Ami Vitale: Kashmir

I can't believe that I blogged so far and not mentioned Ami Vitale on the pages of TTP!

It's been written of Ami Vitale that she's nothing short than a terrific photographer, whose work is about being with people in every sense. A feature on her from 2003 on the Digital Journalist site says "She does not simply report her stories. She lives them."

Vitale is regarded as one of today's most memorable visual storytellers. In addition to multiple POYi awards, Vitale has received recognition for her work from World Press Photo, the NPPA, Photo District News and the Society of American Travel Writers, among many other organizations. In 2002 Vitale was awarded the first-ever Inge Morath grant by Magnum Photos. The Alexia Foundation has also awarded her grants for World Peace and the city of Gijon, Spain. Vitale's photographs have been published in major international magazines such as National Geographic Adventure, Geo, Discovery, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian and Le Figaro. Her photographs have been presented in international exhibitions including: Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan; Reporters Sans Frontiers, Paris; the FotoArt Festival in Poland; the Open Society Institute and The United Nations in New York.

She believes in spending time on a story, and in living with the people she photographs. This, she says, has helped her to get beneath the surface of a story. In an interview on the Digital Journalist, Ami says: “You have to get into a culture to actually live there to understand things aren’t as sensational when you understand them in their context. I’ve jumped in, parachuted into a few places before and I didn’t like it. It’s very dangerous and I’ve felt like I wasn’t portraying things truthfully, or it was a different truth.” This speaks for itself.

Simon Larbalestier: Cambodia

Simon Larbalestier's photography has moved over the past 20 years from album artwork for iconic rock bands to a more documentary approach. His current work involves detailing and documenting chronic disability in Cambodia through the help of The Cambodia Trust, a UK based Charity that operates in the poorest provinces of Cambodia. He's also interested in working within cultures that are trying to re- establish themselves and gain a new foothold in the 21st century.

He says that he's rooted in traditionalist methods of picture making using B&W film and range-finder cameras, and although now using digital methods to output work for clients, the origination is always from film. He's based between the UK, Thailand and Cambodia preferring to hand print his own photographs back in the UK.

His website has a handful of galleries, and I suggest you start with his beautifully toned images of Cambodia. The gallery then moves to Thailand, Laos etc.

The Best of Photojournalism

Carolyn Cole of the Los Angeles Times won the coveted Photojournalist of The Year award for her coverage of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in July, 2006. The contest is a project of the National Press Photographers Association, and is described as the contest designed by photojournalists for photojournalists.

Carolyn's work can be seen on BOP's website, and includes the above photograph whose caption tells us that it is of the bodies of civilians, many of them children, killed in the Israeli bombing of Qana lie wrapped in plastic and sprinkled with flower petals. They were among the 1,100 Lebanese civilians who died in the month-long conflict.