Thursday December 29th, 2011
After receiving an extraordinary abilities visa, Gil Lavi moved from Israel to New York City. Photography assignments had continually brought Gil back to New York, over and over again throughout the years, and he slowly found himself falling in love with the city. He adds, “after spending many months each year in New York, it was very clear to me that this is the place for me to be, where I can climb higher both professionally and personally.” The fact that Gil has only been New Yorker of a few weeks hasn’t stopped him from getting some interesting, and truly Americana assignments.
Most recently, Gil got an unusual request from the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC)—shoot the candidates at a national Republican debate. Normally, Gil is more of a commercial shooter, not exactly a photojournalist. However it wasn’t something he’s never done before either. He states, “I think that, in many ways, this assignment was much closer to the style of my personal works than my commercial assignments.”
Gil wasn’t unfamiliar with US politics though, having followed past US elections,
I’ve experienced political photography in Israel, which made me aware of the political world in general. I’d been following the usage of photography in former US presidential campaigns, thinking about the messages of the candidates versus the impact of their images, and of course, trending styles in that field.
After accepting the assignment, Gil found himself in large group of photographers at the debate, creating both a physical and creative restraints,
The shoot was challenging in the regard of creating striking and unique images, while being surrounded by press photographers. I was still obligated to create my signature shots for the RJC. All I could do was use my visual instincts and try to hunt the energy that burst out in certain points of the speeches and compose it using the strong graphic elements of the stage. I stopped myself from shooting at the beginning of the speeches when everyone else did, and I pulled myself away from the straight angles the rest of them used. I was looking for the graphically meaningful spots that will allow me to bring out a very strong messages.
Gil has his own description/take on his three favorite images from the shoot:
Rick Perry’s religious body language—in a moment were he looks like he his on the edge of revelation—reveals so much about his deep feeling of mission.
Michael Bachman’s high heels just aren’t enough to bring her physically head to head with the rest of the candidates, forcing an additional platform that puts a distance between her and the presidential seal. The right leg goes a bit back, almost hesitating, also created impact to me.
Finally there’s Mitt Romney, that stood there as straight and proud as possible. You can almost feels how he takes in the energy of the crowd.
The RJC loved Gil’s image and are using them for publicity purposes.
View more of Gil’s work on his website, www.gillavi.com.
- Maria Luci
Wednesday November 2nd, 2011
For the past two years, Sebastiano Tomada has been embedding himself with the US Army and US Marine Corps in Afghanistan as a freelance photographer. Last year, Sebastiano met freelance journalist Brian Mockenhaupt. The two hit it off, Brian remarking how much he loved Sebastiano’s images, and asked if he’d be interested in collaborating on an assignment together. Sebastiano agreed and the two began working together—Brian writing and Sebastiano shooting. After working on several assignments together, Brian was asked by Reader’s Digest to write a military story for them. The editors were looking for a photographer as well, so Sebastiano came on board and soon they were both headed back to Afghanistan to capture the daily lives of military chaplains.
According to Sebastiano, the parameters of the project were typical of his normal documentary assignments. The sole direction given was to capture the chaplains and the environment they worked in. The only difference was the delicate subject matter. According to Sebastiano, “it would have been impossible to give any more direction because the situation and the hospital were both very unpredictable.”
Gaining access to a military hospital in Afghanistan is quite difficult, but after years of embedding with the military, Sebastiano knew what would be required to proceed,
In order to get accepted to a military base hospital in a country at war is not easy. Embedding with Coalition Forces is not easy as well and you have to go thru the US Army Media Embed Office and process your request thru a Public Affair Officer. In this case, Reader’s Digest had to write a letter of intent explaining the details of the assignment, the formatting of the story, etc. It was just like embedding and the fact that I had been thru the process before made it a bit easier. Media is controlled in war zones and the reason you have to go thru the Media Embed Office is so they can verify your background and make sure you are not entering a hospital with the specific intent of trying to find some negative news.
Once inside the hospital, Sebastiano and Brian had just one day to gather enough material to portray the chaplains’ stories accurately. This made Sebastiano’s main challenge being able to gain his subject’s trust and respect—something quite difficult in such a limited amount of time. Sebastiano explains,
I ended up using my camera only half of the time I was there. I needed to know them better and let them to know who I was. It was, and always is, important to create a two-way conversation in order to relax your subject, and to some extent, have him or her somehow forget that you’re beside them with a camera. The environment added to the challenge—it was not an easy one to shoot in. Taking pictures as well as footage of the emergency room where emotions run high was a delicate thing to capture. One wrong move, too close or too far, and I could have lost my assignment or embed. In the end I took my time, made sure everyone knew who I was and why I was there, and just shot my pictures.
The day went by quickly, with Sebastiano working hard to capture delicate moments effectively. To him, one photo from the assignment stands out from the rest,
My favorite shot is the one of Chaplain Sholtes sitting on a medical bed in the emergency room. He was very tired after a long day of work. I felt like it told his story perfectly.
Sebastiano was also able shoot some video while at the hospital, which Reader’s Digest happily used on the iPad version of their publication. Their photo editor was very happy with the outcome of the shoot and the visuals accompanied Brian’s story perfectly.
To view more of Sebastiano’s work visit his site, sebastianotomada.com.
- Maria Luci
Thursday October 27th, 2011
Over the past several years, Narayan Mahon has been diligently working on a substantial personal project that has taken him around the globe. The project, entitled Lands In Limbo, documents the stories of the unrecognized—and often forgotten—countries of Abkhazia, Northern Cyprus, Transnistria, Nagorno Karabakh and Somaliland. According to Narayan, “these de-facto states exist in a political, social and cultural limbo, waiting for international recognition and confirmation of their self-determination. Most of the countries included broke away from recognized countries after bloody ethnic conflicts. Now, the wars have cooled to the point of frozen, although no peace agreements have been reached.”
Struck by the stories and images, I decided to talk to Narayan to learn a little more about his unique and engrossing photo essays,
What inspired you to create this project?
I was traveling by train from Ukraine to Moldova and the train stopped at the border of Transnistria, a breakaway state of Moldova. At the border, the guards shook me down for all the cash I had, holding my passport for ransom. I became fascinated by the idea of these breakaway countries, which have built their own countries but operate in a sort of black-hole while hoping and waiting for recognition. I studied more about that process of recognition and what it means for a country. I was interested in why a country secedes from another and how national identity plays into that. I wanted to know why some countries are welcomed into the international community and others are not. I started researching this subject before I studied photography. When I applied for graduate school, I said this was the project I would do for my master’s thesis… and it was.
How would you describe Lands In Limbo?
This project is about five unrecognized countries, how the people there live and how the country functions as a de-facto state. Countries that have vicious wars of secession and have struggled for decades for recognition. It’s about national identity. It’s about the struggle between self-determination and multiculturalism.
Did you face any challenges while shooting in these countries?
There are a lot of challenges that go along with working in these unrecognized countries. Just the logistics of shooting the project has been a challenge. Getting to a country that doesn’t officially exist can be it’s own adventure. Once I’m there, there are cultural challenges—the culture of paranoia and mistrust in the former soviet countries. There are environmental challenges and security issues. In Nagorno Karabakh, I’m shooting in freezing cold temperatures and in Somaliland it’s 115 degrees and I need to have an armed guard in order to leave the capital city. In Abkhazia I’ve been detained multiple times. In these places, nothing is easy. I also get caught up in trying to avoid what I see as cliches and trying to find something different and unexpected. But the greatest challenge is financial, and that’s why it’s been an on-going project for five years.
What kinds of responses have you received so far from the photos?
The response has been good. I have received some grants to continue the project. I also received an award from the Magenta Foundation with work from this project. It’s also been featured on NPR.org.
What do you hope to gain from this project?
Personally, I just hope to expand my understanding of the world and the people with whom I share it. And I want to share those experiences and that understanding with other people, in hopes of expanding their understanding of world and the people with whom they share it.
Have you learned anything about photography through this experience?
I’ve learned a lot about crafting a narrative, which is a skill I use now in my commercial photography.
Any stories from your time in these countries that have really stuck with you?
Too many stories! In Abkhazia I wanted to go to the tuberculosis hospital (TB is a major public health problem there) and I needed to get permission from Abkhazia’s Minister of Health. So I went to see the minister of health, who doesn’t speak any English. I was on a very small budget and couldn’t afford a translator so I was just winging it with the Russian I knew (in Abkhazia everyone speaks Russian). I sit down with him and I explain, as best as I can, who I am and what I want to do. The minister then starts talking and for 30 minutes I didn’t really understand what he was saying, I was just nodding my head saying, in Russian, “yes”, “of course”, “I know.” Then he picked up the phone and called the hospital, said some things I didn’t fully understand and then, finally, the words I really wanted to hear, “and so, yes, I think he can.” And that’s all I needed to hear.
In other countries, I am scared the old soviet airplane with no seat belts is going to crash over Djibouti, or I am being detained in Transnistria, or I am being summoned to explain myself to the Minister of Foreign Relations in Nagorno Karabakh for having gone to a certain town, or I am photographing the leader of Northern Cyprus when he suddenly takes out a camera from his desk and starts photographing me.
Would you consider this project complete?
I don’t think this project is done yet—there are some more aspects that I would like to explore. I think the next part will be to return to Nagorno Karabakh and explore the sense of loss that is experienced in these places when people are forced to leave the country. I am considering a Kickstarter fundraising campaign for that next part.
You can view more of Narayan’s work and his entire Lands In Limbo series on his website, narayanmahon.com.
- Maria Luci
