Afrikaner Blood – Learning to be racist in South Africa

Afrikaner blood

“This short multimedia film is the first production of Frog in a tent. It looks at how an extreme right-wing group is teaching young white South Africans to eschew Nelson Mandela’s vision of a multicultural rainbow nation. The fringe group Kommandokorps, led by old-apartheid army leader Franz Jooste, organizes camps during school holidays for Afrikaners, white teenagers of mainly Dutch and German descent. He teaches them to defend themselves against crime in South Africa and that black South Africans are their enemy. He tells them they are firstly Afrikaners and should deny their South African identity. We followed them on one of the camps, where in nine days boys who once carried a budding belief in South Africa’s unity become toughened men with racist ideas.”

This short multimedia (stills and video) tells the story of a sort of summer camp you just wouldn’t send your kids to, there are assertions that groups like this are so few that they only represent a lunatic fringe, still scary.

The BBC has some of the still and video on their site here is the link or you can directly to the Frog In A Tent site here

Pictures of the Week: March 16, 2012

More excellent photo-journalism from The Denver Post

“Children watch the wax figure of Anne Frank and their hideout reconstruction at Madame Tussauds on March 9, 2012 in Berlin, Germany.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich reaches over a railing to shake supporters’ hands after his scheduled address to reporters Wednesday, March 14, 2012, in Chicago. The 55-year-old Democrat is due to report to a prison in Colorado on Thursday to begin serving a 14-year sentence, making him the second Illinois governor in a row to go to prison for corruption.

A girl lights candles in front of a temporary shopping complex in the earthquake and tsunami-devastated city of Kesennuma, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, March 11 2012, to mark the first anniversary of the massive disaster that devastated Japan’s northeast one year ago.”

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Children watch the wax figure of Anne Frank and their hideout reconstruction at Madame Tussauds on March 9, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) #

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Ultra Orthodox Jews attend the funeral of Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, leader of the hassidic sect Vizhnitz in Israel, in Bnei Brak , Ultra Orthodox Jewish town near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager was 95.(AP Photo/Oded Balilty) #

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A Kalahari Bush woman dances in her traditional hut on February 18, 2012 in Molapo, in the centre of the Kalahari Game Reserve. After winning a long court battle with Botswana’s government, new water wells mean the Bushmen of the Kalahari can now return to their ancestral lands — but with many already adopting the ways of modernity, their legendary desert civilisation may be a thing of the past. AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN #

4 Palestinians inspect a fire at a building on March 14, 2012, after an Israeli air strike on Gaza City. Israel and militants in Gaza began observing an Egyptian-brokered truce on March 13, after four days of violence, which officials on both sides warned could flare up again. AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED ABED #

SEE MORE HERE

Pictures of the Week: March 9, 2012

“An Indian man dances amid a cloud of colored powder during Holi celebrations in Gauhati, India, Thursday, March 8, 2012. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, also heralds the coming of spring.

Jerry Vonderhaar, left, comforts Charles Kellogg after severe weather hit the Eagle Point subdivision in Limestone County, Ala. on Friday, March 2, 2012. A reported tornado destroyed several houses in northern Alabama as storms threatened more twisters across the region Friday.

Quarterback Peyton Manning, who will be released by the Indianapolis Colts, speaks during a news conference in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 7, 2012. Manning, 35, who missed all of last season after a series of operations on his neck, has been the Colts’ staring quarterback for 13 seasons, won a record four MVP awards and the 2006 Super Bowl.”

From the pblogs of The Denver Post

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An Indian man dances amid a cloud of colored powder during Holi celebrations in Gauhati, India, Thursday, March 8, 2012. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, also heralds the coming of spring. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) #

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Members from a military band perform during the rehearsal ahead of the opening ceremony of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People on March 3, 2012 in Beijing, China. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference opens on March 3 in Beijing. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images) #

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Tourists carry umbrellas as they look at the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, on March 7, 2012. FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images #

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Afghan National Army soldiers walk up a hill as they arrive for a training session at the Kabul Military Training Center, KMTC, on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 8, 2012. The Afghan National Army will be tasked with providing security throughout Afghanistan after the last international troops pull out in 2014. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) #

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Crisis in Syria: Photography of an uprising

Another really great set of pictures collected by The Denver Post for their pblog series.

I was very pleased to see my friend and photographer John Wreford recently returned from Damascus. He lives there, has for a number of years, knows the country well, so his understanding of what was happening offered another perspective. The warm, friendly, generous Syrian people are suffering, dying and the world stands by and does nothing.

“(AP) Fighting between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and members of the Free Syrian Army continue in Syria. The U.N. estimates that Syria’s crackdown has killed more than 7,500 people so far. The killings add to the pressure on U.N. Security Council members who are meeting to decide what to do next to stop the violence. The international community’s current effort—a peacemaking mission by Annan—is faltering, with both the Syrian government and the opposition refusing to talk to one another.”

Syria launched a long-anticipated assault to crush the opposition in the rebellious north, bombarding its main city with tank shells from all sides and clashing with rebel fighters struggling to hold back an invasion.

President Bashar Assad rejected any immediate negotiations with the opposition, striking a further blow to already staggering international efforts for talks to end the conflict. Assad told U.N. envoy Kofi Annan that a political solution is impossible as long as “terrorist groups” threaten the country.

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Ahmed, center, mourns his father Abdulaziz Abu Ahmed Khrer, who was killed by a Syrian Army sniper, during his funeral in Idlib, north Syria, Thursday, March 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) #

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Members of the Free Syrian Army in Idlib Prvoince, Syria, February, 2012. The Free Syrian ArmyŐs strength lies inside the towns. The regular Syrian Army, which has proved to be unreliable and is already stretched thin, is reluctant to storm the towns and consolidate control. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #

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Armed only with rifles and homemade bombs, members of the Free Syrian Army attack a column of Syrian Army Tanks in Saraqib, in Idlib Province, Syria, Feb. 15, 2012. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #

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A fighter with the Free Syrian Army, the armed opposition group made up largely of defectors from the Syrian military, attacks a column of Syrian Army Tanks in Saraqib, in Idlib Province, Syria, Feb. 15, 2012. The armed opposition in Syria is led by the underequipped Free Syrian Army. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times) #

SEE MORE HERE

Photo Essay: Latin America Prisons

I thought it was time to wander over to the excellent Denver Post again to see what galleries they have put up since my last visit, as always I was anything but dissappointed

“A Honduran fire and a Mexican massacre have drawn new attention to deteriorating conditions at prisons in Latin America.

Many of the prisons are stuffed over capacity, leaving inmates to string hammocks from the ceiling or bed down on the floor. Members of a gang known as the Mara 18 crowd into cells at the Izalco jail in Sonsonate, El Salvador while women Inmates wait in a cell at the Ilopango Women’s Prison in San Salvador.”

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Members of a gang known as the Mara 18 crowd into cells at the Izalco jail in Sonsonate, El Salvador. A Honduran fire and a Mexican massacre have drawn new attention to deteriorating conditions at prisons in Latin America, many of which are stuffed over capacity, leaving inmates to string hammocks from the ceiling or bed down on the floor. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times) #

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Members of a gang known as the Mara 18 crowd into cells at the Izalco jail in Sonsonate, El Salvador. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times) #

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Members of Mara 18 crowd into cells at the Izalco jail in Sonsonate, El Salvador. A Honduran fire and a Mexican massacre have drawn new attention to deteriorating conditions at prisons in Latin America, many of which are stuffed over capacity, leaving inmates to string hammocks from the ceiling or bed down on the floor. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times) #

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The handcuffed hands of a member of Mara 18 in the prison yard at the Izalco jail in Sonsonate. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times) #

SEE MORE HERE

Each week we get another selection of the great Steve McCurry’s images collated into a specific subject area, we are so lucky

This weeks Photography Tutorials and Links

Each week Toad Hollow via Lightstalking brings a collection of some of the best tutorials, links and photography.

“It’s been an action-packed week in the world of photography, and Toad Hollow Photography has been busy compiling a list of the best links to tutorial, great photography and interesting blogs to share with everyone here.  The Toad loves to follow the work of incredible artists and photographers, and loves to share the best of what he finds during his weekly adventures.  We really hope you enjoy viewing the art and prose in this list as much as the Toad did in bringing it to you.”

Check out the Toad’s new photoblog series “Two Toads in Wonderland” featuring the works of famous Canadian artist George Sawchuk who just recently passed away.  This incredible outdoor art exhibit is hidden deep in the Canadian forest, making it one of the areas best kept secrets.  Please feel free visit the first post in this new series “George Sawchuk’s Wacky Woods – In Memory“.

This image is from our Portrait Photography course in the section dealing with environmental portraits. A revealing study of a Danish couple at home. @David Thomas

Here is a taste of the tutorials and links from the Toad

TUTORIALS

Shadows Are Our Best Friend – this is a great post from Joe Baraban that discusses the importance of light, and specifically shadows, in photography.  I, personally, love shadows and look for ways to use them in our work where possible, and this article is a great backgrounder on this topic.

Photomatix / Photoshop Urban Exploration HDR Tutorial – a fairly in-depth article on post-processing UrBex shots in HDR.  This detailed guide takes the reader step-by-step through the process, giving a wide overview on how to achieve this style of imagery.

Editing with Perfect Portrait – Part 5 in a Series – an in-depth article from Doug Pruden reviews the OnOne Perfect Portrait software product.  Doug shares some great details on this platform, as well as shares links to previous reviews he’s done on other products.  If you’re a portrait photographer, this is a must-see series.

GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY

Fullers Panorama – I have to warn you, following this link will cause time to disappear inexplicably.  And you’ll be left utterly amazed.  Mark Blundell shares a new 360* panorama presentation of a long abandoned factory.

Blue Skies and Butterflies – a breathtaking and vivid photograph at Disney EPCOT by Michael Glover.  This great shot incorporates a top drawer reflection, colorful flowers and a blue, blue sky.

The Beautiful Desolation of Wadi Rum – what an epic HDR landscape photograph, straight from the studio of Barbara Youngleson.  A massive natural sandstone and granite rock formation presents the most incredible subject for Barbara to photograph and share.

Click Here: The Most Epic Collection of Photography Links (Since Last Week)