ANNOUNCEMENT | Aftermath Grant Winners Announced

"We had an incredibly strong group of 142 applicants this year — so strong that we named six finalists, instead of our usual three (in addition to our two grant winners). Here they are:

GRANT WINNERS:

$25,000 grant: Asim Rafiqui (Sweden/US), for his project, “The Idea of India: Religious and Cultural Pluralism as Resistance to Sectarian Conflict,” an exploration of the aftermath of religious conflict in India through documenting pluralist landscapes, shared sacred sites, shared cultural traditions and efforts at reconciliation within divided communities.

$15,000 grant: Louie Palu (Canada), for his project, “Home Front,” which explores and compares the experiences of American Vietnam War veterans, and returning soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Palu’s project focuses on the emotional and psychological issues faced by soldiers who return from war and the long-term effects they deal with as they try to reintegrate into their families and society.

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order):

Rodrigo Abd (Guatemala) – “Reclaiming the dead: mass graves in Guatemala, a story only partially told”

Andrea Bruce (US) – “Unseen Iraq”

David Monteleone (Italy) – “Russian Caucasus”

Saiful Huq Omi (Bangladesh) – “The Disowned and the Denied: the Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh”

Donald Weber (Canada) – “Firewalk: Life with Cluster Bombs in South Lebanon”

Ami Vitale (US) – “Kashmir: Lifting the Veil”

We will post the winners and finalists, along with examples of their work and their project statements, on our website early in the new year.

OF NOTE

Libia Posada (Colombia) — “Cardinal Signs” Although Libia’s work did not make it to finalist status, the judges wanted to call attention to her work, which is a fine art photographic approach to documenting the trials of Colombia’s internally displaced population. A medical doctor, Posada hand draws maps on the legs of people who have been on long, forced journeys within Colombia because of the violence there. The maps are the routes that the individual subject has taken as an internally displaced person. She then poses the individual for a photograph on a white background, shot from the knees down, showing the maps of the journeys. We felt it was a powerful way to portray an aftermath story, and one that reflects a different point of view. We wanted to acknowledge Posada as a way to encourage her and also to encourage other fine art photographers who may consider applying for Aftermath Project grants in the future.

EXHIBITION | Sander's Children | NYC

Sander's Children:
Figurative Photography in the Tradition of August Sander
December 3, 2008 - January 17, 2009

Danziger Projects
521 West 26th Street

More Info

FESTIVAL | Photo LA

Barker Hangar
3021 Airport Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90405

Friday, January 11th, 12pm - 8pm
Saturday, January 12th, 12pm - 8pm
Sunday, January 13th, 12pm - 6pm

More Info

EXHIBITION | Children of War: Broken Childhood | NYC

South Gallery of the Visitors Lobby at the United Nations Headquaters
November 20 - January 31, 2008

Opening: Thursday, 20 November at 6 p.m.

Press release

INCLUDING WORKS BY:

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images
Lynsey Addario
Chris de Bode/Panos
Colin Finlay
Riccardo Gangale
Cedric Gerbehaye
Jan Grarup/Noor
Tim A Hetherington
Roger Lemoyne
Peter Mantello
Franco Pagetti/VII
Olivier Pin-Fat/Agence VU
Marcelo Salinas
Dominic Sansoni
Q. Sakamaki
Tomas van Houtryve/PANOS
Kadir Van Lohuizen
Ami Vitale
Alvaro Ybarra Zavala/Agence VU

PORTFOLIO REVIEW | powerHouse Arena

The 5th Annual powerHouse Portfolio Review

Sunday, February 8, 2009

10:30am-5:30pm
The powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn

Registration is limited

More Info

TALK | Claw is Experienced in the ways of Danielle Levitt | NYC

"powerHouse arena and Paper magazine are pleased to invite you to join us for DANIELLE LEVITT in conversation with CLAW MONEY"

Thursday, December 11, 2008
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Powerhouse Arena
37 Main Street
Brooklyn, NY

7186663049
rsvp@powerhousearena.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS | World AIDS Day

To commemorate World AIDS Day, I compiled a list of selected photographers who have been devoted to documenting the epidemic and its effects as well as photo essays and campaigns:

Pep Bonet/NOOR, HIV AIDS Angola

Antonin Kratochvil/VII, AIDS in Congo and The Battle with AIDS

Joachim Ladefoged/VII, Living with AIDS and Sex Workers in Kinshasa

MSF, Mathare, Kenya - World AIDS Day 2008

MSF, WORLD AIDS DAY 2008: Brendan Bannon photography blog

MSF, My Life with AIDS

John Stanmeyer/VII, India's AIDS Crisis and Dr. Ho and China's AIDS Disaster

Francesco Zizola, AIDS, Zambia

I'll be adding many more so check back!

PANEL DISCUSSION | Witness: Photographers, Journalists, and Social Workers Respond to Tragedy | NYC

December 3, 2008
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Speakers: Grace Christ, Donna DeCesare, Jack Saul, Bruce Shapiro

"Unlike social workers or therapists—the witnesses of the helping professions—journalists and photographers function mainly to inform, interpret, and bridge rather than to help directly. Documentary photographers can inspire understanding and compassion with their images and can contribute to opening paths to assistance.

Yet, there are pitfalls and ethical challenges when documenting stories about communities or individuals who have been through traumatic experiences. This panel will explore ways to strengthen the impact of documentary practice, sharing knowledge and practices of inclusion across disciplines.

Panelists
• Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma (moderator)
• Grace Christ, Professor, Columbia University School of Social Work
• Donna DeCesare, Photographer and Associate Professor, University of Texas School of Journalism
• Jack Saul, Assistant Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

This event is jointly sponsored by the Open Society Institute Documentary Photography Project, the Columbia University School of Social Work, and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

DeCesare's exhibition Sharing Secrets: Children's Portraits Exposing Stigma is part of the Moving Walls 12 photography exhibition organized by the Open Society Institute and is currently on display at the Columbia School of Social Work. For more information about the Moving Walls exhibition, please visit www.movingwalls.org."

Location
Columbia University School of Social Work
1255 Amsterdam Avenue
(between 121st and 122nd Streets)
Concourse Level, Room C03
New York, NY

Contact:
Quito Ziegler
docphoto@sorosny.org
1-212-547-6909
Please RSVP

PHOTOGRAPHERS | Democratic Republic of Congo

In addition to the my previous post, Condition: Critical — Voices From the War in Eastern Congo, I wanted to include some other photographers apart from Cédric Gerbehaye/Agence Vu that have focused on the conflict in the DRC. The following is just a few:

Marcus Bleasdale/VII who has also published a book on his work, One Hundred Years of Darkness as well as a very powerful multimedia piece, Rape of a Nation.

Gary Knight/VII

Photographers from VII photo also collaborated on a project, Democratic Republic of Congo: Forgotten War, which resulted in a traveling exhibition as well as a multimedia piece.

Brent Stirton

In my search I also came across this blog that touched up on some very valid ethical issues.

I'll be adding more so check back...

CAMPAIGN | Condition: Critical — Voices From the War in Eastern Congo

MSF has put together this very powerful documentary - the personal voices of survivors fuse with the photographs of Cédric Gerbehaye/Agence Vu with such eloquence and dignity. I highly recommend watching this and passing it along...

"Hundreds of thousands of people are on the run, fleeing a war that rages in eastern Congo, in the provinces of North and South Kivu. They are frightened. Many are sick or wounded. Others have been harassed or raped, or have had everything they own stolen. The people of the Kivus are in a critical condition. The destiny of everyone in this region is shaped by the war. The story of their struggle to survive needs to be told.

Starting November 20, 2008, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will help the people of the Kivus speak out through this web site."

Condition: Critical — Voices From the War in Eastern Congo

Photography: Cédric Gerbehaye/Agence Vu
Audio+Video: MSF
Producer: Eric Maierson of MediaStorm
Graphics: Tim Klimowicz
Executive Producer: Brian Storm of MediaStorm