Featured Exhibit/April 5, 2009
Eric Johnson's The Many Faces of Mali, West Africa
A microcosm for social and development problems throughout Africa
A young boy in Djenné, Mali holding up his Koran tablet from school.
US photographer Eric Johnson's exhibit, The Many Faces of Mali, West Africa, looks at a nation once rich from gold, yet today is considered one of the world's poorest countries with 90% of the population living on less than two dollars a day.
Rather than focusing on the deprivation experienced by Malians, Johnson finds hope and dignity in people finding pleasure in their daily lives while working in a metal recycling plant, weaving, making fishing spears, and children playing.
Johnson discusses a common dilemma for countries throughout Africa. "It's hard to understand how Africa´s third largest producer of gold has failed to benefit over the past 15 years in terms of industrialization, employment, public finance, or level of social expenditure." In Mali, direct foreign investment has enjoyed excellent returns through tax breaks while resulting in little benefit to the 12 million Malians, and effective corporate social responsibility is almost nonexistent. View the Exhibit.
New York Photo Festival, May 13-19
SDN is proud to be a media sponsor of the New York Photo Festival, curated by William A. Ewing, Chris Boot, Jody Quon, and Jon Levy. These world-renowned curators all bring their personal visions in contemporary photography to the main pavilions of the 2009 edition of The New York Photo Festival. More information.
The New York Photo Awards 2009 Call for Entries
The New York Photo Festival announces the Call for Entries. Works produced or published between January 1, 2008 and April 15, 2009 are eligible for submission. Visit www.newyorkphotoawards.com for more information and submission guidelines.
The New York Photo Awards 2009 will honor talented photographers from all over the world whose exceptional work breaks new ground visually, intellectually, and aesthetically. The Awards will give these visual artists the opportunity to reach key decision makers in the photographic community and the editorial, fine art, and commercial worlds. The Award winners will be announced in May during the Festival.
Portfolio Review
The NYPH'09 Portfolio Review will be the centerpiece of the new Review Pavilion. It is a platform for all levels of aspiring and professional photographers to present their body of work for review and critique by leading experts in the fields of photography, art, media, and advertising and to receive guidance and mentorship for future artistic and commercial career development. The portfolio review will be run by photography book publisher powerHouse Books.
For more information, visit the website at www.nyphotofestival.com
SDN Partners with National Press Photographers Association
SocialDocumentary.net is proud to announce a partnership with the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).
"Press photographers serve such an essential role in documenting the global human condition. We encourage NPPA members to share some of their experiences while photographing critical issues all over the world with SDN viewers," said Glenn Ruga, founder of SocialDocumentary.net.
Click here to read full details on partnership.
About SocialDocumentary.net
SocialDocumentary.net is a new website for photographers, NGOs, journalists, editors, and students to create and explore documentary websites investigating critical issues facing the world today. Recent exhibits have explored oil workers in the Niger River Delta, male sex workers in India, Central American immigrant women during their journey north, and Iraqi and Afghan refugees in Greece. Click here to view all of the exhibits.
