Archive for May, 2007

2007 Pulitzer and NPPA Prizes

Craig May 29th, 2007

The 2007 Pulitzer Prizes have been announced. In the photography fields, Oded Balilty of the Associated Press won the Breaking News category for his photograph of a lone Jewish woman defying Israeli security forces as they remove illegal settlers in the West Bank. For Feature Photography,  Renee C. Byer of the Sacramento Bee took the prize for her intimate portrayal of a single mother and her young son as he loses his battle with cancer.

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has also awarded prizes in a number of categories. Winners can be seen here.

Sanzhi (三芝), Taiwan Abandoned Housing/Hotel Development

Craig May 26th, 2007

As you travel east from Danshui along the number 2 highway that runs along the north coast of Taiwan, you come to the small town of Sanzhi (三芝). Just before arriving in Sanzhi (三芝), there’s an interesting site hugging the shoreline - an abandoned hotel/apartment complex that looks like somewhere ET might call home. I first heard about this a couple of years ago, but it was only recently that I was able to get out there. The first attempt to go there with a friend was about a year ago. At the time, all we knew was that it was on the north coast somewhere but we weren’t quite sure where and we ended up turning right where we should have turned left, so we missed it. About 6 months later, I came across it on Google Earth which allowed me to learn exactly where it was. Even knowing where it was, it took another 6 months of waiting for the right combination of weather and light before I made it out there.

Accounts vary on the origins of this complex, and indeed, as to whether it was meant to be a hotel development or a housing development. Apparently, it was constructed in the 1960s and included/was to include a dam to protect it against sea surges, floors and stairs made of marble and a small amusement park. The site was commissioned by the government and local firms and there is no named architect. Local papers at the time reported that there were numerous accidents during construction which caused the death of some workers. As news of these accidents spread, no one wanted to go there, even to visit, and the project was subsequently abandoned. The ghosts of those who died in vain are said to still linger there, unremembered and unable to pass on. The complex was left in its unfinished state because no amount of redevelopment will bring people to the area due to superstitions about ghosts, and it can’t be demolished because destroying the homes of spirits and lost souls is taboo in Asian culture.

When I was there, I met 4 young university students who were passing by and stopped for a look. They didn’t want to get to close to the buildings for fear that the ghosts would take them. They told me there was “heavy evil” in the buildings.

Anyway, here’s the pictures. As always, clicking on a picture will bring up a larger version.

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Gallery Update

Craig May 23rd, 2007

I’ve just made an update to the gallery section of this site. About 70-80 new images arranged in 5 different categories. To view these images, look here.

Here’s a preview image.

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Philip Blenkinsop injured by bomb in Yala, Thailand

Craig May 22nd, 2007

Bangkok based Australian photographer Philip Blenkinsop was injured by a bomb blast while covering the insurgency in Southern Thailand for Time magazine. He is the first foreign journalist to be injured since the unrest began in January 2004. Also injured were three Thai policemen who were investigating the crime scene.

Blenkinsop was photographing the body of Prathep Srimai, a 44 year old worker at Yala Municipality’s health office. Prathep had been shot in the head, set on fire and dumped by the side of the road. When police arrived to investigate, a bomb that had been planted under the body exploded. Authorities said the use of second bomb as a trap at crime scene appeared to be a growing tactic directed at reinforcement or officials investigating a crime scene. The Malay-speaking southern provinces of Thailand have been the scene of almost daily bombings and shootings targeting representatives of the Thai authorities - police, soldiers, teachers and increasingly ordinary citizens. The attacks are blamed on Muslim insurgents waging a separatist campaign. Blenkinsop was 2m away from the bomb when it exploded and was treated at Yala Hospital for minor shrapnel wounds. He was released the same day and returned to his home in Bangkok.

Blenkinsop’s career began with The Australian newspaper in the 1980s, but he soon quit his job, sold his car and relocated to Bangkok and has been based there since the mid 1980s. He’s covered covered a number of conflicts, including the guerrilla war in Indonesia’s Aceh province, the communist insurgency in Nepal and the plight of the ethnic Hmong in communist Laos. Currently represented by Agence Vu, in France, he has won several major awards, including the 2005 Visa d’Or for News and the 2003 Visa d’Or for Features at the International Festival of Photojournalism in Perpignan, France. He was a member of the jury at the 2007 World Press Photo awards. For a look at some of his work, he was featured in the December 2004 edition of Dirck Halstead’s Digital Journalist, documenting conflicts throughout Asia. These pictures are not for the squeamish and parents may want to make sure there are no children present when viewing.

James Nachtwey’s Credo

Craig May 21st, 2007

Watching the excellent documentary, “War Photographer“, the other day I couldn’t help but be impressed by the James Nachtwey’s credo, which he mentions towards the end of the film. James Nachtwey is considered by many to be the foremost war photographer working today, and some say, the best ever. Covering war, famine and poverty for the past 25 years, Nachtwey has won numerous awards, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal an unprecedented 5 times, and just recently was one of three winners of the 2007 TED Prize, the other winners being Bill Clinton and biologist Edward O. Wilson. So here it is, James Nachtwey’s Credo.

 

There has always been war. War is raging throughout the world at the present moment. And there is little reason to believe that war will cease to exist in the future. As man has become increasingly civilized, his means of destroying his fellow man have become ever more efficient, cruel and devastating.

 

Is it possible to put an end to a form of human behavior which has existed throughout history by means of photography? The proportions of that notion seem ridiculously out of balance. Yet, that very idea has motivated me.

 

For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war and if it is used well it can be a powerful ingredient in the antidote to war.

 

In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of a war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what is happening, he is trying to negotiate for peace. Perhaps that is the reason why those in charge of perpetuating a war do not like to have photographers around.

 

It has occurred to me that if everyone could be there just once to see for themselves what white phosphorous does to the face of a child or what unspeakable pain is caused by the impact of a single bullet or how a jagged piece of shrapnel can rip someone’s leg off - if everyone could be there to see for themselves the fear and the grief, just one time, then they would understand that nothing is worth letting things get to the point where that happens to even one person, let alone thousands.

 

But everyone cannot be there, and that is why photographers go there - to show them, to reach out and grab them and make them stop what they are doing and pay attention to what is going on - to create pictures powerful enough to overcome the diluting effects of the mass media and shake people out of their indifference - to protest and by the strength of that protest to make others protest.

 

The worst thing is to feel that as a photographer I am benefiting from someone else’s tragedy. This idea haunts me. It is something I have to reckon with every day because I know that if I ever allow genuine compassion to be overtaken by personal ambition I will have sold my soul. The stakes are simply too high for me to believe otherwise.

 

I attempt to become as totally responsible to the subject as I possibly can. The act of being an outsider aiming a camera can be a violation of humanity. The only way I can justify my role is to have respect for the other person’s predicament. The extent to which I do that is the extent to which I become accepted by the other, and to that extent I can accept myself.

 

– James Nachtwey

 

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