Kristin Lenoir // Contemporary Photojournalism

Lynsey Addario is a modern-day photojournalist who captures many stories relating to the flaws in human society both in first-world and third-world countries. According to the book she wrote about her life as a female photojournalist, she began as a freelance and war photographer trying to “find her way,” but her journey quickly changed when September 11^th hit. She was one of the few photojournalists who had experience in Afghanistan, and was called back to the states when the terrorist attack struck. She claims, that was the day her entire career as a photographer and photojournalist changed. She would never “just sit at home,” but rather, chase the adventure and see the world and its struggles.

            Because she is a woman in a male dominated career, she put forth the effort to be seen by her male peers and fully recognized for the work she put out, later winning a MacArthur Genius Grant, and a Pulitzer Prize. She stated that she has put romance and family on hold to put everything into her work. And yet, the amount of struggle and injustice she witnesses daily have caused her to view life in a new eye and merely desire love and family growth in her own life. Once she finally was married and had a child, she learned to live in two very different worlds: one of poverty and the injustice in the world, and one of love, hope, and family.

             Lynsey’s work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine on many occasions, but one specific article titled, “Veiled Rebellion” proceeds to show “Afghan women suffering under the constraints of tribalism, poverty, and war, now they are starting to fight for a just life.” Contributing writer for the New York Times, Elizabeth Rubin, wrote the main article within this essay, and Addorio, the photo portion. The brutality that Afghan women face and the “extremes” they go to define freedom and individuality are shown within Addorio’s work and the many faces of the women she was able to capture. The women of Afghanistan are labeled as incomplete if they are not married to a man. There have been small victories for the women, such as being able to compete in the women’s boxing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and handling firearms and earning the titles of policewomen. The country has become very split in how they treat the women. There have been women who are able to receive an education, while others are sent to prison because they no longer have a husband in their lives. Lynsey shares both sides the story, the victories and the hardships for the women of Afghanistan.

            This story by Lynsey Addorio may not relate to us directly, but it is important to know that even when we have been fighting in Afghanistan, there are people, specifically women, who are fighting for their own rights against the unjust government and societal rules. It’s important to be aware of these issues and the overall fact that there are humans in the Middle East who are not trying to fight us, but merely trying to fight for their rights. This topic is highly relevant in our day and age because it is still happening. There has been only the smallest progress, not even enough to be considered progress by most.

            Throughout much of Lynsey Addorio’s work, she uses a style of many portrait shots as well as action and merely being able to see the faces of the people she wants the reader/viewer to relate to. Her work is intriguing and visually takes a new stance that men in photojournalism may not be able to capture. The essay about the women in Afghanistan is both haunting and hopeful and brings the reader/viewer into a new world and opens their eyes to a new light. Her work many times relates specifically to women throughout the world, but I do believe it is highly important for the women in this places to finally be getting even a small voice in the chaos.

http://www.lynseyaddario.com/

Hannah Taplin: Contemporary Photojournalist – Charles Peterson

Iconic grunge photographer Charles Peterson in the late 1980s

“It was the late 80’s when a new sound started to emerge; 60’s garage and 70’s punk had
awakened the gritty spirit of rock n’ roll and a rebellion was bubbling in underground
Seattle. Kurt Cobain would become the unofficial spokesman for the movement, and of a
generation and Peterson would become its photographer”

– “Photographer Charles Peterson Captured the Birth of Grunge Music in Seattle”
(Michael Chang, PetaPixel).

Layne Staley of Alice in Chains sings to a crowd in Central Tavern, downtown Seattle in 1988.

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam ascends a crowd at Pinkpop Festival in 1992. Vedder always gave Peterson artistic freedom to do what he wanted while they were on tour together.  

Born in 1964 and raised in Longview, a town of 700 in central Washington State, Charles Peterson, found a love in photography when he helped his uncle develop film in a dark room. He’d worked for his high school’s newspaper and had some of his photos curated, but until he was a junior in college, he did not find his calling within a career in photography until his roommate and his friends started their own bands. In 1983, he roomed with the future vocalist of Seattle bands, Mudhoney and Green River, Mark Arm, and hung around him and his friends, who were also interested in the reform of rock and punk music. Peterson and the others all had day jobs but found themselves enthralled in the music of Seattle nightclubs and underground bands, and the young upperclassman began to capture what became known as the Grunge Movement or the “Seattle Sound.”

Taken at a 1990 Nirvana show in at the University of Washington HUB Ballroom, a stagediver leaps into a crowd despite warnings from security and Charles Peterson himself. 

What’s important to remember about the influence of the 90s grunge and its own version of counterculture is that it was an increasingly difficult time to grow up and come of age in, particularly where it originated. The timber industry of the Pacific Northwest stagnated with the failure of the economy and the hazy atmosphere became more than just a sense of climate. On the teaching platform, Teach Rock, the instructors summarized that while the anger underneath the punk music that had ruled the latter half of 80’s rock, it was too intricate and sold out too quickly, while grunge remained authentic in its angst and misery, drabbed in flannel and ripped jeans. “Grunge, with its dour visuals and indifferent lyrics, seemed to encapsulate the grey and depressed mood of the region at the time. As the 90s progressed, the commercial success of groups such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam catapulted the Grunge sound into a national spotlight for which its creators and adherents were largely unprepared” (TeachRock.Org). Young people at the time – now known as Generation X – were not looking forward to their futures, as it was predicted they would be the first generation to earn more than their parents had. The youth was lost and often ignored by those in charge of capturing their attention in the media. With the grunge movement, art emerged both musically and artistically by those who played and those who caught it all on film. Charles Peterson managed to capture the culmination of angst with a signature black and white with a wide-angle lens, by not only taking photos of the band but also the audience, in order to get that sense of composition within his work. That was ultimately his artistic aim, as he explains in a 2011 interview with Billboard. He wanted to capture everything as it happened and make the viewer feel like they were part of it. “I always wanted to freeze that exact moment and then let the ambient light do its thing with a longer shutter speed, I took it to the extreme, but also when I needed to, I pulled back with it too.Because if it's all blur it just becomes kinda meaningless. “Charles Peterson’s Iconic ‘Grunge Photos’: A Guided Tour  (Billboard).

Mudhoney's third gig at Seattle's Central Tavern. In the background, arms overhead is Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt, and ace illustrator Ed Fotheringham is holding the ubiquitous can of Schmidt beer. 

This is at Seattle's Vogue Tavern in 1990. Guitarist Donita Sparks in full grunge hair glory.

Endfest’s mosh circle, Kitsap, Washington, 1991

A fan reaches out to touch Kurt Cobain as he plays to a small club in Los Angeles, 1990.

Kurt Cobain at Raji’s nightclub in Hollywood, 1990

Kurt Cobain crowd surfs as he plays on a guitar with a broken string. 

With the dedication to his art of capturing music as it emerged as the lost voice of a generation,
Peterson managed to make up the lack of visual representation of the early grunge music and ultimately building a role model out of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, growing in popularity because of the band's growing notoriety in the underground scene. While Peterson did take photos of other bands and did go on a nationwide tour with Pearl Jam, he is most known for his photos of Nirvana and Cobain himself.  He liked to photograph Cobain because of his warm nature to other artist's, particularly photographers and even invited Peterson to photograph his daughter's first birthday party. 

However, as time passed and their music crossed into the mainstream, the once underground bands were handed instant fame; fame they wanted but were not prepared to deal with. Like many in the counterculture of the 60s, when the grunge music went mainstream, the more authentic rockers like Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell, and Eddie Vedder rejected the success and desired to go back to the anonymity, particularly after the first few and largely commercialized  Lollapalooza festival. Peterson himself was growing weary of the music scene

Kurt Cobain looks over at Peterson as he plays to a crowd of 45,000 att UK Reading Festival in 1992. 

Kurt Cobain finds himself looking out at the crowd in a 1993 Seattle concert.

and the growing popularity of something that was never meant to stick around for very long.
By Cobain’s suicide in 1994, which Peterson found out about by a call by Entertainment Weekly which was asking his

for photos, the grunge photographer was ready to try something new. The grunge movement seemingly

died with Cobain in a sense of somber reflection and the angst giving out to losing its leader. In a

documentary, Peterson describes that he was initially in shock after Kurt's suicide and almost angry

because of his addiction and how he'd reacted to the last time the Nirvana frontman had gone to rehab.

Charles Peterson in his more recent years. He has since photographed at Sundance Film Festival and multiple pop artists. He also has a wife and two children. They live in San Fransisco.

Finding his own sense of nirvana, he traveled to Southeast Asia for a few years and later took jobs doing concerts for artists he didn’t necessarily care for, like Usher and
Florence & the Machine. Although the grunge movement had taken a lot out of the photographer,
he hasn’t made the same kind of connection he’d had with grunge bands in his younger days,
rocking out with his buddies in an underground Seattle club and finding solace in capturing the
defining sounds of an entire decade. He is still scanning through all of his film at the time and is still scanning them to a digital space in order to preserve them, while balancing life as a husband

and a father.

Madison Herrema // Contemporary Photojournalism

Photojournalist Allison Joyce

ABOUT: 
Allison Joyce is a photojournalist, born in Boston, with over a decade of experience working in the United States and internationally. Her assignments in this country have included photographing Hillary Clinton’s stops on the campaign trail and the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy. When she was younger, she carried a disposable camera everywhere she went. She is currently based in Bangladesh, covering news and human rights stories with a special focus on gender issues.

              

She works for Getty Images and has also contributed work to clients and publications such as the Washington Post, New York Times, National Geographic, Bloomberg, TIME, Marie Claire, NPR, Associated Press, and Reuters. Other clients include Microsoft, Apple, American Express, UN Women, Nobel Women's Initiative, Girls Not Brides, Free a Girl, World Wildlife Fund, and Marie Stopes.


"I really enjoy working on long-term stories. PR people tightly control a lot of the assignments I shoot in New York, and I often find myself elbowing for space with a ton of other photographers. It’s really a treat for me to be able to take my time, get to know my subjects and wait for those quiet moments that can make for great pictures."
"Always be prepared for any situation and treat every assignment with equal importance. You never know when a simple assignment will turn into a much larger story down the road."

Allison Joyce taking a photograph of herself for her profile "About" page, on her website. 

WORK:

Child Marriage

Allison Joyce travelled to a rural area in Manikganj District, in Bangladesh, and photographed a wedding between a 15 year-old girl and a 32 year-old man. 

Bangladesh has the second highest rate of child marriage in the world, and Allison wanted to capture this in a series of photographs. It is illegal, but not really enforced...

It is physically and psychologically damaging. Married at a young age, women are more likely to suffer domestic abuse. And a girl at a young age, like 15, is more likely to die in childbirth than women in their twenties.

Fifteen-year old Nasoin Akhter stands in the doorway of a neighbour's home on the day of her wedding to a 32-year-old man in Manikganj, Bangladesh. Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Nasoin Akhter is bathed on the day of her wedding Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Nasoin Akhter has her make-up done at a beauty parlour on the day of her wedding Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Nasoin Akhter poses for a photo at a beauty parlour on the day of her wedding Allison Joyce/Getty Images

The 15-year-old bride is wrapped into her wedding sari Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Relatives help the young bride get ready for her wedding Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Nasoin Akhter poses for a wedding video on her big day Allison Joyce/Getty Images

A friend consoles Nasoin Akhter on the day of her wedding Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Mohammad Hasamur Rahman, the 32-year-old groom, arrives at the wedding venue Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Mohammad Hasamur Rahman, 32, poses for photographs with his 15-year-old bride Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Wedding guests dance and celebrate on the day of the nuptials Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Relatives lead 15-year-old Nasoin Akhter to a car that will take her to her new home Allison Joyce/Getty Images

Mohammad Hasamur Rahman, 32, stands on a bed over his young bride Allison Joyce/Getty Images

MORE PHOTOESSAYS...

Sex Slavery 

(Have not put up the link because it contains child nudity)

Illegal Coal Mining

https://www.vqronline.org/essay/jharia-burning

Illegal to gather this coal and because of the fumes, it causes respiratory and skin problems

Works Cited:

http://allisonjoyce.com/interviews/

https://widerimage.reuters.com/photographer/allison-joyce

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/bangladesh-child-marriage-15-year-old-girls-heartbreaking-wedding-photos-1516832

Sarah Asprec: Contemporary Photojournalist

CreditUriel Sinai 

-Mr. Sinai started his career as a photographer in his home town of Netanya, Israel in 1993.

-Two years later he began working for local newspapers in his area, and in 2000 moved on to the Israeli Daily, Haaretz.

-In 2003, Mr. Sinai joined Getty Images. in 2014, after 11 years with Getty Images Mr. Sinai began working as a contract photographer for the New York Times.

-Mr. Sinai has been widely recognized for his photographs--> especially the events he covers.

-In 2015, he was nominated for a Pulitzer prize in Breaking News Photography as part of the New York Times team covering the war in the Ukraine. In 2005, Mr. Sinai won the first place story prize from the "World Press Photo" contest for his coverage of Gaza during Israel’s disengagement. He's also won many other awards.

-Also does cinematography.

His Photo Essay

http://www.urielsinai.com/photography/haiti-earthquake/

Jenny Tran- Contemporary Photojournalism

K E V I N    C A R T E R

B I O G R A P H Y

Kevin Carter (September 13, 1960-July 27, 1994) was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and his family was the only middle class white in the neighborhood. When he was young, he questioned his father about why the black people were arrested by the police and he got angry at the way blacks were treated. In 1976, Carter studied pharmacy but dropped it out and then recruited into the South African Defense Force. During his military service, he was beaten up by some Afrikaans-speaking soldiers after he tried to defend a black waiter in the mess hall. Carter was suffering from depression so he tried to kill himself by taking many sleeping pills, painkillers and rat poison but fortunately he survived. After witnessing the Church Street bombing killing 19 people in Pretoria in 1983, Carter decided to become a photographer to show people what was happening in the world. He started as a sports photographer but then wanted to use photography to uncover the cruelty of South African government, the violent repression, the famine and the protest. Carter was a member of the Bang Band Club which was a group of photojournalists that ran to shoot in the dangerous places. Kevin Carter was committed suicide at the age of 33 due to carbon-monoxide poisoning in Johannesburg. He left a note and explained that, “I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and angers and fears.” Additionally, he wrote that “The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist.”

Photographer Rebecca Hearfield taking a picture of Kevin Carter.

W  O  R  K

In March 1993, Kevin Carter and Joao Silva flew to Sudan to record the famine stricken that land. After observing and taking photos of masses of people dying of hunger in the village of Ayod, Carter walked to the open bush where he saw an emancipated African infant struggling and collapsing on the way toward the feeding center. As Carter started shooting the child, there was a vulture landed right behind her. After 20 minutes waiting, he scared the creature away and watch the little girl continued crawling towards the center. On March 26 of 1993, the New York Times ran the photo and quickly drew attention of the readers overnight. The photograph did not only become an international icon of Africa’s suffering but also one of the most controversial photographs in the history of photojournalism. There were numerous people concerning and asking about the life of the poor child and they also criticized Carter for not helping her. On April 12 of 1994, Carter was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his photo but at the same time he had been attacked by a fierce criticism. In his defense, Carter reported that he had advised not to touch the famine victims because of the disease.

During his career, Carter witnessed countless tragedies and murders from beatings, stabbings, shootings of the victims. Thus, Carter was suffering from his emotional pain and everyday he had to use cocaine and other drugs to cope with the horrors. After receiving the intense reactions from the world on his photograph, Carter was even depressed more and he always felt guilty that he could not save anyone because he photographed them as they were killed. Most of his photos are black and white and several of them have earth tone and vintage look to show the horror of the tragedies. He documented on the sickening treatment of blacks by whites, the heated relationship between black ethnic groups such as Xhosas and Zulus. Thus, Carter’s photos are very depressing and haunting that expressing the dark side of the world. Reedwaan Vally, Carter’s friend, says that “You could see Kevin sink into a dark fugue.” Carter was drown deeply in sadness and pain until the point that he did not know what to do in his life. He could never be able to recover from all the shocking scenes that he saw and even he won the Pulitzer Prize, it could not help lighten his life.

Personally, I think Kevin Carter is a hero. I really admire his courage and his sacrifice when he had to go to dangerous place and take photos. I feel like we sometimes do not pay much attention on what is happening around us and we do not really care about the world. Thus, we do not know how difficult and painful that other people have to deal everyday in their lives. Carter’s photos make me pause for awhile and think about other people’s life and their tragedies. It makes me feel guilty that I was so heartless before and it also reminds me to live as a better person and treasure what I have.

Sarah Asprec: Flash Photography

April 3, 2018; Cornerstone University. Kristin Lenoir looking at her practice photos with flash.

April 9, 2018; Cornerstone University. Hope Somadlangati naturally stressed over the content he has to cram in by the night.

April 9, 2018; Cornerstone University. Hope Somadlangati looks over his book for his big exam.