Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up – 2 November 2018

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up – the 9th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award “Arctic: New Frontier” by Yuri Kozyrev and Kadir van Lohuizen (NOOR) and Open Society Foundation’s Moving Walls 25  – Another Way Home.

Exhibitions: Paris

“Arctic: New Frontier” by Yuri Kozyrev and Kadir van Lohuizen – Winners of the 2018 Carmignac Photojournalism Award

This is a unique project. Seasoned photojournalists Yuri Kozyrev and Kadir van Lohuizen have undertaken independent, simultaneous expeditions to explore the dramatic effects of climate change on the Arctic.

These extraordinary journeys consider themes of tourism, militarisation, exploitation of gas and mineral resources and their incontestable impact on this fragile environment.

The Arctic Gate terminal is located in the Gulf of Ob, near Cape Kamenny (Russia). The first oil barrel was shipped out from the terminal in 2014, and winter out-shipments started in 2015. It was launched as part of the Novy Port oil field development. Yamal Peninsula April 2018 © Yuri Kozyrev / NOOR pour la Fondation Carmignac

Kozyrev followed the route of the Russian maritime Arctic ports, travelling with the Nenets who are the last remaining Nomadic people of the region. In 2018 the Nenets’ seasonal migration was impacted for the first time in history, due to the melting of the permafrost. Kozyrev also travelled to Murmansk the location of the “first floating nuclear power plant which is (or was) under secret construction”.

van Lohuizen travelled the Northwest Passage, which to due to the melting ice is today the shortest route between Europe and Asia. Off the coast of Canada he lived in the hamlet of Resolute, where Canada has boosted its military presence. van Lohuizen also journeyed to Kivalina, an indigenous village on the northern tip of Alaska. This village is predicted to be submerged by 2025 – in seven years.   

Large cruise ships come to Spitsbergen on a regular basis nowadays; the lack of sea ice makes it much easier. Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Arctic, June 2018 © Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR for Fondation Carmignac

“The photographs in “Arctic: New Frontier” by Yuri Kozyrev and Kadir van Lohuizen are an alarming testimony to the speed of transformation in the region and the upheavals that are taking place on a global scale.”

Unfortunately, media usage rights only allow the publication of two pictures. For those lucky enough to be in Paris, this exhibition is a must see; the work and its message is breathtaking. This is vital work, that needs to be seen around the world.

The 9th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award exhibition – Arctic: New Frontier by Yuri Kozyrev and Kadir van Lohuizen – opens in Paris on 7 November. 

Cité des sciences et de l’industrie – 30 avenue Corentin Cariou, 75019 Paris
November 7 — December 9, 2018

Exhibitions: New York

Moving Walls 25 – Another Way Home

The theme of this year’s Moving Walls exhibition, by the Open Society Foundations, aims to breakdown the stereotypical depictions of migrants, which strip individuals of their identity and dignity.

Moving Walls 25 features eight projects by “thirteen visionary artists, journalists, and creative technologists dedicated to re-envisioning the topic of migration through documentary practice.” These artists are also fellowship recipients enabling them to further their creative explorations.

Here’s a glimpse at three of the projects:

The Passport – Thana Faroq

“Yasmeen, a writer and blogger from Gaza, Palestine, currently lives in the United Kingdom. Her portrait is accompanied by a handwritten letter addressed to the artist.”

“Fatima, a Yemeni YouTube personality and food blogger, is currently a refugee in the United Kingdom. Her portrait is accompanied by a handwritten letter addressed to the artist.”

“Lula, a poet who experienced different transitions coming from a Somali and Yemeni background, writes about freedom, hope, and longing.

Faroq says, “We live in a world divided by borders and walls where something as ephemeral as a piece of paper, a document, or a passport can acquire the potency of a curse that feels like it cannot be broken. Struggling to claim basic rights like self-determination and freedom of movement, refugees come to experience the passport not as a symbol of identity and pride, but as a source of angst.

With this project, I turn my camera on my own story, to create personal reportage depicting themes of displacement, asylum, and integration.”

After Migration – Walé Oyéjidé

“Patricia Kissi-Nvamah and her son Jeremiah, originally from Ghana, reflect on the possibilities that a new life in America will bring them” (C) Rog Walker

“After Migration attempts to depict these newcomers differently. Using fashion photography and featuring models who are themselves migrants, the project aims to elevate and humanize their stories through the use of visual culture and to subvert mainstream media representations,” says Oyéjidé who worked with various photographers on this project. 

“Although James Jean, who is Haitian-American, and Patrice Worthy, who is African-American, have made America their home, the new generation reflects their parents’ storied histories through traditional clothing.” (C) Rog Walker

“Ousman Pa Manneh, originally from The Gambia. Rome, Italy, 2018. While recounting an experience enduring another tedious security search, Ousman looked up ruefully and smiled. “This is the way some of them will always see us,” he remarked. “No matter how beautifully we are dressed, we are considered a threat.” (C) Neil Watson

The Right to Grow Old – Tomas Ayuso

“Ervin and Orlando, neighbors back home in Honduras, look at the 2,000-mile journey ahead of them. Ervin long feared Mexico; his mother had vanished while traveling through there a decade earlier. In hopes of finding his mother, he’d ask people who’d been there before: “Did you ever come across Marian from Choloma, with long brown hair and great big eyes?”

Ayuso says, “triggered by a decade of violence, corruption, and scarcity, Hondurans are fleeing collapsing communities toward perceived shelter across borders at the rate of hundreds per day. This project renders visible the man-made catastrophe of forced migration of a people who refuse to be dehumanized.

Set in Honduras, Mexico, and the United States, this work tracks the vulnerabilities that displaced people face before and after crossing borders and reflects on Honduran identity as it endures the crossing of both physical and internal boundaries. It attests to the fight to preserve life as an act of resistance in itself: migration as a means of survival.”

“Dario’s crescent scar curves from his temple to his jawbone and serves as a reminder. As a child, a police officer mistook him for a lookout and pistol-whipped him. He was another child brutalized in the name of pacification. Wave after wave of crackdowns left the young Dario traumatized and vindictive. Fed up, he chose to join a gang.”

“In the barrio, despite the trauma and chaos, there is still beauty. There are mothers doting on their babies, uncles teaching nephews how to kick penalties, and grandmas passing down secret family recipes. Luis, who stayed behind, watches over Moises’ daughter after Moises left for the United States. Standing behind Luis is Cindi, the baby’s mother.”

View Moving Walls 25 Online Gallery here

Until July 2019 at Open Society Foundations 224 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019