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Rape as a Weapon of War by Robin HammondIn this project, Robin Hammond argues that "it is our moral duty to do what we can do to stop atrocities like this from happening. It is wrong to care less about people because they are further away, don't speak your language, or look different from you. If this happened in front of us we would be outraged into action." |
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Testimony by Joakim Eneroth If there is one event that future historians may use to characterise the 20th century, it is the apathy among people and nations to challenge global injustice and abuse. Tibet offers a glimpse of the double talk, betrayal and blind sightedness of the international community. Joakim Eneroth's Testimony demands we stand up and take notice. It forces the viewer to ask how such injustices are allowed to continue. |
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AFTERWAR by Lori GrinkerThe human impact of violence lasts long beyond signing of a treaty. Capturing the impact of this 'collateral damage' is the power of AFTERWAR by Lori Grinker. "The twentieth century was one of history's deadliest. Over 10 million people died in about 165 wars, and countless others were wounded as nationalism, competing ideologies, religions and genocidal conflicts raged from Europe, through Asia, Africa and the Americas." |
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Survivors by Jodi BieberToo often we are presented with images of the vulnerable and exploited as victims of circumstances beyond their control. Jodi Bieber's work on domestic violence depicts the women, whose stories she seeks to tell, as survivors - survivors of domestic violence. |
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Left Behind by Kate SchermerhornTo document something as intrinsic to the human condition as war is a daunting task. Kate Schermerhorn's work counters the mainstream by focusing on the intimate rather than the sensational, reminding the viewer of the considerable personal costs of war and the ultimate fragility of the human condition. |
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Oil - A Crude World by Paolo Woods You would imagine that people from a country that has massive oil reserves have been blessed. But in many countries we went to we were told, 'unfortunately we have oil. It has been a curse not a blessing.' Paolo Woods |
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Refuge - The First Safe Place by Simon Norfolk Refugee camps are creations that rise from the ashes of destruction. They speak of the countries they are in, the wars from which they are born, and the people who inhabit their bounds. Simon Norfolk's work looks at these camps, focusing on their physical progression all over the world. |
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Fragments of a lost hope by Alvaro Hoppe & Alejandro BustosAlvaro Hoppe documented the daily and often violent events during the final eight years of the Pinochet dictatorship. His work lit a torch of hope that was passed onto a new generation of Chilean social documentarians. After the democratic light was reignited in Chile, Bustos's contemporary images drifted away from Hoppe's sharpness and epicness into a time of anti-heroism, routine, consumerism and back into dissatisfaction. |
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The Underclass and its Bosses by Donald WeberThe Underclass and its Bosses gives us a glimpse into the life of Ukrainians in the industrial city of Dniprodzerzhinsk. This is a story of a society struggling to find its identity, excluded from the mainstream, forgotten by its leaders and trying to maintain their freedom. |
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Dream of the Rich North by Janet JarmanJanet Jarman's story Dream of the Rich North contrasts the privileged northern life against the poverty and hopelessness of many from the south. The desire, as many of us would in similar circumstances, to find a better life. But in their desperation they encounter hardship, deprivation and humiliation that often sees them no better off, often worse off, in a country that refuses to share its abundance fairly. |
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175M by Gilles Sabrie China's gargantuan appetite for economic growth will see two cities, 11 counties, 140 towns, 326 townships, 1351 villages and 24,300 hectares of farmland consumed by rising water levels by 2009. Gilles Sabrie's 175M invokes a sense of urgency in resolving the human, political and industrial dimension of development. |
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Industrial Scars by Henri Fair Arrogantly we have commodified the earth, abused the planet and put at risk the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land on which we exist. J. Henry Fair's work is the equivalent of a visual concerto of our demise. He has discovered the entropic nature of our being, and the images are as beautiful as they are frightening. Behind the abstract splendour of his work lies the threat and promise of a world in ruin. |
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The Atlantic Wall by Juan Medina It is estimated that in 2003 alone, more than 7,000 immigrants, from drought ridden African nations such as Mali and Gambia, attempted the dangerous 100km sea passage to the Canary Islands. Tragically, some never reach the shores alive. The viewer can't help but notice the obvious gap in fortunes between those on the beaches for leisure and those seeking asylum. |
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Child Labour by Shiho FukadaAs we moved into the 21st Century, over six million children under the age of 14 were working in Bangladesh. These children spend their days in an alien environment of twisted metals, roaring machines and dangerous spaces. |
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We're Talking... anyone listening? by Angela Blakely & David Lloyd Australia's image abroad is one of the 'lucky' country - a progressive country of mineral wealth, good health and a comprehensive education system. Between the majority of non-Indigenous and the minority of Indigenous people remains a massive gap of living standards. |
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Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel Twenty percent of the world's population consumes over 80 per cent of the world's resources, while the other 80 per cent consumes less then 20 per cent. While the majority world struggles to feed itself, we suffer the consequences of excess: obesity, diabetes and heart disease. |
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Teen Lipo by Lauren Greenfield Brooke Bates had always been the 'fat kid'; teased, inadequate and depressed. Her weight reiterated her failure to conform to the 'ideal' body constantly exhibited in the media and advertising. At the influential age of 12, Brooke underwent liposuction and a tummy tuck to remove 16kg of fat. Brooke's story is not unique, and appears to be increasingly common in the developed world. |
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Stories of Human Trafficking by Karen Robinson Through the help of the POPPY project, a London charity set up in 2003, some trafficked women have been rescued and freed from their captors. Their stories not only condemn the traffickers, but also their customers, the state, and the apathetic politicians whose complicity makes them active participants in the exploitation and rape of these women. |
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Cocalari Iron People by Alfredo D'AmatoPre-1989, Romania was under the reign of Nicolae Ceausescu, and part of his regime involved the demolition of village houses as a way of forcing residents to move into his own controlled, tower block apartments. The ration of apartments to houses was uneven, and as a result many families were left homeless. In the words of D'Amato: "Life, it is a gift, and we should always remember that some people get an easy life while some others are not that lucky." |
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An Unlikely Hero by Kari Rene HallWhile covering a police raid in 1996, photographer Kari René Hall discovered the Ha’ Penny Inn, a run down, seedy and often violent motel that was home to drug dealers, prostitutes and, sadly, families. One of its cockroach‑infested rooms was occupied by Henry Guiliante, his girlfriend Michelle Harig, and their four children. |
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Impossible Accidents by Robert KnothFor the last seven years, Knoth and journalist Antoinette de Jong have been investigating first hand the consequences of a litany of nuclear ‘accidents’ for people living in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, the Urals and Siberia. Knoth and de Jong reveal portraits and testimonies of families living in these areas that are suffering from all manner of cancers and rare diseases. Doctors described witnessing the rise of foetal mutation and congenital illnesses, such as hydrocephalus. Knoth’s work talks of a young girl’s battle with uterine cancer, of others crippled with growth abnormalities, and of a grandfather’s despair of the loss of his lineage and extended family to cancer. |
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Portraitscapes of War by Rita Leistner 'The idea for shooting Portraitscapes was something that evolved over a few weeks in Lebanon during the war and then really came together after the ceasefire. The destruction was so widespread that I think there was a risk of it becoming mundane to photographers. But it wasn’t mundane at all – it was shocking. I photographed landscapes of destruction and…also portraits of people after the fact – formal, straight portraits, which I lit almost as if the landscape were a studio. When subjects have had time to compose themselves and are active participants in the photograph (by facing the camera) your ability to identify with them…is greatly, incredibly increased.' |
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Whanau Gathering by Tony ReddropTony Reddrop’s photo essay, Whanau Gathering, is also his own story. The people in the images are his extended family, related to each other by Maori ancestry. Quietly, and intimately, he visually explores relationships inherent in family and often intensified at such a reunion as the Whanau Gathering. |
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Violence in Southern Thailand by Masaru Goto‘…the conflict in Southern Thailand is not one many journalists have covered. People are killed everyday, but there is no justice at all.’ Masaru Goto has nineteen years experience photographing human rights and social issues in Southeast Asia and South America. He has participated in numerous campaigns for human rights and social issues, and his reportage has been featured internationally. |
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30 Years of Photography by Peter Turnley 'The one thing that is always clear in my mind is that the people, their stories, and the themes of life I encounter and witness…are always more important than the process of photography itself.' For the last thirty years, Peter Turnley has photographed nearly every major news event across the world. From famine to war, the fall of the Berlin wall, or the streets of Paris, Turnley describes his photography as ‘…putting things together, a sort of web, a notion of what life looks like and what life is all about’. |
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War in Afghanistan by Stephen Dupont Stephen Dupont has been reporting from Afghanistan for fifteen years. Unlike most of the western media, he has not forgotten this country, or its stories. His time behind the scenes while embedded with US troops gives a glimpse into an under-reported, or perhaps mis-reported war. In a sense Dupont’s images unmask the commercial media’s representation of a liberated Afghanistan. This story was shot in 2005, four years after war was declared, and four years after images of Afghanistan’s ‘liberation’ from the Taliban were beamed into our homes. |
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Banned by James ReeveJames Reeve’s series Banned is a positive look at Afghanistan sans Taliban rule. Reeve has photographed unvarnished liberties, like female schooling, as well as simple pleasures, such as bird-keeping, which, with the lifting of harsher religious restrictions, are once again available to the people.
The extreme Islamic ethos of the Taliban meant that many apparently harmless and everyday activities could no longer be enjoyed and their proscription was systematically enforced with draconian punishments, including beatings, amputations and even executions. |
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Women by Paula BronsteinPaula Bronstein photographed Women during numerous visits to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2004, and her skill and privileged access emphatically give much deserved and needed respect to her subjects. |
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Child Brides by Stephanie SinclairThe girls in Sinclair’s story are the child brides of Afghanistan who are forced into marriage from ages as young as six years old. They do not enjoy the luxury of childhood pastimes like playing games and attending school. Instead, once they are married they clean, cook, wait on the men, and mind the children of the other wives. |
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Self-Immolation by Stephanie SinclairA rose is held up to the face of Rokhshana Rahimi who was near death at the Herat Public Hospital. Rokhshana set herself on fire when her husband, who left her to go to Iran fourteen years earlier, demanded she return to him. She died in the hospital from her wounds. |
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Daily Life by Ahmad Masood'I want the viewers to know that we (Afghans) are all the same people with all the same qualities. Difficult circumstances can bring out the good and the bad sides of people. In Afghanistan we also breathe the same air, walk on the same earth, become hungry, and desire a peaceful life, just the same as the rest of the world. It seems that if the men have beards and turbans, and if the women wear burqa’s, then this is not just a choice of dress; it is a negative story. The world should already know this and the Western media should explain this much better than they do. This is where the Western media falls short; they think everything is perfect if it is the same as the West.’ |
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Edward Herman: an InterviewEdward Herman is one of the world’s most influential, progressive media critics; which begs the question, why is it so few people have even heard of his name?
The uncontroversial answer is simply that his radical expositions on the contemporary mediascape risk inciting his readers into claiming what is rightfully theirs, a democratic media.
So the Australian PhotoJournalist has taken the opportunity to rekindle this discussion, by publishing something the mainstream media seems incapable of – an interview with Edward Herman. |
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Community Media Matters: an interview with Michael Meadows“People feel empowered as individuals, empowered as groups, and empowered in the sense that they are now taking a greater part in the democratic process of Australia, which they see as being eroded by anti-terrorism laws and legislative restrictions” - Michael Meadows
What does it mean to be part of a community? Is community media necessary? Marisol Da Silva speaks to Michael Meadows about the potential of community media to empower individuals and provide a diverse alternative to commercially driven mass media. |
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David Hicks - Five Years Without Trial, Except by Media“Let’s get this straight. In 1998, David Hicks signs up to train with a US-backed group, gets snapped posing ineptly with an unloaded, borrowed weapon on his first day, never gets anywhere near a fight, and is back home in Salisbury, South Australia, six weeks after he left. Three years later, referencing another conflict in another country, every editor worth his salt plasters an altered version of this shot next to their ‘Soldiers of Blue Terror’ stories”.
Alan Johnston analyses The Australian’s coverage of the ‘David Hicks’ story in Australia. |
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Salim Amin A24 When you consider the words, ‘Africa’ and ‘news’ you think of famine, war, corruption and genocide and why wouldn’t you? The majority of new items about Africa that reach the west are predominantly negative. It is true that Africa has sometimes faced overwhelming challenges. It is also true that Africa is a continent rich in culture, traditions and history, replete with positive stories that no one is talking about. Until now.
Kalo Fainu speaks to Salim Amin, CEO of Camera Pix and chair of the new African news channel A24, about why he is committed to telling the other side of Africa’s stories. |
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John Pilger - ‘Liberating’ Afghanistan“As the first bombs fell, President Bush spoke to his victims from the oval office: ‘The oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America…The United States is a friend of the Afghan People’.”
John Pilger reports from a war torn Kabul and questions the ‘liberation’ of Afghanistan. |
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Public Places, Private AgendasScott Mackinnon speaks to Clive Hamilton, Antony Lowenstein, and Eric Beecher about the state of the Australian media. |
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Nepal by Philip BlenkinsopPhotographer Philip Blenkinsop has spent much of the last decade documenting the Asian experience. Leaving The Australian newspaper in 1988, he traded his car for a Leica and moved to Thailand to work as a freelancer in places very different from downtown Sydney. He emerged from what he describes as “riding a storm”, with enough publishing support to have the stories of the disempowered in Asia heard.
"People tend to think your responsibility as a photographer is to your readers and the people who are buying the magazine. But of course it’s not. Your responsibility is to the people you are photographing. "
"It is an honour to give a voice to people, and to bear that responsibility, but it is also a challenge. Because you realise that you are responsible for people’s lives "
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Shadowlands by Jan GrarupJan Grarup’s photography is a reminder to us all that there are people who have been forgotten. People who have lived through the horrors of war, conflict and disasters, and who have been left behind to struggle for their survival.
"The images represent my attempt to keep the stories of these people alive, and to show that behind the news stories we see every day, those who live and die in the middle of conflicts and catastrophes are real people who do not merely deserve our sympathy, but demand our attention."
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Interview with Noam Chomsky by Andrea JumaraNoam Chomsky has been asking this question for more than half a century. His political activism dispels our illusions and urges us not to surrender our basic rights simply to maintain a false sense of security. ‘Nobody is going to pour truth into your brain,’ he tells us. ‘Its something you have to find out for yourself.’
"It’s very easy to believe what’s convenient to believe."
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The Rock Churches of Lalibela by Warren ClarkeOne of the hardest decisions to make as an editor or photographer is ‘what story should I be telling?’ So often we are the conveyers of bad news and in a very convincing way we have the ability to make the world
appear worse than it really is. In the following series Warren Clarke has shown us a glimpse into a warm and peaceful festival from a continent with a track record of producing stories of tragedy and horror.
"My view on working as a freelance photojournalist is to leave the coverage of wars and catastrophes to the relevant agencies, papers and magazines, where the hordes seem to trip over each other getting there. I find it claustrophobic working in an environment with other photographers working for magazines and agencies who have better resources."
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Taxi! by Glenn Lockitch"For the past three years I have photographed passengers in my taxi. I drive at night between sunset and sunrise. Along the journey I explored a little into their lives and the reasons for them catching the taxi. A twelve-hour taxi shift telescopes a variety of characters and situations that would normally be experienced over a much longer period of time by the average person.:" |
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Kashmir by Amy VitaleKashmir, nestled in the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan, was once a popular tourist destination for Mughal Emperors, annual Indian pilgrimages and British colonialists alike. Ami Vitale, being herself spell-bound on a visit to its summer capital of Srinagar, began photographing its now fragmented society in 2001 after she moved to India.
"It is poetry there and there is no way of describing it. Yet, the most beautiful people and pristine environment are juxtaposed against a conflict, which has eroded much that once defined Kashmir. When I was there at least six people died everyday, and it was rarely in the international press."
"It is not about making pretty pictures but about giving a voice to people who very often are ignored. It’s about telling their stories so that we all realise how connected we are."
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Iraq Social Clubs by Scott NelsonNelson takes us inside two of Baghdad’s social clubs, the Hunting club and the Alwiyah club. Clubs like these act as an escape from daily living in the so-called post-war Iraq. Originally only accessible to the elite Baath party, they are now open to anyone who can afford the $600 annual membership.
Although the clubs are still beyond the means of most Iraqis, these images reveal the existence of a quieter side of life. They offer a break from the continuous graphic imagery of war and chaos that is echoed through our mainstream media’s news coverage. But I hope they do more than just offer us some relief. I suspect they destroy the stereotype, or single dimensional perspective of the war that is portrayed in the media. These images show us a complex society that is rapidly stratifying, and portray people who are not dissimilar to ourselves. In short, they normalise and humanise a situation that is portrayed, for government and business interests, as otherwise.
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Brief Snapshot Of The World |
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Social Cleansing by Victor James BlueBlue began reporting from Guatemala in 2001, five years after the end of the thirty-six year civil war. Although the killings have a visible presence in the Guatemalan media, the issue remains largely invisible. This media tactic ensures that social cleansing retains a media presence that, ironically, facilitates a silencing of its own people. These stories are being reported, but not investigated.
"I am trying to create a body of work that will document life in Guatemala in ‘peace’ but ask why, at times, it still seems like war."
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Freedom of the Press in the New Australian Security State by Chris NashThis article reviews the implications for the freedom of the Australian press in light of the anti-terrorism legislation that has been introduced by Australian State and Federal governments since September 2001. It focuses on the secrecy and disclosure provisions, and argues that they will have a marked chilling effect on the role of journalists in examining and reporting on the activities of government; first by prohibiting the publication of certain sorts of information, and, more importantly, by attempting to make the press a de facto arm of the security forces in dealing with certain sections of the community. This effect of the legislation fundamentally impairs freedom of political communication including freedom of the press, and may not survive even Australia’s limited constitutional protection of such freedom, though it will certainly override the limited parliamentary protections of human rights. It suggests that the only serious legal protection would flow from an effective, constitutionally entrenched Bill of Rights defining and protecting inter alia freedom of information, communication and the press. |
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Cronulla 2005 by Andrew QuiltyAustralia, a society with a deeply racist past, has absorbed dozens of diverse cultures peacefully. The beach and the way of life it represents are central to this.
-John Pilger
These photographs were shot by Andrew Quilty in Cronulla on Sunday the 11th December, 2005. Quilty asks, “…if Australia is indeed a multicultural society, it begs the question, are we a tolerant one?”
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G'Day and Good Luck by Scott Parkin Peace Activist and backpacker Scott Parkin was removed from Australia on the 15th of September 2005. This occurred three months before the revised Sedition Laws were passed in the senate. The Australian Government removed Scott on the grounds of his presence being ‘a threat to national security’. Scott has yet to be charged with any crime, and incriminating media reports have since been withdrawn. This article is a personal account of his removal. |
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David and the Modern Goliath by David BradburyBetter to light one candle than curse the darkness
—Frontline films motto
True to his name, David is not afraid to face goliath issues in order to make a difference. For the last 25 years he has fought to expose injustices and inequalities. From covert operations by the CIA against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, to potential environmental disasters in Australia, David has gone to the frontline to tell the story. Big corporations and governments do not endorse his films; they are just too confronting to be good business. Unwilling to be silenced, David hosts films nights and sells his films online to raise awareness and pay back those who have lent a hand. Father of four, his driving force is a belief that a better future is possible by taking action today.
Story by Marisol Da Silva
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The Nuclear Route by Tim GeorgesonIt seems like a plot from a science fiction or horror movie. The United States transports almost 140 kilograms of one of the world’s most dangerous substances, weapons-grade plutonium, enough material for nearly 20 atomic bombs and numerous dirty bombs, across the country. That material is then shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in British ships to the north of France where it is trucked a thousand kilometers to a nuclear facility in the south of the country. It’s a script that probably would not be greenlighted by any film studio because it’s too improbable. However, it is a scenario that has been approved by the United States, Britain and France, and it already happened. |
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Your Future With Depleted Uranium by Pauline RigbyBased in Australia, Pauline Rigby researches the nuclear industry and its impact on communities. She has tried to get the information she has discovered into the Australian media, but found rejection at every turn. This provoked her to publish a pocket-sized research guide on uranium to inform the community. Debates currently being played out in the Australian media on uranium mining may have omitted some of the following information. Surely it is the role of the media to bring forth information from both sides, so an informed public can make a decision on this issue |
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Slovakia's Outcasts by Julie Denesha"I wanted to put a human face on who these people are, because they live in these ghettos, these rural settlements, and people really don’t have to see them. Even though people look down on them, they’re still sort of invisible." |
![Tell My Story](http://cdp.edu.au/cdp/sites/default/files/category_pictures/tellmystory180.jpg ""…To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget." - Arundhati Roy
Being alive is about having a story. And everyone has the right to be heard, particularly when it is a cry for help. Stories have the potential to help others. 'Tell my Story' is about these stories that are seldom reported in mainstream media.")
