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SPOTLIGHT/ November 4, 2010
Madagascar
Photographs by Ed Kashi
"I take on issues that stir my passions about the state of humanity and our world, and I deeply believe in the power of still images to change people's minds. I'm driven by this fact; that the work of photojournalists and documentary photographers can have a positive impact on the world."
-Ed Kashi
 | | Photo by Ed Kashi. A rice farmer surveys his fields after planting rice shoots in the muddy earth. |
With increasing inequality in living standards, the voices of those without are growing in number, clamoring to be heard as the precious resources upon which their existence depends are quickly depleted beyond repair. Nowhere are the effects of this disparity more evident than in Madagascar, a country where more than two-thirds of the population live below the international poverty line. For the Malagasy, their small piece of earth provides food, shelter, and often, their only source of income. A quiet struggle for survival--a lack of noise--has allowed the world to all but forget this incredibly beautiful and extremely fragile island.
Click here to view the exhibit.
Ed Kashi, a world renowned documentary photographer and photojournalist, recently joined the VII photo agency. His images have been published and exhibited worldwide. His innovative approach to photography and filmmaking produced the Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook. Using stills in a moving image format, this creative and thought-provoking form of visual storytelling has been shown in many film festivals and as part of a series of exhibitions on the Iraq War at The George Eastman House. Also, an eight-year personal project completed in 2003, Aging in America: The Years Ahead, created a traveling exhibition, an award-winning documentary film, a website and a book which was named one of the best photo books of 2003 by American Photo. www.edkashi.com.
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Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited
Photographs by Rick Nahmias
 | | Photo by Rick Nahmias. Krystal, Sant�sima Muerte |
While depictions of conventional middle-class religion are widely visible, rarely seen are the sacred worlds of society's marginalized: the outcasts, the fallen, those that have been labeled "other"--ironically, those for whom religion was first formed. Using California as the lens, "Golden States of Grace" documents 11 marginalized communities at prayer in eight different faith traditions. Communities include the world's first transgender gospel choir, a Jewish congregation of recovering addicts, Muslim survivors of the Cambodian genocide, and inmates inside San Quentin prison practicing Zen Buddhism.
Through photographs, oral histories, and actual prayer, this work represents groups who are reinventing time-honored modes of worship, pushing their respective traditions into the 21st century. "Golden States of Grace" aims to give image and voice to some of those who are active parts of our nation's diverse religious landscape--but who because of the world, society, or their own actions may have been silenced and now worship as a means of finding refuge, family, or of forging community.
Click here to view the exhibit.
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A Tale of a Distinct City
Photographs by Ireneusz Luty
 | | Photo by Ireneusz Luty. Australia |
The illustrated story "A Tale of a Distinct City" explores Ireneusz Luty's world and documents his time in Sydney through street photography. It speaks of places and moments, some of which may be familiar yet surprising; it's about everyday life on a never-ending tourist path. Although Sydney became Luty's home seven years ago, he still sees it through the eyes of a tourist. In this series of images he presents Sydney as a vibrant and complex place, mysterious and intriguing like its people--the souls of the city. He attempts to reveal the essence of Sydney, something that goes beyond initial impressions and behind facades. Sydney: city with two heads on the edge of water. There is a perfect symbiosis between the ocean and the urban landscape, one which is reflected in the life of its residents.
Click here to view the exhibit.
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American Modern: Abbott, Evans, Bourke-White
Amon Carter Museum
 | | Photo by Walker Evans. Lunchroom Window, New York City, 1929 |
This special exhibition showcases the work of three of America's most beloved photographers-Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White, and Walker Evans-and offers new insight into the flourishing genre of documentary photography during the 1930s.
In the 1930s, American photographers pushed the genre of documentary photography to the forefront of public culture in the United States and onto the walls of newly opened museums and art galleries. Together, the careers of Abbott, Bourke-White, and Evans chronicle the fortunes of the medium during this important decade.
A scholarly catalogue published by the University of California Press accompanies the exhibition.
Cuba in Revolution
International Center of Photography
The Cuban Revolution of 1959 was one of the most spectacular political events of the 20th century. A dramatic chapter in the Cold War, the improbable overthrow of the dictator Fulgenico Batista by a ragtag band of young Communist guerillas and intellectuals occurred just ninety miles from the United States. Tracing the movement from the triumphal entry of the rebels into Havana on January 1, 1959, to the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, this exhibition shows the tremendous influence of photography in recording and encouraging the revolutionary movement in Cuba. Among the most outstanding works in this exhibition of rare vintage prints are Alberto Korda's famous portrait of Che Guevara titled "Heroic Guerrilla" and never-before-seen images of Che's death in Bolivia in 1967. The show features work from over 30 photographers.
Spotlight editor: Jenny Fremlin
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About SocialDocumentary.net
SocialDocumentary.net is a website for photographers, NGOs, journalists, editors, and students to create and explore documentary exhibits 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.
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