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What groundbreaking images of ‘Africa’ can we expect this year from Visa Festival of Shanty Towns?

duckrabbit — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:29:18 +0000

If the video running off the front page of the Visa website is anything to go by they are:

MADNESS and DESPAIR?

VIOLENCE and FEAR?

EXODUS or maybe just WALKING FOR THE BUS?

and BLACK AND WHITE STICK BENDING

I can’t wait and I’m really pleased to see that festival Director J F Leroy has taken on board the the complaints of middle class white people that it’s unfair that poor black people are given so much space at the festival. There are plenty of poor white people who live in shanty towns and they also need to be given a chance to have their lives turned around (and their voices heard) by being featured at Visa .

This photo also running off the front page is a good start:

POOR WHITE COUPLE BEING RAINED ON

(editors note, its possible not all these pictures were taken in Africa. The Visa website doesn’t seem to give captions to them)

‘Showing Congolese as only traumatized victims (or killers) may be highly offensive … but mostly it’s untrue.’

duckrabbit — Mon, 02 May 2011 13:06:32 +0000

Yesterday I put up a post that in part explored how highly staged and stylized photography has come to define how we perceive women survivors of rape in The Congo. I’ve been pretty amazed that no-one wants to defend what has become the pre-eminent way of working on projects as a documentary photographer/photojournalist? Shouldn’t we just admit what photography, stripped of text, or audio, can and can’t do?

Take a look into the eyes of the Congolese woman at the bottom of the page. She has experienced more trauma then I could ever even begin to get my head round. Look at her. She is beautiful. Such dignity. What can the photographer add that isn’t already captured in such simplicity?

I think this comment from Agata Pietron about her feelings on working in Eastern DR Congo are really worth reading:

I remember how shocked I was when I went to Kivu for the first time … How much different the place was from what I expected (from what I saw earlier in magazines, books, etc).

Showing Congolese as only traumatized victims (or killers) may be highly offensive, but mostly it’s untrue. As duckrabbit writes, it is how ‘we’ want to see ‘them’, how ‘we’ imagine they feel.

I spent some time with women and youth there (and many of them experienced really traumatic events). I must say I was amazed how psychologically strong they were, and how they celebrated every minute. When the situation stabilized, there was not regular killings every day. Congolese women are not as fragile, traumatized and vulnerable as we see them. I was told by one woman, shortly after her husband was buried, that the life goes on.

Also, I’m not sure if its only B&W versus Color. And also, I realize that when it comes to DRC, and Kivu especially, it’s a tough place to work. The possibilities for working/photographing/reporting are very limited. You cannot go wherever you want, whenever you want. Many stay close to Monuc/Monusco and NGOs, which shape your vision a lot.
[Sorry for not eloquent way of writing.]

A group of heavily pregnant women have a good laugh at duckrabbit's expense! (C) Yasuyoshi Chiba

One of the heavily pregnant Congolese women MSF houses in Masisi. (C) Yasuyoshi Chiba

Race and Photography – A (very) Brief Review

duckrabbit — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:01:50 +0000

I read the fascinating article below on Reciprocity Failure sometime back and asked Stan Banos if I could re-publish on the duckrabbit. I still think this subject is practically taboo in an industry that makes such an important contribution to human rights across the globe. The problem is if you start to actually examine the subject in any kind of rigorous way the notion that the industry is color blind falls like a pack of cards.

Racism itself has become a victim of stereotyping, it’s such a dirty word thats it’s almost impossible to use it without invoking a pantomime villain or bogeyman. I didn’t think I had a racist mentality when I moved to Ethiopia, and it’s certainly not something that anyone would have accused me of, but no doubt some of my thinking sucked. The sense that the people I would work with might be in some way less able then me; that I, the white knight from the BBC, had more to teach them then I had to learn. Well I was humbled from that arrogant postion pretty quick.

What I’m suggesting is that even though it is bloody obvious there is a problem with race in the industry that doesn’t mean there’s a KKK conspiracy going on. We might just need to look a little deeper inside ourselves to have an understanding of what a more equal industry would really look like and how it can be achieved.

And of course it’s not just black people on the outside, there are other indicators of inequality in the industry; class and economic status in childhood being the two obvious ones.

I think there are lots of people working to remedy this. Good people working across the globe on little community and outreach projects aimed at giving people a voice, in engaging them in the arts and in the practice of journalism and of storytelling. We don’t salute these people enough, but they probably don’t give a shit; they’re too busy having fun, changing and challenging peoples lives.

Stan the floors yours mate:

Race and Photography – A (very) Brief Review (edited by duckrabbit)

Looking back on this Martin Luther King Day (in a century when Pentagon officials assure us that Dr. King, despite his pronounced anti war activism, would no doubt approve and support their wars), wasn’t all that long ago when we had a rather lively discussion on various aspects concerning race and photography.

One of the things some people had some difficulty with in our original discussion was why anyone would be so “hyper” sensitive to essays like Nollywood, or the fact that the PDN competition in question had no discernible people of color as judges. What I and several others attempted to explain was that since the advent of photography, “the other” (ie- people of color) was usually displayed and depicted in a variety of demeaning, subordinate, and disparaging poses and situations- and in the control or supervision of their white “overlords.” Colonial empires would go into these far away, exotic lands and capture images that would play to the curiosity of those back home. Those in front of the lens had little say in how they would be represented- one would certainly be hard pressed to argue that that basic modus operandi has changed significantly to this day.

Often these photographs would fall into several categories in which the image makers would attempt to portray people of color as: inherently primitive (physically, mentally, culturally), childlike, comical, servile.

“The Other” as trophy of “The Great White Hunter”

“The Other” as servant born.

“The Other” as physical curiosity.

“The Other” as cultural and physical primitive (a penny for their thoughts).

“The Other” saved by the sanctity of “The Great White God.”

The buffoonish, cartoon “Other.”

Intentionally racist imagery today…

Conspicuously absent here are photographs of lynchings. They can be viewed at Without Sanctuary. And with all due respect- viewing them is best done on that site. Ken Gonzales-Day has done a series in which he removes the victims from their hanging trees, I suppose in part to help the viewer concentrate on the faces and actions of the people in the crowd, many who seem as if they are at the long awaited, much anticipated annual county fair. Personally, I never needed such training wheels to direct my attention where most required in this particular “genre.”

From Pieter Hugo’s Nollywood series- highly charged images such as this can be easily taken out of its intended context, and in turn fall victim to the Black (sexual) predator motif. They also fall into the historical context of presenting the other as primitive, less than human, not worthy of personal identity, and generally out of sorts with “civilized culture.”

Of course, many would argue that the historical photos above bear no semblance to today’s photojournalism and/or fine art photo essays. All some of us were trying to say was that even to this day, the image of the “The Other” is being controlled, judged and presented by a majority white minority. And that people of color have been overwhelmingly represented in front of the lens, with Whites setting both narrative and context in print and electronic media. The latter two assertions are beyond dispute, they are simply fact- which is why I originally took such exception with the PDN judges- it’s a different century, and time to start creating a more proportional balance beyond the mere token presentation (ominously absent even in the ’09 PDN judging). They would never have allowed an all male jury to stand in this day and age- the outrage and protest would have been fast, furious, and all too well predictable and justified. And yet, not so much as a second thought when it came to creating such an obviously homogeneous racial representation.

It was an observation which initially went unnoticed, until Benjamin Chesterton entered the fray. Yes, it took a white man to bring the issue to the floor- there is hope! Unfortunately, he is one of very few young (white) advocates actively trying to give voice to people of color particularly in developing countries by: a) encouraging young photographers to let those they photograph in developing countries speak for themselves in multi-media presentations, b) encouraging burgeoning photographers in developing countries to document their own people, affairs and environment, and c) to call for more proportional representation of people of color in positions of decision in editing, judging and presentation. And I make due notice of the fact that he is White because people of color have been clamoring about this for years, mostly on deaf ears since the sixties/seventies.

I had hoped that the 2010 online symposium that never occurred would continue to explain, bring light and further this cause through continued exchange and discussion. For those who still believe I am exaggerating a “non issue,” and that the racism I speak of (“passive” or otherwise) is limited to a handful of bigoted whackos- I leave you with this observation (see next to last paragraph of the post).

Remember, that is a renowned white photographer that made that observation. It happened a little less than three years ago, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if that very festival organizer would adamantly describe himself as a“Liberal.” Now ask yourselves how many of you would have believed his behavior, if one of the Blacks in that audience was the messenger of said incident? Or had I been the narrator? How many other Whites in that theatre made note of that egregious slap in the face- I’m betting it wasn’t the first time for many of the other half of that audience. And that’s why while it may all feel well and good for white folk to tell themselves that they just don’t see color (particularly when they’re in control), we already know how myopic that vision can sometimes be…

‘Finally! … Our Truth’

duckrabbit — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:41:45 +0000

Got a cool email this morning. Samira Hack, who was a prominent voice in the Open Eye documentary and photofilm I made with Joseph Rodriguez got in contact with Joseph with these words:

‘All that I can say is, Finally! I am very pleased with the results that you guys came up with. I know that people will criticise and say that this situation doesn’t exist in Sweden but you really kept it real and came forward with the truth, with our truth. And this is the only truth.’

As a programme maker you always worry about how the people featured in the programme will react. There is a unwritten contract that you will treat their words with respect. Once you break that contract you destroy trust.

I can see that in the work of a few photographers. They tell themselves their story is more important than the people in the pictures.

No doubt some great work is produced that way and in some circumstances they might be right.

I think radio producers, though their work tends to reach much larger audiences, are pretty philosophical about what their work can or can’t achieve.

Give someone a voice. For me that’s enough, anything else is a bonus.

You can see and hear Samira in the photofilm duckrabbit produced for the BBC below. You honor both us and her by taking the time out to watch:

When is a photograph a lie?

duckrabbit — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:50:27 +0000

It’s hard to argue with a photographer when they point to a photo of their own that they once loved but now think is a ‘lie’.

Simon Sticker has done just that in an interesting post about a photo he took in Rwanda.

In photography he says, referring to his own pictures, a ‘lie’ does not have to be a staged photo or a photo-shopped monstrosity, it has much more to do with where the photo takes an audience when they look at it.

For me this is a really profound thought. Think about it. Why don’t we consider this more when we value a photo? Of course we do consider this a lot and sadly there has been a tendency to value photographs, particularly about the ‘other’, the developing world, that twist and bend the truth. That take us to a place that is no more real than believing the advert for Disneyland will give you the real America.

The classic example from recent years is Marco Vernashchi’s work in Guinea Bissau that is brilliantly executed but in terms of actual journalism was torn to pieces, and that’s before you even get into the question of just how much of it was staged!

Here’s an excerpt from Simon’s blog post (Story V Aesthetic). Do read it.

I remember one day in this old school in Rwanda where during the genocide 50.000 people were killed. Part of the dead bodies are conserved in the rooms and I was there to take photographs. A horrific place and the purpose of taking pictures was the only thing that kept me from emotionally breaking down while I was there. Later I was looking at the pictures and it striked me that some of them had this powerful aesthetics in it, what I loved at that time. Today I look at them and I’m not sure if I did a good job. Aesthetically, ya, maybe, but did I tell the story properly? I’m not sure. Another picture is nothing less than a lie for me today. There is nothing staged or so, but it is a lie, because of where it takes people that look at it. While I was in one of the rooms, I saw this big dirty part on the wall (no painting or something like that) that looked a bit like Africa in it’s form. With the head of one of the bodies in the foreground, a picture would create a powerful connection and tell a story. I was fascinated by that at the time. Easy to tell, easy to understand. But what I created was a stereotypical lie about Africa and the perception of the continent in the western world. It is just another excuse to make it easy to see no need to learn and understand more of the continent or ask.

The film that would win the World Press Multimedia Award (if there was a public vote)

duckrabbit — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:38:21 +0000

Obviously the top people at The World Press know a thing or two about how to run a competition. For their latest award, they’ve decided that the FIFA World Cup football selection model is the way to go. Well, not quite …

According to someone commenting on the duckrabbit the nominators of this years multimedia awards will remain anonymous until the award is announced.

Hello?

If we are to believe the comment, World Press’ argument is that the nominators will remain nameless to prevent them from being kidnapped (or influenced).

Hello?

Nominators will ask around if they are serious about finding the ‘best’ work. The people they work with, and their friends, will know that they are nominators and subtly they will be influenced. The people that won’t be able to get attention for their work are those on the outside.

Did it ever occur to anyone that sometimes the outsiders do the best work? Maybe. And maybe that’s why there is such a restrictive system (more to come on that conspiracy theory in another post).

Proof?

I teach photofilms on the masters programmes at London College of Communication. Four of the films made by my students are better then almost anything I saw last year. Have they been seen by anyone? No. Do they therefore stand any chance of being nominated? I doubt it. At least if I knew who was nominating I could approach them on my students behalf.

Do the people at World Press have the attitude that ‘we know best and we know the people who know best’?

Maybe they do know best. Probably better then me. But that can only be a hypothesis right? And all hypothesis’s need to be tested. In the age of the internet there are other ways of doing things, but if you are going to do nominations, be transparent and announce who has the power. Let people upload their work onto a site and let people debate the work.

Do an open and a closed competition.

On the off chance the nominators will really remain anonymous, below is the photo film (in my opinion) that should win. There is a high possibility that not a single nominator has seen it and that’s absurd.

In photofilms, when it comes to audiences, names mean nothing. Photographers, beautifully lit talking to the camera, mean nothing (its just cheap content), it’s all about the story.

Take ten minutes.

Like any decent photo film you HAVE to get to the end to appreciate it.

I don’t care what the jury says.

This is the best photo film of last year, or any year. It wounded me.

Bright Brass is a photofilm about a brass band of former street children in Kinshasa (Congo DRC). This self-funded film is made by Rachel Corner (photography) and Laurens Nijzink (audio). This photofilm appeared on the website of The Guardian on 16 novembre 2010.

In Kinshasa (Congo DRC), between an estimated 25.000 and 40.000 children are living on the street. They are either orphans or have been expelled by their families. Accusation of witchcraft is an often-cited reason for ousting a child from a household. Despite the violence and insecurity the children face on the street and the criminal activities and prostitution they sometimes have to employ in order to stay alive, many prefer street life to abuse at home.

Espace Masolo is a day centre that organizes French lessons and cultural activities – mainly their brass band – for street children taken in by other centers where they stay overnight. In Kinshasa it is rare to find such an organization that works with children on cultural projects. It is wonderful to see the brass band empowering these youngsters by giving them so much joy and self-confidence.

We have portrayed 3 children from this brass band. They tell their story about how they lost their families and what it means for them to play in the brass band. These are painful stories but, despite the burden they carry, the photofilm also shows how they found joy at Espace Masolo and that they radiate confidence about their future.

You can SUPPORT Espace Masolo by sending some money to their bank account at the BIAC (Banque Internationale pour l’Afrique au Congo). Account: 33000670101 CRSAA-Espace Masolo, Swift code: CCBPFRPP. This swift code is necessary for international transfers to the BIAC.

Open Eye, The Missing – Imm Aziz

duckrabbit — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:01:02 +0000

“If I had only known that my sons were going and that I would not see them again I would have thrown myself under the wheels of the truck that took them.” Imm Aziz

Palestinian Amina Hassan Banat, 78, better known for Imm Aziz, sits on a sofa placed under the framed portraits of her 4 sons at the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj el Barajneh on the southern suburbs of Beirut. Aziz (31), Ibrahim (25), Mansour (22) and Ahmed (13) were taken away by force in 1982 when militants stormed the house where they were having breakfast. Since then she has never seen them. Imm Aziz still hopes for their return. (C) Dalia Khamissy

The school bag of Ahmed, the youngest of Imm Aziz' sons, who was 13 years old when he was taken away by force in 1982, along with his 3 brothers. Imm Aziz kept all the belongings of her sons, at least those she could recover, in the hope that they will come back home one day. (C) Dalia Khamissy

The tweet said: Archive of audio & video interviews with 40 plus white photographers & one person of color

duckrabbit — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:51:46 +0000

duckrabbit followed it thinking that can’t be true, right?

PERSPECTIVE ON THIS (from the comment section):

Iamnotasuperstarphotographer:

“Good to see better gender representation though…

I am very happy to see that the glass ceiling is being put under pressure for the benefit of women. Any progress is good progress and I hope to see more great stories from a more diverse set of ideological perspectives.

As a person of “color”, I had long given up being accepted by the industry before I even tried to get in. I refused to produce stereotypical work of the suffering of non-white’s and the establishment was just not interested in listening to the need to show a different perspective – different stories.

A photographer (working with a large US agency now) once said to me “I do not want to see young black kids hanging out in their estates … I want to see what they really do… like mugging old pensioners”. This was within an educational establishment – a Masters degree – in a teaching capacity!!!

I told people that I would say were part of ‘the establishment’ what I had experienced, yet nothing was done to help me, defend me or condemn the racist comments. If I cannot be supported fighting the racist parts of an industry, what chance of a career in it?

It seemed like they just could not compute – as if to say look at what we do for people of “color” who suffer – how can this be true? How can we be racist? That is just not possible…

(I hate that term “color” as white is also a colour the last time I looked it up in a dictionary)

At the very least, this increase of gender equality forces the men to think better – look at Paolo Woods’ work in Iran and Africa – it is great stuff. I saw it in Arles this year and I though why not in Perpignan?

Maybe because Woods did not show any suffering minorities… just people living their lives the best they can given the situations they were born in.

Am I surprised at the level racial stereotyping that I have encountered? I was at first but not really anymore. Look at the sheer amount of “shanty town” stories out there…

Do I have a chance in this world of photojournalism? No way… it is tough enough for the really talented let alone for someone who is a woman and even worse, a ‘person of color’.

What am I expected to feel when I see images of ‘coloured people’ suffering for the economic gain of the few?

Do I think this is a big reason why PJ’ism is suffering? Yes. Most reasonable people in society are not racist or sexist and can see what is happening.

Do I think doing something that represents a different ideology can bring back audiences … absolutely… but not from the establishment.”

Some days it seems that all roads lead to the New York Times Lens Blog

duckrabbit — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:15:37 +0000

That the blog is edited by a photographer both with enormous talent and integrity and whom is still very much in love with the still image is one of the key reasons (@jamesestrin).

Everyday the Lens blog is a reminder that photography is alive and kicking.

If you have a spare ten minutes take a little journey.

Start with this story on LENS about white poverty in South Africa.

Then turn your eye to John Edwin Mason’s blog and get the story under the story. (Incidentally another photographer both with enormous talent and integrity and whom is still very much in love with the still image)

It just goes to show, that even if some days it feels like all roads lead to LENS, very often the road will take you out the other side and elsewhere. That’s the beauty of the net and especially of blogging. I love it.

New York, New York

duckrabbit — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:59:15 +0000

In this city, and the nation at large, no group has suffered more in the current recession than black men. The recent spike in joblessness that has nearly one in five black males unemployed in 2010 is the end result of decades of high unemployment rates for blacks, with devastating consequences for them as individuals, for their families, and for the neighborhoods in which they live.

Open Society Institute Event

Why is that as the evidence continues to stack up that established and and supposedly enlightened photographers refuse to enter a debate about race and photography, demeaning race as an unimportant distinction in measuring diversity?

This is what Gary Knight has to say when the make-up of VII photo agency was questioned (not by duckrabbit):

‘So for the record I would like to say that when it comes to VII – personally (thats important because we are all different at that pIace and I don’t speak for anyone else) – I don’t give a shit about diversity based on gender – or colour – they are way to trivial and limiting factors to consider when isolated like that – diversity based on culture, curiosity, interests, class, education, nationality, politics, spirituality, life experience, age, sexuality (not sex), geographical location – now you are talking – they are way more interesting than gender and skin colour – lets celebrate someone because of who they are not what they look like.‘

Now before you all jump in duckrabbit needs to point out that by all accounts Gary has done an awful lot to encourage photographers from many different countries in the world. He may or may not regret writing these words, and you have to admire him for saying something, but its indicative of a knee jerk reaction to the debate.

There’s a contradiction in making a living out of photographing inequality but refusing to even acknowledge how much a factor race is within your own industry. That’s an issue for all of us including us here at duckrabbit.

Nothing can change until a problem is acknowledged.

“Some kids I’ll describe as friends say I am race obsessed,
the luxury of your opinion shows that you are blessed.”