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Spanish photographer shot dead while filming TV documentary in Ethiopia
Iñaki Juez
Madrid
Tuesday, 21 May 2024, 15:52
Catalan photographer and tourist guide Toni Espadas has been shot dead in Ethiopia while filming a documentary.
Two individuals opened fire on the team of Partners of the World (Socios por el Mundo), a well-known Chilean television programme. The crew, including the Spanish photographer, were there to do a report on a tribe in Ethiopia. “As Canal 13, we deeply regret the death of Toni, and from a distance, we send his family all our support,” the television station said. The other members of the filming crew were unharmed.
They were filming the Mursi tribe, who were not the perpetrators of the attack. “The drivers and all the members of the team of the programme, produced by the MkZeta production company, are in good health,” a statement pointed out. The Chilean foreign ministry is taking the necessary steps to repatriate them so they can leave the African country “as soon as possible”.
Toni Espadas, born in Barcelona in 1969, specialised in travel and photography. According to his website, he opened his first travel agency in Ethiopia in 2010, which he later expanded to countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon, Eritrea, Benin, Angola and South Sudan. “For some years now, I have been advising journalists and production companies, working as a fixer for the production of reports, documentaries and television programmes focusing on the study of African peoples and cultures,” Espadas wrote in his biography.
Espadas was part of the team led by renowned Chilean journalist Francisco ‘Pancho’ Saavedra and actor Jorge Zabaleta. The Chilean programme aims to “discover new and distant cultures, reveal exotic and beautiful landscapes, and live great adventures”, according to the TV channel’s website.
Images of the north: National Geographic explorer captures people, wildlife of the Arctic
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When Kiliii Yuyan first visited the north as a photographer 10 years ago for National Geographic, he had no intention of being a fly-on-the-wall chronicler of Arctic life.
He was invited by the wife of a whaling captain to Utqiagvik, the largest city of the North Slope Borough in Alaska and the home of the Inupiaq. Eventually, he joined them on a whaling expedition and was determined to make himself useful.
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“They could see very quickly I wasn’t going to be a person who was just going to stand around and eat all their food and be cold and whine,” says Yuyan, in an interview with Postmedia. “The first thing I did when I got there was start playing with the kids. They were out there butchering seals and I started helping them butcher seals and just do stuff. My parents certainly didn’t raise me to stand around while everyone else was working. I learned very quickly the things that I didn’t know and I was always helpful.”
It was more than just his work ethic that compelled Yuyan to help. He has earned a reputation for capturing stories from the Arctic, some of which will be presented on Sunday and Monday at the Jack Singer Concert Hall as part of Kiliii Yuyan: Life on Thin Ice. Being a participant, and not just a fly-on-the-wall chronicler, has deepened his connection to both the land and the people.
“Participating in it makes you really understand it, not from your mind but from your heart,” he says. “It’s such a revelation when you are able to work on a story that comes from the heart.”
From the National Geographic Live series, Life on Thin Ice will offer a multi-media voyage to the Arctic Circle and offer Yuyan’s images of the Indigenous people who live there — 40 different ethnic groups live in the north — and the polar bears, musk ox, whales and caribou they interact with. It takes viewers from Alaska to northern Greenland.
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“The show is really about the sights, the sounds and smells of the Arctic,” he says. “It’s quite multi-disciplinary in the sense that we’re going to listen to the bearded seals underwater and trudge around with musk ox. A lot of people tell me afterwards that they felt like they were in those 30-knot winds when I play the video and hang out with the musk ox and things like that.”
Yuyan was born in the United States but spent much of his early childhood with his Nanai grandmother in northern Manchuria, which is the Chinese portion of Siberia. By the age of seven, he was living in the United States but never felt like he belonged. Before becoming a photographer, he built and paddled traditional kayaks and immersed himself in the culture and practises of his Nanai ancestors. Working for National Geographic, he has travelled the world documenting modern Indigenous communities and wildlife.
“It’s come full circle for me,” he says. “My grandmother raised me so she inculcated in me a lot of our values and a lot of our stories and cosmology, the way that we see the world. So I grew up with all these really cool stories about the world. But then I eventually moved to the United States and was living in this weird secular, individualistic world. Looking back as I got older to my teenage years, I realized how much I didn’t fit in and how much I felt like I didn’t get a chance to live in my community and the beautiful Siberian land full of killer whales and sables and snow and all of that. When I started going up into the Arctic to do work with kayaks and photography … I felt so comfortable there and that I belonged. Even cooler than that, it felt like I was living inside of the stories that my grandmother told me when I was a kid.”
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The tagline for his work is often something like “capturing human experience in some of the world’s harshest environments.” But the relationship these Indigenous communities have with their land is far more complicated than a fight for survival. There are challenges — climate change, for instance, is altering their way of life — but these Indigenous communities are not defined by struggle.
“To think of the Arctic as a barren, desolate place where people are just scraping by is to underestimate human beings in general,” he says. “As humans, we’re really, really good and once we’ve lived in a place for a couple of generations we get to really know that place and we’re not just scraping by, we’re thriving. That definitely how it is in the Arctic, people are thriving and doing really well.”
Yuyan makes several trips a year to the Arctic. He was back in Utqiagvik earlier this year, as he does every year. He considers the hunting crew part of his extended family.
“Now, I’m one of the core members of that hunting crew and I reliably show up every year during the spring season,” he says. “I’m always there and now I’ve become a core part of this thing that keeps everybody together and that’s quite an honour. It’s quite a feeling. It feels like a big communal hug.”
Kiliii Yuyan: Life on Thin Ice will be at the Arts Commons Jack Singer Concert Hall on May 26 at 3 p.m. and May 27 at 7 p.m.
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U.S. Coast Guard Boston kicks off National Safe Boating Week at ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ sculpture
“A duck walked up to a lemonade stand and he said to the man running the stand, “Hey! (Bum bum bum) Got any life jackets?” 🦆
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston, kicked off National Safe Boating Week at the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture at Boston Commons.
Base Boston, Massachusetts State Police,
James Barnor, pioneering Ghanaian-British photographer, to be celebrated on 95th birthday with wide-reaching festival
A series of events celebrating the life and work of the pioneering Ghanaian-British photographer James Barnor will take place across Ghana this summer.
The programme, titled James Barnor 95 Festival and expected to launch at the end of May, has been arranged to coincide with the artist’s 95th birthday. It was conceived by the gallerist Clémentine de la Féronnière following a conversation with Barnor during which he expressed his “wish” to spend the special occasion in his homeland.
James Barnor, Self-portrait with a store assistant at the West African Drug Company, central Accra (around 1952)
© James Barnor / Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière
For more than six decades, Barnor, born in Accra in 1929, has photographed major social, cultural and political developments across Ghana and England. As a young man, he became his country’s first photojournalist, chronicling for the newspaper The Daily Graphic the rise of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, for example, and the country’s transition to independence from the United Kingdom in 1957. He also set up his first studio, Ever Young, in 1953. After moving to England in 1959, he captured growing multiculturalism, the Swinging Sixties cultural revolution and the African diaspora—his images regularly appearing in Drum, the influential South African magazine which had offices in London.
James Barnor, Kwame Nkrumah welcomed home upon his return from London in 1957 after the conference of Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth, Accra (July 1957)
© James Barnor / Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière
Barnor is also credited with setting up the first colour processing laboratory in Ghana, after returning there in the 1970s. He moved to London again in 1994, where he lives today.
James Barnor, Filling up the Studio X23 car at the Agip petrol station for its 1974 calendar, Accra (1973)
© James Barnor / Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière
In recent years, Barnor’s birthdays have coincided with exhibitions of his work at the Serpentine Galleries and Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière in Paris. This year’s festival takes it up a gear, with exhibitions taking place at around eight spaces in Accra and Tamale. Among them is a retrospective held across the Nubuke Foundation in Accra and the Nuku Studio in Tamale (opening 3 June), and a show about “Barnor on the road”, opening on 2 June at Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art in Tamale.
Also planned is a panel discussion with Barnor at the Institute Museum of Ghana (1 June), focusing on the women depicted in his work in the 1950s; as well as music and dance performances; documentaries screenings; and free community archiving and photojournalism workshops.
James Barnor, A traffic officer on duty in the business district (Atta Mills High Street), Accra (1970s)
© James Barnor / Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière
Speaking to The Art Newspaper, De la Féronnière says that, even though Barnor has connections with Ghanaian artists, she is looking forward to seeing his “reaction” to ”the quality of the contemporary art scene in Ghana”, upon his return there. The festival will also be a chance for Ghanaians to enjoy a wide range of Barnor’s output, which is an important record of ”the history of Ghana and by extension of Africa”, she adds.
James Barnor, Naa Jacobson as Ballroom Queen after a fashion show, Ever Young Studio (around 1955)
© James Barnor / Courtesy galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière
Key to the festival is a mission to take the work and broadcast it to a wider public, who might otherwise not have access to it, says Féronnière. Indeed, one of the more unusual events will be an exhibition on an airplane, purchased by the artist Ibrahim Mahama, which will travel by road from Accra to Tamale, stopping in villages along the way.
Féronnière hopes that showing Barnor’s photographs across the country will provide a “democratisation of the work”. This speaks to, she adds, “one of the very important peculiarities of James as an artist”, who, from the very beginning of his career, has loved to share and help others.
Chiefs news: Photographer drops charges against Rashee Rice
The picture around Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice became a little less fuzzy on Tuesday morning with the word that some of the charges levied against him this offseason have been dropped.
On Tuesday, NFL reporter Tom Pelissero broke the news that a photographer who had claimed that Rice had assaulted him at a Dallas area nightclub earlier in May had decided to drop all charges. Pelissero gave the update on NFL Network’s The Insiders.
A report came out on May 9 that an incident had occurred at Lit Kitchen in Dallas in which someone matching the height, weight, and age of Rice had assaulted a photographer. A police report would later confirm the suspect was Rice, and further details would also emerge stating that Rice allegedly messaged the photographer on Instagram to lure him into the club only to punch him.
At this point, Pelissero notes that the photographer wants all charges dropped and has said so to authorities in Dallas.
“There was also a recent accusation by a photographer about him assaulting the photographer on his way out of the club. I can actually tell you the photographer recently dropped those charges. He gave an affidavit to the Dallas police department saying it was a misunderstanding and wants the charges dropped.
“You still have things related to the auto incident that is going to have to play out here for Rashee Rice. Then on top of that, NFL discipline. But at least for now, back with the Chiefs.”
Rice has been working out with the Chiefs this week during the third phase of offseason training activities.
A Remarkable Typeface Resurfaces from the Thames After Being Dumped in the River More than a Century Ago
Photo by Matthew Williams Ellis. All images courtesy of Emery Walker’s House, shared with permission
In 18th- and 19th-century London, the term mudlark was coined to describe someone who scavenged river banks for valuable items. Today, metal detectors aid in the continuing pastime—which now requires a permit—and every once in a while, a modern-day mudlark dredges up a striking discovery. Ten years ago, for type enthusiast Robert Green, a once-in-a-lifetime find emerged from the Thames.
Rewinding to the early 2000s, Green was in art school and became fascinated by Doves Type. The more he studied it, the more entranced he became by its idiosyncratic characteristics and the creators’ devotion to “pure” design. He began to meticulously digitize the font family.
The origins of Doves can be traced to T.J. Cobden-Sanderson—who has been credited with coining the term “arts and crafts”—and Emery Walker, who founded Doves Press together in Hammersmith in 1900. “For a typeface, they returned to Renaissance Italian books, but with the intention, however, of producing a set of letters that looked lighter on the page than their sources,” says a statement from the Emery Walker Trust. “The aesthetic vision was largely Cobden–Sanderson’s, who believed in ‘The Book Beautiful.’ Exteriors were stark white vellum with gold spine lettering; inside there were no illustrations.”
The Bible printed with Doves Type. Photo by Lucinda MacPherson
By 1909, the pair’s business partnership formally dissolved, but Doves Press continued without Walker’s participation. In a short film produced by the BBC in 2015, Green describes the breakdown as a result of “pragmatism versus obsession.” Walker was a practical-minded printer and Cobden-Sanderson, a perfectionist.
In March 1917, Cobden-Sanderson declared publicly that Doves Press was closed, and its type had been “dedicated & consecrated” to the River Thames. “Nobody actually quite got it,” Green says. “And Cobden-Sanderson writes a letter to the solicitor saying, ‘No, I wasn’t talking figuratively. The type is gone.’” He didn’t want Walker to have access—or anyone else, for that matter.
Remarkably, Cobden-Sanderson recorded in his journals the exact date and location that he dumped the type into the water, which took him 170 trips to discard in its entirety. With each load weighing around 15 to 20 pounds, that’s a lot of metal. For 98 years, the type remained on the riverbed, much of it washed away over the decades or sunken into the silt as the tidal flow continually rose and fell.
Photo by Lucinda MacPherson
In 2014, Green traced Cobden-Sanderson’s steps and began to poke around beneath the bridge to see if, by chance, any pieces remained. Miraculously, within a few minutes, a single letter “v” appeared among the pebbles. Then, a couple more. He knew he was on to something, so he contacted the Port of London Authority to enlist scuba divers and some buckets and sieves.
Among the search team was Jason Sandy, an architect and member of the Society of Thames Mudlarks, who found 12 pieces and donated them to Emery Walker’s House, a beautiful example of Arts and Crafts architecture maintained by the trust as a private museum. He also co-curated the current exhibition, Mudlarking: Unearthing London’s Past, a highlight of which is a complete alphabet of Doves Type, shown for the first time as a whole.
When the search concluded, Green and the team recovered a total of 151 sorts, or individual pieces of type, out of a possible 500,000. Green has a hunch that, deep down, Cobden-Sanderson didn’t want the type to disappear into ultimate obscurity, or he wouldn’t have detailed exactly where he had thrown it. And while the group recovered only a tiny fraction of the overall set, the find connected enthusiasts to a precise moment in history and allowed Green to further fine-tune his digitized version.
Mudlarking: Unearthing London’s Past continues through May 30.
Photo by Matthew Williams Ellis
Photos by Sam Armstrong
A mudlark on the Thames riverbank. Photo by Lucinda MacPherson
Photo by Jason Sandy
Jason Sandy putting finishing touches to Doves Type display at Emery Walker’s House. Photo by Lucinda MacPherson
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Remarkable Typeface Resurfaces from the Thames After Being Dumped in the River More than a Century Ago appeared first on Colossal.
Poetic travel photography books to collect now
Let our pick of new travel photography books transport you to enticing locations from the comfort of your own home. Lose yourself in ethereal Japanese landscapes, Italian summers and France of the late 80s. Whether you’re an aspiring photographer or planning a break, let the wanderlust wash over you and enjoy a spot of armchair travelling with inspiration from photographers such as Sam Youkilis, Lucy Laucht and Jake Clark.
The best new travel photography books
‘France 1987’ by Mark Steinmetz (Nazraeli Press, 2024)
‘France 1987’ by Mark Steinmetz (Nazraeli Press, 2024)
(Image credit: Courtesy of Nazraeli Press)
It was in the summer of 1987 when American photographer Mark Steinmetz, then 26 years old and only a couple years out of graduate school, was awarded an artist’s residency in the south of France. Steinmetz flew to Paris, where he stayed a few weeks with close family friends in a top-floor apartment on the Avenue de Wagram before settling in the south of France for a prolonged stay. ‘My friends were working in fashion and film, and I was told my bed had once belonged to Jane Fonda before she became Barbarella. The weather was getting colder, and they gave me a brown corduroy jacket that Jean Seberg had cried on,’ shares Steinmetz. The days he spent in France photographing all day are all captured in France 1987, a book published by Nazraeli Press that provides an intimate insight into Steinmetz’s earliest years as a working artist.
You can buy ‘France 1987’ by Mark Steinmetz on Amazon
‘Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer’ by Lucy Laucht (Artisan, 2024)
‘Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer’ by Lucy Laucht (Artisan, 2024)
(Image credit: Courtesy of Artisan)
‘My gaze has long been drawn to the human milieu of a summer beach. I love the quiet poetry of who we are beside the sea. I love the way a country’s maritime fringes gently reveal so much of the national character,’ begins photographer Lucy Laucht in the introduction of Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer. Published by Artisan, Laucht’s debut book takes readers on the perfect vacation, showing Naples, Amalfi and Capri, Ischia, Aeolian Islands, Puglia, Sicily and Egadi Islands through her poetic lens – all while including personal recommendations for the best places to stay, eat and see. The intangible sweetness of doing nothing during a hot Mediterranean day, the Italian way of relaxing, is depicted by Laucht most beautifully: a splash, a conversation, the scent of sun on hot skin.
You can buy ‘Il Dolce Far Niente: The Italian Way of Summer’ by Lucy Laucht on Amazon and at Waterstones.
‘Japan: A Love Story’ by Michael Kenna (Nazraeli Press, 2024)
‘Japan: A Love Story’ by Michael Kenna (Nazraeli Press, 2024)
(Image credit: Michael Kenna, courtesy of Nazraeli Press)
Japan: A Love Story is a new title published by Nazraeli Press revealing a new side to Michael Kenna’s ethereal black-and-white landscape work. Unveiled to coincide with a monumental travelling exhibition in Tokyo, Los Angeles and London, the monograph presents 100 of Kenna’s most striking photographs of Japanese scenery, many published for the first time. The English photographer first visited Japan in 1987 for his inaugural exhibition there and returned many times, resulting in thousands of photographs depicting his long love affair with the country. As Kenna puts it, Japan: A Love Story symbolises his immense ongoing appreciation and deep gratitude for Japan’s beauty and mysterious allure.
You can buy ‘Japan: A Love Story’ by Michael Kenna at Nazraeli Press and Amazon
‘The Package Holiday: 1968-1985’ by Jake Clark (Hoxton Mini Press, 2024)
‘The Package Holiday: 1968-1985’ by Jake Clark (Hoxton Mini Press, 2024)
(Image credit: Courtesy of Hoxton Mini Press)
The Package Holiday: 1968-1985, published by Hoxton Mini Press, taps into Brits’ love of sun, sea and teensy weensy Speedos during the 1970s, when British European Airways set up its ‘package holiday’ deals to Spain, incorporating short flights, hotel, all-day board and lashings of family-friendly fun. London Royal Air Force-trained photographer Trevor Clark was an Eastender who, having set up a studio in Soho, had become the go-to photographer in 1960s Swinging London. Clark fancied a few rays himself and spotted a gap in the market photographing the wave of newly established resorts in the Balearics, particularly in Mallorca. His images, now collected in a book by his son Jake Clark, not only captured the glamour of the location but reflected the ambitions of a generation eager to escape life’s social and economic restraints in a rapidly de-industrialising Britain – Caragh McKay.
You can buy ‘The Package Holiday: 1968-1985’ by Jake Clark on Amazon and at Waterstones.
‘Somewhere 2017-2023’ by Sam Youkilis (Loose Joints Publishing
‘Somewhere 2017-2023’ by Sam Youkilis (Loose Joints Publishing, 2023)
(Image credit: Courtesy of Loose Joints Publishing)
For the last six years, Sam Youkilis, who today counts over half a million followers on Instagram, has been observing the world and portraying the beauty of the seemingly mundane through his iPhone camera. His first photography book, Somewhere 2017-2023, published by Loose Joints, is a substantial 500-page testament to his exploration of universal themes. In crafting the book, Youkilis drew from his current archive of video work, spanning from the project’s inception to its development. Departing from the traditional photography archive, Somewhere takes readers on a journey through human behaviours, touching on diverse themes like unmade beds, the act of cutting, thresholds, dancing couples and gestures of romance.
You can buy ‘Somewhere 2017-2023’ by Sam Youkilis at Loose Joints and Waterstones
‘Tokyo Jazz Joints’ by Philip Arneill and James Catchpole (Kehrer Verlag, 2023)
‘Tokyo Jazz Joints’ by Philip Arneill and James Catchpole (Kehrer Verlag, 2023)
(Image credit: Courtesy of Kehrer Verlag)
Irish photographer Philip Arneill and American broadcaster James Catchpole set out to explore the dying subculture of Japanese jazz bars and coffee shops in Tokyo around 2015, later expanding to encompass the entirety of Japan. Their journey resulted in Tokyo Jazz Joints, a podcast, a photographic chronicle and now a photography book. The title, which has taken over eight years to develop, captures the essence of disappearing cultural havens and serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between preserving tradition and adapting to the relentless march of time. In essence, Tokyo Jazz Joints unveils a side of Japan often overlooked – a subculture that can astonish and thrill even the most cynical ‘jazzheads’.
You can buy ‘Tokyo Jazz Joints’ by Philip Arneill and James Catchpole at Amazon and at Waterstones.
Mother moose kills man attempting to photograph her babies
A female moose attacked and killed a man who was attempting to photograph her calves, according to Alaskan officials.
The moose charged at two men who came too close to her offspring in Homer on Sunday morning, Alaska State Troopers said in a statement.
“As they were walking through the brush looking for the moose, that’s when the cow moose attacked,” Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, told the Associated Press on Monday, adding that the moose, who had recently given birth, attacked the men as they were fleeing.
CRITICAE 2023/24 Alumni Reflect on the Online Documentary Photography Masterclass
As we welcome applications for the 4th edition, participants from CRITICAE 2023/24 reflect on how the program allowed them to experiment and develop their projects, while defining their relationship with the medium.
PhMuseum’s Online Masterclass on Documentary Photographyaims to expand participants’ research methods and develop work from a critical and personal perspective. Over 8 months, photographers Laura El-Tantawy and Max Pinckers have been guiding participants through different modes of storytelling, questioning traditional documentary strategies and aiming at the completion of a body of work.
In the upcoming edition, Laura El-Tantawy will be joined by editor and curator Elisa Medde. As the enrollment phase is open until 20 June, with the possibility to apply for a fully-funded scholarship and access the early bird fee until 23 May, we caught up with J Houston, Erin Lee, Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer, Satyadeep Singh, Tessa Sinclair, Mbarak Madhi and Odysseas Tsompanoglou to know more of their experience.
You can deepen in their works by joining CRITICAE’s year-end live presentation this Thursday, 23 May at 4pm CET.
Can you give us a glimpse of the project you’ve been working on this year during CRITICAE?
Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer: We’ve been working on a photo essay about water privatization in Patagonia, Chile. It all started back in 1981 during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, with a big influence from the neoliberal economists called the Chicago Boys. The Código de Aguas (Waterlaw) has had a huge impact on Chile’s economy, society, and environment, with most of the water now owned by big companies, both local and international. Chileans keep on protesting, demanding water as a human right. Any attempts to change the constitution have been rejected by the citizens. So, water privatization stands as a reminder of Chile’s past under military rule.
J Houston: My most recent project, If I Had Hair, I’d Want You To Pull It, places portraits of other sex workers alongside images of manipulated environments, building a visual inventory of the world surrounding amateur and pro-amateur pornography. Self-determination is critical to this work; I approach photographing others as a constant collaboration, using a large-format view camera to give time and expense to our representation.
Erin Lee: Terra Nullius — meaning land belonging to no one — describes the concept used by the British government to justify the annexation of Australia as a British colony without acknowledging its inhabitants in 1788. The concept of Terra Nullius persisted as an Australian legal fiction for more than 200 years. Legal Fiction investigates the cultivation of white culture in Australian society. The work seeks to make visible the overlooked but deeply entrenched societal norms, symbolisms and power structures born from the British colonisation of Australia.
Mbarak Madhi: A couple of years ago, I found my family archives who immigrated from Indonesia to Saudi in the late ’60s. This pushed me to try and find more pictures from my uncles who were photographers in Saudi from the ’70s till the late ’80s. I found out one of my uncles burned all the film negatives: deep down he knew these images would never see the light, as non-family members wouldn’t be allowed to see my aunts and my female cousins’ hair. My concern is to know that my family history in the future will only document the men, and not my aunts with whom I have a strong relationship. My project is a series that aims offer an alternative way to showcase these images, using contemporary tools.
Satyadeep Singh: In Sangam I’m documenting my hometown river which represents my slow unconscious love as well as fear for identity politics.
Tessa Sinclair: I have been working on a project about family estrangement when an adult child ceases contact with members of the family. This has been a personal project and the work I will be presenting is a slideshow that documents this very personal journey towards some form of understanding and acceptance. I explore the concept and tell the story employing landscape and still life imagery metaphorically with the addition of the spoken word.
Odysseas Tsompanoglou: The project I chose to develop within the documentary photography class is named Cecropia. The name of the project derives from the myth of Actaeon and it depicts my personal trauma-related experience, whereby the trauma starts from the point I started ignoring my boundaries (like in the myth, where Actaeon chooses to meet Artemis ignoring the possible outcomes) and its aftermath, which for me was a very big OCD crisis, which lasts until now. The project is divided into three parts: Hybris, Nemesis, and Tisis, which are associated with the three important phases of every ancient Greek tragedy.
Are there any specific aspects of it for which you think the masterclass has been particularly influential?
Erin Lee: The structure of the masterclass helped to motivate my production of the work. Utilising the One-To-One Meetings and Group Sessions as opportunities to receive feedback on my experimentations really advances things. The Studio Visit artists made me explore outside of my normal thought processes and sparked ideas that I may not have come to otherwise – hearing from these artists offered access to new influences, ideas, and ways of thinking about how I am working.
Odysseas Tsompanoglou: At the start of the CRITICAE program, I wasn’t sure about which project I would like to develop. The class helped me to understand better what was inside me and with the help of my instructors I found new ways to express my inner thoughts and create an ongoing project.
J Houston: The work was primarily just a few single images when I began the class, with a loose throughline. As it went further into the course, I was able to try experimenting while photographing with new concepts brought up in individual meetings and critiques. Through both examining work introduced by the instructors as well as discussing my project at several key points, I’ve been able to see a couple of missing areas and build out a stronger theme.
Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer: We started our project already before the beginning of CRITICAE but we got stuck at some point. Especially the One-To-One Sessions together with Laura and Max were very helpful for developing new ideas and finding directions on where to go next. Meeting other experts in the Studio Visits was very inspiring, also because they gave very intimate insights into their way of working.
Tessa Sinclair: Working with a group and with experienced professional photographers has grounded my work in a way that I could not have replicated if I were working alone. The feedback big and small has helped hone my project and make it more impactful than if I had just been working through the material by myself.
Mbarak Madhi: I love the flexibility of the masterclass. I always can’t find art programs that fit with my current job and I have always wanted to expand my knowledge in the arts and to be constantly inspired. In this masterclass, I received that push and inspiration as I could go back to the classes I couldn’t attend in whatever timezone I was at in that time.
Satyadeep Singh: Finding out key indicators of our project, as well as clarity on the outcome of the project.
How would you describe the methods of Laura and Max? Was it useful to have different approaches assisting you while developing your project?
Tessa Sinclair: Laura has a remarkable way of going straight to the essence of your work and making very insightful comments that really make you stand back and look again at how you are doing things. She also has a wealth of experience in presenting work and her advice in this regard has been invaluable. Max has a particular approach to Documentary looking at how it is presented and questioning the very form of what documentary is so that has been new for me.
Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer: While we perceived Laura more as an emotional photographer, Max has a rather thoughtful and structured way of working. So working with both of them was the perfect combination for developing our project, as we wanted to create emotional and at the same time conceptualized photographs.
Satyadeep Singh: They both have different aspects to indicate as well as interesting approaches that cover a lot of key aspects of the project.
Erin Lee: Laura and Max are both very articulate mentors and able to express what they think may or may not be working in a constructive and concise way. Although the 1-to-1 sessions’ did go quickly, I came away from each meeting with something useful and the next steps to take in mind. To describe them – I felt Max’s influence came through in pragmatic ways such as referencing other photographers, or books and research sources to read. Discussing book design structures, sequencing, page design, use of text, and what effect these things can have was very helpful. I felt Laura’s influence leaned towards the poetic side of discussing visual languages, how to merge these, and more about the overall feelings the work is evoking. Also, how history affects the work we are making today – she is very knowledgeable and interesting to talk about this aspect.
Mbarak Madhi: Laura and Max helped me a lot to figure out the next steps of this project after CRITICAE. It was a complex subject at the beginning of the program. Now, It will be split into three series with different mediums that respond to each subject that this series has under it. The versatility of opinions and focus that Laura and Max had towards my project helped me a lot to receive different valuable opinions.
What do you think CRITICAE brought to your educational path, as compared to more traditional courses?
Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer: Meeting a lot of different artists from all parts of the world with different approaches to photography.
Erin Lee: I think the timeframe of 8 months is excellent. It is a good amount of time to experiment and develop the project with the guidance of the masterclass, focus on the direction you want the work to take, and be able to carry on after the course. And the opportunity to have conversations with Max and Laura, whose work I’ve admired for a long time was an amazing experience.
Mbarak Madhi: For me, It brought what I needed. Efficiency and flexibility. I have never attended a program where I can attend while being in different countries and cities constantly.
Satyadeep Singh: CRITICAE has very practical as well as transparent methods that help to find many roots in our projects.
Odysseas Tsompanoglou: I loved the way of free thinking we had in this class. Also, it wasn’t like a photography school because everyone who participated in this program was already a photographer. All the brainstorming and discussions we had during the lessons were very useful. CRITICAE helped me a lot to organize my archive and to develop my storytelling in new ways.
Tessa Sinclair: The opportunity to have close supervision with photographers like Laura and Max has been very helpful.
What impression do you now have of online education? How was it like to interact with the rest of the group?
Satyadeep Singh: It was a very comfortable and approachable experience, with all the group members. That’s the best thing.
Erin Lee: Online education is wonderful! Connecting with other photographers and mentors from all over the world is so enriching. I think online works well for the early(ish) stages of project development and ideas testing that it seemed like most of us were at. The Studio Visits really add to the experience – there were many artists whom I did not know of before their presentations. It makes the course content much broader and adds value for money.
Mbarak Madhi: I believe this is what the future of education should be like. I made friends within the group and received/shared a lot of knowledge and support.
Odysseas Tsompanoglou: I got to know some very talented photographers from all over the world. That for me was the best part of this class. It was really nice that there was at least a photographer from every continent and that it was possible to see works that deal with many issues (colonialism, environment, society).
Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer: We are big fans of online education because everyone can participate from all over the world without paying a huge amount of money for flights.
What advice would you give to future students to make the most out of their experience in the program?
Tessa Sinclair: It benefits your own work and that of the whole group of participants if you attend the group sessions and give as well as receive feedback.
Erin Lee: Make time to work on your project during the masterclass! The more experimentations, thought processes, and new work you can share – the more you will get out of the time together. Contribute to the conversations – the most stimulating sessions are when the conversations are layered and intriguing thanks to everyone’s input.
Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer: Go to the One-To-One Sessions, ask as many questions as you can – there are no stupid questions! – be honest, be open, let yourself inspire.
Mbarak Madhi: Trust the process and keep on experimenting with the subject as there are different approaches that can be taken for any project.
Any advice for them on how to prepare for the application?
J Houston: It worked for me to put forward work that wasn’t totally resolved, but that showed my continuity to a couple of key ideas. The work was relatively consistent in style, and the statement consisted of a couple of specific thoughts about where the project was at or was going.
Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer: Show your work and yourself in the most honest way. Good luck!
Erin Lee: Have an idea of your final outcome when you apply, this will probably change throughout the duration of the course but having a goal in mind allows you to make the most of the meeting times and group sessions.
Tessa Sinclair: Work with a subject that you are committed to and which you have ideas about how to present.
Satyadeep Singh: Be comfortable and real with your application that’s one of the major points.
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CRITICAE Online Masterclass On Documentary Photography is part of the PhMuseum new educational program, comprising four different masterclasses that will all share a single intake period running until 20 June, with classes beginning in October 2024. Each course is tailored to meet the needs of emerging photographers, artists, curators, and contemporary storytellers looking to bring their methods to the next level. Check out which program suits you best at phmuseum.com/education
APPLICATION KEY DATES:
23 May – If you apply by this date you can be eligible for the full scholarship, and will automatically access the Early Bird Fee of €1,750.
20 June – If you apply by this date you can join the program by paying the Regular Fee of €2,000.
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