F8magazine documentary photography & photojournalism
In Deep Water Michael F McElroy
#5 November 2011
Staff Staff Founder | Editor MIGUEL A. MOYA miguel.moya@f8mag.com
Columnists & Translators JIM MORTRAM jim.mortram@f8mag.com FELVER ALFONZO felver@f8mag.com Design & Layout Ana Vida Website: www.f8mag.com Follow Us: Contact Information Contributors: iwantyou@f8mag.com Contact us: contact@f8mag.com Advertising: ads@f8mag.com
Special thanks to : JIM MORTRAM CONSTANTIN NIMIGEAN ELSYMARIE VEGA MIKE DAVIS LUCEO Images
©F8MAGAZINE 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without permission from the publishers. The views expressed in F8Magazine are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. © Copyright Notice: All images displayed on this magazine are the property of their respective photographers. YOU MAY NOT DISTRIBUTE, COPY, PUBLISH OR USE THE IMAGES OR ANY PART OF THE IMAGES IN ANY WAY WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER. YOU MAY NOT ALTER, MANIPULATE, ANY PART OF AN IMAGE WITHOUT CONSENT. Contact the photographer if you wish to obtain a reproduction of an image or if you wish to obtain permission to redisplay an image on another web site.
Editor´s Note Editor´s Note When we started this project we had many goals that we have been fulfilling slowly and to achieve the more ambitious elements, we need you, the readers and hope that all the people who enjoy F8Mag, will join us. In what way? Through a small amount you can achieve a lot, to help improve the quality and means of this publication, sourcing the best content and to enable us to distribute the magazine in a mobile format thus giving a wider reach to this project. We also aim to raise funds for charities and create a fund for photographers who carry out work for charity projects. Anything is possible with your help, with just a few dollars and our collective enthusiasm. Within this new issue, we have many stories. Travel stories, travel with an eye to show our world through photography. A motorcycle trip to Vietnam with Kevin German / LUCEO, a trip to Abu Dhabi with Janire Najera. A walk through the streets of Wasington DC with Duncan Hill. An intense interview with Robert Larson by Jim Mortram. I recommend a story of sacrifice and dedication, love and struggle where a seemingly normal man becomes a hero whilst caring for his mother and his severely disabled sister, an excellent report by Sarah Yun. I’d also like to take this opportunity to encourage you to join our new contest. Through a tour of the different religions that from within Israel, Natan Dvir shows with his images one of the most powerful feelings of human beings : Faith. Show us yours. Send us a picture that represents your own understanding and observations of “Faith” and you can also qualify for a prize, choose the charity you want to use part of your small entrance fee. Here we present to you stories filled with the questions the photographers seek to answer. But as we all know, the answers are always within each of us.
Miguel A . Moya, Editor miguel.moya@f8mag.com
Photo by Michael F McElroy
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Contents
Gianpaolo La Paglia
Sarah Hoskins
Natan Dvir
Robert Larson
Michael F McElroy
Janire Nรกjera
Duncan Hill
Kevin German LUCEO
Jacobo Medrano
Mike Davis
Sara Yun F8mag.com #5
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Natan Dvir
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elief
A project by
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Israeli border policemen scuffle with young Jewish settlers as they enter the West Bank settlement of Amona in order to destroy 9 illegal buildings according to the order of the Israeli Supreme Court. More than 200 people were wounded on both sides before the buildings were eventually destroyed.
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social and political beliefs and ideas from an early age. Holy sites situated throughout Israel make the (physically) small country extremely important for Jews, Christians, Muslim and many other religions. The region’s history combined with the volatile political situation today, result in a complex and intense reality in which people emphatically and publicly express themselves.
Samaritans performing a pilgrimage ceremony at Mount Grizim in the West Bank. The Samaritans follow ancient traditions as in the times of the bible and perform 3 annual pilgrimage ceremonies.
In this rapidly changing world in which career and financial successes are revered, perhaps even idolized, communities, as well as the concept of personal identities and how they are presented within society are greatly evolving. The information revolution shortened distances between people enabling interactions never before possible. Yet even in these exciting times belief continues to be one of the basic, most significant and profound factors defining and shaping individuals and societies alike. Having been raised in Israel, I was regularly exposed to strong religious,
In the spring of 2004 I found myself photographing the Lag Ba’Omer celebrations on Mount Meiron. Over 500,000 or so Ultra-Orthodox Jews take part in these festivities during which they pray, dance and perform ceremonies throughout the night the following morning. I was overwhelmed by the intensity of the scenes that were revealed in front of my eyes. After years during which I distant myself from religious or political gatherings, I started attending religious ceremonies, political events and situations of conflict throughout Israel, using the medium of photography as a vehicle of examination and personal exploration. The photographs in this project are direct examinations of the public as a whole yet focus on individuals and their experiences as well. I am fascinated and sometimes frightened by the extreme situations people reach in the pursuit and defense of their beliefs. I explore the various sides of how people practice their beliefs, the places it brings them to and the scenes in which they take part. Regardless of specific religious or political affinities, belief can provide a sense of community, belonging, safety, and understanding, yet might also provoke hatred, separation and aggressiveness. Muslims leaving the Temple Mount after Friday’s Ramadan prayers in the old city of Jerusalem. Friday prayers are considered the most important during the month of Ramadan, and dozen of thousands of Muslim try to participate in the main prayer in Al-Aqsa mosque.
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Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men during Morning Prayer at the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yohai on Mount Meiron. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims participate in the Lag Ba’Omer celebrations near the tomb, which last throughout the night and the following morning.
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I aim to show the multifaceted nature of belief and the various ways it impacts the lives of individuals and communities.
Tranquility vs. anger, ecstasy vs. rage, understanding vs. fanaticism.
A group of Evangelic Christian Brazilian pilgrims performing a ceremony of group baptism in the waters of the Jordan River near the Sea of Galilee.
The dialogue between the pictures is as important as every individual image, as each one has the potential to connect with viewers in a unique way. By displaying multiple images in this series, I aim to show the multifaceted nature of belief and the various ways it impacts the lives of individuals and communities. Belief can often shape people’s behavior and personal interactions but this is typically unnoticed by those who are most deeply influenced by it. This project promotes self-reflection and encourages viewers to contemplate their own beliefs, or the ideals of their communities, and the intensity with which belief affects their actions and way of life. F8mag.com #5
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Projects
An Orthodox Christians praying inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the “Ceremony of the Holy Fire� in Jerusalem. The Holy Fire ceremony is part of Orthodox Easter and the flame symbolises the resurrection of Christ.
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An ultra-orthodox Jewish kid dressed in a costume standing on prayer benches during Purim celebrations in the synagogue of Vijnitz court in Bnei Brak.
Young Muslim worshipers pray in the street next to one of the gates to the old city of Jerusalem during Friday’s Ramadan prayers. The Israeli security forces often do not allow men under the age of 45 to enter the old city of Jerusalem fearing the eruption of riots and clashes.
Orthodox Christian pilgrims in the Church of the Holy Seplulchre, believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, during the Holy Friday procession in Jerusalem’s Old City. Orthodox Christians are marking the solemn period of Easter.
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A young Evangelic Christian Brazilian pilgrim resting after being baptized in the waters of the Jordan River near the Sea of Galilee.
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Young ultra-orthodox Jewish women during Morning Prayer at the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yohai on Mount Meiron. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims participate in the Lag Ba’Omer celebrations near the tomb, which last throughout the night and the following morning. Young women pray passionately at this site hoping to find a good husband and have many children.
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Natan Dvir
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A Jewish settler wearing a Talith waiting behind a burning road block for Israeli soldiers to evacuate him from his home at the West Bank settlement of Homesh.
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Israeli soldiers holding a young Jewish settler hanging in the air by the handcuffs she is wearing as they evacuate her from a building in the West Bank settlement of Homesh. The settlement was one of the last 2 out of 25 to be evacuated as part of exPrime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan.
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A young Jewish settler stands covered in dirt next to a destroyed building in the West Bank settlement of Amona. More than 200 people were wounded in a day of battle between Israeli border policemen and young Jewish settlers before 9 illegal buildings were destroyed according to the order of the Israeli Supreme Court.
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A Jewish settler prays in a hut as night falls on the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam in Gaza Strip. A few hundreds of Jewish settlers moved to Shirat Hayam to support the local settlers in their struggle against their evacuation as part of ex-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan. The settlement was evacuated eventually on Aug 18, 2005.
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Family members watch an ultra-orthodox man performing the ritual of Kaparot on his daughter in the streets of the old city of Jerusalem. According to Jewish custom the ceremony is performed in order to redeem the person of his\her sins that are transmitted to the hen or rooster which are to be slaughtered and donated to the poor.
Orthodox Christian pilgrim crowd at the Anointing Stone in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, during the Holy Friday procession in Jerusalem’s Old City. Orthodox Christians are marking the solemn period of Easter.
Israeli soldiers lowering from a rooftop a dehydrated young Jewish settler as they evacuate him from a building in the West Bank settlement of Homesh.
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NATAN DVIR www.natandvir.com Natan Dvir (b. 1972, Nahariya, Israel) is an Israeli photographer who focuses on the human aspects of political, social and cultural issues. He received his MBA from Tel Aviv University and his MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts (NY). Natan is based in New York City and photographs around the world for Polaris Images. His work has been published by numerous international magazines including the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Le Monde, Journal de Dimanche, Stern, Focus, Die Zeit, Corriere Della Sera, Die Weltwoche and Wallpaper among others. Natan’s main projects were exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Europe, South America and Israel including the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Cleveland), Blue Sky Gallery (Portland, OR), Schneider Gallery (Chicago), War Photo Museum (Dubrovnik), Museo de Antioquia (Medellin), Christie’s (London), Kultur Bahnhof Eller (Düsseldorf) and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Tel Aviv). His work has received recognition wining prizes around the world including the Photo District News (PDN) Annual, American Photography Award, New York Photography Festival Award, Critical Mass top 50, Black & White Spider Award, and the Picture of the Year Award in the Israeli press.
An ultra-orthodox Jewish kid dressed in a costume sleeps among hundreds of ultra-orthodox Jews celebrating Purim in the synagogue of Vijnitz court in Bnei Brak. According to the Jewish tradition the celebrations must last all night until all men are totally drunk.
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An Israeli border police soldier stands guard near an Orthodox Christian pilgrima taking part in Holy Friday at the Church of the Holy Seplulchre.
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F8Mag LOOK Contest Winners
2nd / 3rd Prize: The Mercy Project Book
First Prize: Canon Powershot G12
Md. Fakrul Islam (Bangladesh) www.flickr.com/fakrulislam
Asis Kumar Sanyal (India) www.asissanyal.com A young boy at the window of his hut after returning from his work place- a brick-kiln. The earnings of his parents were so poor that he had to work along with his parents in the brick-kiln to support the family.
Mariusz Smiejek (Northern Ireland) www.mariuszsmiejek.com Northern Ireland Every year from May to July during the preparations for Orange Marches organized to commemorate the victory of Protestants over Catholics, locals fight with the Police which use water cannons and plastic bullets to disperse the crowds.
Participate in our new contest: Faith
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omeplace
A project by
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Sunday Morn 2001. Otis Rankin.
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Maybe it was the day I was standing in a church parking lot photographing, when Derek came up to me and handed me an envelope. It was back in the spring of 2002 in the early stages of this project. I had mailed several photographs back to the church including some of his father. I opened the envelope and there was a check for 100.00 from the church, in the memo section it said “Love Gift”, to help me with my expenses. Maybe it was the first Talbert family reunion when Ernest said, “ Come on Say’ra, you’re one of us now.” He had a way of saying my name like no one else. Sometimes I close my eyes and try to hear his voice saying it, so I don’t loose the sound of it. The Talbert’s was the first of many family reunions.
Merytle B on her way to church, 2011
Eleven years ago I stood in the middle of Frogtown Lane map in hand, I didn’t know a soul. Now eleven years later I know everyone on that lane and those who have passed away. I have been to basket meetings, funerals and family reunions. Even when I am not there in the communities they are always right here with me. I have been known to say that I am not an objective observer, especially when it comes to this project. Sometimes you can hear the gasps after I say that. I don’t know when things changed for me or if there was one particular event that made me feel this way, but I will share a few.
My dresser drawer is now filled with T-shirts from them, the Edwards, Walkers, and Beatty’s to name just a few. In my office hangs a certificate making me an honorary Howard family member and one from the Hockers for the person who drove the farthest to get to their family reunioun. They hang next to the plaque naming me an “ Honorary Hill Girl”; form the hamlet of Zion Hill. A true honor, as usually a Hill Girl has to be born there or at the least married in. Maybe it was last Thanksgiving when my husband, daughter and I pulled onto Jimtown Lane and up Bertha’s house. Everybody knows Jimtown, as it is home to the best gospel singers you will ever hear. The music seeps out the door and down the path to greet us wrapping its arms around us, as does everyone in the house the minute we step in. When we leave our car is filled with plates they are everywhere, potatoes, salmon cakes, greens and macaroni >
Pastor Travis robe dries after a baptism at First Baptist Church Maddoxtown. Maddoxtown, Ky
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Walker Fanily Reunion, 2011
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> and cheese. My cameras are filled with exposed film and we are filled with warmth and love. On the weekend of October 20, 2007 I drove to Kentucky as I have done so often over the past 11 years, but this time was different. I was going to the funeral of a man who had adopted me into his family. The tears had been flowing most of the seven-hour drive down and they started up again once I saw his dog Queenie lying outside the church door where Uncle Ernest as I called him, was laid out in. The mourners several hundred were lined up and down the country lane. The next morning, the day of the funeral the line was even longer. I thought I had allowed plenty of time arriving over an hour and a half early. As I stood visiting with his family and friends a hand touched my shoulder, that of his daughter Fannie one of his 11 children. “ We want you to walk into church and sit with the children. Daddy would have wanted that.” I was brought to the front of the line past nieces and nephews and life long friends, honored and a bit embarrassed. I could hear the whispers, “ oh that’s the photographer”, and then hear the acknowledgment and acceptance that all was OK. His children said I could photograph if I wanted to, providing I was emotionally able to. I did photograph that day, but those photos are not included in my work yet. One day they will be, but not today. Mitchell Gordon about to be baptized by Rev. Paterson and Dr. Brown. They were supposed to baptize in the creek but, “it was too murky”. 2007
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just four years old. She is now 15 and thinks it normal to drive seven hours, photograph for ten, sleep for seven, photograph for another nine and sometimes have to turn right around and drive seven hours back home. But I like to think she has learned along the way as I have, the reward is in the doing. I have been rewarded time and time again by the residents of these hamlets, who have welcomed me into their lives and allowed me to
photograph them. Uncle Ernest once said to me, “ You’ve done a good thing for me. “ But the truth is, it was him and the residents who done have a good thing for me. It is they who have enriched my life and I hope to enrich others through my photographs of them.
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I think my work has grown as much as I have doing this project. So has my daughter who began traveling with me on this project when she was just four years old.
Ronald Howard housing Dee Spencer’s tobacco for the last time. 2005
This project is a tribute to the residents of these hamlets, a salute to the elders who learned of slavery at their grandparents knees, endured the Jim Crow south, who lived ‘separate but equal’ and saw the decades of milestones and their impacts, including desegregation, social segregation, and ultimately the election of Barack Obama. The residents did much more than endure and survive negative circumstances; they rose above them and thrived. I think my work has grown as much as I have doing this project. So has my daughter who began traveling with me on this project when she was F8mag.com #5
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Projects
Hog In Tub. 2002
Sarah Hoskins
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Sarah Hoskins
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Lodge Meeting Anthony at UBS Lodge #28 2005
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Rev. Raglin, 2009
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Fishing and Fish Fry 2007
The Sisters After Meeting 2011
Dee Spencer (on right) gets ready to plant tobacco for the last time with Lewis Burton and Gene Brown. 2005
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Window View. 2003
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Church Bathroom, 2006
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Sarah Hoskins & Ernest Talbert, 2006. Photo by Art Hoskins.
exhibitions and are in numerous permanent and private collections. Her images were selected for Photography Now 100 Portfolios, an international survey of photographers sponsored by Eastman Kodak. She is the recipient of several grants and fellowships. Her documentary photography projects have been featured in American Photography Annual, American Legacy Magazine, Center (formerly the Center for Photographic Projects Santa Fe), Foto8, Preservation, Photo District News and The Digital Journalist. Clients include: AARP Bulletin, Chicago Magazine, Chicago Tribune, Fortune, Newsweek, National Geographic Traveler, Open Society Institute Annual Report and BBC Television among others.
SARAH HOSKINS www.sarahhoskins.com Sarah Hoskins is a documentary photographer. Her project spanning over a decade The Homeplace: Photographs From Historic African-American Hamlets in Kentucky’s Inner Bluegrass Region recently featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition as well as NPR’s Picture Show, was an award winner in The 2011 Eyes of History given by The White House News Photographers Association.
She is also an educator. She was a guest lecturer in 2010, 2007 and 2004 at the prestigious Women In Photography Workshops at Empire State College in New York City. She has introduced documentary photography to teens and adults who have never had the opportunity to express themselves with a camera before. She received two Illinois Arts Council Short-Term Residency grants to teach photography to homeless men, women, and children. “Her presence in our communities over the years has renewed a pride in the old hamlets. She is well known and received by the older members of the communities who are often very skeptical when visitors “show up” but yet have been revitalized because someone is taking the time to show sincere interest and concern for them. She is so highly favored because she did not come to take away from us like so many do, but unknowingly she has restored a sense of pride once again in our African American heritage.”
Sarah was selected for the 2010 Robert C. May Photography Endowment Lecture Series at The Rev. John Carroll Travis Maddoxtown Baptist Art Museum at The University of Kentucky. Her Church. Maddoxtown, Kentucky. photographs have been included in over 100
Richard, First Annual Zion Hill Days, Zion Hill, KY. 2007
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The Benevolent Sisters Their 99th Year 2004
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Robert Robert Larson
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obert Larson
An interview by
Jim Mortram F8mag.com #5
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Robert Larson
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were always right there. So if I go back and connect the dots... I was led to care about the human condition in whatever way it is presented to me, through my love for them.
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Do you find a situation you’re faced with is emotionally enhanced or subdued within you whilst you make an image?
In the moment it is a bit subdued... but that is an investment, because having that image provides a long term enhancement to whatever emotions Myself. If I feel nothing at all I shouldn’t I did have. I get to re-live it again and be taking pictures right that moment, again every-time I see the picture. but if I am... I am aware of either the mood I brought with me or how the scene in front of me is effecting me at the moment. When you’re in the moment of a shot what are you aware of?
Jim Mortram: After you discovered your passion for photography were you instantly drawn to make images of people and the human condition and why do you believe it’s the genre you’ve gravitated to? Robert Larson: Not instantly. I went down all the normal roads. I started out photographing my own interests which were really not so different than most males at my age. I started taking pictures at the beach... photographing sunsets and empty streets. I felt like I had a pretty big breakthrough when
I was allowed to photograph my first naked girl, then soon after I also got into night photography... long exposures in cemeteries and what not. Some of these phases lasted longer than others, but pretty much from the start I was taking pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa who I lived with at the time. Looking back, they were the number one consistency in my life... not just as a subject but also as parental figures. I have always had a close and healthy relationship with my parents, but they went through trying times of their own and Grandma and Grandpa
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Robert Larson
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Are your documentary images solely an instinctive reaction to what faces you or do you permit yourself to intercede and direct moments?
vodou to be of the devil. So of course I was enamoured. I had done a lot of traveling between 2005 and 2010 and was beginning to figure out what I did, and did not enjoy photographing.
The pictures from Haiti are instinctive. The other work I do varies. If I am asked to describe my pictures I say they are documentary STYLE. Emphasis on the style. Sometimes you have to intercede in order to be honest. Sometimes you have to say... “no, go back to what you were doing and ignore me”. Some people cannot help but react to a camera.
During my trips I would often feel like I had no purpose. There was nothing emotional in the travel images I was taking. A pretty scene here... an interesting face there, oh look at the colors how exotic! Blech. At the same time, when I was home, I craved adventure.
After working on a series as emotionally intimate and personal as ‘Grandma and Grandpa’ have you naturally gravitated to an emotional tie with people within subsequent stories? or do you try to maintain a distance? or do you find that an emotional tie is essential in the act of photographing everyone and maybe that tie exists for the most fleeting of moments? I prefer to photograph people whom I have a close relationship with. At the very least, be introduced into a situation by someone whom I have that connection with, and their blessing. I have never been a complete stranger in someone’s private space... photographing them during an emotional moment. If I have, I can’t remember it right now. I am not a news photographers and there is no pressure to get things done quickly. What led you to shoot in Haiti? I had always been fascinated with Haiti, even as a child. I imaged it as a very dark and mysterious place. I was raised in a family that would have considered
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My childhood dog died in 2007, as I was crying and making my way to the backyard... I was unconsciously looking for my camera. I lifted her out from behind her favorite bush, placed her on her bed, and I photographed her. It was therapeutic. Up to that point, it was the saddest moment in my life and I felt it needed to be saved. Not long after, I asked my Grandma and Grandpa if I could photograph them once they had died, they both quite literally said “yes of course”. They actually found it amusing! So when my grandfather passed away, my family and I were there by his side, and again... I photographed the saddest moment in my life. I tend to find beauty and inspiration in sorrow, not just in the images, but by the experiences themselves. All this to say... when the earthquake struck Haiti, everything came together in a tragic way. I needed to go and take pictures. It was important. I wanted to turn off CNN and go witness and photograph history first hand for once. vv Is there an environment you prefer to work in, a moment of day or night that you feel gels between you, the camera and the light? Night time, once the sun has gone completely down. If I could avoid ever > F8mag.com #5
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Robert Larson
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> having to photograph during the day, I would. I think that the sunlight robs the world of all its mystery. Outside the photographic, what’s been an inspiration for your composition in framing, DoF and control of light? I ask as there is a very painterly and a very cinematic quality to many of your images
both with wide lenses and your close work.
Private Ryan, and Blade Runner have made a deep impact on me.
Well, I think you said it, I seek a cinematic quality. I don’t find inspiration by looking at other photographer’s work. I get my influence from music and movies. I have more images secretly titled after Tool songs than I can keep track of. Visually... The X-Files, Saving
‘City of Demons’ is steeped in bright neon washes and the garish tones of the night, whilst ‘Waiting For Haiti’ is rendered in a textbook photo journalistic B&W, have you already made the decision to shoot in mono or colour before you embark upon
a story or is this made within your editing process?... and what are your reasons when choosing? City of Demons was color from the start... and like I said, I’d never shoot in daylight if I could avoid it. I had the idea to put the series together one night after watching Blade Runner for the hundredth time.
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Waiting for Haiti is a project that seeks to paint a picture of the country, the people, the myths and the truths. So I have to shoot any time of the day. On my first trip I tried both color and black and white. I have always loved black and white, I later made a conscious decision to shoot it that way because some of the images are pretty tough. Black and white creates a distance for > F8mag.com #5
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Robert Larson
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> the viewer, and I want as many people to see the images as possible. As an example... in one of the pictures from the morgue, one of the bodies that the image is focused on is burnt and blood red... the image in color tends to turn more people away, in black and white, not as much. I want people to see Haiti, I want to show them everything and I find that black and white minimizes the reactive head turning. Is there a lens that you use that’s closest to your own seeing? On this last trip to Haiti I had a breakthrough when I realized that 35mm on full frame is my perfect focal length. Now I just need to sell my blood in China to buy a Leica M9 and a 35mm Summilux and I’ll be set. Hah. Until then, I’m saving up for a 24/1.4 since right now I have a camera with a cropped sensor. Have you ever felt guilty for taking an image? Never. Only for images I have not taken. Just for a short period of time. What projects are you planning for the future? I feel like the projects I already have can be taken much further. My “description” for City of Demons is short as follows... “In the city of angels there are countless souls endlessly floating back and fourth... trying to get by in a culture built on hopes and dreams, while having none of their own.” I am trying to track down a man in Los Angeles named Bones who I think might steer me in the right direction so that I can expand the project into South
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Central. As is, I feel that the people I am showing are far too well off, young, and white. This city has so much diversity and the project needs to cover more than just the one sense of hopeless that I am familiar with. Many people here are disenchanted and are distracting themselves with whatever their vice may be... so far I have only portrayed a very small niche. I am also hoping to begin shooting as a volunteer for the Sheriffs department, to bring yet another piece of pie to the project. This city is becoming a progressively more dark and despairing place to live. Nothing like Detroit mind you... but those other failing cities don’t have Hollywood, and the illusions that come with it. As far as Waiting for Haiti goes... in 2012 I will be returning to Haiti with a film crew. The plan is to spend about 2 months filming a documentary, and for me to then fly solo for another few months as I continue to take still photographs. The images on my website are from two short trips lasting two weeks each. This time around, after spending much more time in the country, we will produce a feature length documentary film, a photography exhibition, and a book of photographs. Waiting for Haiti will then be a well rounded project able to reach the public through more than one medium. It will be an visual experience, consistent with the images you have already from the project. I want to further education myself, and others about Haiti’s reality, and then present it in a visually stunning way, allowing the visuals to inform... rather than just relying on interviews and statistics. We just recently began fundraising; I hope to be back in Haiti sooner rather than later!
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Most people simply live out of fear of death. I probably would have killed myself by now if it wasn’t for the fact that I enjoy taking pictures so much. Do you feel like an outsider without or with your camera and if so, **does the lens bring you closer to moments & people?
Most people simply live out of fear of death. I probably would have killed myself by now if it wasn’t for the fact that I enjoy taking pictures so much.
This is a tough one. For whatever reason my brain does not quite compute this question. Sometimes my camera brings me closer, sometimes it pushes people away. It all balances out. Just like it does without a camera.
There seems to be a therapeutic element to your image making, have you found that you have benefited from the photography you make or has it opened doors within yourself that have ever given How much importance have you you a cause for concern? placed on traditional education and career paths within photography? It absolutely is therapeutic for me. It gives me a purpose, and up to this My family set me up with an education point it is the only thing that does. At trust when I was a child. When the least enough to justify living. I feel like time came to either blow the whole photography is the contribution I make wad on a good college, or not... I chose in return for the air that I steal from the latter. I traveled and experimented everyone else. And it makes me happy. with photographing different subjects.
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I feel that this route was right for me. I had a very broad range of experiences and I learned invaluable lessons about myself; what I am, and am not capable of. My favorite trip was living in Liberia for three months as a volunteer on a Christian hospital ship. I stirred the pot quite a bit and when they asked me to please leave (it wasn’t that polite) I then traveled through Europe by myself for another three months. It was this experience that set me up for Haiti. I fell in love with African culture, the chaos, and the superstition. And I learned to travel alone. I have taken dozens of workshops, but I can’t think of anything technical that I ever learned other than a few photoshop tricks that I no longer use, and a more effective way to archive my images, that I do still use. Mainly I took them because I wanted to meet certain people, and I enjoyed listening to successful photographers speak about how they view themselves, and the world. I have gathered some fantastic > F8mag.com #5
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I think traditional education (for art) is a joke. You come out the other end brainwashed, inexperienced, and heavily in debt. Awesome!
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> mentors who have taught me far more about what I don’t want to be than anything else. I think traditional education (for art) is a joke. You come out the other end brainwashed, inexperienced, and heavily in debt. Awesome! But I guess you do learn to talk real smart like. Shooting at night is a skill unto itself, how has your technique **evolved to ensure you get the results you want and if flash is involved is **it an intrusion to the moment? I would never use a flash for personal work. I don’t like the way it looks. I miss a lot of pictures because of poor lighting. I’d rather miss a hundred good pictures in order to get just one that looks perfect to me. So my technique is to spend time in inspiring places with lighting that excites me. I grew up shooting guns, and I am a fine shot with a rifle. That helps me a lot at night. It isn’t just about the camera or having the proper settings, but also breathing technique and proper timing with your heartbeat. Otherwise, hand holding 1/8th of a second is quite challenging, especially when a person might suddenly move. Is it ever permissible (or possible) to be selfish in the making of an image in order to then use the resulting photograph selflessly? I think it is possible and permissible. What is and what isn’t selfish can get extremely grey. On more than one occasion I have taken a picture and then explained to the subject that they will thank me later. Have you considered using other media in conjunction with your still images for example audio or video?
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I put a presentation together for Waiting for Haiti that I show when applying for a grant or explaining the project to a potential donor. It is images, music, and text. I enjoyed putting it together very much. But I really don’t see myself doing any video. I don’t feel comfortable with it at all. That being said, I am very interested in working with others on future projects who do take video. I have felt that the media hypes situations in a way to put pressure on the public to donate money to the Red Cross or other NGOs, and when people are no longer willing to give, then it’s on to the next shiny thing. Mean while the country is no better off. In Haiti’s case, one dollar out of ten actually went I have never met another photographer to the cause they were pimping in the first place and to make things worse, working in Haiti. I have only seen one photographer, she was in the back of a that one dollar has been, and continues to be inefficiently spent. I know that truck that was driving down the road, there was a camera crew with her and sounds dramatic, but it is the truth. I they were all filming and snapping out have felt angered by the way Haiti has been represented. The media loves to the windows as they drove past. Whilst you were in Haiti did you come into contact with other photographers or reporters and how have you felt the coverage of Haiti’s **struggles have been represented in the US and world wide media?
use a tragedy to make everyone watch their channel or read their paper... and then they want you to feel good about it, so they give you options on how to help yourself feel better about this tragedy. But it’s all bad medicine. Sean Penn is doing an incredible job. I hope that one day I will get the opportunity to thoroughly photography the J/P HRO camp. I have visited, but was asked to not take pictures. It was an inspiring place. It is a pity that I can walk right into the morgue and show you the horrors
there, but it is far more difficult to get access to something positive. But that is just life sometimes. I am patient. Is there a preference for you between interior or exterior shooting? Hah! On a lighter note huh?! No I don’t have a preference as long as the ambient lighting inspires me. Future work in LA sounds very interesting, especially representing and exploring more of the diverse >
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One thing I don’t do is take pictures of strangers in their face without asking permission. If they never see me take the picture, then okay. But I never surprise people on purpose. If I do accidently, wether they are upset or not, I apologize and talk to them. With so many platforms to share and show work, so many viewers to see work and so many images being made in our world now, do you find the power of the potent image being diluted?
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when everyone used film and printed their images out to show each-other. I remember when JPG magazine actually paid you a hundred bucks if they published your image, and the website wasn’t full of pet pictures. But that’s about as far back as I can relate to. I think it is great that there are so many different platforms, although I personally only have enough attention span for about 3 websites at a time.
Not for me because I am right in the middle of this. I don’t remember
> cultures to be found there. Will you focus on individual stories and character studies?
or drinking a Colt 45 on a street corner, or fighting a fire in Malibu on a hot summer night. The list goes on.
I want to focus on establishing a sense of place. I want the viewer to get a feel for what it is like to be LAPD, patrolling the vast and unpredictable LA streets. What it is like to blow a small fortune in one weekend partying your youth away in Hollywood. What it’s like to be tied up and whipped in front of strangers in some dark club. What it’s like to spend a night in a cheap hotel room on Sunset Blvd. What it’s like to spend an evening sleeping on the sidewalk on skid row,
Have you the need to be part of a photographic community? Yes. Absolutely. But, in the past I have not had many photographer friends. It was hard to get along with or enjoy the company of my peers. My mentors were pretty much the only community I had, until recently. Google+ has been huge for me, and I have met many kindred spirits in the short time I have been active in that community. Like
you Jim!! I am starting to take part in local photo walks and meet new people. It’s a great experience and one that I was really missing, wether I knew it or not. Do you have any self imposed photographic rules, either technical or ** moral? Kind of... I personally no longer edit my pictures beyond exposure and contrast adjustments, dodging and burning. I don’t have strict morals, I feel things out on a case by case basis and use my own twisted judgement.
Robert Larson www.robertlarsonphotography.com I was born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Los Angeles, California. I traded a paper degree for real experience, and have been blessed with the best mentors I could have ever wished for. I am a photographer and a writer; mainly though, I am a work in progress.
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