Exhibition Follow-Up

Portugal Visto Por Um Estrangeiro - Images by Michael Barrientos

I had another exhibition opening last night. It is sponsored by the Portuguese Consulate and is a collection of photographs I made during my time living in that country. The theme is "Portugal through the Eyes of a Foreigner," and is heavy on scenic and travel pictures. Although I did a first broad edit, the real choice was made by the Consul General in the end which I had no real problem with. I frankly was exhausted from the whirlwind of my major project exhibition, the major project presentation and the critical analysis.

The Consul had expressed interest in doing a show and when she found out about my Vanishing Coast exhibition, she put it on overdrive because she wanted to ride off the wave of that momentum. I frankly thought it was a bit odd and overkill of my name. She was persistent. I did much of the work (meetings, editing, printing) and as I was in the heat of the major project it was a distraction and made things difficult and stressful.

My experience in both was very different. In this one I did not have as much control as in my personal exhibition which has a lot to do with money since they paid for everything. In essence the idea was that they would be promoting tourism, educating people and celebrating their country. I much preferred my first exhibition because it was more powerful, had much better images and in the end the decisions were all mine.

After my initial proposition faded away which included photographs of traditional Portuguese activities like bullfighting and was heavy on religious subject matter, I was not as passionate about it. They wanted to show Portugal and its people as a modern European nation and did not like the types of images I preferred. Still, it was fascinating and a good learning experience although not quite as intense as the major project.

Since today is our the final day of our final term, I'm excited in completing the course but a bit melancholy since I have enjoyed it and have made good friends. More than anything I have grown. I thank all of our seminar speakers, tutors, and LCC professors, and especially thanks to Paul Lowe for steering us through the program.

I was not involved in the poster or program designs and much preferred my major project materials.

Major Project Images and Captions

Vanishing Coast - Images by Michael Barrientos

Exhibition Video

Exhibition


Opening Night

Exhibition Program

This is my exhibition program. I uploaded a PDF version of the document to Issuu (I website I think is great and has a lot of potential). We are selling the 30-page booklet at the exhibition for a nominal fee and it is doing well. With a combination of print sales and the program, hopefully I can at least break even.

I'm now planning a closing party-an idea that I got from a Wimba Arms discussion. I'm going to keep it a lot simpler and more casual than the opening, and am asking one of my subjects (a capoeira group) to perform there. Of course, I plan on paying them. Yesterday, I did another interview in Portuguese. This time it was for television. It went okay, but they just popped in without any warning yesterday morning when I was looking pretty ragged in jeans and a t-shirt. It ran yesterday evening on a weekend cultural show. I guess my whirlwind visit to press offices last month worked.

Exhibition Photographs

EXHIBIT OPEN

Tonight I finally had my opening. It was an incredibly long day starting with my framers who took it to the last minutes to finally get things right. I had to finally be the agressive American and went in full of attitude and amazingly it worked and the shop closed with all of the front desk people helping to complete the matting and framing of my pictures. It was much more stressful and energy-draining than it should've been, but it got done leaving enough time to hang the show for the evening opening reception.

My handymen did a great job of getting the frames put up. Melissa (my assistant) and my wife helped me arrange all of the photos in linear order for them to be hung. We then put up all of the caption information that I printed on glossy photo paper and used double-sided tape to stick to the wall--it looked good. For every region of the Marginal, I posted a summary of the area, its characteristics and problems. I also put my 3-dimensional map, a miniature replica of the Marginal made by a Mozambican folk artist, on display on the gallery floor. And finally, I had my recorded sound which I mixed into 30-minutes of various songs, prayers and music playing through my iPod on to portable speakers.

The attendance was good with a steady flow of people through the night. The staff I hired (two handymen, bartender, gallerista, waitress, and security guard) worked wonderfully. My worst problems were the Portuguese Consul General and her friend knocking down a barrier which they were leaning against and a small group of gate crashers who were filling coke cans full of wine and wrapping food in napkins and sticking them into their bags.

It went well. The experience was new to me. It was fulfulling having people compliment me and then be eager to talk about my experiences photographing various groups, about my project or substantive topics which seemed more sincere than someone just superficially saying they liked my pretty pictures. I appreciated that a number of people actually saw the purpose of my project and came out actually saying they learned about Maputo's coastal erosion. Another was about captions. Although I liked seeing people studying and reacting to my photographs but also reading my captions.

All in all it was a huge relief to get this thing off the ground and up and running. It took way more work than I would ever have imagined. I'll be stopping by the exhibit daily over the next couple of weeks to make sure all's well and chat with my gallerista. There was plenty of left over wine, so now I have to plan a closing party.

One sad note is that my Canon G10 –which I loved– is MIA and a casualty of a day when there were lots of bodies in the gallery who could have casually picked it up and I was a bit dazed and confused. Maybe I'll find someone selling it on the street.

Last Minute Framing Blues

On opening day eve, I spent most of my day dealing with my framers from hell. It's been such a fiasco dealing with these people. Mozambique hasn't quite gotten down the idea of customer service, so it has been extra frustrating. In essence, I've been lobbying these people to hand over or just let me see my frames that they had promised me would be done last Saturday. They were finally ready to be picked up this morning. They packed them into my car quickly trying to beat the rain. When I got home and had a chance to really examine them it was a glaring mess.

First, they didn't properly mat them. They used black construction paper rather than the white bevel-cut traditional mat I had requested and paid for. Thank goodness I had my receipt with all of this documented along with their stamp (they're big into stamps in this country). Besides the "mat," there was crud inside the glass of virtually every picture such as sawdust, cardboard and paint chips, and the backs of the custom frames had been taped shut. The nominal mats were poorly cut with slice marks, crooked lines, and creases.

I returned to my framer with a Mozambican friend, who as a native Portuguese speaker with cultural prowess that I just don't have, was able to navigate through the layers of workers in the shop and get them to agree to do what they should have done in the first place. We had to negotiate the time that they would be done which was gut-wrenching because we were supposed to have hung the show this evening. They said they'd be done at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. I'll be there at 9:00.

I told the handymen I hired to help me hang the photos to meet me at the gallery tomorrow at noon. It's going to be an incredibly busy day hanging the show and preparing the gallery for the opening reception at 6:30. I did get the keys to the gallery and I do have two big pictures that I printed for the window front in place there. So, at least there will be something to see along with wine, food, cool programs, caption boards and a soundtrack.

Countdown

There are only a few days until my exhibition, and this morning I discovered it's going to rain heavily on Saturday, my opening day. Besides decreasing attendance, it will make things messy, but I have to plan to try to make is smooth as possible.

Besides the bigger chores like having photos printed and framed, there are a lot of details I overlooked. I'm still putting together sound (editing and mixing it on Garage Band). I also have to make sure the printers are on time for the exhibition programs. Some things I've taken upon myself to make the gallery more pleasant. For instance, now with the rain, I'm going to have to get some mats, throw rugs, and make sure to have extra towels on hand because here you just never know what kind of crazy things might happen with a lot of rain.

I've been making final preparations the past few days. I've sent out invitations and reminders aimed mostly at the expat and diplomatic community. I printed formal invitations and am going to make a final run through to hang up more posters and personally take invitations to select people. I had my summary printed and am finishing captions, sales lists and title cards. I bought and assembled hanging supplies like fishing line, adhesive velcro, hooks and various glues and sticky things.

Odds and ends that are on my list for the opening are items like wood spray (for fixtures) and glass cleaner. But bigger things on my checklist include the food and beverages: wine, juice, coke, water, food (I made it myself: small empanadas (meat pies), cheese, crackers, spiced almonds, and a vegetable tray with dip), nice plastic cups, napkins, tablecloths, folding table, purified ice and an ice chest, and garbage bags. I hired a bartender, waitress, gallery attendant (gallerista), a security guard and a couple of guys to hang the show.

Other little things I've done at the suggestion of Melissa, my assistant, are getting a register or guest book, putting together a price list for anybody who might want to purchase a print, getting a business card holder for my cards, and a cup of sharpened pencils. Pledge, wood cleaner, has to be found to tidy up the stands which will hold the three-dimensional map of the Marginal I had an artisan make.

Today, I have to go back to my framer and pressure them a bit. A thing that drives Americans here crazy (and just plain confuses Scandinavians) is the lack of promptness. Last week I was told that my frames would be finished this past Saturday. When I went to pick them up yesterday, they weren't done. Unfortunately it is to be expected, and I prepared for this cultural laxness so I wouldn't be completely out of luck on Friday when we hang the show. Such is life in Mozambique.

Press and Promotion

I've spent this week taking newly-printed posters and postcards around town. It reminded me a lot of my music days. When I was a guitarist in bands we used to spend days putting our flyers for our gigs at record and music stores, clubs and shops. My sponsor payed for the posters which turned out quite nice.

The U.S. Embassy public affairs office sent out a press release to their contacts in the country as well. My relationship with a member of the embassy has been a slippery slope. Because of nepotism rules, I'm bot eligible for a lot of benefits. For instance where they might bring in and pay a photographer to speak, I cannot do it (at least I can't be paid). I am not eligible for funding and various programs. However they have asked me to do a number of things and have taken advantage of my being here. In this case, they're able to promote themselves and American journalism, etc. by helping promote my exhibit. Since the people there are new (the staff arrived when I was away on my sick leave) I am comfortable with their involvement since they expressed interest on their own.

A friend of mine, Carlos Litulo, a Mozambican photojournalist who works for AFP and is with Redux, took me around town yesterday to line up interviews and press coverage with the local newspapers, radio and television stations. I'm a bit nervous because they were all interested and I'll have to sit down for interviews in Portuguese which I can speak but not terribly well. I imagine I sound like a little kid to most native speakers. It should be interesting.

I've also made multiple trips to the printer who is working on the exhibition program. It's been a bit of a hassle because it's out of the way to drive to. They've had some trouble with the size of the pages and then, oddly, the amount of pages. It's 28 pages, but for automation purposes, they needed it to be 24 pages. They took the liberty of redesigning it which we firmly rejected. In the end, the agreed to print it the way we needed but will have to do a lot of manual work.

Finally with the actual show, I spent the beginning of the week changing my frames at the urging of my wife. Fortunately the framers hadn't started yet. I did measurements for a display which will have my show summary which will be in Portuguese and English. I'll have that printed and put on foam core. I also had two large prints matted on foam core which I will display in the gallery windows to increase visibility and, hopefully, draw foot traffic. They look great. I also hired a gallerista, gallery attendant, and lined up two people to hang my work, and have a bartender and two servers for my opening in three weeks.

I still have to line up a guard/bouncer for opening night which is important to me because there is a group of local artists who are notorious for crashing openings, drinking all the free booze they can and becoming obnoxious and rowdy. Essentially, I'm focused on keeping them out.

My Cute Kids

Halloween

Exhibition Press

I've been working hard on my major project exhibition. I finally got all of my prints done. If anything, this has been an excellent experience. So often, I have been dealing electronically with photographs whether correcting and editing on my computer to sending to clients or agencies by FTP, posting on blogs or filing on to my hard drive. Stepping back a few weeks ago to my tutorial with John Easterby and his advice to print my photos to help with the edit, it was an exercise in simplicity. Physically seeing prints of my photographs made me recall what I used to do daily when I started in newspapers, that is, printing.

It's such an essential part of the photograph and one of our lecturers even made the point that a photography doesn't really exist until it's printed. I had a couple of very large prints made (A1) and it is really sort of breathtaking. If I had a few thousand dollars extra, I would have loved to have printed them all that size, talk about impact.

Now I am working on my text for the show and am busy translating the statement for the show into Portuguese with the help of friends. I have also started on publicizing the show which is less than a month away. Today, I got my first press. It's always a bit odd being the one written about when you're used to putting others in print.

Links:

All Africa

Casafree (French)

Living in Maputo

Major Project Summary

John Easterby suggested writing out a summary of my project to help in the editing process. It worked. This is my "artist's statment," a term I feel uneasy with, and what I will have printed on the exhibition program and post in the show itself:

“The devastating impact of climate change, mainly caused by ballooning carbon emissions from rich Western nations, will hit hardest in Africa, a United Nations report has warned…Up to 30 per cent of Africa's coast could disappear as sea levels rise from between 15cm to 95cm in the next 100 years. Important cities such as Cape Town, Dar es Salaam and Maputo are at risk.” –The Independent, Nov. 6, 2006.

Vanishing Coast is an examination of the people who make Maputo’s beaches unique, find them sacred and spiritual, or use them for recreation or their economic livelihood. I began the project in 2007, initially building on an idea to document Lisbon’s marginal from Lisbon to Cascais. However, the evidence of coastal erosion in Maputo was so shocking, I immediately changed my focus. As a staff photographer at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in the U.S., I worked on an award-winning project called “The Beach Builders.” This project documented the impact of coastal erosion in Florida and other states. I tapped into that experience and began researching the problem in Maputo.

The collapsing road between the Mercado do Peixe and Costa do Sol was the most glaring example of erosion along the Marginal. Repairs were made and sea walls were built in an effort to prevent the ocean’s advance. Exposed roots of casuarina trees, originally planted to slow erosion, hang like skeletons to show where sand dunes once stood. And the most striking example of what Maputo’s beaches looked like less than 80 years ago are found in photographs of colonial Lourenço Marques by photographer José dos Santos Rufino. These photos, taken circa 1929, show a vast coastline with large beaches that no longer exist, as do other historical photos taken throughout the 20th century.

An advisor to the Mozambican government predicted that within 10 to 50 years Maputo’s beaches will disappear. The tees planted to slow deterioration are regularly felled and efforts to slow erosion, such as building seawalls and dumping construction rubble along the beach have failed. Experts attributed the 2007 flooding of Bairro dos Pescadores to climate change and Costa do Sol’s greatest protection from the Indian Ocean, Xefina Grande, is at risk of disappearing from the effects of rapid erosion.

Rather than photograph the progression of the coast’s physical deterioration, I chose to create a portrait of the coast through the people. This is a look of what will be lost without intervention.

Exhibition Drama

I met with a friend of mine from AMF (Mozambican Photography Association) to protest my being bumped. After presenting my case, it was obvious that it was some funny business going on that more than likely involves money and payoffs. While in the scheme of things, it's small potatoes, it was a big deal to me. Despite having all of the evidence, saved e-mails, text messages and other documentation that showed that my gallery booking was agreed upon, I was stuck. The other venues that I was interested in as alternates were booked, and I would not want to stoop to one of the smaller galleries.

In the end, I was only able to negotiate 2 extra days. My new exhibition dates are 21 November – 2 December. We're working on the poster and the program. Melissa is a wonderful designer and has been great to work with. We've spent the last few days trying to finish it and send them out to print. I'm finishing my summary and biography. A draft of the poster can be seen above.

This has been much more of an adventure than I anticipated: more work, pressure and stress than I imagined. I gave a lecture this evening about picture stories and photo essays, and showed my project. It was nice to simply talk about the pictures while seeing them projected big without thinking about the events of the past week.

Ugly Twist in my Exhibit

I was screwed over for the second time in my nearly year-long quest to get my exhibition up and running. I got a text message from one of the men who run the Mozambican Photography Association telling me that my agreed exhibition time has been cut. Strangely enough, I was working with Melissa, the friend assisting me, designing the program for the show and doing the cover information which included the dates, location and show title. It made me more angry than I can express and almost seemed a bit surreal.

Living in Mozambique, you learn to live with corrupt police, shady business practice, non-existent customer service, uncourteous drivers, potholes, random public urination but you don't have to like it. This is the second time this has happened to me. Originally, I had been trying to have my exhibition at the French Mozambican Cultural Center which is the best venue in Maputo. It was not a pleasant experience since they offered me a commission in June only three weeks before the date they wanted me to exhibit. I told them no. After my rejection-which they were unhappy with because June is Mozambican environmental awareness month (they have one, really) and they thought my show would work well then, they eventually moved on. I was told that we would do it in the time I originally wanted, early November.

I left it at that feeling very good with my meeting at the center. Maria Elisa, the exhibit coordinator, assured me that I was as good as gold and would have my spot. When I returned from my three months away, that changed. She said I would have to share the space with another photographer. I refused. She later gave me a time in March, 2010. I refused. I was upset and disappointed with that considering the process to get the space last February.

After that I went to the Mozambican Photography Association. It went very easily and quickly considering the time and hoops I had to jump through at the French Cultural Center. I am friends, or so I thought, with the main people in charge there which gave me no reason at all that there might be a problem.

Lest than a month before my show, they alerted me that my time would be 21 – 30 November rather than the originally agreed upon 8 – 28 November. I am losing a week, plus that falls on Thanksgiving week which is a big American holiday time when many American expats and their families leave town. But, I have gotten sponsors who think the show will be two weeks. I have to run it by them since they are giving me there money to be associated with it. Perhaps it's not the end of the world, but having two weeks has been important to me from the beginning and losing one matters. More than that, the ease of backing out of agreements is astounding.

Today, I'm going to weigh my options which isn't a lot. I can either pay much more money at the Fortaleza, an old fort downtown that is sometimes used for event and exhibitions (World Press Photo has their exhibit there right now) or a couple of other lesser venues. It is awful to scramble so late in the game. It will also be a lot more expensive.

This is not fun.

Post-Tutorial Major Project Blues

Vanishing Coast - Images by Michael Barrientos

After our group tutorial with Mr. Easterby, I took his very simple advice in my editing dilemma: "make prints." It was a simple idea that I practiced daily for years, but one that somehow forgot all this time in computerland. I made small prints of my project and have been laying them out in various layouts or in my gallery set-up. I've been able to eliminate quite a few and clarify what I want to say.

Two aspect of this process that have been difficult beyond the several pending deadlines I have (printing, catalogue printing, and our final deadlines for the major project) are editing with individuals getting different verdicts and the absence of many people to work with in making a final decision. In my newspaper years, when I was presenting my own work or projects as a photographer, I ran it by several people in both group editing sessions or intimate one-on-one situations. As it went up the line different people got to hear the pitch and see the work. It sharpened you. As an editor, much the same type of situation existed with me as the advocate taking the work down the line.

This lack of layers of editors has been something in my process that has been a struggle. As I've noted before on several occassions, I'm not the greatest editor of my own work.

I'm still milling these picture over and 'living with them a while' even though I'm "sick of them" as John so rightly put it. I have to produce an exhibition catalogue and a poster for printing this week and start having my actual prints made by a printer in South Africa. I'm feeling more confident in what I've narrowed down to.

In my exhibition, I plan to display my photos in a linear fashion by going in geographical order in the areas of the 10 kilometer strip of coast it was taken. Last month, I hired folk artists to build a 3-dimensional map of the Marginal which I will display along with my photos in order to give viewers an idea of where various activities take place. I also plan to run a loop of recorded sound that I have recorded.

The Best Camera is the One That's WIth You

Chase Jarvis, a guy who's a good enough photographer that Nikon asked him to advance test the Nikon D90, just put out a photo-book called "The Best Camera Is The One That's With You". He only used an iPhone.

"The Best Camera is the One That's WIth You."

click for book summary

Budget

Click to Enlarge. It seems everyone was interested in how much I was paying for my show during our Wimba Arms meeting on Monday night (I'm still working on getting sponsors, so hopefully nothing), however, here's my budget. Melissa, the friend who is assisting me, actually formatted this pretty budget, and I've been sending out as part of my package to potential sponsors because they all want to know these details. As far as sponsors, I have one and two more seem like they're going to help: Standard Bank will pay for my prints and matting (if it goes through), and SAB Miller will provide beverages (beer) if that works out. As much as it is, it's still much cheaper than it would be in the UK or US, but in all it's a give and take.

Major Project Tutorial Update

My final project is titled "Vanishing Coast," and I will present it in an exhibition scheduled November 14 – 28 in Maputo, Mozambique. With the exhibit, I will have a 30-page catalogue printed up as well as promotional posters. The exhibit will include 40 prints and ambient sound that I have collected from various groups I have photographed.

This project is a continuation of one that I began at the start of the course examining the 10 kilometer strip of coast in Maputo called the Marginal. Working from the idea that coastal erosion, a major problem not only in Maputo but throughout Africa, may completely wash away the beaches here in what an expert estimated between 10 and 50 years. It is an ethnographical study of the people who use the beach: religious groups, fishermen, and those using it for recreation as one of the only green spaces in the city, whether for football, martial arts or sunbathing.

Ultimately, I'd like to have the work published in book form, using the exhibition and catalogue as a selling point in pursuing publishers.

Here's where I am. I have tight deadlines. My catalogue and posters must go out to print in two weeks time to make the show. Yet, I am still pushing for at least one more sponsor. At this point I only have one, Southern Sun Hotels, and have gone to several corporate entities such as Anadarko (an American oil company), Mozal (an aluminum corp), several banks, telecommunication companies, and a major beer company. This week, I should get the answers from the remaining groups I met with and did presentations.

Next, I actually have to have my work printed, which will be done in Nelspruit, South Africa-four hours away. However, I am working on my final edit, which has been very stressful. Then I will start doing promotion and publicity in the city. I have a friend, a photographer and former sports marketing expert, who has been assisting me. I also have a Mozambican photographer friend who will help me in publicizing and translating into Portuguese.

This has been an intense experience so far and has been underway really since February, but has picked up steam as the date approaches. It has been eye opening as far as the amount of work, planning and money it takes to do a credible exhibition that one can be proud of.

Finally, I intend to do a multimedia piece aside from my exhibition for the final which will include interviews and ambient sound. I don't intend to shoot anymore for the project but am planning a number of interviews with several of my sources in researching. Editing, again, I expect to be toughest.

www.vanishingcoast.info

Exhibit Momentum

I've been spending a lot of time working on my final project exhibit. The good news is that I have a date and location secured: the Mozambican Photography Association, or Associação Moçambicano de Fotografia (AMF). This week, I've dealt with rejection for corporate sponsorship from Mcel, the national cellular company and Rezidor Hotel group, but as much as I despise doing this, I'm going to others with my hat out. I've been pricing printers-not that there's a lot of choice here, but I'm going with a person that I've dealt with in Nelspruit, South Africa where I went earlier this week and met with to work out a deal which comes out to almost half of the price the big printer here estimated.

I have a check list that I'm working on now planning things like posters and post cards for advertising, a catalogue, information cards for the exhibit, framing and presentation, and my opening reception including food and beverages. More than anything, I need to do a final edit to get my prints and catalogue rolling. The time is going to go by really quickly, and deadlines are already looming.

I created an informational blog which I am going to register a domain name for and use on my promotional items.

Summer Gallery Visits

Alex Soth
William Eggleston
One of the nicest things about being back in the States was culture: music, art, and bookstores. In Washington, DC, I went to the William Eggleston retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery which was wonderful. I really wasn't terribly familiar with him until our lectures on him and his work, but have come to appreciate and somewhat understand him.

I also spent time at the the newly opened National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian, where the had an excellent show on portraiture featuring six photographers who I didn't know: Katy Grannan, Jocelyn Lee, Ryan McGinley, Steve Pyke, Martin Schoeller and Alex Soth. See it here. Both exhibits gave me inspiration as a photographer and for my own show with their expert presentation.

For my birthday (I'm 41), my wife took me to see Chris Isaak outside of Washington, DC. Being that I spent much of my younger years playing the guitar in bands, seeing live music that I love was great for the spirit.

Back in Mozambique

Last week, I finally came back to Mozambique after being abruptly plucked out of the country and my life with my crazy heart situation. It was strange not being allowed to return home and in limbo for a while wondering whether or not I would get medical clearance to come back.

It's taken some time and stress to get back into the swing of daily life again particularly with my little boys going to different schools on different schedule which means I have also begun a life as a taxi driver. But more than anything, I have been consumed with getting my final project exhibition up and going. It's been somewhat stressful.

First, the initial venue that I had planned to show at, the Franco Mozambican Cultural Center, and went to back in February with my proposal gave me the Mozambican eye gouge. They had given me a letter accepting my proposal, but wanted me to do the exhibit in June, the national environmental month. I had to turn it down because they notified me three weeks before. It wasn't enough time to get my project together, printed, framed and do adequate promotion and all the other things that go into a show. They initially were a bit annoyed, but I met with the point person in charge of exhibits just before I was sent away, and she assured me that everything was fine and that I would get a space in late October or early November. She lied.

When I got back, I immediately contacted her but the board there had wanted me to show with another photographer or hold off until March, 2010. I turned it down. I spent the time since then trying to secure another space, the Mozambican Photographer Association gallery which I was succeeded in getting. I had to give them my proposal last week and last night I was given the dates of Saturday November 14 – Monday, November 30. It's a tremendous relief.

What I'm doing now is trying to get in gear for this show which involves a bit of money. I've put a chunk of personal cash aside to cover cost but hopefully can get funding. I'm working on sponsorship and have an incredibly organized friend, Melissa, assisting me. I hate going to people to ask for money. It's humbling. So far, I've been in talks with Anadarko, an American oil company with a big presence in Maputo, mcel, the national cellular company, and am aiming at getting one of the two big hotels on the Marginal. It's a new experience. I've applied for and gotten academic grants and fellowships before, but perhaps, this experience will help me sharpen that skill.

I have a list of things to do: edit; plan my presentation; have prints made; mount and matte; prepare all the written information; plan an opening along with food and drink; make promotional items and do the promotion; and hire an attendant and handyman for physically hanging the work. This morning, I'm meeting with artisans I'm hiring to make a 3-D map of the Maputo's coast.

Oddly enough, I've only gone out photographing once since I've been back.

Los Angeles SIgnage

It's been four weeks since I had my medical clearance in Washington, DC and given permission to return back to Mozambique with my family, almost three months since I was abruptly uprooted and medevaced to South Africa which seems like ages ago. My life was thrown into a bit of stress and turmoil with photography not exactly being my top priority. Since I've been without a nanny to help out, it's been hard, particularly in Washington, DC, with my two little boys. I've managed to sneak off here and there to explore with my G10 (the only camera I've had all summer), but it's terribly difficult.

We've been in Los Angeles for the past two weeks and are preparing to return to Mozambique in under 40 hours. I've had a hard time sleeping thinking about the work that I need to do when I return on my final project and the exhibit for that project which is tentatively scheduled for the end of October. With that I must raise some funds which I've already had some meetings about before I left Africa. I also have to complete my work-based study internship which I have had horrible luck with. There are many fences to mend.

All in all, I am working out some things in my head after this experience with my health. It sort of shook up my priorities and has left me a bit confused. One thing I've dwelled upon heavily is the death of a very good friend of mine, David Green, an attorney-ex-reporter, who shockingly died while I was in Washington, DC. He was a year younger than me and died of a heart attack leaving behind a wife and little girl.

At his funeral, I was his only newspaper friend there, and I have thought much about the eulogy given by his rabbi who spoke mostly about Dave's short stories and writing. He was much accomplished as a reporter, one of the funniest people I've ever known, was a good father, and had fulfilled his parents' wish to finish law school and get on with a corporate firm. He had a lot going for him but in the end, it was his craft and art that was most celebrated.

I've been cruising (that's what we do in the crazy car culture of LA) tracking down and photographing old art deco and some generally tacky signs designed to attract drivers to businesses. When I return to the U.S., it's something that I'd like to do more of as suburban developers rip more of them down.

Iran

Paul posted on MAPJ about citizen journalism in Iran. Probably like the rest of you, I've been paying a lot of attention to what's coming out from the cloak of censorship. This graphic video was put on the Huffington Post today–very troubling, yet powerful.

Atrial Fibrillation

Thanks to everybody for your notes and best wishes. It cheered me up to get support from the group. I've been released from the hospital here in Pretoria, South Africa where I was medivaced.
I'm still under treatment and am being kept here for another 10 days. Its overwhelming and still a bit surprising dealing with a heart issue with doctors trying to figure out why a young, healthy person has this problem (their words not mine).

When I was given ten minutes to pack a some things upon being sent to South Africa for hospitalization, the nurse accompanying me was a bit baffled as to why I insisted on bringing a camera, but I figure everyone from our group would understand. I took this self portrait hanging out in my room this afternoon after I was released and hopefully will be out soon to take pictures of something other than myself.

Thanks again for your thoughts and I'll keep you updated.–Mike

Work Based Learning Blues

For the past several weeks, I've spent more time photographing my kids than working on projects of substance, although my family abroad find them much more interesting. With the borders and citizen journalism out of the way, I've been working to get my work based learning elective going. My initial plans fell through when the head of the organization (Arco Iris, Inc.) that I had planned on working with left the country for several months and the second in command left for good. In other words, I'm unable to work there, so I tried several other organizations including World Food Program, World Vision and Health Alliance International.

Health Alliance International, or HAI, and I have agreed to move forward, but it's taking much longer than I expected to actually start. There are more hoops to jump through with an NGO as a free worker than I expected. HAI is an NGO that works to support existing project in the country mostly with HIV/AIDS. They are relatively new and have no communications staff in Mozambique, so I have been dealing with a manager in Seattle. The head or the Mozambique office is preparing to leave for Italy for an extended time, so we're still trying to work out logistics and who my supervisor and contacts will be with him out of the picture.

They are excited to have me and I was drawn to them because of the vision that Emily, the person in Seattle, had. They've never really had photographs before, but had great ideas of what we could do. She sent me a powerful story by Carol Guzy of the Washington Post, but in the end, the country coordinator was a bit scared by its strong content. However, she is organized and has vision. I plan on photographing projects within the country and gathering sound and video as well. I will work in the office here and do some local photography and interviews.

Their biggest concern was whether or not I could travel since all of their projects are upcountry. At this point, I'm waiting for more okay's and budgetary approvals––that's for travel (I'm not being paid as is required). It's been much tougher and frustrating a process than I envisioned, and I haven't even started in my workplace yet. I'm starting to sweat a bit since time is a factor and the clock is ticking.

Citizen Photojournalism

Welcome to the Twitterverse: NPR


Charlie Rose: Print Journalism in the Digital Age

LINKS
Koko the Gorilla Paid $500 for Self Portrait on National Geographic Cover
Koko's National Geographic Cover
Zapruder Film
Abraham Zapruder's Camera in National Archives
Arnold Hardy 1947 Pulitzer Prize Photograph
Arnold Hardy Photo Affected Change in Fire Safety
Oklahoma City Bombing
Charles Porter IV Describes Pulitzer Photograph (audio)
Aftermath of Oklahoma City Bombing
Oklahoma City: Where They Are Today
Rodney King Video
Rodney King Photographer George Holliday's Story
Los Angeles Riot Anniversary
Paul Watson Recalls Pulitzer Photograph
Paul Watson: Witnessing War (NPR Interview)
Steve Ludlum New York Times 911 Citizen Photojournalist
Steve Ludlum
Errol Morris on Abu Graib
Janis Krums: Miracle on the Hudson Tweet Heard Around the World
Low-Lying Plane Frightens New Yorkers (New York TImes)
Low-Lying Plane Photos and Video (Huffington Post)
Michelle McNally on New York Times Photography
Lightstalkers Citizen Journalism Discussion
Spotted: The Sarasota Herald-Tribune Reader Photo Gallery and Upload Page
CNN iReport
iReport Toolkit
MySpace and Fox News Launch Citizen Journalism Venture
F8 and Be There: Weegee
Sebastião Salgado
Paul Martin Lester
Award WInning Photographer Patrick Schneider Fired
Kevin Carter Obituary (New York TImes)
Kevin Carter/Bang Bang Club Film Interview: NPR (audio)

Borders Project

Deadly Borders: Landmines in Mozambique

Landmines make up a sinister physical border where crossing may bring death or maiming. These remnants of war create a barrier to keep military opposition but remain long after conflicts pass. Mozambique fought wars for nearly 30 years, first in a colonial war against the Portuguese and then in a civil war which lasted 16 more years.

After the war ended in 1992, the country left in shambles still held the undignified spot as one of the poorest in the world as it had after independence from the Portuguese in 1975. More than a decade later it still remains near the bottom. Left behind were scattered minefields throughout the country, many of them unmapped or without documentation. With a collapsed economy and dangerous terrain scattered with mines, aid organizations began helping the country.

The HALO Trust came to Mozambique in 1994 to take on the landmine problem and along with other organizations has been largely successful in clearing the northern portion of the country. In 2006 APOPO, a Belgium-backed group started their work using rats to detect landmines in Mozambique.

Men and women who work clearing minefields place themselves within delicate borders daily. Within the zones that are lined with explosives in Mozambique’s heat, they work behind protective masks and armored vests as a barrier between them and a potential detonation. With metal detectors and a few garden tools moving inches at a time inside a box marked with nylon rope and a piece of wood that they push forward gradually as they check for mines and other ordinances. It is a dangerous job and workers are sometimes killed in their mission to make the land inhabitable for Mozambicans.

Over the years thousands of Mozambicans have been killed and injured by landmines, and villagers have learned where minefields are after losing neighbors, loved ones or even livestock. They have been invaluable sources to organizations trying to clear the sites. Living with landmines bordering your village, has led to frustration and even feelings of betrayal after years of promises from organizations and inaction by their government. They know where they are, but simply need somebody to clear them, said Lawrence Timpson of HALO Trust.

Just outside of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, landmines still remain in Mahlampsene. Although the site is still being cleared and portions have been released, people have already moved in along its border, living literally next to a minefield. Seeing an opportunity, Alex Joaquim, 28, could not pass up purchasing a home next to the former FRELIMO munitions site where he now runs a cantina where one of his main clients are HALO Trust workers.

The land is marked with stakes driven into the ground painted red or white. Red indicates that the land is unsafe, while white sticks means that the area has been cleared but is has not been officially released. These indicators guide villagers walking through where it is safe to step, often narrow spaces. On the land, Joaquim and neighbors are now farming.

In Gaza province, workers from APOPO are using Gambian pouched rats to find mines in the village of Mpilane. During the civil war mines were placed to ward off rebels from taking the railroad or gaining control of the Limpopo River which farmers depended on. However, after the war it took the leg of Francisco Tivane, 60, a farmer who working the land. Although he can no longer work and depends on friends and family, he considers himself lucky. His accident served as a warning to others in the area to stay out of the potentially deadly zone

Landmines are a borders created by man with the sole intention of killing or injuring others. In Mozambique, these deadly barrier are still harming people.




Deadly Borders - Images by Michael Barrientos

Dover, Coffins, Censorship and Citizens

The U.S. military had a ban on photographing coffins since President George H.W. Bush (W's father) put the rule in place. One of the chief reasons sited for this was when a spilt-screen of Bush shown joking with reporters as coffin of a soldier killed during the U.S. war in Panama got the former president in a bit of hot water. It was kept in place through the latter Bush years and pushed onto the plate of Barack Obama which he put up for review in February.

There has been a lot written about the issue since the ban's recent lift and photographs of an American soldier's coffin were permitted for the first time in 18 years. Photographs are allowed by the military if the family consents, and in this case the wife of Phillip Myers, a soldier killed in Afghanistan, gave permission. One of the basic points raised during the debate was the "if a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody there, does it make a sound?" argument.

Poynter
Opinion column

"If a soldier is killed and there is no coffin to see, is he really dead?" was the comparison. Although its slightly off-topic or much broader, one of the aspects of dying newspapers in the U.S. is the fact that so much will not be covered. It is estimated that corruption will skyrocket without less watchdogs around to monitor wrongdoing. Citizen journalists are limited in what they can do. Still, having more press freedom is key.

Photo by Tami Silicio

Maytag Aircraft fired military contractor Tami Silicio for violating the military ban on photographing coffins in 2004 along with the newly wed's husband David Landry. Silicio, a non-professional photographer, was previously the last to have a photograph of American coffins published. She did it without compensation.

Thinking Adam and Olly

I've found Olly and Adam very intense. I had my first tutorial last week with Adam, and it was incredibly useful. I was mostly interested in talking about my final project and wanted to get a bit of guidance and feedback. It's definitely out of my comfort zone and their work, way of thinking and methods are far from anything I've every done. They're on that line of art and documentary photography that is appealing and powerful, but still difficult for me to embrace entirely, but it is affecting the way I think these days.

Newspapers Dying

Photo: Gulker.comL.A. Examiner Staff reunion
For years now, the debate about whether or not newspapers would survive has been raging, but it has gradually gone from theory to leaning toward fact that they indeed may tank. As tough as it was for me to leave my career in the newsroom, being away has allowed me the detachment to look at it differently. For the past several years, more and more of my friends and ex-colleagues from American newspapers have been shown the door.

That nagging long-running story predicting the death of photojournalism seems to have quieted a bit now that thousands of former newspaper employees are hunting for jobs. Within my time working at newspapers, I had a unique opportunity be part of the good old days. I didn't realize it at the time, but when I began working in a real newsroom those days were the good times. It's more than just reminiscing about assignment adventures and good friends, the companies that I worked for had money to invest and hire despite being notoriously cheap.

I did photo internships at the Pasadena Star-News and then at it's sister paper, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. A good portion of the staffs at the papers were former Los Angeles Examiner photographers, the extinct Hearst-owned competition to the L.A. Times. I loved working with these guys. They were from the golden era of newspapers when there was still a lot of world travel, national and international bureaus, and big budgets. For me a fan of All the President's Men, Fear and Loathing in LasVegas, and that genre, it was all a bit exotic and larger than life. Besides the invaluable practical photography and newspaper photojournalism that they taught me (remember, I was a writer that wanted to be a photographer and switched near the end of college), the had great stories about covering Charles Manson, the night shift at the Examiner, a historic plane crash in Los Angeles and travels.

They were all sort of larger than life to me when I was starting out, and still are to some degree. A number of newspapers have disappeared, merged or transformed into skeletons for their former selves over my career: The Houston Post, San Antonio Light, the San Francisco Examiner, The Rocky Mountain News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer–and it looks like its only snowballing. Knight-Ridder has gone and its former stars like the Miami Herald are in deep trouble. In Florida we were always a bit hopeful because of the older population there who tended to read newspapers. It seems as they die off, the newspapers are going along with them.

When I was on a news staff, I had the hopeful opinion that newspaper would never die off despite the buzz raising the opposing position. Now, I'm not so sure. Like the rest of the news media, people just are not interested anymore. I was always annoyed that many of the young staff didn't read newspapers, a reflection of the populations. I find it interesting now that some of those people are now my friend on Facebook and have been joining a group called something like Save Newspapers. In symbolic terms, it's a sign that despite hugging that tree, the developer is ultimately going to cut it down and build his development. I'm not sure a movement by newspaper employees probably more interested in saving their jobs is enough to stop newspapers from tanking.

Keeping on the Facebook theme, I've gotten notes and pictures from old colleagues and friends both in and out of newspapers who remind me of a time when we were sort of high on the hog. One of the driving factors motivating me was repeated often by one of my best friends who I started off with in L.A. and has since left newspapers. He would say, 'more and more photographers are graduating every year from better schools than we went to, they're better and younger than us willing to work for less money.' I think that's still true, but with less newspaper jobs and newspapers themselves, I wonder where they'll turn. I've already been in the position several times telling younger aspiring newspaper photographers what it was like in the old days, and I don't even think I'm that old. With more an more newspapers dying and the never-ending tightening of the company belts, I'm sure those stories will be more fascinating to future photographers.

Final Project Exhibition Preparation: Looking Ahead

This afternoon I met with the artistic director at the Franco-Mozambican Center in the baixa, downtown, which is the best location in Maputo for exhibitions. They have art exhibitions, concerts, and dance performances there, so the space is somewhat big and popular. I knew that the major spaces here fill up quickly (they’re already booked for the next six months), so I had wanted to book something as soon as I could.

I prepared an iView slide presentation and made the same pitch I made when I first talked to her over the telephone and went into detail about what I planned to do: exhibit 60 pictures, have ambient sound recorded loop through in one room, and show a short multi-media piece to introduce the issue. As promising as it looks, I’m still not fully in the door and must prepare a press package with a short biography, a synopsis describing the project I’ll be exhibiting, and 5 sample photographs.

Considering the reality of a looming exhibition, my first, I suddenly feel a bit overwhelmed although the date is somewhat far off—I requested 10 days at the end of November. This gives me deadlines to look forward to. Incidentally, when we were first getting under way in the course, I expressed interest in doing an exhibition, and Antrim encouraged me to look into the French cultural center where she once exhibited (not here). Good suggestion.

I met with John Easterby and Lizzie in our group tutorial this afternoon. He had some interesting suggestions about the ways I could print my photographs, pointing out that you can print high quality photographs on almost anything today. He also made me think about framing, matting and actually hanging my pictures. John also suggested a former student's book business called Bob's Books for a self-publishing book printer as an alternative to Blurb. He mentioned that they gave LCC students a discount last year that he would look into getting for us again. There will be a lot of work and thinking to do.

Religious Groups

I've been spending a lot of time hanging out with the Mazione, one of the religious groups that worships and performs many of their rituals here. In getting access to them, I've had to explain often to different groups of people what I'm doing and what I'm photographing for. Doing so repeatedly has helped me in my own mind focus more on what I'm doing and what I need to do in this ongoing project. People that will most affected by the beach eroding are the religious groups: the Mazione, Zion and Universal; the fishermen and people using the beaches recreationally which would tie into the tourism draw aspect of it. Ed's criticism/advice still sticks with me though and I would like to find, although it's a bit tough, someone who might be suffering the effects now. I'm looking.

Mine-Sniffing Rats

I wanted to show the mine-detecting rat that Mr. Easterby was incredibly fascinated by which is part of my borders project. I spent a couple of days away sleeping among scorpions and snakes–seriously–at the APOPO camp in Mpilane, Gaza province about three hours outside of Maputo. It was fascinating. I also had some time with a mine victim in his village, Donga.

Overdoing it

I've been putting far too much time dealing with my before and after pictures. I've hiked a trash-strewn hillside dodging human feces, gone to a private luxury home's owner to see the view from their balcony (it was blocked by trees), gone through a chain of command at a private park to photograph from their hillside land and finally sweet talked my way past two doormen to the twentieth floor of a building that has a fair view of the coastal strip of road I'm covering.

I've contacted a long line of people searching for the copyright owners of the historical photograph and now am being put on hold by the bank who owns the rights. I've been researching copyright law and examining "fair use." Nevertheless, one of the photographs that I made today is probably about as good as I'll get to duplicating it because there is simply too many trees and shrubbery including in front of the landmark that I wanted to show. It's not ideal, but I'm happy with what I've gotten. It's times like this when I will probably look back and wonder why the heck I spent so much time and effort on this picture which might not even make an edit.

As for my borders project, my Brazilian nuns have pushed my meeting date with them back several times and did it again this evening. I'm set to meet them again on Thursday. My minefield contacts from HALO Trust have both moved rather abruptly. One has gone to Cambodia and the other to another Mozambican region to set up a new office. So, I'm on hold to meet the replacement who won't be here for two weeks I believe. If it wasn't a minefield, I'd just bypass them and go alone, but that could mean trouble. Next week, however, I'll be going away for a few days to visit with rats who locate landmines in Chokwe, Mozambique.