Wednesday 3 February 2010

Zoriah I'm Glad I'm Not you........


"I have decided to offer a special small group workshop in Haiti focused on photographing the aftermath of the earthquake. Subjects covered will be working in disaster zones and other difficult and dangerous situations, survival and logistics in difficult environments, photograph people, working with NGO's (Non Governmental Organizations) and aid organizations, editing and digital darkroom technique and marketing and making your stories available for the world to see.

In addition to working together as a small group, each student will receive one full day of one-on-one training in the field with me. This will allow each student to have their personal needs met and get one-on-one instruction in addition to that of the group activities.

This workshop is open to a maximum of four students. Cost is $4000 USD for seven days and students will be required to pay their own expenses."
Writes Zoriah HERE. 4/2/10 Zoriah lost his bottle or found his conscience and took down the post. MP

Along the same lines:

Sunday you can put "yer two penneth worth" in on a BAG NEWS NOTES. As to how Haiti has been represented by photographers so far. Photojournalism as an Art (and I'm not sure that it is) has always been a little bit brash, a little bit gungho, a little bit shock & awe. Great for the Sunday papers, the Picture Post even the coffee table book, but it seems to me to be stuck in some strange no-mans land between the instant (relative) objectivity of TV crews and the subjective slower more considered Documentary/Art photography. If it's remit is to inform and show us things a new and after 50 or 60 years it continues to rehash the same cliched images of suffering what's the point? You would be better off staying at home and photographing Jordon's tits, that's beginning to seem more honourable. It seems now certainly with Haiti and perhaps before, that it's becoming more about paid education, like some sick self perpetuating pointless ultimate photo holiday. It has as much relevance for the modern world as the blood thirsty etching's in a Victorian tabloid.

Thank fuck for Simon Norfolk, Broomberg and Chanarin, and the like is all I can say, at least they are using the stills camera to produce something more than disaster/war porn.

Thanks to the eagle eyes of Stan & Pete.

6 comments:

Betheny said...

50% of the proceeds from Zoriah's workshop go to Hospice Saint Joseph in Port au Prince, Haiti which cares for refugees and offers medical outreach to those affected by the disaster.

mark page said...

Smashing. And the other 50%?

Brenda said...

Not to mention all the resources they'll be taking up. They'll have to eat, right?

Sickening.

I tweeted it a couple of days ago, and people generally seemed to think we're a mean and selfish lot, photographers.

mark page said...

Brenda,
it makes me really really angry. He has taken down the post and all the comments he recieved. Most people seemed to agree he's one sick fuck and he got well barracked so I guess that means on the whole the photo community has a decent morale line on this.

marcus doyle said...

I'll take five photographers somewhere nice for free, and throw in a sandwich.
Words escape me on this one.

mark page said...

Marcus,
If you ever do that round here I'll take you up on it!