My Cape Farewell photography show is going to be in Mexico at the Cinema Planeta Film Festival, from the 11 – 15 of March. I think this is pretty exciting. That means that the images from the Cape Farewell Voyage have been shown in Cairo, London, Ottawa, and now, Cuernavaca, Mexico. So if you are in Mexico, Cuernavaca is apparently 1.5 hours outside of Mexico City, go and check it out.
The Age of Stupid
I saw this video in Poznan during COP 14 at a pre release screening. It is shocking and is set to hit the mainstream movie world in just over a month. Check it out if it hits a city near you. You can also check out the Canadian review here.
Anthony Suau – World Press Photo Winner
The World Press Photo Jury has announced the winner of the World Press 2009 competition. Anthony Suau’s image of a eviction proceeding in Ohio was chosen as the image that, according to the jury, best represented the most important story in the world today, the collapsing global financial system.
I disagree with the jury of course and would strongly argue that Climate Change and the impending collapse of the planet is slightly more important then the global economy. After all, without a sustainable planet, the other won’t exist. But, our differences aside, Suau’s image is beautiful and I recommend that you check out all the winners. As always, some amazing and shocking imagery.
Winterlude and Cape Farewell
This weekend several of the voyagers from the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition will be giving presentations during the wonderful Winterlude Festival in Ottawa. Although, according to the Winterlude website, “Due to weather conditions, the Sun Life Snowflake Kingdom is closed.” I am not to sure what that means, but alas, it sounded like fun!
So instead of venturing into the Kingdom go to the ‘Cape Farewell Young Explorers’ Held at: Confederation Park (Rogers Crystal Garden) on Saturday and Sunday, February 14 and 15, noon and 2:30 pm
MAP
4 of the images from the expedition are also on display in the Crystal Garden. Less then two weeks after being in the capital of England, the show and voyagers are now in the capital of Canada! AND, there are plans for more exhibits and presentations to come throughout the year…..
If you are in the area, you have to go to Ottawa, skate on the canal, eat a beaver tail and say hello to the voyagers.
Beware Pigeons!!!
I especially like the exclamation mark.
Natural History Museum Photography
An image from the Incredible Natural History Museum in London.
British Council Arctic Photography Exhibit
The exhibit at the British Council headquarters in London featuring images from the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition was a resounding success.
Over 150 people, including politicians, diplomats, climate scientists, climate activists, and interested individuals, showed up to see the images. They were given the opportunity to meet some of the voyagers, the staff members of the expedition, and the British Council employees that made this possible.
A huge thanks goes out to Eleanor Land from the British Council. She and I spent hours looking at images, asking for opinions, and choosing. Then I spent many hours in front of a computer to make these images ready. Currently their are 10 images at the address on Spring Garden road. The exhibit launched a multimedia presentation that will now tour over 100 Council offices around the world. The Council has recently made Climate Change one of its’ big three priorities and this exhibition will serve as an example and launching pad for hopefully many more exciting projects from the British Council.
Among those in attendance during the evening was the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Mr. Ed Milliband. Mr. Milliband graciously gave his time for a discussion with the voyagers regarding the UK position and the state of Climate Change negotiations. Although it was disappointing to hear Mr. Milliband talk so much about Obama, Obama, Obama, when he is the leading man for the United Kingdom.
Also attending was Mr. Neil Kinnock, famous British Politician and current Chair of the British Council. Mr. Kinnock made wonderful comments on the current need for political and civil society action on climate change and, several comments on my hat, mentioning that he couldn’t understand why those with hair wore hats but that he was envious of my style.
The exhibit will be up for a month and from there will hopefully tour to other locations. If you have a suggestion for a location and would like to see this show near you, please drop me a line.
Cape Farewell Photography – London Exhibition
This Wednesday, Feb 4th at the British Council head quarters in London a launch of an exhibition of my Arctic photography from British Council Canada’s Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2008.
Last September British Council Canada took 28 high school students on a voyage from Iceland, round the tip of Greenland, to Baffin Island in Canada to witness the effects of climate change firsthand. They worked on board with both artists and scientists to understand the fragility of the environment they were in and develop a new, creative language of communication.
World Press Photo – 2009
Every year in January the halls of the World Press Photo in Amsterdam is a hive coming out of hibernation. Fueled by thai and indonesian food and Grolsch beer, an army of photographers and students takes on the monumental task of sorting through the 85,000 images from the year before.
The World Press Photo competition is THE competition in photojournalism photography. Being free to enter it currently receives over 85,000 images and 4500+ photographers. The best of the best (and plenty of the worst) floats through cyber space to land on one of the 16 computer screens at World Press where it will be checked and cataloged. The whole process takes over 3 weeks. Afterwards, the jury will arrive and begin selecting the World Press Photo winners of 2008. Such a venue where you can see so many incredible photographers and their work throughout the year doesn’t exist anywhere else. Nachtwey, Pellegrin, Nicklen, Sinclair, Moore, Platon, these names and many others float around the room with awe and amazement.
It is a unique opportunity to rediscover the events of 2008 and discover new ones. It is inspiring and shocking, funny and thought provoking. I reckon that I have seen all of the Beijing Olympics, more angles of Obama then I thought possible, accurate and devastating images of Cyclone Nargis and the earthquake in China, I have seen countless cats and many farm animals, the odd kids party and graphic war images.
Inspiring are the people that put their bodies and lives on the line to fight for their beliefs, think Kenya. And I have been amazed by the photographers covering untold stories and striving to help those without the means. I have also been shocked by the amount of liberal toning and digital manipulation on ‘photojournalistic’ images. It seems to me that many photojournalists try to incorporate the techniques of darkroom masters such as Ansel Adams without any respect for the zone system or taste.
Excessive digital manipulation was a comment that came from the jury last year. We will see what the jury, chaired by MaryAnn Golon, will have to say this year when they announce the winner on February 13.
Winter Photography in the Netherlands
A freeze has bit the Netherlands over the last few weeks. It has become a great time to curl up with a book or a friend and sip hot chocolate, or a great time to take you kid out for a sleigh ride along the canals.
All across the country the skates are being dusted off and the flying dutch are back. It doesn’t matter if you are Canadian, Dutch, Australian, or a global citizen, we can all rejoice in the cold.
