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Bronze Foundry
Back in May I had quick assignment at a bronze foundry. The pouring of bronze was cool, but I was especially attracted to the still lifes I saw. Thanks for looking.
In These Dark Canyons Part II
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled In These Dark Canyons – this is a continuation of this series. Largely created last winter, some sort of lovesong to the city.
What is photojournalism?
I was recently interviewed for a student’s class project, and the interviewee asked an interesting question. The question and my answer are below, but
I want to open this up – if you feel so inclined, I’d love to hear answers from more people. What is photojournalism?
Question: If you had to describe what you do to someone who had no idea what photojournalism was, what would you say?
Answer: Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I would say photojournalism is the cross breed between two-dimensional, visual art and journalistic ethic. At photojournalism’s worst, photographs can re-enforce stereotypes and strip people of their dignity (and when photojournalists are at their worst, they can be self-absorbed, vulture-like, inhumane people). But when photojournalism is working at it’s best, it sheds light on important issues, acts as a visual-historic record, holds peoples/societies/governments accountable, demands answers, empowers people and speaks truth to the darkness. When photojournalists are acting at their best, they aim for this and recognize it is their job to strive for these things. Photographers should be as selfless as possible – recognizing that the events and people on the other side of the camera are far more important than they are.
Also – just found this frame from the Belmont Stakes from last June. The image is © 2011, Reuters.
Logan Franks for LAVA Magazine
Last January (2011) I had the great pleasure of photographing Logan Franks – a triathlete – for LAVA magazine.
Logan’s story is pretty awe inspiring: He’s a Marine – a turret gunner to be exact – and during his 2009 deployment in Iraq he found himself stationed at one of Saddam Hussein’s mansions. Logan never considered himself the strongest swimmer so he decided to spend some spare time training in Hussein’s pool. Apparently, he got very, very good at swimming, very fast.
Upon returning to the states, Logan became interested in triathlons, and entered to 2010 Lake Placid triathlon – it would be his first. Turns out, he finished 11th overall, immediately qualifying him for the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. And when he got to Kona, he finished first among Americans.Good lord, this man is a machine.
But what I enjoyed most about my time with Logan was his attitude – he’s just one of the nicest, friendliest guys I’ve ever met. We met at a studio in Brooklyn on an incredibly wet, rainy day – I had asked him to bring everything with him – his $6000 bike, the training stand, his clothing, swim gear, everything. Considering how much gear he had, the terrible weather and the fact that he didn’t know Brooklyn very well, it could have been a very long day of shooting. Instead, he showed up with a huge smile, and by the end of the day we were getting burritos together.
The icing on the cake is that I got my first magazine cover from the shoot – all in all, an incredible assignment. A huge thanks to Logan for being such a great subject, lighting expert Drew Jordan, who was an assistant on the shoot, and of course, Brad Culp and Jenn Ward Barber at LAVA, who gave me the assignment.
In Dreams
Long exposures from last winter during a late night road trip with friends. Taken from the backseat of a car. Early in the freelance adventure, when things were much more unstable and I was a lot more nervous. Looking back, it’s funny how fitting these photos are for how I was feeling at the time.
Last few frames from UNESCO
Nothing too exciting in this post – just a few final frames from walking around the outside of the UNESCO building
two weeks ago. What a crazy, kooky, cold-war-era building.
10 Young Journalists to Watch
Please read the following blog post. This isn’t about me, or some cool assignment I was given. This is about 9 journalists who impressed the hell out of me. It’s about amazing people I want to share with you, who are doing good things, who are making the journalism industry, actually, the entire world, a better place. Thanks much.
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Like any other professional journalist, I have lots of co-workers, colleagues and friends in the industry (shocker). Typically I use this blog as a platform for what I’ve been doing – not for highlighting other people or their work. But I was so impressed and humbled by my new journalist friends from Paris, I want to spend this blog post talking about them – they are truly the next generation of journalists. Salaries and job protection and “this-industry-is-going-into-the-shitter,-fast” aside, these 9 people are really impressive. If you live in the same region of the world as them, you should be paying attention.
The one caveat I need to issue is this: the nine of us spent much of last week apart from each other, running around, gathering stories, working long hours in a large building. Naturally and unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend as much time with everyone. I got to know some people better, other people not as well. I wish I had incredible stories about each of these journalists, but that’s not the way these things go. Still – it needs to be stressed – for what these people are doing in their regions of the world – for how they are pushing boundaries and evolving the field of journalism – they are incredible, incredible people. Also – beyond their journalist integrity, they are all-around good humans, with incredible backgrounds and lives and stories. I want to highlight both of these aspects (personal and professional) in the following words.
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Ali Fakhry, Lebanon,
• Named one of the top-10 bloggers in Lebanon, author of two books, self proclaimed poet
• Co-Founder of Youth Against Normalization&Anti Racism Movement
http://www.AntiRacismMovement.blogspot.com
Ali is Lebanese and lives in Beirut, though he was born and raised in Cote d’Ivoire until the age of 18. What makes him so great is his rich, thoughtful, incredibly happy personality. He has a deep, bellowing voice and lights up a room. He is very funny and charming. Frankly, you can’t help but like him. But that’s just his personality. As a journalist, he is tenacious and thorough, who has a clear mind made up to see the Arab world become a more peaceful place. I think it speaks volumes that by the end of the week, the Arab delegates had written him a thank you card for being so thorough in his investigations of their pursuits.
And while he is clear about his support of Palestine, he is also incredibly clear and articulate about his support for all races, peoples and ethnicities including the Jewish community. Throughout the week he was consistently trying to avoid the idea of a conflict, and instead look at the situation as a whole, more idealistically – through the scope that both groups of people are valid members of a global society, and both should have a voice.
Let me rewind, maybe I should put it this way, because I don’t want to get too political myself: I was raised in a sleepy, hippy town in Oregon by parent’s who didn’t pay much attention to international news. To my knowledge, I didn’t have any friends who practiced Judaism or Islam, and to my knowledge, I didn’t have friends who actively supported Israel or Palestine. I wasn’t raised with a clear and well-defined understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – which is to say that I still don’t have a clear or well defined stance on the entire situation. But throughout the entire week, I was consistently impressed by Ali’s ability to see both sides of the situation, explain things factually and speak articulately about both group’s praise-worth actions and their misgivings. He was eloquent and thoughtful, willing to admit his own mistakes as quickly as he was willing to defend his beliefs. More than anything, Ali gave me hope for the future of the Middle east.
One of the funniest, most embarrassing, ridiculous moments of the week included Ali and I, when he came to me in my makeshift studio in a rush of sweat and heavy breathing (though it should be said, this mishap is not a reflection of his journalistic integrity. It was a moment of personal humor).
“Andrew!” he bellowed, “you must photograph Mousa Mosawy, he is an incredible Iraqi speaker, he is in a wheel chair and he is headed your way in a few moments.”
“Oh wow, Ok, that sounds good – do you know why he’s in a wheel chair?” I responded.
“You won’t believe it! He was bombed during the Iraqi war.”
“Oh my god!” I exclaimed, “that’s terrible. By whom, the U.S.?”
“No! Even worse, by Al Qaeda!”
“Oh my goodness, I better get the full story.”
Moments later Mousa showed up. He was easy going and comfortable in front of the camera. Mousa joked around with Ali in Arabic the entire time, he hardly paid any attention to me. Once I finish making his portrait, I went and knelt beside him. “Mousa, do you mind spelling your name, I want to make sure I have it right,” I asked.
“What?” he responded.
“Oh I’m sorry – would it be easier for Ali to translate into Arabic?”
He looked at me with the most confused eyes.
“Dude, I just didn’t hear you,” he said in perfect American English. “I go to UMass at Boston – I’ve gotten A+’s in all my English courses.”
-Gah! Strike number one – I thought to myself – better not screw this up.
“Oh, hah, sorry about that,” I nervously laughed. “Hey I’m sorry to ask you this, but would you mind explaining…”
My mouth went dry for a minute. This was going to be a tough conversation if Ali had gotten it wrong and the US was behind Mousa’s injuries. I needed to be delicate.
Mousa’s eyes squint.
“I don’t want to be insensitive, I just want to understand you and your story better. Would you mind explaining the story of how you got in a wheelchair?”
His eyes held their confused gaze towards me; he looked taken aback.
My muscles tightened.
Then he laughed.
“Dude I was just born this way,” he chuckled. “Not much of a story – I had some surgeries and i could walk for a little while, but it didn’t work out. Just a birth defect”
“Ah, right.” I exhaled. “Well then…”
And I glared at Ali, who turned away giggling uncontrollably at his own mistake (he swears he had heard otherwise).
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Rajneesh Bhandari, Nepal
• Reporter with Kantipur T.V.
http://rajneesh.com.np/
Beyond Rajneesh’s impeccable resume – working for Kantipur T.V. in Nepal, traveling around the world for stories in the Congo, Philippines, Thailand and India, freelancing for the LA Times, etc – what impressed me most about him is that he’s breaking new ground in Nepal with his journalistic tactics.
The entire week, he shot and edited videos on a DSLR (a still-photography camera that is able to shoot videos). This is something (according to Rajneesh) that no other Nepalese journalists are doing yet. And while I was busy being a (slightly self-absorbed) artiste with my little portrait studio, Rajneesh was busy covering the events as a real photojournalist – constantly transmitting photos, blogging, tweeting, posting videos on YouTube and Vimeo, and sending links to his contacts on Facebook.
Rajneesh is a quiet, reserved person who I did not get to know well, but damnit if he didn’t impress and humble the hell out of me. Plus, I’ve always needed an excuse to go to Kathmandu.
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Hend Sallam, Egypt
• Journalist with Bikya Masr
• Activist during the Tahrir Square Revolution
http://bikyamasr.com/author/hend-sallam/
Hend is this thoughtful, articulate, tenacious, fiery Egyptian girl who is at the front lines of redefining what it means to be a woman in the Arab world. In fact, when I asked her, What’s the one thing you want to see change in Egypt, she responded, “I want to change men’s perceptions about Egyptian women – particularly Arab Women. I want to change what people think of Arab veiled woman. Most of the men in Egypt don’t believe in what women can do. What is even more unfortunate is that most women don’t believe in their abilities and what they can do, either. I want this to be changed- I dream to see women’s empowerment happening in my country..”
Damn this woman is cool.
What also impressed me about Hend is the fact that she is at the front lines of history in her country. She was an active member of the Tahrir Square revolution and camped their with friends, actively blogging during the revolution. Miguel (the Chilean) and I had this ‘oh shit!’ moment one day as we sat with her. Journalists usually write about what others are doing, or point their lenses at someone else’s actions. But Hend is a part of that movement, she is both an activist in the revolution and a journalist covering it. Miguel and I witness history on occasion, she is history. I couldn’t be more proud to call her my friend.
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Doudou Kajangu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Radio producer
• Founder and editor-in-chief of MOSAIC, a journal for youth in the sub-region of the African Great Lakes
• Media Producer for “Search For Common Ground,” an U.S. international organization working towards conflict resolution
• Freelance broadcast journalist with TV50
http://congoblog.net
http://doudoukajangu.blogspot.com
http://mutaani.com
DouDou and I had a language barrier between us – he spoke French and numerous dialects of his native tongue in D.R.Congo, as well as limited English (which he was better at than he gave himself credit for). I only spoke English (like far too many daft US citizens).
Unfortunately this put us at a huge disadvantage, even though we were sharing a hotel room. Even with the language barrier though, it was clear from the beginning that he had (or has) a sharp, quick mind and the abilities of a skilled orator . Anytime I watched him interview someone he spoke quickly and passionately, furrowing his brow whilst listening to answers, scribbling answers on his notepad, then retorting with further questions. It was obvious he didn’t accept sound bites or bullshit, and I don’t think I saw him relax once the entire week. If he wasn’t deep in interviews, he was analyzing the dialog of the conferences, or frantically typing over his keyboard. It’s funny how much you an learn about a person without ever needing to speak to them.
On the last night of the conference Doudou and I had a chance to sit down for a meal together and talk to one another through a translator. We agreed that it was a shame we weren’t able to communicate more, but that someday in the future, we would talk about our lives, the conference, all that we had learned. As we finished up at the bar, we shook hands – he was going back to the hotel, I was going for a nightcap with a few others. “Well Doudou” I said, “I hope we can see each other again, but if not, it was a real pleasure.”
“It’s ok, Andrew,” he grinned, “I will see you tonight in bed.”
We both burst out laughing. This was the most clear communication we had shared all week. Nothing like a bit of international homoerotic humor to bridge a language gap.
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(And if I can criticize my own nation for a moment, I just have to say, it is absurd, illogical, near-sighted and dimwitted of us to not require students to become fluent at least one, if not two, other languages. I fully admit my own personal mistakes here – I skated through high school and college taking bare-minimum language classes because it wasn’t something I was interested in at the time. I regret that so much. The only reason I was afforded the ability to not care more about language is because the United States (for the most part) is an isolated country where English is the dominant language (I make this statement when comparing English in the states to the proximity of numerous languages throughout Europe, Asia and Africa). Throughout the rest of the world language classes are mandatory starting in grade school – not just for educational purposes – for real life skills.
The other nine journalists could all speak variations of Arabic, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Nepali, Khmer and/or the native tongues from the D.R. Congo and Nigeria. It was me, the ignorant US citizen, who consistently had to pull the group conversations back into English. As a nation, we should get off our high horses and demand our educational systems teach today’s youth numerous languages.)
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Yours Truly, The United States
Because I was a part of the team, and I had an amazing week, and I’m proud of the portraits I made.
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Kounila Keo, Cambodia
• Podcaster, blogger
http://www.blueladyblog.com
Unfortunately, Kounila was oneof the journalists I didn’t get to know as well – every time we saw each other we were in a rush – flying past one another in hallways, or sitting on opposite sides of the room typing away on deadline. But I think it speaks volumes that Friday morning, the morning Kounila left Paris for Cambodia, Martina (the Italian) came to my hotel room and knocked softly on the door.
“Hey, Kounila feels really bad that she couldn’t deliver this in person, but she wants you to know that it was a real pleasure getting to work with you this week.”
Martina then handed me an authentic scarf from Cambodia – similar to the one Kounila herself had been wearing all week. As it turns out, Kounila had brought one scarf for all the young journalists as gifts. I wore mine with pride throughout the weekend (and yes, it is a classic photo scarf, which makes me love it all the more). What a cool girl. I hope to run into her again.
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Jennifer Ehidiamen, Nigeria
• Reporter at Global Press Institute
• Feature Editor at Celebrating Progress Africa
• Winner of the 2010 LEAP Africa Nigerian Youth Leadership Award
http://www.youthmakingchange.blogspot.com
Jennifer might have been the kindest person I met all week, and maybe the most photogenic as well. I love this portrait of her. But beyond her good looks, she is a mavrick wordsmith- she runs her own blog, works at two newspapers in Nigeria and has published a book of poetry as well. Quite impressive.
What I found most impressive about Jennifer is that she is breaking new ground in her country (along side Doudou, Rajneesh and Kounila). Anyone and everyone in the US and Europe has a blog. Dime a dozen. The chances of me saying something that hasn’t already been said one thousand times in the echo chambers of Euro-American media spheres is very difficult.
But it’s much harder to find, and much riskier to maintain, a blog with journalistic value and integrity in countries ripe with guerilla wars, corruption, pirates and generalized instability. I tip my hat, and am humbled, by journalists like Jennifer, who are constantly on the hunt for the truth in these countries. Brava.
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Miguel Soffia Serrano, Chile
• Documentary film maker
http://www.CampHopeChile.com
http://www.docucampamentoesperanza.blogspot.com
http:// www.respiracciones.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/miguelsoffia
http://www.vimeo.com/miguelsoffia
Miguel’s pretty much a badass. A documentary film maker from Chile, he has a photographer’s eye, an editors mind, an executive producer’s business savvy and a director’s managerial skills. He’s already worked for the BBC, Al Jazeera and PBS. He was flown to London for two months to make an entire 60 minutes segment. He’s 24 years old and has a documentary film coming out about the 33 chilean miners. The film isn’t the feel good story the media told, either. He actually dug (pun!) into the story and found the truth. He’s a real stand up guy. I’m glad we got a long.
More than anything, what made Miguel stand out to me was his willingness to fight for the country of Chile as an activist journalist (dirty word? I think not). It hasn’t gotten much play in the North American media circles, but Chile is currently in the middle of a huge educational revolution / crisis that has been going on for many months. As Miguel will quickly tell you, UNESCO (which is in charge of UN policies on education) recommends 7% of a state’s internal budget go towards education. Chile only spends 3.1%. Countless young people are fed up with shitty education. Students are protesting, but the politics are grid-locked and things are getting more and more tense south of the equator.
When Miguel learned Chile had failed to send youth delegates to the very conference he was covering, he became livid and quickly appointed himself the unofficial delegate. From that point on, he simultaneously reported on education’s role in the conference and also championed the need for free, public education in Chile and around the world.
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To those of you who say, ‘But where is the journalistic integrity? Where is the objective reporting? Where is the equal-voiced fact checking?’ I call bullshit.
Our generation (the millenials), as we come into adulthood, believe less and less in the media machine and their claims of unbiased reporting (thanks, Fox news, what up, MSNBC). We are less and less willing to listen to anyone who claims to have ‘only the facts, and no opinion.’
We cry ‘bullshit, bullshit, bullshit’.
As humans, we all have an opinion. Everyone has their own thoughts and voice. Contrary to (failed) popular belief, journalists are not autonomous, altruistic actors reporting within a vacuum. They’ve got thoughts and opinions.
And the Millennial generation is ok with that, we just want to hear it said out loud, so we know what we’re being told. What we’d rather see, and what Miguel offered the conference last week, is a voice that says, ‘this is what I believe, this is why I believe it, this is what I suggest be done.’
And It should be noted, to act as a reporter with an actual opinion takes much bigger balls. It means you have to actually stand up for what you’re saying. It removes the shield of ‘Oh I’m just an objective journalist.’
If or when the activist journalist is wrong, they have to own it, apologize and correct themselves. If or when that journalist is right, they have the opportunity to be humble and pray others will change their view points. More than anything else in journalism, I think this is what my generation wants from the media.
It’d be so much nicer for journalist organizations to take a stand – Instead of saying, “we attempt to uncover corruption and human rights abuses and bad things in the world – but we do it with no bias or purpose,” it’d be nice to hear an organization stand up and proclaim, ‘we report on this because we think it is evil, and the best way to make the world a better place is to do this instead.”
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Anyway, Miguel stood up last week. Literally. During the closing, final conference, when the journalists were asked to stand up for recognition, he held his Chilean flag high in the air, for all to see. Printed across the flag it said “La Educacion es un derecho” Education is a right. The crowd roared with applause.
On the personal level, there are far too many, far too hilarious, far too personal stories from the past week to share here. I will say, though, he called me a “trashcan head” for not reading a certain contract more closely. I thought that was a pretty creative insult. I appreciate him and look forward to working with him in the future.
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Laura Garciandia, Cuba (living in Mexico City)
• News producer for Grupo Televisa
http://ayudalosallegar.blogspot.com/
Martina Castigliani, Italy
• Freelance journalist with la Gazzetta di Reggio and Il Venerdì di Repubblica,
• Masters candidate at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
http://earthands.wordpress.com/
http://www.caffenews.it/
Both these women deserve to have entire stories written about them (and by the end of their lives, I can promise you, they will deserve to have entire books written about them) but for the sake of space, I want to combine my memory of them, because together they created the single most important, memorable moment of the entire week. Laura and Martina were, without a doubt, the best journalists out of all of us. Because they wanted answers, and they simply didn’t take no for an answer. Save the best for last.
So, the characters:
Laura is a small, fiery Cuban girl with thoughtful mind, a rich laugh, a deep heart and sharp tongue.
Martina is naturally quiet and non confrontational, but she is also incredibly mature – wise beyond her 24-years.
When you touch on a topic either of them care about, they both become tenacious, unrelenting, demanding. I wouldn’t attempt lying to them.
To set the scene:
It’s the last day of the Youth Forum. In general, things have gone well, though there have been bumps in the road. The delegates have been complaining that they weren’t given the chance to speak more. Many were frustrated that the issues they cared most about weren’t discussed enough, many didn’t think their voices were being heard. (In reality, I would imagine these complaints are the status quo of any conference with hundreds of delegates).
But the important thing is that the 10 journalists were paying attention throughout the week, taking notes and keeping our fingers on the pulse of the conference, because at the end of the week, we were supposed to have a live question-and-answer time with the Direct General of UNESCO, on stage in front of the two hundred delegates.
This was considered a huge honor – none of the delegates had been allowed to speak with the DG all week, and we journalists were considered their voice-box.
But the final drafting committee ran late on the final day, and at the last moment, after two hours of waiting and preparing, the Q-and-A session was canceled. The DG would not meet with us, we would not get to ask our questions, the delegates would not get their answers.
I have to admit, I become quite blasé about it, nearly instantly. I had been focused on my little portraits, and while it was frustrating to be canceled, I didn’t much care. I walked out of the conference hall thinking, “If the DG doesn’t have time for me, I won’t have time for her.”
But no one was in the foyer when I left, so I wandered back into the conference and found Miguel sitting near the back. I plopped down next to him and we grumbled as the closing speeches were made.
But then, in a rush of commotion, we saw two figures suddenly standing up amidst an auditorium of 400 delegates, speakers and observers. It was Martina and Laura. They were refusing to let the Director General leave without asking their questions. They were in the very first row, standing tall and proud, with their hands in the air. The speaker tried to ignore them. But everyone was now watching and the speaker was distracted. Suddenly he attempted to finish his speech and the DG began walking off stage, refusing to recognize the situation.
At this point, Martina and Laura rushed the stage.
The closing ceremonies were supposed to include delegates coming on stage to hold their state’s flags in the air in a display of global unity, but now delegates became confused about what to do – some of them came on stage to hoist their flags, but Martina successfully wrestled the microphone from the MC and demanded everyone sit back down. Meanwhile, Miguel and I surged forward to be with them, as the six other journalists poured onto the stage as well.
The whole time, Martina was calm but driven. She took the microphone, introduced herself and asked everyone to “please sit down.” She had the audience in a trance as she explained how the organization tried to screen our questions, but now she didn’t care – she wanted answers.
The crowd went wild with applause.
We then each took turns asking our questions to a nonexistent Director General. Every question received hoots and hollers from the crowd – why weren’t the youth delegates allowed to speak more, as originally promised? Why doesn’t UNESCO pay their interns – who work 14 hour days? What does UNESCO plan on doing to improve youth employment? How will UNESCO ensure the Arab spring improves the lives of those who over threw their dictators?
The delegates sat their in complete silence, nodding their heads, cheering for questions they supported and later, thanking us for demanding that our voices be heard. Martina and Laura single-handedly threw the entire closing ceremonies, demanding to ask their questions, to hold the Director General accountable, to give the delegates the answers they have asked for all week.
That night, Miguel and I commented on how in that moment, when Martina and Laura first stood up and raised there hands, we felt like the biggest cowards. We should have had the journalistic tenacity and integrity to stand their with them from the beginning. We agreed they were some of the most amazing women we had ever met.
Thanks for reading. Back to normal photo posting next week.
Portraits of Youth
Each UNESCO Youth delegate was asked “What is the one thing you would change about your country”
The way the government looks at young people needs to change. — Mohamed Maouloud, youth delegate for Mauritania, age 23
Last week I was honored to participate in UNESCO’s 7th Youth Forum in Paris, France. I was brought on as the ‘young journalist representative’ for North America, and was a member of a 10-person-team of young journalists from around the globe. We were commissioned to document the forum in whatever way we desired.
What needs to change? First and foremost, government policies and the implantation of youth involvement in government life. — Johnpaul Usman, youth delegate for Nigeria , age 19
Throughout the week, over 200 youth delegates from around the world crafted a bill that will be read to the UNESCO General Conference in the first week of November 2011 (for better understanding, read my previous blog post where most of this is explained). The idea is that the Youth Forum gives young people (defined as under 24) a chance to come together, discuss the matters most urgent to them, draft a bill, and have their voice heard at the General Conference.
The entire mentality needs to change. Everything would change if the people could change that. — Gaida al-Dhobee, youth delegate for Yemen, age 21
What was most invigorating about the past week was the free reign I was given to document the conference. UNESCCO told the 10 journalists that we had each been brought on to the team for our unique journalistic approach and our willingness to think outside the box. Realizing that I didn’t want to spend a week making podium photos and delegates arguing in a large room, I worked with UNESCO to create a make-shift studio in the foyer of the building, and set out to create a portrait series of the delegates. The UNESCO team was incredibly helpful with securing a few TV studio lights, a table cloth for a back drop, and space to set up. The portraits below are the final product of this past week.
(Upon hearing the suggestion, “get people living in the tents after the earthquakes into homes again,” he responded) No, that isn’t enough. Education – it’s the only thing people are guaranteed to still have tomorrow. — Djef Pierre, youth delegate for Haiti, age 20
Perhaps the most important thing about this project are the answers I received to a question I asked each delegate: “What is the one thing you would change about your country?” The answers were astounding, and in my opinion, add volumes of information to the portraits. Some answers confirmed stereotypes, others destroyed them. I encouraged delegates to answer from their hearts, and to answer as quickly as they could. Without a doubt, the most common response was ‘ we need better access to education’, and/or ‘an increase in youth employment.’
The violence. — Carmen Liliana, youth delegate for Colombia, age 22
I decided to not put the quotes in direction quotation marks because English is a second language for many delegates, and their statements would look a little odd if written down verbatim. If a delegate said, “I am thinking it is a good idea for education to be the thing changed in my country,” I wrote, “I think education needs to be changed in my country.” As a journalist, It’s never my goal to skew the words of anyone.
i wouldn’t change anything, because if I change something, It wont be the same country I know. — Jose Javier Maldonado, youth delegate for Colombia, age 21
In total, I probably photographed 150 people, give or take. Of that, 54 people were chosen to be on the blog, based on their photo, the quote they gave and the region they represented. I’ve worked hard to show an honest representation of delegates. Of the 54 people depicted below, 29 are women, which corresponds well with the fact that 54% of the delegates were women. There is also a greater number of delegates from North America and Europe shown because they had a larger showing of delegates.
Traditional hierarchy within government and business structures need to change. The current models were created after World War Two but don’t fit a modern society. The world gave so much money after the earthquake and tsunami, yet the victims never saw any of it. — Aya Imai, youth delegate for Japan, age 22
The exact numbers are below:
59 photos total
54 people photographed (5 people have two photos – Forest Whitaker and the delegates from the United States, Iraq, Nigeria and Turkey)
29 women represented
North America / Europe: 13 delegates
Africa: 9 delegates
Asia: 8 delegates
Middle East: 9 delegates
Latin / South America: 8 delegates
Speakers / Volunteers: 7
Mental changes. I think that it is possible to live in a much better world. The aim is to believe, have faith, that we are becoming powerful. That is the first change in our country, in the youth, and now it is beginning to occur in Armenia. — Hayk Mamijanyan, youth delegate for Armenia, age 21
Regarding the photos themselves: I would not, by any means, consider myself a portrait photographer. If I was going to be totally honest, I would say the studio actually intimidates the hell out of me. Historically speaking, I have been much more interested in witnessing (through photojournalism) than creating (with studio photography). But the conference seemed to offer me an excellent challenge and opportunity, and I became very excited to tackle a new form of photography.
Education. (‘Really?’ I respond, ‘Everyone says that. Isn’t that a bit diplomatic?’) Ok, well…the pavement is too dirty. It’s disgusting. I’m sorry but it’s the first thing that came to mind. Well, I mean in Paris, of course. — Claire-Helena Frileux, youth delegate for France, age 23
We only had two lights available, which we borrowed from the UNESCO T.V. studio. They stayed in the same position the entire time (the key light was occasionally adjusted for height, depending if the person was sitting or standing). I wanted the lighting to be basic but dynamic, and as I look back through the photos now, I find it astounding how the lighting depicts delegates differently, depending on their attitude, personality and mood. The key light sat about 4 feet from the subject at a 45 degree angle, the back light sat about 6 feet from the subject at a nearly perpendicular angle. I wanted the photos to speak about the subject and not about the photographer. I opted for a black (table cloth) background to keep things simple and clean. Again, I wanted this to be solely about the delegates.
In Kuwait, we don’t have many serious problems. When I am here I feel ashamed when I listen to the problems other states. In comparison, our problems in Kuwait seem silly. — Yousef al-Wazzan, youth delegate for Kuwait, age 20
I tried to direct each candidate as little as possible. I found it incredibly interesting to see how people naturally reacted to standing for a portrait. The Iraqi delegates’ photo was completely unscripted and is one of my favorite frames from the week. Occasionally I asked a delegate, “look over your shoulder, raise your chin, close your mouth, look out into the infinite, etc, but for the most part, I tried to let the delegates control themselves as much as possible.
I would enable the freedom of speech. — Elif Eser Ozgirgin, youth delegate for Turkey, age 19
It was also a real honor to photograph people who had never had a professional photo taken of them before. Each delegate is being sent their photos, and I couldn’t be more happy to give this work away – it’s the least I can do. Some of the happiest people I photographed were the delegates from Yemen, Greece, Thailand, Egypt, Nigeria and Haiti. A few of the most somber subjects included the Spanish revolutionary leader and the delegates from Colombia, Guatemala and Turkey. The two most difficult portraits were probably Russia and Cuba. And without a doubt, photographing the Iraqi and Afghani delegates were two of the most humbling moments of my career thus far.
Education, it changes everything. — Esraa Abdelmoniem, youth delegate for Iraq, age 20
I want to stop the war on terror and bring real democracy, sustainable security and peace to Afghanistan. — Sifatallah Rahimee, youth delegate for Afghanistan, age 23
Also, a huge thank you to the incredibly brave delegate from the country situated between Iraq and Afghanistan, who made it clear, ‘Yes, please take my photo, use it, but if you don’t mind, please don’t use my name, and I’m sorry, but I can’t answer any questions about my country.’
Preferred to not give name, age or answer question.
In closing, all I can say is that it was an incredibly special, beautiful, humbling week. A real watershed moment in my career. What an honor it was, to meet peers from around the world, to listen to their thoughts, to commune with them and speak of our lives. I have great hope for our generation and what we will be able to accomplish together. I think my generation, more so than any other generation before us, has ability to connect with each other (thank you, social media), empathize with what we are going through in all corners of the globe, and recognize the problems our world faces. I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity. I made some incredible new friends.
It’s very simple. UNESCO recommends each country spend 7% of it’s internal budget on education, yet Chile is only spending 3.1% This is ridiculous. Education is a right, not a commodity. — Miguel Soffia Serrano, Chilean youth journalist, documentary film maker, education activist, age 24
A huge thank you to everyone at UNESCO (Steph Wells, you are amazing) for helping me out with this, and the volunteers who spent four days running all over the building to find delegates.I will not forget this past week. As always, thanks for looking at the blog.
Women’s rights. It’s already changing, it’s changing a lot. And I want to be apart of that change. — Aljouhara Al Baler, youth delegate for Saudi Arabia, age 19
Change is a constant. It is in continual motion. It is up to us to move its wheel toward good. — Forest Whitaker, Academy-Award winning actor and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
Education, employment and gender bias. — Akanksha Gulia, UNESCO 7th Youth Forum speaker from India, age 22
In Romania we were born thinking, ‘it’s ok, let it be.’ But this is wrong – I would change the mentality – ‘just do it. change it.’ — Delia Marinesco, youth delegate for Romania, age 20
A greater support network created by youth, for youth. More peer encouragement, especially in the inner cities. — Andrew Hanna, youth delegate for the United States. age 19
There are so many issues…gender discrimination and people with disabilities. — Akexeeva Maria, youth delegate for Russia, age 20
Security. So many young people are going into a criminal lifestyle. — Alejandro Moreno-Perez, age 22
I think I can defend better than anyone the right to free, public education to other Latin American students. — Nirza Garcia, youth delegate for Cuba, age 21
Left: Education – we need to make it more practical. It shouldn’t just be for passing exams. — Guan Wang, youth delegate for China, age 24
Right: The values of the youth, the values of the people. Our values are changing, and they’re no longer like ancient Confuscious values. There should be more value towards people and morality, not money. Qingqing Han, youth delegate for China, age 25
I would change what has been untouchable for ages: the mafia which runs the state. The youth of Italy don’t have the hope – we can’t even comprehend – a society without the mafia, they have been untouchable for so long. — Martina Castigliani, Italian youth journalist, masters candidate in politics at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (in Paris) , age 24
Education for everyone. — Pankaj Gaihre, youth delegate for Nepal, age 20
I would put into action all of the environmental commitments the government has made. There have been leaders, yet no action. — Isabel Bottoms, youth delegate for the United Kingdom, age 20
I want to change men’s perceptions about Egyptian women – particularly Arab Women. I want to change what people think of Arab veiled woman. Most of the men in Egypt don’t believe in what women can do. Whst is even more unfortunate is that most women don’t believe in their abilities and what they can do, either. I want this to be changed- I dream to see women’s empowerment happening in my country. Hend Sallam, youth journalist delegate for the Middle East, age 24.
Racism should come to an end. — Peter Linyoneli, youth delegate for Namibia, age 23
My answer is global – access to education for all. — Spaïcy Bazile, Canadian-born Haitian singer and special performer at the Youth Forum
My change would not be for where I was born, but regarding the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. We need a one state solution, where both parties have equal representation. A two state solution, especially based on the 1967 war borders will never work. That leaves Palestine with less than 30% of their original land. And it needs to be said, I say that as a person without any racism in my heart, and many Jewish friends. I have tried to look at the situation as honestly as I can. — Ali Latifa Fakhry, youth journalist and professional blogger based in Beirut and Cote d’Ivoire, age 24
I want to see young people having a greater effect on leadership. –Felogene Anumo, youth delegate for Kenya, age 24
I would change the way the Iraqi government is run. The people in office don’t deserve to be there, and as Iraqis we can do better. — Mousa Mosawy, Iraqi, Organizer of emergency
support during the American-Iraq war, now studying at University of Massachusetts – Boston, age 19
In Oman we have great diversity – in people, the environment, our economics – and I’d like to combine that diversity with today’s youth and social work. — Amal al Mashaikhi, youth delegate for Oman, age 24
Education, more social and human targeted education- less government control. I’d like to adopt the Japanese model of education. — Alon Meidan, youth delegate for Israel, age 25
Left: More volunteers, and space for bicycles – I’m a bicyclist and there is no room — Stravroula Baka, youth delegate for Greece, age 22
Right: I’m thinking about social growth, to see progressive alternatives in social values and behavior, leading to a regeneration of cultures. Personal development, participating in both formal and informal activities. — Eleni-Ionna Semitelou, youth delegate for Greece, age 25
I would like to see lifestyle changes in education. I want to see more opportunities to learn outside the classroom. People need to learn how to adapt to learn, how to change their communities. — Kritsada Punyapratheep, youth delegate for Thailand, age 23
I would change the history. Some very precise decisions in history that would make the world a better place. — Sonja Nektarijevic, youth delegate from Serbia, age 26
The Maras situation. — Marina Leticia Gonzalez Majorga, youth delegate for Guatemala, age 22
The autocracy of the people currently in power (post 2011 revolution). — Seba Moustafa, youth delegate for Egypt, age 20
Insuring pensions for youth. We are paying for our parents with no guarantee of having one ourselves. — Jean de La Rochard, French employee at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, age 22
More people need to be open to other cultures. Too many people don’t pay any attention to what others are doing. — Lamia Jouini, youth delegate from Tunisia, age 23
The freedom to be who you are. — Damithri Welikala, youth delegate for Sri Lanka, age 23
I mean, a new prime minister would be nice. — Paulo Petrocelli, youth delegate for Italy, age 27
Youth unemployment. — Silvia Terronemployee, Spanish employee at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, age 31
We need to find a way to have more employment for the youth. — Susan Abalo, youth delegate for Uganda, age 21
I would like to improve Spain’s culture and education. — Andres Villena, Young economist, columnist, blogger and activist of the 15M movement in Spain
We’ve recently gotten a new government – a full majority government, and they’ve cut off all funding to the arts and culture. The programs are on the brink of destruction, and they’ve been around for a century. As an artist it’s really frightening. — Victoria Lesau, youth delegate for Canada, age 21
Cesar Lopez, Colombian musician and peace activist, famous for converting an AK47 into a guitar
I want peace and jobs for young boys, because unemployment brings war. — Sirèbè Fèrèta Nathalie Soro, youth delegate for Côte d’Ivoire, age 29
A different attitiude towards immigrants and refugees. — Blair Brettschneider, youth delegate for the United States, age 20
American Actress, United Nations Champion for Youth
We need to increase the youth influence in decision making. — Bojah Grebehar, youth delegate for Bosnia, age 23
UNESCO Youth Forum #1
A few weeks ago I received an email from an old editor suggesting I apply to be a participant in the 7th UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Youth Conference in Paris. They were looking for 1o young journalists (defined as journalists under 30 years old) to represent various regions of the world (Europe, Africa, The Middle East, Asia, South East Asia, North America, Latin America and South America). In the email, it was made clear that it’d be a rare opportunity to be on the other side of history – instead of acting as a journalist (where journalists frequently react to news and follow history occurring), it would be a chance to help create a small sliver of history by sitting in on round tables, discussing with delegates from around the world and letting my voice be heard. Moreover, we would also act as journalists as well, interviewing other delegates and reporting on their thoughts. If I was accepted, I would have a chance to hold a one-on-one conversation with the Director General of UNESCO. Wow, I thought, what an honor.
Well, I applied, and after a few emails, a phone interview and some schedule re-arrangements, I was off to Paris for a week. I’ve since arrived, met the nine other young journalists (Ali from Lebanon, Hend from Egypt, Martina from Italy, Doudou from The D.R.Congo, Miguel from Chile, Laura from Cuba/now living in Mexico, Koulina from Cambodia, Rajneesh from Nepal and Jennifer from Nigeria) and am happy to start reporting on what is occurring. The team is incredibly versatile and insanely talented. Miguel (from Chile) is a film producer and has worked with 60 Minutes, the BBC and MTV. Ali is a blogger and activist (from Beirut), and was named one of the top-10 most influential bloggers in Beirut. And Rajneesh (from Nepal) Kantipur T.V. in Nepal, has traveled around the world following stories in Congo, Philippines, Thailand and India. When he isn’t working for Nepalese TV, he freelances for the LA Times.
Before I jump into the conference, I thought I would give a briefing on what UNESCO is, because to be honest, I had no real idea what it was before applying, researching it, and then arriving here:
Some brief facts on UNESCO:
• UNESCO is not in any way, shape or form controlled by the UN. It has it’s own member states (separate from the UN) and negotiates its own budget with member states. However UNESCO does fall under the United Nations “umbrella,” along with the UN itself, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
• UNESCO has 5 major areas of expertise, in which it attempts to encourage positive, international collaboration.
> Education
> Natural Science
> Social and Human Sciences
> Culture
> Communication and Information
• The General Council (with 193 member states) meets once every two years, during the fall of odd numbered years; The GC is the equivalent of the UN’s General Assembly. This year the General Council is occurring the first week of November. The Executive Board (with 58 members) meets every 6 months, and makes recommendations to the General Council.
• Each member state of UNESCO holds one vote, and once voice. None of this UN-security-council-veto-wielding-super-country bullshit (aka The US, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom)
(if you’re confused: within the United Nations exists a body known as the Security Council. It has 15 member-states, who must all be present in New York at all times, so that they can meet to discuss urgent matters whenever necessary. Ten member-states are elected every two years, but the other five permanent member-states (the aforementioned countries), have veto power. Any bill or resolution that goes to the security council and meets disagreement with one of those five permanent countries can be vetoed on the spot, without question, and it only takes one veto. According to Wikipedia (forgive me for typing those last three words, I’m on a deadline and this is a blog post) the five super countries have vetoed bills this number of times: China (ROC/PRC): 6 times; France: 18 times; the United Kingdom 32 times; the United States 82 times; and Russia/USSR 123 times.
In my personal opinion, this power totally nullifies the entire idea of global, democratic body. It should also be noted that since the Security Council’s inception in 1945, 72 member states have never been a member of the security council.
Ok back to UNESCO:
• UNESCO operates on a consensus basis. This means they won’t go forward with a bill or resolution until every. single. country agrees with every. single. sentence in the bill. When the 193 member-states don’t agree, they can agree to a majority vote on a bill. We held a conversation with an employee from the office of the Director General, who said that a bill going to a majority vote is a rare instance, mainly because UNESCO deals with less contentious issues, or because bills are written less specifically, to appease all member-states.
As for the Youth Forum:
This year, there are 245 delegates. The goal is to have all 193 member states represented, though this isn’t always possible, and I’m not exactly sure how many member states are represented this Forum. Some countries have two delegates, others only have one. The 245 who have been chosen went through extensive checks and balances system: they were vetted by age (19-24), gender (54% women), community participation (required to demonstrate specific instances of community involvement, action and experience), and anti-corruption (delegates can have no family/friend connections to government/UNESCO employees).
As for how UNESCO is treating us, the journalists. So far, it’s been pretty awesome. They’ve requested we tweet two or three times a day, and make one journalistic-contribution, in whatever medium we choose (blog, article, video, photo) once a day. I’ve decided to write blogs with photos. And considering the fact that UNESCO has flown us all the Paris, and is housing and feeding us, it’s pretty cool that they also said this:
“Of course, we hope you don’t find anything to criticize, but if you do find these things, please, do, criticize. This is your job. Document it. All we ask is that you criticize constructively. We are for building up, not destroying. Criticize, but do it constructively.”
As for the photos you’ve been looking at. I guess I better talk about my choice to use Instagram and what it is you’re looking at:
Welp, after years of criticizing iPhone photography, I’ve jumped into the big swirling pool of phone-photography poop. The sweet smell of hypocrisy. Actually, now that I think about it , I recall, just six short weeks ago, writing a scathing, 3-part tweet criticizing iPhone photography, “Wondering when this iPhone photo-essay craze is going to pass with professionals.We get it: your phone has a camera & color-warping apps. Chances are very good that you make much better frames with professional cameras and lenses. I can think of few situations where a phone is a better choice. Syria (where journos are targeted) being one of them.” Damn you, internet age, for remembering everything I do and say).
All I can say is, over the past two days, I haven’t much felt like putting a camera to my eye. It takes a certain amount of creative, emotional, and psychological energy to do so. The bar that any photographer sets for themselves when they pick up their camera means that every photo they take, while usually enjoyable and beneficial and fun, also comes with some amount of stress to take a photo the right way. And after weeks of covering Occupy wall Street, and no sleep, and then getting pepper-sprayed a few days ago, I just felt like I might give it a rest.
But at the same time, we’ve been touring UNESCO’s building and going through a few orientations, and I’ve found the building’s architecture and style and accoutrements really interesting – a trip back in time. Like any good person of my generation, I’ve also been cradling my iPhone the past few days (illogically, by the way, I have the damned thing in airplane mode), so I thought I would finally check out the Instagram I downloaded. And it turns out it’s really fun. And effortless. And easy-going. And damn those stupid filters are kind of cool. So I’ve been playing around with it and having a good time. If anything, my goal is to give the reader a sense of the space we’re working in while were here.
I should also say, whenever I go someplace new and have some time to waste, I like to walk around for a day or two without making any photos. I’ll have my cameras on me, but whenever I can afford to, the first few days are spent absorbing a place. Instagram seems to offer a nice middle ground. Just a quick click with your phone when you see something interesting. No RAW files or photoshop or 20 mB files.
But if I was actually going to try and justify using Instagram, I would simply say this. UNESCO has been really, really focusing on using social media to help steer the conversations with youth, and to help shape which issues they focus on most. They even monitored buzz words on twitter being used in select demographics to decide which issues the forum should focus on. So my decision to use Instagram comes after many hours of informed, thought-out, wise thinking (mild sarcasm). Seriously though, it seems to fit the Forum well. But kill, rather, mildly scold me, if I ever use an iPhone on a serious assignment.
Anyway, the real goal of the week is to create an entire portrait series of youth delegates from around the world. Starting tomorrow, UNESCO’s television studio has offered to lend me two studio lights, and I’m going to create a small studio next to the main foyer. The portraits will focus on youth delegates from around the world, speakers, special UNESCO youth envoys and various other personnel. My ultimate goal is to get delegates from countries with a history of conflict to pose together. If I can get a Palestinian and Israeli, or an Indian and Pakistani, or a US citizen and an Afghani together to pose for a portrait, in the name of peace, I will consider the week a great success.
If you’ve read this far, thanks so much. The conference officially starts tomorrow. Lots of buzz throughout the entire building, pretty exciting to be here. Should be a great week ahead.
Thanks for reading.
