Lange-Taylor Prize

© Teru Kuwayama

This years winners of the Dorothea Lange-Taylor Prize are Teru Kuwayama and Christian Parenti.
I'm not familiar with the writing of Parenti, but know the photography of Teru well and let me tell you that this grant is very well deserved.

Teru Kuwayama is an amazing photographer and really committed to his stories.
According to the Duke Center the two apparently first met in Baghdad in 2003. Both were in Iraq independently, but over the course of their travels they visited many of the same places and recorded parallel journeys. They later coauthored the book The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq. In 2004, they traveled together in Afghanistan for six weeks.
And so now the grant for their collaboration on Pakistan.

Their project, "Unnatural Borders, Open Wounds: The Human Landscape of Pakistan," will explore Pakistan "through the lives of its myriad ethnic and tribal groups, and its vast population of refugees and displaced peoples."

A big congrats Teru and Christian! I can't wait to see the work.

Ziyah Gafić website

© Ziyah Gafić

I told you about photographer Ziyah Gafić last week and just saw he has a new website up where you can discover his amazing work.
So please do and enjoy his stories.
Have a great weekend!

VII network

Lynsey Addario, Ziyah Gafić, and Seamus Murphy have been invited to join VII Network.
All three of these photographers are amazing and a great addition to VII.
I had the pleasure to have met two of them.

I met Ziyah Gafić when I was in Iran. He happened to be there at the same time and we met up for drinks and a chat.
A very nice guy and a great photographer. So keep an eye out for his work.

I met Seamus Murphy only briefly when he gave a lecture in the great Frontline Club. I had some luck with getting in, since it was sold out and I only got in because of a few people not showing up.
He was presenting his work on Afghanistan and I immediatly bought the book 'A Darkness visible' when I was there to let him sign it. It's a remarkable body of work on the country and I recommand everyone getting it.

Enjoy!

Steve McCurry in Vietnam

Access To Life/Rwanda © Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos

Through Steve McCurry's blog I came across his latest work.
He photographed a story in Vietnam on Aids for the Access to Life project.
8 Magnum photographers covering the Aids epidemic all over the world and showing some very strong and moving pictures of ordinary people that caught the virus through various reasons.
I've seen most of them already, and somehow Steve McCurry's story in Vietnam just sticks with me.
The use of photography, video, sound and text is just perfect and makes for a very moving reportage.

Please have a look and check out his amazing work.

'Red Journey' by Nick Hannes

I just wanted to let you know about an new exhibit opening next week in the Antwerp Photography Museum.

It's an amazing series by a good friend of mine. Nick Hannes. His reportage 'Red Journey' is the result of a year travelling through fifteen former Soviet republics in search of traces of the past and signs of social transition. Red journey uncovers the various ways in which these countries are trying to redefine their national identity after the disintegration of the communist imperium.
With his fantastic eye he shows the contrasts, poverty and wealth, but most of all, a humane face of the people in these regions.

There will also be a book accompanying the exhibit and you can buy it at the Museum or via this link.

Hope to see some of you at thursday's opening in Antwerp.
Enjoy!

Brenda Ann Kenneally

I wanted to give you a link to a little piece of work by documentary photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally.
On the website 100eyes by Andy Levin, you can see an essay on America behind bars, and hers is one of them.
Check it out here.

If you would like to see more on her work, you can surf to the Rawfile website.
Since '96 she has been documenting families living in Brooklyn NY and photographed their lives, struggles with drugs, poverty and violence.

Research and reading

I'm still recovering and taking it easy after my surgery.
This means I have lots of time to catch up on my reading and research. Which of course is always nice.

Here's a list of the books I read so far:






I'm also planning to go on another trip, once I get the all clear from my doctor. I'm still not sure where to go to.
I could go back to Palestine to visit some of my friends there. But I can also go to Morocco or Egypt.
I'm reading up on both these destinations and at the moment it's leaning a bit more to Morocco somehow. But it will depend on how much the tickets will cost and of course when I'm allowed to travel and trott around again.
Fingers crossed that will be sooner rather then later.
And of course you have fascinating places like Lebanon or Syria as well..... Ah, the world is just too big and too many beautiful places I still want to visit.