Al Campo – Ernesto Bazan
As you may know I’ve been talking quite a lot about Cuba after spending 6 weeks there earlier this year shooting the Santeria story and Havana travel guide. So Naturally if I hear about any interesting work from there I’m into seeing it.
Whilst in Hamburg visiting a photography gallery there, in the bookshop I found a book called Al Campo by Ernesto Bazan, a book for which he created his own publishing house to produce, in order to keep full creative freedom, and funded it through kickstarter.
It’s a long time since I’ve been so genuinely blown away by a piece of work, but that is exactly what happened here. Shooting what some may see as a fairly common subject (these days) of Cuban campesinos (rural communities) here Bazan has produced an incredibly moving and intimate body of work. You can see the amount of time and trust that exists in the photos, and often compositions that my technical head initially is unsure of like cutting faces in half and unusual angles, plus sometimes of the simplest of things, just work so incredibly well.
A true masterpiece Ernesto, I can see how it took 14 years to produce this work.
Cool as folk
I’ve been busy editing and updating my website recently, so now there’s loads of fresh content on there. One of the new stories is a project I’ve been shooting for the last year and a half about the East London underground folk and blues music scene: A small group of musicians that are doing it on their own terms and making their own way through independent gigs and busking, Brooke Sharkey, The John Langham band, Mojo Hand and the Turbans to name but a few.
The gigs are in unusual and interesting venues such as the endangered (please help) Jamboree , Stoke Newington Church, Stoke Newington International Airport (no more) and the Vintage Emporium
You can see the full set on my website
Wall on wall exhibition at East Side Gallery
I was recently in Berlin, and whilst I was there I took a trip down to the historically important East Side Gallery. I knew that it would be interetsing to see this important part of Berlin’s heritage, but I didn’t quite realise how much I’d be blown away by a fantastic photography exhibition on it. The show is called Wall on Wall and is by photographer Kai Wiedenhoefer, and was partly funded from his Kickstarter campaign.
It’s an observation of different walls around the World that separate communities, claiming to improving peace and local relations, what seems evident is that they cause more disparity and anonymity between the people and places in question. Interesting and powerful stuff, keep up the good work Kai.
Viktor Kolář: Retrospective
Whilst in Prague in July shooting a Voices Prague story for BBC Travel Americas, I stumbled upon an amazing photography exhibition at the Galerie hlavního města Prahy in the old town square.
The show was a retrospective of Viktor Kolář’s work, a lot of which was shot in the Ostrava region of the Czech Republic, near the now border of Slovakia, photographing both before and after the Velvet revolution. Kolar’s work is traditional black and white street photography at it’s best, it shows the essence of a great photograph and there were many inspiring shots that reminded me what it’s all about and why we do what we do, fantastic Viktor, thankyou.
West Indies Cricket team shoot
A stroke of luck and some good timing landed me a great job shooting the West Indies Cricket team for their new sponsor Confident Group, based in India and supporting them for the ICC Championships.
Thanks to Paul Roscouet for doing the motion footage and Chris Baker for his fantastic assisting. Also Thanks to Modupe Otesanya and Natalie Rose for the seamless production. What a day!
Here’s one of the shots with Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle and captain Dwayne Bravo pictured with Confident Group’s Mr Gaffar, Dr Roy and Tuhin from Total Sports Asia
Hamburg
I was recently in Hamburg at Gruner and Jahr HQ, visiting Ruth Eichorn from GEO magazine to show her the Santeria set, whilst there I also had meetings with GEO Saison, NEON, Merian and Lufthansa magazine.
It was a really enjoyable trip and great to see the cogs of the German publishing industry turning. Looking forward to working with you all in the future.
BBC Travel Voices Havana piece
Although to anyone watching this blog it may have seemed quiet on my front, things have been far from it! I’ve been really busy with lots of work on a couple of great new bits of work published. The most notable one recently being some more Cuba work for BBC Travel Americas, which is a slideshow called Voices Havana, a local’s look inside Havana and which spots they like the best. You can view it at this link if you’re in the UK, and out of the UK here
Hope you like it…
Retomada finalist in Amnesty International Media Awards
The multimedia piece I made in Brazil last year (in association with NGO Reporter Brasil) is one of the 10 finalists for the Amnesty International Media Awards:
Brazil is the world’s largest producer of sugar, second of soya and third for maize. An export industry reliant on basic commodities like these requires vast quantities of land, making land-rights an important and controversial issue in Brazil. The unparalleled growth in this sector is also having an impact on the land, destroying the Cerrado savannah. Mato Grosso do Sul is an important state for agriculture and is also home to 80% of the indigenous Guarani Kaiowá population; approximately 40,000 people, they are now at risk of losing their traditional culture and unique way of life, due to extradition from their ancestral settlements by agribusinesses, often funded by foreign investment. Disputes continue with no clear resolution in sight.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/53084682 w=750&h=423]
Rodeo – Cuban style
Here’s a few photos from a Rodeo I visited whilst in Cuba, near the town of Moron in Ciego de Avila province, just a few minutes drive from Cayo Coco – one of the main resorts in the country.
Something makes me think very few of the all inclusive package tourists had any idea this was happening just down the road…
National Geographic Traveller – Havana
Callejon de Hamel, Havana, Cuba
Once again I’ve been out of blogging world for a long time, too busy getting out there shooting I guess! Will be making a concerted effort to keep it updated now, especially as there seems to be a lot of interesting things happening, that I hope people will like to read about.
First bit of news is that I’ve just finished shooting a Havana city guide, which is in this months National geographic Traveller UK edition, out this week, available from all good newsagents…
You can see a sample of the issue online here: http://natgeotraveller.co.uk/may13/ but you’ll have to buy it to see the Havana spreads.
Slideluck Potshow
El Tio story featured by Slideluck Potshow’s on Vimeo, with music from the Gypsy Kings:
One magazine
One magazine is born
Here’s a link to view online the sample issue of One magazine – Britain Uncovered: http://issuu.com/sukrutistaneley/docs/one.1
It’s a joint project with 6 other photographers, providing an independent showcase for our work, the concept could continue in some form so watch this space, after all there’s plenty of other countries to uncover…
One World Media Funding
I had some amazing news recently: I’ve been awarded a One World Media grant to produce a story about the Brazilian Sugarcane industry.
I will be in Brazil from late June – mid July shooting the story in Mato Grosso do Sul, in association with local NGO Reporter Brasil, and once again on assignment with my friend and colleague from the 2011 Belo Monte project: Ruy Sporsati.
Below is a brief project summary of the project, more info to follow soon.
Brazil is the world’s largest producer of Sugarcane, a high percentage of which is processed into bioethanol, making it globally the 2nd largest biofuel producer and the largest exporter. The country has widely adopted the use of ethanol as fuel, with the majority of vehicles using it. However, environmental and human rights campaigners claim that the sugarcane industry adds greatly to deforestation, and that much of the cultivated area is the Guarani tribe’s ancestral land. Reports claim they’ve been forced from their settlements, and with nowhere else to turn are locked into slave labour, working for survival.
Judging the Printspace Photography Competition
I have the great privilege of being asked to judge one of the Printspace’s photography competitions; this months theme is ‘reflections.’ I’ll be looking at the entries and making a selection in the next few days…
You can see the entries here: http://www.theprintspace.co.uk/blog/reflections-competition-shortlisted-images/