tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post4545562730762053687..comments2024-03-27T00:32:29.877-07:00Comments on Photos and Stuff: Some African Photosamolitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-43179810290626423442017-05-04T07:28:01.422-07:002017-05-04T07:28:01.422-07:00It is interesting, isn't it?
My distance from...It is interesting, isn't it?<br /><br />My distance from Africa makes it much much harder to "reach" me. I suspect that Jern, and anyone else equally close to that world, will read her little portfolio the way she intends. <br /><br />Thank you for your perspective!amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-85695089804039401492017-05-04T06:45:21.588-07:002017-05-04T06:45:21.588-07:00It is very interesting how we perceive things diff...It is very interesting how we perceive things differently. I myself did not at all get the same impression of Jern's portfolio. To me the pictures portray the hopelessness in combination with the hopefulness that the children probably feel. I have been to Africa many times, Kenya one of the countries, and recognise the reality in Jern's pictures. Her ability to capture the hidden moments of the lives of these children is striking to me. <br /><br />I guess the beauty of photography is the way we all perceive different things.Elisabet D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12278493773366563797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-46581391180649677912017-04-28T06:54:52.237-07:002017-04-28T06:54:52.237-07:00Thank you very much for commenting! This is exactl...Thank you very much for commenting! This is exactly the sort of thing I think we need more of. I had a sense that what to me looked like one thing was another (I saw dereliction, but the caption suggested something else) and evidently from Mumbai it just looks normal.<br /><br />My American eyes did indeed deceive me, but perhaps now they are slightly more open.amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-49142430260688796642017-04-27T12:01:26.468-07:002017-04-27T12:01:26.468-07:00People wear so many lenses, no? That African town,...People wear so many lenses, no? That African town, from the pictures at least, doesn't seem 'screwed up' at all to me. In my locale, here in the suburbs of Mumbai, most people are like that; They run their enterprises with pride, and live off whatever they make... I fail to see what's so screwed up and terrible about it. As the economy strengthens, so will they, or perhaps they'll be displaced into factory work or something, whatever. Still, isn't all that just life?<br /><br />Although, I do wonder if that's only my perspective because I've grown up here. I think, for example, that Aleppo is a horrid nightmare. However, would a child born there during the civil war just think of it as the way of things and accept it as it is? Maybe there's a measure of a civilization: A rising standard of disgust.Abhishek Cherathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13831477526772025601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-75480011606334324642017-04-26T06:04:38.101-07:002017-04-26T06:04:38.101-07:00"White African photographers" reminded m..."White African photographers" reminded me of mr Juhan Kuus about whom, sadly, I only heard about after his death.<br /><br />Here's some background: http://estonianworld.com/culture/juhan-kuus-unknown-estonian-photographic-genius-south-africa/<br /><br />And here's a big collection of photos, ranging from what can be called raw to really weird and disturbing, seemingly in no particular order, some are duplicates, etc: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kuusjuhan<br /><br />Without ever being to (South) Africa, I can't tell if these photos have any specific African flavour, but they sure are different from the usual Western stuff and what is coming out of post-soviet block (my own main interest).Karel Kravikhttp://www.karelkravik.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-654754338632526091.post-57553894145974592322017-04-25T16:17:32.218-07:002017-04-25T16:17:32.218-07:00Hi Andrew,
I agree with the summary of both collec...Hi Andrew,<br />I agree with the summary of both collections.<br />Jern's photographs, while individually interesting in their own right, left me a little cold when viewed as a collection. I'm not sure I to what 'the message' was or is.<br />John's I enjoyed. <br />No matter what country, it seems that these small, run down. poor tows exist. You have them in USA, John in South Africa, and we sure as heck do over here in Australia.<br />It's almost a universal theme, and therefore possibly easy to relate to than other more location specific issues.<br />Perhaps that is why the cultural aspects of photography from remote places, by local photographers, sometimes doesn't resonate with us as it should.<br /><br />Without guidance or some sort of back story to inform us, perhaps they never will resonate.<br /><br />As an aside I am particularly fond of the work of Peter Beard, an American who spent so much of his life photographing and making his art in Africa.<br /><br />His 1960s work 'End of the Game' is an insight into a continent which was changing at a rate which was unsustainable. How much more so today?<br /><br />The Taschen collection of his work from a few years ago is simply magnificent.<br />His work may not be to all tastes, but surely it is an example of a western artist showing his love, concern, and deep interest in African issues.<br /><br />Cheers<br />WillieWilliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12340234422334227647noreply@blogger.com