Chornobyl’s Black Gold August 26, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Chornobyl, Disaster, Documentary, Institute for Artist Management, Photojournalism, Ukraine , add a commentBLACK GOLD OF CHORNOBYL
Guillaume Herbaut
For someone with a profound interest in Ukrainian issues it was a revelation to come across Guillaume Herbaut’s story on the pillaging of metal from the so called Exclusion Zone of Chornobyl. The story was posted in the blog of the relatively new Institute for Artist Management and the work details the movement of radioactive metal from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant for cash. Each week, more than two hundred tons of radioactive metal leave the exclusion zone. In the town of Chornobyl there are hotels and workers involved in the legal industry that the protection of the Zone has evolved into.
During the turmoil that followed the explosion of the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, the authorities buried highly contaminated villages, created burial grounds for tons of radioactive metal and encircled the town of Pripyat with a metal fence to prevent looting.
The reality of the exclusion zone and its precious cargo is different. In 2007, a stock of copper and nickel tubes coming from the Buriakovka burial ground was intercepted outside the exclusion zone. The metals contamination rate was 23 times higher than the legal standards. In May 2009, ten tons of metal disappeared. The radioactivity rate was above 30 000 microRems, a thousand times higher than the authorised level. During the night of September 10th 2009, a shipping of 25 tons of untreated metal was intercepted by Ukrainian Intelligence Service. It mainly consisted of tubes found in the whereabouts of Reactor 4 and its radioactivity rate was thirteen times higher than the legal level.
According to Herbaut and Bruno Masi there were 8 million tons of metal in the exclusion zone after the explosion. Today, only two million tons remain and this stock is valued at 1 billion hryvnias (100 million euros). It travels via Eastern Ukrainian factories to Turkey and to China for the ultimate material reward.
http://stories.instituteartistmanagement.com/guillaumeherbaut-black-gold-of-chernobyl.html
- Guillaume Herbaut copyright photo of Helicopters used during the Chornobyl disaster
Tokyo Symphony August 23, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : New Media, Photojournalism, Publications, Publishing , add a commentmonographic projects developed. PARADOX’ activities include travelling exhibitions, film production, book and electronic publishing and organising workshops and symposiums.
Photo Ed van der Elsken
The installation was never finished due to his early death at age 60. It was thought that the collection of 1,600 images, which is currently stored at the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, was all that remained of this ambitious project. In 2007, researcher Frank Ortmanns discovered five audiotapes belonging to the project. Fascinated by this missing piece of the puzzle, Ortmanns approached Paradox to discuss the possibility of posthumously realizing Tokyo Symphony. Taking into account Van der Elsken’s fascination with AV technology, it was concluded that a contemporary approach to this installation would be most appropriate. In other words: to make an installation as if Van der Elsken were still alive.
The immersive installation based on hundreds of unknown colour slides confronts the viewer with various traditional as well as contemporary and little known aspects of Tokyo: from demonstrations in Shibuya to weddings and memorial celebrations, from girls wrestling and karaoke in Harajuku to the Tsukiji fish market. Van der Elsken switches constantly from intimate portraits to lively street scenes. The spatial multi-screen design of the installation, which is accompanied by a soundtrack based on his original recordings, adds to the dynamic experience of the strange mixture of tradition and modernity that characterises the metropolis of Tokyo. Through the harmonic as well as disharmonic interplay of various audiovisual elements, the installation can be seen as a true modern symphony about urbanism and eastern culture – a symphony that reflects the notion of the all absorbing and omnipresent urban environment.
Ed van der Elsken´s photographs are represented worldwide in the collections of several renowned institutions including the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), the Chicago Art Institute, the Kawasaki Modern Art Museum, the Special Collections Department of the University Leiden and the Museum of Modern Art (New York).
Even before his 1956 breakthrough with Love on the Left Bank, Van der Elsken attracted attention in international exhibitions such as Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man (1955). Further important exhibitions followed, such as Sweet Life (Amsterdam, 1968), Masters of European Photography (London, 1973), Van der Elsken´s Amsterdam (Amsterdam, 1979), L´Amour à Saint Germain des Prés (Tokyo, 1986) and De ontdekking van Japan 1961-1988 (Amsterdam, 1988/1989). Also posthumously: Once Upon a Time (Amsterdam /Tokyo, 1991), Long Live Me! (Paris /Amsterdam /Porto /Modena /Antwerp, 1996 – 2006), and Documenta X (Kassel, 1997). His most influential photo books include Een liefdesgeschiedenis in Saint Germain des Prés(1956), Bagara (1958), Jazz (1958), Sweet Life (1966), Amsterdam! (1979), De ontdekking van Japan (1988) and Once Upon a Time (1991).
Norwegian Wedding August 23, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Norwegian Photographers, Photojournalism , add a commentRobert McPherson, a Bachelor of Communications student (honours) at Edith Cowan University in Perth between 2003 and 2007 has married Trudy Aase in Gjøvik, Norway. Current Perth lecturers in photography at the campus, among them Kevin Ballantine, Max Pam, Graham Miller and Norm Leslie will remember Robert from his time in Perth. One of his early projects on Kazakh nomads in Kyrghistan contributed towards his degree.
Currently based in Norway Robert McPherson is working as a freelance photojournalist and maintaining his long term interest in Mongolia and working on in depth photo essays. His essay on Kibera, Kenya was published recently in the online photo magazine Metaphor Online. (www.metaphoronline.com.au/mag) and in the Norwegian paper Varden as an extended essay. It has also been accepted for publication by David Alan Harvey in Burn Magazine. His work there was part of a larger assignment for a Norwegian NGO working in Africa called Women and Children Supporting International .
http://www.robert-mcpherson.com/
- Photo Bohdan Warchomij
New Photo Books New Marketing Solutions July 8, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Documentary, Photojournalism , add a comment
- Stanley Greene
Stanley Greene’s biography Black Passport and George Georgiou’s Fault Lines Turkey/East/West are both excellent new books from photojournalists with international reputations. They have both used video in interesting ways to market still photography to a wider audience. The immediacy and power of the Black Passport flv on You Tube in particular has a huge sensory impact and is an innovative multimedia technical achievement.
[ youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_qiEEe-SxM ]
[ youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGcSjSVPPSQ&feature=youtube ]
Images from Fault Lines: George Georgiou
- Photo Copyright George Georgiou
- Photo Copyright George Georgiou
Thomas Haugersveen signed to VU July 8, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Documentary, Edith Cowan University, Norwegian Photographers, Photojournalism , add a commentA Norwegian photographer born in 1980, Thomas Haugersveen took up photography during his studies at the University of Perth in Australia. He graduated from Edith Cowan University in 2005. He worked for a time at Perth’s Sunday Times newspaper where I first met him.
For his first project, he examined the AIDS epidemic in Saharan Africa, resulting in his « A brave new world » exhibition, which was presented at the « 46664 Mandela » concert in Tromsø, Norway.
Thomas Haugersveen has worked on stories as different as the homeless of Saint Petersburg, the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, coal pollution in China, Georgian refugees, and most recently, handicapped children in Vietnam.
In 2010, he was named a recipients of the « Norwegian Picture of the Year » award for a report on Georgian looters. His work on young Indian body-builders was recognized with an honor from the PGB Award.
With a unique visual style and signature story telling approach Thomas Haugersveen is a unique voice in photojournalism.
- Indian Wrestlers Photo Copyright Thomas Haugersveen
Claire Martin wins Inge Morath Award July 5, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Australian photographers, Documentary, Edith Cowan University, Foto Freo, Photojournalism , add a commentPhotographing marginalised communities has paid off for Perth’s Claire Martin. Her striking photos from the series ‘Slab City’ in the Colorado Desert, California and from ‘The Downtown East Side’ in Vancouver Canada have combined to win her The Inge Morath Award for a female photographer under 30 from the prestigious Magnum Photo Cooperative. Coming on top of last years win in the Sony World Photography Up and Coming Portrait Photographer of the Year Awards and also being chosen as an ‘emerging talent’ by Reportage for Getty Images it is obvious that Claire Martin is striking chords with her photographs and touching us all. Her photos of ‘Slab City’ in the Moore’s Building for Foto Freo were powerful and quite unforgettable.
Claire Martin has recently joined Oculi and is available for assignments.
- Photograph of Tony copyright by Claire Martin
Magnum Press Prints July 1, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Magnum, Photojournalism , add a comment
- Photo Copyright David Hurn Magnum
One of the most important photojournalism archives in history, the Magnum Photo Agency’s press prints collection, has been sold to Michael Dell of Dell computers. Specifically, to Dell’s private investment firm, MSD Capital LP.
The collection will be housed by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin.
“Right place, right time, right people.” That’s how Eli Reed, Magnum photographer and photojournalism professor at the school, summed up the deal. “It was a long time coming; it didn’t just happen quickly,” he said.
In keeping with Magnum’s cooperative policies, the deal ensures the photographers still retain total ownership of their works. Only the prints used by Magnum through 2003 for publication were sold, not the rights to the images themselves.
Though the price remains undisclosed, the collection of photographs had been insured for a value of $100 million. Industry insider Paul Melcher speculated the price at around $30 million.
The press prints collection comprises of over 185,000 images by over 100 renowned photographers, including seminal talent such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Ernst Haas and Eve Arnold. Magnum was established in 1947 to wrest control from publishers back into the hands of the photographers by allowing shooters to keep the rights to their images. In so doing, Magnum pioneered a new business model for photojournalism.
Workshops June 20, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Australian photographers, Degree South, Documentary, Photojournalism , add a commentOne of the highlights of PMA in Melbourne was the bootcamp lecture by Stephen Dupont and the legendary Tim Page on the last day of the event. Promoting their personal work and the collective Degree South that they are part of both photographers gave insights and advice into their art and practice to a packed lecture theatre.
- Stephen Dupont and Tim Page photo Bohdan Warchomij
Stephen Dupont announced three Photography workshops with Jack Picone. the first being an Angkor and Siem Reap workshop from June 25-30, 2010 with special Guest Tutor Tim Page. The second workshop from November 15-20th 2010 is part of Reportage in Sydney, and Tim Page is again a guest tutor. The third workshop is in Kathmandu from December 6-13, 2010.
More information on the photographer’s websites:
East Grand Terre Island June 5, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : American Photographers, Disaster, Documentary, Photojournalism , add a commentThe tragedy of the BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to impact on the wildlife of the area.
AP Photographer Charlie Riedel’s images of seabirds caught in the oil slick on a beach on Louisiana’s East Grand Terre Island highlight a tragedy that will redefine the operational methods of oil companies working at depths beyond their technological capabilities. As hurricane season approaches Louisiana the sense of urgency escalates from politicians and BP executives. The results of their endeavours will be analysed and debated, resolved and hopefully curtailed in the light of these heartbreaking images. More images can be seen on the Big Picture.
- Photo Copyright Photographer Charlie Riedel AP
- Photo Copyright Photographer Charlie Riedel AP
A Legacy of Suffering April 5, 2010
Posted by bohdan.warchomij in : Disaster, Documentary, India, Photojournalism , 1 comment so farA Legacy of Suffering, Bhopal
Thousands of people died 25-years-ago when 40,000 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) escaped from the Union Carbide pesticide factory into Bhopal’s night air. Thousands more continue to suffer from the gas effects, and new generations are born with mental and physical deformities not just from their gas-effected parents, but from their families using the highly contaminated ground water. The factory’s toxic waste, which has leached into the soil and water, has never been cleared or decontaminated.
Neither the US giant, DOW Chemical, who now own Union Carbide, nor the Indian government who own the land are taking responsibility for the waste and so the people of Bhopal continue to suffer.
Amiran White is a freelance photojournalist who began her photojournalism career stringing for Associated Press in Oregon USA. She has won a variety of awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, World Press, Associated Press, National Press Photographer’s Association, and Editor and Publisher. She has also earned the Community Awareness Award from the 60th Photographer of the Year International Awards and the 2003 Golden Light Award for her documentary work. Recently she collected a first prize in the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards. She is a contract photographer for Zuma Press.
Her powerful body of work on the Bhopal tragedy can be seen on her website.
- Faizan is bathed in contaminated ground water Photo Amiran White
