In 2002, Alec Soth traveled with his wife to Bogotá, Colombia to adopt a baby girl. The baby's birth mother gave the new parents a book filled with letters, pictures and poems for their new daughter. 'I hope that the hardness of the world will not hurt your sensitivity,' she wrote. 'When I think about you I hope that your life is full of beautiful things.'
During the two months that the Colombian courts processed their adoption paperwork, Soth set about making his own book for his daughter. Soth recently completed this book, Dog Days Bogotá. On November 9th, an exhibition of this work will debut at Weinstein Gallery in Soth's hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Soth discusses Dog Days Bogotá with his intern, Carrie Thompson, a photography student at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Richard Whelan, Biographer/book, "Robert Capa: A Biography" [University of Nebraska Press]/Michael Hoffman, Philadelphia Museum of Art/book, "Robert Capa/Photographs"
Philip Jones Griffiths (b. 1936) is a Welsh-born photojournalist known for his coverage of the Vietnam war. Griffiths studied pharmacy but started as a freelance photographer in 1961, traveling to Algeria in 1962. He arrived in Vietnam in 1966, working for the Magnum agency. Magnum found his images difficult to sell to American magazines, as they concentrated on the suffering of the Vietnamese people and reflected Griffiths's view of the war as an episode in the continuing decolonisation of former European possessions. He was able to get a 'scoop' that the American outlets liked, photographs of Jackie Kennedy vacationing with a male friend in Cambodia. The proceeds of these photos enabled him to continue his coverage of Vietnam and to publish Vietnam Inc. in 1971. The book had a major influence on American perceptions of the war, and became a classic of photojournalism. In 2001 the book was reprinted with a foreword by Noam Chomsky.
Lens Culture is an online magazine celebrating international contemporary photography, art, media, and world cultures.
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Foto8 was established in 1998 as an online web journal featuring quality photojournalism by professionals worldwide. Today, it continues to produce innovative online presentations of photojournalism, including providing the online resource for buying essential photography books and tickets to events, publishes the physical quarterly magazine EI8HT and houses the new gallery of photography in London, HOST.
Over the years Foto8 has become known for its award-winning documentary photography presented in an exciting online and print format. From classical photo-stories to contemporary multi-media shows the website and magazine, and now the gallery, continue to stimulate and innovate.
By showcasing this work Foto8 aims to inform and involve the viewer whilst pioneering new ways to tell stories. Foto8 believes that documentary photography performs an essential role in modern society. It is a valuable tool of communication as well as a vital part of educating ourselves about the lives of others which are often distant from our own. Photography allows us to look into, as well as at, lives of other people, to learn about their world, and in the process to define the issues that are important to us.
On the eve of the election, a number of Magnum photographers have been venturing into American to capture what they can of this historic moment in time. The project is called InSight America. But rather than publish this work as a book a year after the fact, Magnum is posting the work online and on the fly.
I caught up with Alex Webb after his recent journey to Ohio:
Home in Elephant
London College of Communication has embarked on a long-term project to document the regeneration of Elephant and Castle in south London. A new book featuring the first batch of MA students' work examines the theme of 'home'
Jodi Cobb, Photographer; Karen Kasmauski, Photographer; Annie Griffiths Belt, Photographer; Book: "Women Photographers at National Geographic" [National Geographic]; Various photographs /// Bruce Weber, Photographer; Various photographs; 1 clip from "The Teddy Boys of the Edwardian Drape Society" [Little Bear Productions] /// Excerpt from CR interview with Henri Cartier Bresson, Photographer (7/6/00)
Born in Rhuddlan, Wales, Jones Griffiths studied pharmacy in Liverpool and practiced in London while photographing part time for the Manchester Guardian. In 1961 he became a full-time freelancer for the London Observer. He covered the Algerian War in 1962 then became based in Central Africa, moving from there to Asia. He photographed in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968. He went back to Vietnam in 1970 and became famous for his 1971 book on the war, Vietnam Inc.
At PixelPress our intent is to encourage documentary photographers, writers, filmmakers, artists, human rights workers and students to explore the world in ways that take advantage of the new possibilities provided by digital media. We seek a new paradigm of journalism, one that encourages an active dialogue between the author and reader and, also, the subject.
Our online magazine features projects that use a variety of linear and non-linear strategies, attempting to articulate visions of human possibility even while confirming human frailty. For us the digital revolution is a revolution in consciousness, not in commerce.
We work with organizations such as Crimes of War, Human Rights Watch, World Health Organization and UNICEF to create Web sites that deal directly with contemporary issues in complex and innovative ways that circumvent media sensationalism and simplification. We also try to factor in ways that the viewer can help remedy social problems, rather than remain a spectator. Recently we completed a site focusing on how to end polio worldwide; another trying to aid an orphanage in Rwanda; one trying to reclaim the Brazilian forest; and a site featuring the images of photographers from the Vietnam War. And we also create books with photographers such as Machiel Botman, Kent Klich and Sebastião Salgado on social themes, as well as traveling exhibitions using both digital and conventional processes.