This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up – exhibitions in Melbourne, Rochester (New York) and online reinforce the diversity of the photograph as a storytelling medium. Plus the winner of the inaugural Getty Images Women Photograph grant.
Exhibition:
Rochester, New York
Gail Albert Halaban – Out My Window
Gail Albert Halaban’s Out My Window is a collaborative work with the photographer, the subjects and viewers.
As is the case with so many captivating bodies of work, this project began organically when Albert Halaban moved from Los Angeles to New York.
To combat the loneliness of living in a new city Albert Halaban decided she needed to get to know her neighbours; photography gave her the way to connect with those around her.
Those pictured are collaborators, who agree to work with Albert Halaban, and each other, allowing her to arrange the composition, photographing one neighbour from the other’s window.
Photography has facilitated a unique form of social engagement allowing Albert Halaban to create an important narrative that talks to the loneliness, isolation and disconnect that many feel living in a metropolis where neighbours are strangers.
Albert Halaban has now expanded the series to include other cities such as Paris.
These exquisite compositions have given the photographer, the subjects and viewers new ways to engage and to see their own communities.
George Eastman Museum 900 East Avenue Rochester NY 14607
Until 1 January
Exhibition: Melbourne
Shot in The Heart of Melbourne
The 7th annual exhibition of the Australian Association of Street Photographers opens tonight at the Victorian Artists Society in East Melbourne.
This year’s show features an eclectic collection of photographs taken on the streets of my beloved Melbourne by a diverse group of 30 photographers. It is amazing what you can see when you look!
“These photos are not just street style; they capture ephemeral moments — raw, unrehearsed and completely unique. Shot in the Heart of Melbourne is an artistic, candid homage to the people that bring this city to life each day…those who love this genre of photography know the feeling of elation when they capture something truly unique, fleeting, decisive and graceful.”
Until 23 July
Victorian Artists Society, 430 Albert Street, East Melbourne
Online Exhibition:
Rosa Gauditano – Forbidden Lives
It has taken 40 years for the work of Brazilian photographer Rosa Gauditano to see the light of day.
In 1978 Gauditano was commissioned to shoot a story about Sao Paolo’s lesbian community for Veja magazine, but the photographs were never published, the subject considered in the end too controversial, Brazil’s then draconian laws against homosexuality a barrier the publisher could not surmount.
This is the first time the series in its entirety has been exhibited. The online exhibition is mounted by Albumen Gallery and while it is wonderful to see prints on the wall, this online gallery provides the opportunity for a global audience to view these illuminating works.
There is a book available as well as editions of 12 Silver Gelatin prints.
Online until 15 August
Award:
Nadia Shira Cohen – Winner inaugural Getty Images Women Photograph Grant
Nadia Shira Cohen is the recipient of the inaugural $10,000 Getty Images Women Photograph Grant for her project “Yo No Di a Luz” that explores the complete prohibition on abortion in El Salvador, and the many ways in which the criminal abortion ban affects the country’s women.
Cohen says, “The Getty Images Women Photograph Grant really spoke to me because of its focus not only of elevating the voice of women photojournalists but also that the recipient would be someone who has a personal connection with the community they are capturing.”
“El Salvador is known as being a volatile place, but I feel confident with my connection to the community there and the funding from the grant that I can continue to shine a light on the dramatic repression of reproductive rights of the women of El Salvador.”
Cohen is an American freelance photojournalist, now based in Rome, Italy. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic, Harpers and other international publications. She works frequently in Latin America as well as countries such as Haiti, Kazakhstan, Congo, Rwanda, and Kosovo, focusing on human rights, reproductive rights, environmental issues, disaster, revolution, and migration. Cohen has exhibited in Russia, Brussels, Mexico, Italy, and Peru and is an IWMF Fellow and a Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting grant recipient.
In discussing the project, “Yo No Di a Luz”, she says, “the most important threat to women’s reproductive rights is by far the State’s criminal ban on abortion. Doctors and nurses are trained to spy on women’s uteruses in public hospitals, reporting any suspicious alteration to the authorities and provoking criminal charges which can lead to between 6 months to 7 years in prison. It is the poorer class of women who suffer the most, as doctors in private hospitals are not required to give information. Some women are even sentenced to up to 50-year prison terms for what are essentially still births.”
“They are known as the “Mata Niños,” roughly 25-30 women imprisoned and serving between 30 to 50 year sentences on homicide charges for allegedly killing their newborn children. Prosecutors argue against the nature of science, accusing women of willing themselves to expel their premature babies, creating an environment where women are persecuted for the mere natural failures of their own bodies.”
Through funding and mentorship the Getty Images Women Photograph Grant promotes gender diversity within professional photojournalism.The inaugural grant round attracted more than 400 entries from women photographers around the world.
Sandy Ciric, Director of Photography at Getty Images says, “Nadia Shira Cohen’s work on the impact of the criminal ban on abortion in El Salvador is at once informative and impactful, and also beautifully rendered with a compassionate eye. Although the topic of reproductive rights is not a new one, Cohen shines a fresh light on the hardships facing El Salvador’s women.”
“We are confident that awarding Nadia Cohen the Getty Images Women Photograph grant will allow her to expand on her powerful work to include topics of imprisonment and rape, and to create traveling exhibitions and town halls to educate women in remote parts of the country about reproductive rights and erase old stigmas.”
Daniella Zalcman, Photographer and Founder of Women Photograph says the grant program, “was created to provide additional support to independent women and non-binary photojournalists in the field to continue to amplify their voices as storytellers. As we work towards a truly inclusive industry, partnerships like this with Getty Images are crucial to advancing our mission”.
The Getty Images Women Photograph Grant forms part of the Getty Images Grants program, which exists to support the world’s most innovative photographers and tell important world stories. Since the inception of the program 12 years ago, the company has awarded in excess of US$1.4 million. Find out more about the program at Where We Stand.
Photojournalism Now 