Online Symposium:

Seeking Justice – Social Activism through Journalism & Documentary Practice

The Centre for Documentary Practice invites you to logon and join the world?s first online journalism and documentary conference on October 15th 2009, starting 12:01am (GMT).
Speakers include Paul Fusco, Ed Kashi, Jodi Bieber, Marcus Bleasdale, Shahidul Alam, Gary Knight, Robin Hammond, Adam Ferguson, Travis Beard, Michael Coyne, Masaru Goto, Jack Picone, Megan Lewis, and more to be confirmed.
On October 15th we will connect an international community of documentary practitioners and journalists for one day, to share stories, to stimulate discussion and debate about our discipline, and to inspire each other to continue the fight for justice.
Register now for this free online conference.
Session one first half: Chaired by David Lloyd. Speakers: Paul Fusco and Megan Lewis
Session one second half: Chaired by Michael Coyne. Speakers: Jack Picone, Masaru Goto, Gerhard Joren
Session two first half: Chaired by Shahidul Alam. Speakers: Jodi Bieber , Robin Hammond, Shehab Uddin
Session two second half: Chaired by Earle Bridger. Speakers:?David Lloyd & Angela Blakely,?John Rodsted,?Kelly Hussey-Smith
Session three first half: Chaired by Terry Eiler. Speakers: Ed Kashi, Gary Knight, Marcus Bleasdale, Adam Ferguson
Followed by VII group discussion

Speakers:

Paul Fusco

Fusco joined Magnum Photos in 1973 after working as a photographer with the United States Army Signal Corps in Korea from 1951-53 and many years as a staff photographer with “Look”.?? He produced important reportages on social issues in the US, including on destitute miners in Kentucky; Latino ghetto life and runaway youths trying to survive in New York City; cultural experimentation and cultural clashes in California; African-American life in the Mississippi delta; religious proselytizing in the South and migrant laborers. He also undertook a long-term project of the so-called “Iron Curtain”, following it from northern Finland to Iran.? Among his latest subjects are people living with AIDS in California, homelessness and the welfare system in New York, the Zapatista uprising in the Mexican state of Chiapas. He has also worked on a long-term project documenting Belarussian children and adults sickened by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl explosion. He is now based in New York City.

Ed Kashi

Ed Kashi is a photojournalist, filmmaker and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times. A sensitive eye and an intimate relationship to his subjects are the signatures of his work. Kashi?s complex imagery has been recognized for its compelling rendering of the human condition. ?I take on issues that stir my passions about the state of humanity and our world, and I deeply believe in the power of still images to change people?s minds. I?m driven by this fact; that the work of photojournalists and documentary photographers can have a positive impact on the world. The access people give to their lives is precious as well as imperative for this important work to get done. Their openness brings with it a tremendous sense of responsibility to tell the truth but to also honor their stories.?

Jodi Bieber

After completing three short photographic courses at the The Market Theatre Photography Workshop in Johannesburg, Jodi participated in a photographic training program at the Star newspaper with the late Ken Oosterbroek in 1993. She continued to work at the Star as a photographer. In 1996 she was chosen to participate in the World Press Master class in Holland and started working on assignments for publications like NY Times Magazine, Geo and The Sunday Times Magazine. She now also works for various non- profit organizations. From 1994 ? 2004, Bieber?s main personal project focused on the country of her birth, South Africa. It documents youths on the fringes of South African society. This work resulted in a book – ?Between Dogs and Wolves ? Growing up with South Africa?.
Amongst many accolades, Bieber has won 8 World Press awards and a recent 1st Prize Portrait Series at POYi 2009. She has been widely exhibited and her work continues to be seen in shows around the world. Bieber has taught or been a guest lecturer at numerous internationally acclaimed institutions. She continues to teach at the Market Photographic Workshop (JHB) in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was a jury member on World Press Awards 2008 and is represented by The Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Gary Knight

Gary Knight is on a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University during the 2009/10 academic year. Knight’s entry into photojournalism began as a bid to fulfill his idealistic impulses and escape what he saw as the monotony of life in middle-class England during the Thatcher years. In the late 1980?s and the early 1990?s, he made Southeast Asia his home and embarked on a portrayal of the internecine warfare within a region coming to terms with the end of the Cold War. By 1993 he had moved to the former Yugoslavia and became immersed in the subject that would come to dominate his photography during that period; that of documenting the effects of war on civilians. After pioneering the launch of the VII Photo Agency in September 2001, Knight followed the development of events in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was one of only a few non-embedded photographers covering the invasion of Iraq alongside the U.S. Marines. His work has been widely published by magazines all over the world, exhibited globally, and is in the collections of several museums and private collectors. Knight has been the recipient of numerous high profile awards. He has initiated a broad education programme with Universities and NGO?s worldwide principally focused on educating young people from developing economies.

Marcus Bleasdale

Marcus Bleasdale has now spent eight years covering the brutal conflict within the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The work was published in his book ?One Hundred Years of Darkness?, which is recognised as one of the best photojournalism books of the year 2002 by Photo District News in the USA. He is widely published in the UK, Europe and the USA in publications such as TIME, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Daily Telegraph, Harpers, Le Monde, Stern, Geo Magazine and National Geographic Magazine. Bleasdale has received acclaim for his work over the years. Amongst others, he has won several first prizes in POYi and NPPA awards, a UNICEF Photographer of the Year Award, the Alexia Foundation Grants , and a World Press Daily Life award. Marcus’ images have also been chosen by PDN as some of the most iconic of the 21st Century. In 2005 Marcus was named Magazine Photographer of the Year by POYi. In 2007 Marcus was awarded a Freedom of Expression grant for his new project on our relationship with oil. He was also shortlisted for the Amnesty International Photojournalism Awards.

Shahidul Alam

Shahidul Alam studied and taught chemistry at London University before taking up photography. He returned to his hometown Dhaka in 1984, where he photographed the democratic struggle to remove General Ershad. A former president of the Bangladesh Photographic Society, Alam set up the Drik agency, the Bangladesh Photographic Institute and Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography. He is director of the Chobi Mela festival and chairman of Majority World agency. His work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Royal Albert Hall in London and The Museum of Contemporary Arts in Tehran. Alam is also a jury member in numerous international contests, including World Press Photo, which he has chaired. Alam is an Honorary Fellow of the Bangladesh Photographic Society and the Royal Photographic Society.

Robin Hammond

Robin is a freelance photojournalist. He has become best known for his work on human rights and environmental issues. Originally from New Zealand, he has been commissioned to make photos in over 50 countries, often undercover or in places of conflict. His work has won many mentions and accolades, some of these being 1st and 2nd place for Editorial Feature at the 2009 International Photography Awards, 1st place Editorial General News category, and 2nd place Editorial Photo Essay category. His work from Zimabawe was one of eight stories to be short listed for the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards earlier this year. Care International short listed Robin for the 2009 Grand Prize for Humanitarian Reportage. Hammond?s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Observer Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, Live Magazine and many others. Various Non Governmental bodies such as Amnesty International, Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontier and others have used Robin?s pictures as campaigning material.

Michael Coyne

Michael Coyne is based in Hong Kong, has been published in magazines such as: Newsweek, Life, Time, National Geographic Magazine, New York Times, German Geo, French Geo, Paris Match, London Independent Magazine and others. He has had a number of successful books published of his work including: Numurkah lakes & Roses, Second Spring – The Regeneration of the Jesuits, The Oz Factor, A World of Australians, Contemporary Photographer: Australia – MICHAEL COYNE. Michael has worked on a number of the Day In The Life and similar projects. He has had a number of solo and combined exhibitions in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South America and North America. His numerous awards include: American National Press Photographers Association, Overseas Press Club of America, the “Centenary Medal” given by the Australian Government for Services to Photography, an Honorary Fellowship by the AIPP for services to Australian photography. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (by Publication) from Griffith University in October 2008. He was granted the title of Adjunct Professor of Photography at RMIT University in October 2008. Coyne is represented by Black Star Agency. He is also a member of Degree South www.degreesouth.com, a collective of Australian photographers who are based throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Jack Picone

Jack Picone is an editorial and documentary photographer based in Bangkok, Thailand. For more than 20 years, Jack has worked in scores of countries, including some of the most dangerous places in the world: Israel, Iraq, Angola, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Soviet Central Asia and Former Yugoslavia. His clients include German Geo, Stern, Der Spiegel, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, L?Express, Granta, Colors Magazine and many others. Jack?s reportage has received some of photography?s most prestigious awards in photography today includin the World Press Awards, the Photographer of The Year Awards (POY) and the Fifty Crows/Mother Jones Grant for social documentary photography. Jack?s most recent award was a UNESCO Documentary Award for 2006.
His work has been exhibited and projected several times at the prestigious Visa d? Or Reportage Festival in France and exhibited at major galleries worldwide. He is the founder of The Jack Picone Photography Workshops, which take place on location in the most fascinating cities and outposts of Asia. Jack is currently working on his book, ?Blood & Love’ that sweeps across many countries during a twenty-five year period documenting the peaks and troughs of humanity.

Megan Lewis

Award-winning photographer Megan Lewis was born and raised in rural New Zealand. At the age of 21, she moved to Sydney and was employed by Reuters. During that time Megan?s work regularly appeared in various international publications including the Washington Post, the International Herald Tribune and a front cover of Time Magazine. In early 1998, Megan was lured by the Australian newspaper to their Perth bureau, where she continued to cover national and international stories including the Tampa crisis, Queen Elizabeth?s tour of Australia, riots in Indonesia and the first tremors of East Timor?s bid for independence. In July 2002, on a gut feeling and with an invite from the Martu people, Megan left The Australian to live full time in the Great Sandy Desert. The result of this five-year privilege is Conversations with the Mob. The series won a 2005 Walkley Award and then were voted winner of the 2006 Photographers Choice Awards.
Megan is now based in Perth, working as a freelance photographer. During her career Megan has worked in many challenging locations and situations. She has photographed all manner of people ? form the most exalted to the most destitute. She remains an optimist.

Adam Ferguson

Adam Ferguson was born and grew up in New South Wales, Australia. He received a Bachelor of Photography from Australia’s Griffith University in 2004, and in 2006 he interned with VII Photo Agency in Paris, going on to work as Gary Knight’s assistant. In 2007 Adam moved to New Delhi, India, where he currently lives and works as freelance photographer covering South Asia. Adam’s work has explored the many tensions, both social and political, that undermine the images of an economically booming India. Recently, he has focused on the war in Afghanistan. Adam’s photographs have been published internationally by Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, Courrier International, The Financial Times Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, UNICEF and Human Rights Watch. In 2009 he was selected as one of the Photo District News 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch and joined the VII Mentor Program working under Christopher Morris.

Masuro Goto

Masaru Goto has over 20 years experience in photographing human rights and social issues in Southeast Asia, South America and Japan. His photographs convey a strong message of compassion, highlighting the plight and resilience of ordinary people who are caught in conflicts, suffering oppression or are economically disadvantaged. He has participated in numerous campaigns for human rights and social issues, and his reportage has been featured internationally. Goto strongly believes in sharing his photographs with civil society groups for advocacy and information campaigns on the issues he passionately examines in his work. He has received many awards for his work in Colombia, Kashmir, and Cambodia including winner of the 2002 FiftyCrows PhotoFund for his documentary project Got Rights? Human Rights in Colombia. He immerses himself in long-term documentary projects, spending time with the people in his images and sharing their sense of humanity. After spending many years abroad as a photographer, Masaru is now focusing on his country of origin, Japan, where many social issues are not readily seen or discussed in public.

Second International Conference on Genocide

The?Liberation?War?Museum?has organized the Second International Conference on Genocide, Truth and Justice, which will be held at the CIRDAP Auditorium,?Dhaka,?Bangladesh?on July 30 and 31, 2009. This conference has been organized at a time when?Bangladesh?is actively pursuing the trial of the perpetrators of murder, rape and arson during the nine months of 1971 which led to the emergence of?Bangladeshas a sovereign nation. The Conference is expected to bring to focus the multifarious legal, interpretational and implementation issues which are likely to come our way while the trials are being held.

Prominent amongst the speakers will be Dr. Suzannah Linton from Hong Kong, Ms. Yasmin Sooka from?South Africa, Mr. Helmut Scholz from?Germany, Prof. Ohashi Massaki from?Japan, Prof. Chanwhan Kim from?Korea, Dr. David Matas from?Canada, other academicians and prominent social activists of?Bangladesh.

In order to make this important event more inclusive by opening it to a wider audience around the world and also for countries?which cannot physically participate,?Drik (www.drik.net) is providing live web-streaming of the events. The proceedings?can be watched as it happens when clicked on any of the following links during Bangladesh time 9.30am – 5pm (GMT +7 hours) on 30 & 31 July 2009.