How Chemical Companies Avoid Paying for Pollution: Photographs by Ed Kashi for The New York Times

 

Via The New York Times

October 20, 2021

Gallery photographer Ed Kashi worked on this important story with NYT reporters David Gelles and Emily Steel about how one of the main PFAS plants in America, in North Carolina, has caused health and environmental problems. 

"To avoid responsibility for what many experts believe is a public health crisis, leading chemical companies like Chemours, DuPont and 3M have deployed a potent mix of tactics."

A Nation of Neglect: 'Devour The Land' Special Exhibition

 

Via The Harvard Crimson

By Ebubechi J. Nwaubani, Contributing Writer

October 19, 2021

On Sept. 17, The Harvard Art Museum opened its doors to the new “Devour the Land” photography exhibition. The showing is divided into three rooms and travels through the ramifications of nuclear war, environmental poisoning, and urbanization in six parts titled: “Arming America” Part 1 and Part 2, “Slow Violence,” “Regeneration,” “Other Battlefields,” and “Resistance.”

According to curator Makeda Best, “Devour the Land” originates from General William Tecumseh Sherman’s description of a devastated and desolate land following the Union Army’s “scorched earth” policy during the Civil War. Images captured by photographer George Barnard, who accompanied General Sherman on this campaign, depicted “destruction with a certain beauty,” according to Best. This tragic beauty is a thread throughout the three rooms — and a sentiment shared by attendees.

“It’s quite deep, and unfortunately, sad, but there’s also a beauty,” said security guard Patricia A. Daly while standing in front of a series of photos by influential photographer Richard Misrach. In the center of a sun bleached landscape stands a yellow school bus ravaged by nuclear weapons and rot; the photograph is labeled “School Bus Target.”

Disparities within the artwork scenes were picked up by other onlookers as well. Visitor Michael E. Halwes said “The pieces that have really contrasted the war on terror aspects of the Gulf War were pretty compelling and then also the ones where you get a good juxtaposition of the industrial masking [of] the audience's view of the nature behind it.”

This contrast is most prominent in Frederica Armstrong’s photo series “In Plain Site.” Armstrong captures suburban areas of Silicon Valley in her series, areas which have an aura of the mundane: and parking lot, a street corner at sunset. Below each image is the corresponding EPA classification number that identifies it as a superfund site. “The National Priorities List creates lists of sites that are so toxic as to need a superfund [which is] a fusion of federal dollars to clean up and kind of get it under control,” says Best, waving finger quotations in the air around the words “clean up.” Below two images read “Site ready for use: No.”

In a glass box in the center of one of the rooms of the exhibit lies a card titled “Nuclear Mail” with the date August, 1982 in the top left corner. The card reads: “WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Postal Service officials revealed plans to assure mail delivery in the event of nuclear war. … Should Washington D.C. be destroyed, the national postal service will be run from Memphis, Tenn. If Memphis is also devastated, San Bruno Calif. will take over.” Best touches on these effects, saying that “the military is the number one polluter in the country.” Best spoke to the exhaustion of resources done by the scorched earth policy. “We’re still doing that, we’re using up our land, but we’re only poisoning ourselves. We’re only destroying ourselves this time.”

The exhibit stands out from most atomic photography presentations in that it addresses the long term effects of this war on land. Best credits “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor” by Rob Nixon as her inspiration for the third section of the exhibit “Slow Violence.” Best says the book makes “recognition of violence as attritional versus spectacular.” A series of photographs depict an area in Louisiana known as Cancer Alley, which has one of the largest concentrations of petrochemical plants and refineries in the nation. Most citizens of the area are descendants of slaves. Best addresses the question of geographical racism thoroughly throughout the exhibit. One frame depicts the bright lights of a penitentiary — whose prisoners are disproportionately black — against a pitch black sky. In response, Best says “Many prisons in the country are superfund sites, so what does that mean?”

This exhibition, as much great art does, asks the question: “What’s next?” Attendee Micheal E. Hawles admits that he feels pessimism about the future but says, “People have a responsibility to bear witness to what’s going on in the world around them. … There’s always the chance that someone is going to be exposed to new information and I think it's just about the constant drumming of building public sentiment against these sorts of practices that, ideally, get reflected in policy changes.”

Attendee Ashley M. Kelley was also emotionally impacted by the exhibit. “It's important to take note, [that] even though you aren’t able to see what’s around you, and if you’re privileged enough, know that this is still going on and health hazards have large effects on families and generations,” says Kelley.

It’s clear that the issue of nuclear warfare is not a linear one, but one with many starting points and stories that run parallel to each other throughout history. This exhibition stands as a testament to these parallel stories and, hopefully, points towards an end to such damaging practices.

Monroe Gallery photographers Nina Berman and Ashley Gilbertson are contributors to this exhibition.

Anna Boyiazis: Global Peace Photo Award Exhibition

 Via Willy-Brandt-Haus

© Anna Boyiazis, Global Peace Photo Award

Fr., 01. Oktober 2021 12:00 Uhr bis So., 24. Oktober 2021 18:00 Uhr

GLOBAL PEACE PHOTO AWARD

The Global Peace Photo Award recognizes and promotes photographers from all over the world whose images capture the human quest for a peaceful world and the search for the beautiful and good in our lives. The prize goes to those photographs that best express the idea that our future lies in peaceful coexistence. 

Ausstellung im Willy-Brandt-Haus | 1. Oktober - 24. Oktober 2021 | Öffnungszeiten: Dienstag - Sonntag 12:00 - 20:00 Uhr

Zutritt nur mit Zeitfensterticket, keine Tageskasse vor Ort.

Kostenlose Online-Tickets ab sofort HIER

Der Global Peace Photo Award würdigt und fördert Fotograf:innen aus aller Welt, deren Bilder das menschliche Streben nach einer friedlichen Welt und die Suche nach dem Schönen und Guten in unserem Leben festhalten. Der Preis geht an jene Fotografien, die am besten die Idee zum Ausdruck bringen, dass unsere Zukunft im friedlichen Miteinander liegt.  

Die 25-köpfige Jury des Global Peace Photo Award kürt seit 2013 die besten Friedensbilder. Den Vorsitz 2020 hatte der französische Fotograf Pascal Maitre, 2021 wurde die Jury vom UNESCO-Diplomaten Eric Falt geleitet. Das Peace Image of the Year 2020 heißt „Love Story“ und kommt aus der Hand des iranischen Fotografen Sasan Moayyedi: Nachdem der damals 15-jährige Salah Saeedpour 2001 in der iranisch-kurdischen Provinz Marivan nahe der Grenze zum Irak auf eine Landmine trat, verlor er mehrere Körperteile. Trotzdem trainierte er unerschöpflich und wurde schließlich mit zahlreichen Medaillen im Schwimmen ausgezeichnet. 2014 heiratete er die Liebe seines Lebens. 

Das Children Peace Image of the Year 2020 ist das Foto “Flight of the Soul” und wurde von der 14-jährigen Anastasiya Bolshakova aufgenommen. Die junge Russin hat eine Liebeserklärung an den Sommer fotografiert. An die Zeit, in der - wovon sie überzeugt ist - „alles lebt“ und „die Natur aus voller Brust atmet“.  

Die Gewinner:innen des Contests 2021 werden am 21. September gekürt.  

View Anna Boyiazis' Finding Freedom in the Water fine art print collection here.

 

 

 

Visualizing the scale of loss to Covid-19

Via CNBC 

October 5, 2021

National Geographic reporter Stephen Wilkes describes his photographic attempt to capture the loss caused of life during the Covid-19 pandemic

‘It is becoming unbearable:’ Journalists say they have become ‘scapegoats’ at anti-vaccine protests

 Via Committee to Protect Journalists

October 4, 2021

Journalists covering demonstrations against COVID-19 countermeasures have been called “terrorists,” “pedophiles,” “murderers,” and “scumbags.” Protesters have harassed and assaulted members of the press, and told them that “the nooses are ready.”

Threats like these have become increasingly familiar for reporters in Europe and the United States, where the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a CPJ partner, has recorded threats and assaults against reporters in cities including Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. 

Full report here - “Being a journalist has always meant a certain level of risk,” Ambrožič said, “but the level of anxiety and stress due to the threats have increased enormously and it is becoming unbearable. It is a very harsh world for journalists, right now.”

Artist Panel: Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970 with Ashley Gilbertson

 

Via Harvard Art Museums

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

4-5 PM Eastern

In this virtual panel discussion, curator Makeda Best will be in conversation with photographers Terry Evans, Ashley Gilbertson, and Will Wilson, each of whom has works in our latest special exhibition, Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970. The exhibition is on view at the Harvard Art Museums through January 16, 2022.

Devour the Land explores the unknown and often hidden consequences of militarism on habitats and well-being in the United States. Featuring approximately 160 photographs across 6 thematic groupings, the exhibition reveals the nationwide footprint of the U.S. military, the wide network of industries that support and supply its work, and the impacts of—and responses to—this activity.

Speakers:

Makeda Best, Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums
Terry Evans, Ashley Gilbertson, and Will Wilson, Photographers

This panel discussion will take place online via Zoom. The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. To register, please complete this online form.

Please read these instructions on how to join a meeting on Zoom. For general questions, email am_register@harvard.edu.

Devour the Land: An Introduction with Curator Makeda Best and commentary from photographers Nina Berman, Sharon Stewart, and Robert Del Tredici

Via Harvard Art Museums  

Curator Makeda Best, alongside commentary from photographers Nina Berman, Sharon Stewart, and Robert Del Tredici, provides a brief introduction to our new special exhibition, Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970. Featuring approximately 160 photographs from 60 artists, the exhibition invites you to explore the impacts of military activity on the American landscape—and how photography supports activism in response to these effects.

Make your reservation to visit the Harvard Art Museums today.

Philip Cheung, Kris Graves, and Daniella Zalcman in conversation with National Geographic Executive Editor Debra Adams Simmons discuss their ongoing projects visualizing racist and discriminatory histories through a new lens.

 Via Photoville

Sunday October 3

4:00PM EST

Online Event

Register here

Who owns history? Whose monuments do we erect and whose do we erase? Whose stories are remembered? Join National Geographic photographers Philip Cheung, Kris Graves, and Daniella Zalcman, as well as National Geographic Executive Editor Debra Adams Simmons, as they discuss visualizing racist and discriminatory histories through a new lens.

Philip Cheung’s “The Central Pacific” is an ongoing documentary photography project exploring the history of Chinese migrant laborers employed at the Central Pacific Railroad between 1864-1869. He is continuing this work on assignment through a collaboration between National Geographic and For Freedoms.

Kris Graves’ story and exhibit, “Monuments”, examines passive relics of America’s racist past in the Confederacy, the dynamic changing of these landscapes, and who will be honored now.

Daniella Zalcman’s “Signs of Your Identity” project examines the forced assimilation education of Indigenous children in North America through multiple exposure portraits. She has continued that project through a grant by National Geographic Society and has documented the repatriation of recently-identified Indigenous child remains in the United States while on assignment for National Geographic.

"The epic COVID-19 memorial on the National Mall, in one stunning photo"

 

Stephen Wilkes: “In America: Remember”, Day to Night, National Mall, Washington, DC, 2021

Via National Geographic

September 30, 2021

4,882 photos taken over 30 hours. More than 670,000 flags representing American lives lost. An incalculable measure of grief.

For more than 30 hours, photographer and National Geographic Explorer Stephen Wilkes watched people move through the sea of white flags below him on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. He saw young children bend down curiously to examine the small flags, and cyclists lay down their bikes to take in the 20-acre expanse of them. He saw skateboarders roll through, selfie-takers frame shots—and passersby slowly realize that each flag represents a life lost to COVID-19.

On September 18 and 19, starting before sunrise and finishing after sunset, Wilkes took 4,882 photographs of the art installation In America: Remember, an exhibit that aims to convey the enormity of the country’s pandemic losses. He and his team then blended the photographs into a single composite image, part of his Day to Night series. 

“One of the things I tried to capture was the epic scale of this,” says Wilkes. “It’s almost impossible to take it all in.”

Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970

The exhibition includes work by Gallery photographers Nina Berman and Ashley Gilbertson.

Via Harvard Art Museums

Devour the Land shines a light on the unexpected and often hidden consequences of militarism on habitats and well-being in the United States. Featuring approximately 160 photographs across 6 thematic groupings, the exhibition reveals the nationwide footprint of the U.S. military, the wide network of industries that support and supply its work, and the impacts of—and responses to—this activity.

How do photographs portray environmental damage that can be difficult to see, much less identify and measure? By posing such questions, the exhibition provides visitors a space to consider our current challenges and shared future. At the same time, the works on view also suggest how preparations for war and the aftermath can sometimes lead to surprising instances of ecological regeneration and change.

Following a trajectory that originates in the Civil War era, Devour the Land begins with the 1970s, a dynamic period for both environmental activism and photography. From there, the focus expands to our contemporary moment.

The 60 artists showcased in the exhibition bring a variety of practices and approaches to their work. They range from professional photographic artists and photojournalists to lesser known and emerging photographers; they include Robert Adams, Federica Armstrong, Nina Berman, Robert Del Tredici, Joshua Dudley Greer, Terry Evans, Lucas Foglia, Sharon Gilbert, Ashley Gilbertson, Peter Goin, David T. Hanson, Zig Jackson, Stacy Kranitz, Dorothy Marder, Susan Meiselas, Richard Misrach, Barbara Norfleet, Mark Power, Sheila Pree Bright, Jeff Rich, Sim Chi Yin, Sharon Stewart, Robert Toedter, Phil Underdown, and Will Wilson.

The majority of works on display are drawn from the Harvard Art Museums collections, including many recent acquisitions. Additional works are on loan from other Harvard repositories, North American public institutions, and private collections.

An illustrated catalogue, presenting a lively range of voices at the intersection of art, environmentalism, militarism, photography, and politics, accompanies the exhibition. Besides critical essays, nearly a hundred plates, and poems by Ed Roberson, the catalogue includes interviews with nine of the artists featured in the exhibition.

Organized by the Harvard Art Museums. Curated by Makeda Best, Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography, Harvard Art Museums.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the generosity of the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support for the project is provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Publication Fund and the Rosenblatt Fund for Postwar American Art. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund. Modern and contemporary art programs at the Harvard Art Museums are made possible in part by generous support from the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art.

Online Opening Lecture: Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970

Speaker:  Makeda Best, Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art

Date: Friday, September 17, 2021, 3:00pm

This talk will take place online via Zoom. Free admission, but registration is required. To register, please complete this online form.

Devour the Land explores the unknown and often hidden consequences of militarism on habitats and well-being in the United States. Featuring approximately 160 photographs across 7 thematic groupings, the exhibition reveals the nationwide footprint of the U.S. military, the wide network of industries that support and supply its work, and the impacts of—and responses to—this activity.