dhervillers - Road Movie

at Art Gallery of Ballarat

Germany: J Scriba - Element_1

at Art Gallery of Ballarat

Friday Round Up - 7 August, 2015

This week on Friday Round Up - Robin Hammond's Where Love is Illegal, Instagram fake dupes world's media, and exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart.

Photo Essay:
Robin Hammond - Where Love is Illegal

Above: Simon, 22. He was arrested while having sex with his boyfriend in Uganda. They were beaten, dragged naked through the village, and thrown in jail with no medical treatment. They later escaped from a hospital when a doctor, who was Simon’s ex-boyfriend, took pity on them. Simon fled to the Ugandan capital of Kampala. He has not seen his boyfriend since. (C) Robin Hammond/PANOS for Witness Change

Robin Hammond is one of the most erudite, and hardest working, photojournalists I've ever had the pleasure to interview. He's also a really lovely person whose deep concern for others has led him on his life's pursuit to give voice to those who are marginalised and persecuted. Last time I spoke to Robin it was about his book Condemned: Mental Health in African Countries in Crisis, which won the FotoEvidence Book Award (2013).

His current series Where Love is Illegal is a Witness Change project that exposes the prejudices and horrific abuse that LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex) people suffer in countries such as Russia, Lebanon and Uganda. Robin travelled to seven countries in all to help these people tell their stories.

To borrow from Ernest Hemingway, Robin's work is brave and honest and true. When I read the story of the young man pictured above I felt compelled to share it. This is taken from a larger story which you can read in full on National Geographic's Proof including an interview with Robin and extended narratives on each of those pictured.

Robin says, "Bigotry thrives where those discriminated against are silenced. The objective is to have the people in this project seen and their voices heard, and to raise money for grassroots LGBT organizations working in countries where being LGBT is illegal or subject to massive discrimination. So we ask everyone to share these stories and to donate to these organizations however they can."

To be loved and to love are fundamental to our humanity. As the Dalai Lama says, we should cherish all sentient beings without qualification.

Lesbian couple “O,” 27 (right), and “D,” 23 (left). They were attacked on the way home from a concert after kissing at their subway stop. “The real fear I experienced was not for myself, it was for the one I love,” said O. St. Petersburg, Russia. November 2014. 

 
Jessie, 24, is a transgender Palestinian woman born in a refugee camp in Lebanon. She was born male, but knew she was female from a young age. Her uncle repeatedly raped her, and her father and brother have attacked and tried to kill her multiple times. Unable to complete her training as a nurse due to discrimination, she has resorted to doing sex work.

Malawi. In 2009 Tiwonge Chimbalanga and her husband Steven were arrested and charged with buggery and indecent practices between males. They were sentenced to 14 years in prison. The case caused an international outcry and both were later pardoned on the condition that they never see each other again. Fearing for her safety, Tiwonge fled to South Africa. All photographs by Robin Hammond/PANOS for Witness Change

Opinion:
Instagram Fake Migrant Story


Last week the Huffington Post led the media's race to publish the amazing story of the Senegalese migrant who was documenting his own journey on Instagram…only the story turned out to be a publicity stunt by a Spanish photography festival. You can read Oliver Laurent’s exposé of the fake story on Time Lightbox here.

This is not the first time that the international media has been duped by digital images, and it shows a complete lack of fact-checking. Editing and correcting after a story has gone to “print” is one of the aspects of digital journalism that corroborates the perception that journalism in the digital age has devolved. This story went viral, was shared amongst other digital media outlets and countless thousands of individuals who posted the story on their social networks. As a long-standing journalist it drives me crazy that the so-called gatekeepers keep turning their backs on the very principles that journalism was founded upon. Pathetic just doesn’t cut it. 

As for using fake photographs to tell a story that is highly political and the cause of debate in many countries is, in my opinion, insensitive and devalues the genuine work being done by photojournalists who often take extraordinary risks to bring the truth to light. This is especially concerning in a year when the credibility of photojournalism is under scrutiny once again after the fallout from the World Press Photo awards and the staggering number of entries that featured manipulated images.

Exhibitions: Melbourne

Robert Ashton - Thin Air

Melbourne photographer Robert Ashton explores the mountainous plateau of Ladakh situated India's far north in his new series of photographic work -Thin Air.

“At an altitude of 3500 metres above the sea on the borders of Pakistan, India, China and Tibet the air is thin and clear and the barren landscape is slowly absorbing the mementos of war,” says Ashton. "Since the petition of India it has become a very sensitive region politically for both India and Pakistan and the landscape bears the marks of war. I was drawn to the barren beauty and the exquisite light of the landscape and the way it absorbed the scattered mementos of war.”

(C) All images Robert Ashton

Until 29 August
CF (Colour Factory) Gallery
409-429 Gore Street
Fitzroy

Future Reference - Group Show

Nova Paul This Is Not Dying 2010

single channel digital video transferred from 16mm film
20 mins 0 secs, dimensions variable courtesy the artist

Curated by Pippa Milne this group show draws on photography’s propensity to trigger, hold and play with memory and features works by Sophie Calle (FR), Rodney Glick and David Solomon (AUS), Siri Hayes (AUS), Nova Paul (NZ), Julian Aubrey Smith (AUS) and Justine Varga (AUS).

Until 6 September
Centre for Contemporary Photography
404 George Street
Fitzroy

Sydney:

Julia Margaret Cameron - Victoria & Albert Museum

Julia Margaret Cameron Mrs Herbert Duckworth 1872. 

Victoria and Albert Museum, London ©  

This exhibition, drawn from the extensive collection of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum features over 100 photographs that trace Julia Margaret Cameron’s early ambition and mastery of the medium. A series of letters is also on display, along with select photographs sourced from Australian institutions.

Julia Margaret Cameron Whisper of the Muse 1865

Victoria and Albert Museum, London ©  

Victoria and Albert Museum, London ©  

Until 25 October

Art Gallery of NSW

Art Gallery Road

The Domain, Sydney

Sydney and Hobart:

Vedat Acikalin - Gallipoli Then & Now: Bonds Forged by War

Adil Sahin (l) and Len Hall (r) meet as friends in 1990 on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the 1915 battlefield they once fought on as enemies. Adil was 17yrs old when he enlisted and Len only 16. They are here together 75 years on.

In this exhibition that commemorates the Australian and Turkish soldiers who served and sacrificed their lives at Gallipoli in 1915, Turkish-Australian photojournalist Vedat Acikalin captures the bonds and friendships forged by those pitted against each other in battle so long ago. Many of these “enemies” went on to have lasting relationships, which have carried over to their families also.

(C) All photos Vedat Acikalin

Gallipoli Then & Now: Bonds Forged by War

Hobart - Allport Library & Museum of Fine Arts Until 22 August
Sydney - Customs House Library, Circular Quay Until 30 September 

Friday Round Up - 31 July 2015

This week on Friday Round Up - one month to go before the 27th Visa pour l'image, Juno Gemes' Spirit Maps to open in Canberra, the winner of this year's Ian Parry Scholarship, @everydayafrica and Andrew Quilty wins Walkley Best Freelance Journalist of the Year. 

Festival:

Dinosaurs and Nostalgia

Visa pour l'Image 2015

Visa pour l'image's venerable director Jean-François Leroy, writes about this year's festival, the 27th instalment of the world's longest running, and most significant, festival of photojournalism held annually in Perpignan, France. If you haven't made the trek, it's incredibly worthwhile. Online accreditation is now open.

"Our recent statements defending ethical practices in photojournalism triggered some lively reactions, and we must have heard every argument possible. The world is on the move, so it’s time for photojournalism to move too. We are allegedly the protectors of an old-fashioned, narrow-minded vision of photojournalism. That’s quite a charge!

"Such scathing criticism neither concerns us nor upsets us. Au contraire! We see these comments as expressions of encouragement, bolstering our belief in a vision of photojournalism which we have been advocating, in no uncertain terms, over the last 27 festivals.

"How and why should photojournalism change? Is the goal to take staged pictures in studio conditions? Do we want “still life” images to conjure up scenes of war? “You know, all those pictures of war and famine look the same in the end.” What sort of cynical, mindless argument is that? Do we hear that kind of nonsense about sports photos? Well, too bad for us!

"When you look at the wealth of photography we have for the 2015 festival, when you look at what’s coming onto the market (which, as we’ve said so often in so many debates, is getting smaller every year), when you look at the new names appearing, with new talent and more energy, when you wander around Perpignan in September, then you realize that photojournalism is certainly not going to disappear. And that’s good news.

"So, long live nostalgia! Long live the dinosaurs! And welcome to the real world." Jean-François Leroy 2015.

This year's program features a diverse range of exhibitions that demonstrate the incredible breadth of photojournalism stories being told. Look out for the preview on Photojournalism Now - 28th August. Until then, here are a few images to give you a sense of what's in store.  

Somali refugees whose makeshift shelters were amongst the dozens of houses and shops destroyed by soldiers acting on orders from the Somali government. Sarkusta refugee camp, southern Mogadishu, March 4, 2015.
© Mohamed Abdiwahab / AFP


Laurel did not know that this would be her last meal: her famous eggplant parmigianino recipe, made specially for her by her son Matthew.
Chappaqua, NY, December 2014.
© Nancy Borowick

Laurine (17) and her son Thiméo (4 months). They live with Laurine’s father in Fourmies. January 2015.
© Viviane Dalles
Winner of the 2014 Canon Female Photojournalist Award, supported by Elle Magazine


Nepal, May 1, 2015.
© Omar Havana / Getty Images


Kumari Dangol with special festive make-up. It is not just outside appearances that change for festivals; former Kumaris say they felt bigger and stronger, and could feel heat radiating from their foreheads.
© Stephanie Sinclair for National Geographic Magazine


Bong County Ebola Treatment Unit, Suakoko, Liberia, October 2014. 
Health workers entering the high-risk zone to do their morning rounds, removing waste from the previous night. Then a second team enters, with medical staff and health workers bringing food and water, doing blood tests, checking patients and providing medical care.
© Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images Reportage / The New York Times

Exhibition: Canberra
Juno Gemes - Spirit Maps

Visual advocacy for Justice for Indigenous Australians has been the hallmark of Juno Gemes’ artistic practice. Born in Budapest, Hungary Juno settled in Australia in 1949 has spent more than four decades using creative media to agitate for shared knowledge and cultural understanding. Her practice has resulted in a body of photographs, film and ephemera that, although superficially disparate, are bound through the common threads of critique and compassion. Gemes is an observer and a listener. Her images arise from careful conversation, from intuitive felt connections with her subjects and their stories.

A recent collaboration with master photogravure printer Lothar Osterburg at his 3rd St Studio in Brooklyn, New York, produced this group of images that reinterrogate the surfaces and resonances of the photographs into a timelessness and variation of tonal modalities which accords with emotional resonances of these two iconic images. Here the images confirm a sense of immortality of spirit and the continuity of people and culture in this remote island community.

"To me Juno Gemes photos capture the world of Australia’s Aborigines in not so as much a documentary mode, as on an emotional level...Working with Juno in my studio was a joy. She was excited to be able to work in the traditional dustgrain copperplate photogravure process as developed by Fox Talbot and refined Carl Kliç in the 19th century. She approached the proofing and printing with an open mind I rarely have experienced with photographers," says Lothar Osterburg.

Juno's works are held in collections including The National Gallery of Australia, The National Portrait Gallery, Macquarie University Art Gallery Collection and in the Collection Klugue Rhue Museum at The University of Virginia USA. 

(Above text adapted from the introduction by Charleyene Olgivie in the catalogue for Juno Gemes - Spirit Maps).

Juno Gemes - Spirit Maps
Opens 9th August - Juno will be giving a talk at the opening.
On until 30 August
Manning Clark House Canberra

In Brief:

Winner Ian Parry Scholarship 

Yuyang Liu has been awarded this year’s Ian Parry scholarship for his work documenting the lives of the severely mentally ill and their families in China. He told the New York Times Lens Blog that he was drawn to the story, which was shot in the Guangdong Province, because the mentally ill and their families are often overlooked, if not completely ignored. “This is a group of people who are invisible in normal society. We can’t see them in schools or workplaces, and we don’t see their families.” His photographs depict the families as they struggle to care for their loved ones. Read the full interview and see more images on Lens Blog

Everyday Africa Education 

@everydayafrica - Austin Merrill and Peter DiCampo have expanded into education. Find out more about what these Pulitzer Center grantee journalists are up to, and how you can participate, here.
Photo: Jana Ašenbrennerová 

Andrew Quilty 

Walkley Best Freelance Journalist of the Year

Multi-award winning Australian photojournalist Andrew Quilty talks with Kyla Woods about his journey on Blink.com.  

Gul Ahmad, an infant boy suffering from acute malnutrition, is covered by his mother’s scarf while being treated in the therapeutic feeding centre ward at the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) administered Boost Hospital in Lashkar Gah, the capial of Helamnd Province in southern Afghanistan. ©Andrew Quilty/ OCULI