TIM HETHERINGTON: YOU NEVER SEE THEM LIKE THIS – Exhibition

About Tim Hetherington: You Never See Them Like This

Two years after his death, Open Eye Gallery pays tribute to the work of Liverpool-born photojournalist Tim Hetherington (1970 – 2011) in an exhibition of photography and film work. The show is presented in collaboration with the Tim Hetherington Trust and Magnum Photos.

Drawing from the series of images published in his acclaimed book Infidel (Chris Boot Ltd, London 2010), which offers an intimate insight into the lives of American soldiers in conflict but beyond the action of war, almost 30 of Hetherington’s genre-defying photographs will be reproduced in varying scale, including a number of billboard formats.

The exhibition’s title, You Never See Them Like This, is a quote by Tim Hetherington talking to his creative collaborator Sebastian Junger (a journalist and his co-director on the Oscar-winning documentary film, Restrepo), describing the revelation he had looking at the sleeping soldiers: “They always look so tough… but when they’re asleep they look like little boys. They look the way their mothers probably remember them.”

Set against the unexpectedly beautiful landscape of the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, Hetherington’s still images follow the arrival, efforts and advancement of a US contingent in establishing an outpost in this North Eastern part of Afghanistan. The work highlights the long-term nature of Hetherington’s photographic projects, his interest in narrative, human connection and the close relationships he developed with his subjects.

As days of intense conflict are broken up by long periods of waiting, the photo-reporter explores how these soldiers cope with this emotionally draining existence. Looking at how they build up resilience, renegotiate their relations and manage their feelings, Hetherington ultimately documents the formation of a strong brotherhood consolidated over a period of one year, underpinned by themes including sexuality, alienation/isolation and the sense of loss and fear.

Tim Hetherington: You Never See Them Like This is supported by the Mayor of Liverpool.

6 SEPT – 24 NOV 2013

Open Eye Gallery
19 Mann Island
Liverpool Waterfront
Liverpool, L3 1BP

Details here

Pictures of the Week: October 11, 2013

From The Denver Post

Pakistani school children chant prayers during a special class to recognize the anniversary of Malala’s shooting by Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. One year after a Taliban bullet tried to silence Malala Yousufzai’s demand for education, she has published a book and is a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the militants threaten to kill her should she dare return home from Britain to Pakistan, and the principal at her old school says that as Malala’s fame has grown, so has fear in her classrooms. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) #

n this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013 photo, Hungarian wingsuit flier Viktor Kovats jumps off a mountain at Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park in Zhangjiajie in south China’s Hunan province. Kovats died during this fatal jump into a gorge. His body was recovered Wednesday from the steep, forested valley floor at the park, state broadcaster CCTV said. The reports said the highly experienced Kovats apparently died from a head injury after crashing into a cliff-side. His 700-meter (2,290-foot) jump Tuesday afternoon was part of preparations for the Second World Wingsuit Championship being held in the park from Oct. 11 to 13. (AP Photo) #

An Afghan health worker (2R) administers a polio vaccination to a child on the first day of a vaccination campaign on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Nangarhar province on October 6, 2013. A new three-day nationwide immunisation campaign against polio began supported by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health country wide, officials said. AFP PHOTO

TOPSHOTS A Sri Lankan soldier stands at attention as rain falls during the army’s 64th anniversary and Army Day ceremony in Colombo on October 10, 2013. Nearly 30,000 government troops were injured and 6,200 killed during the last three years of Sri Lanka’s 37-year war with the separatist Tamil Tigers that ended May 2009. AFP PHOTO/ LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI

Opposition fighters open fire taking cover from behind a car during fightings in the Salaheddin district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on October 9, 2013. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce fighting in Damascus province between rebels and troops backed by pro-regime militias and fighters from Lebanon’s Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah. AFP PHOTO KARAM AL-MASRI

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Conflict Photography Workshop

One area of photography that we over here at OSP Towers have no experience in is conflict or more accurately war photography and I honestly hope we never will gain that experience. So we can’t teach a course in staying alive (cue Bee Gees) but there is such a workshop running and here are the details

The main aim of Conflict Photography Workshop is to familiarize the participants who may be considering going to work in hostile environments, specifically war zones with the various threats they may encounter and to educate them on how do deal with these dangers and to work with a higher degree of safety and security.

No professional soldier is sent to war without extensive training. Photographers who operate in exactly the same battle space without any training, experience or proper preparation put themselves in increased danger and potentially put others around them at risk also.

Even basic training and forward planning can minimize the risks hugely.

Instances of extreme danger often last only seconds or minutes and can arrive without warning. Ones chances of surviving are multiplied if one has already properly prepared themselves for the danger and has a preplanned course of action ready.

The team of instructors have a combined experience of more than 60 years spent working in many of the most dangerous places on earth including Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, Chechnya, Syria etc… Not only has their work appeared in every major publication in the world and they have received numerous awards for the work including multiple World Press, POYi and the Pulitzer but most importantly they also have real time, first hand knowledge of dealing with the multiple threats and extreme risk associated with working in these war zones. 

Over six days participants will receive both theoretical and practical training in everything from Battle Field First Aid Drills and IED awareness through to editing, captioning and ethical behavior as well as how to work, survive and maintain themselves and their equipment in the field whilst covering combat operations. 

This workshop will not ‘qualify’ you to work in a conflict zone nor are we actively encouraging people to enter dangerous situations but we do guarantee that by the end of this unique course you will be far better equipped and prepared for doing so.

THE COURSE WILL RUN FROM 6TH – 12TH NOVEMBER 2013

Further information here

Photos: February 2013 in Afghanistan

A large selection of images gathered by the always excellent Denver Post

Afghan villagers attend a protest against U.S. special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in Wardak province February 26, 2013. More than five hundred men marched through the capital of Afghanistan’s restive Wardak province on Tuesday in an outburst of anger against U.S. special forces accused of overseeing torture and killings in the area. A U.S. defence official in Washington said a review in recent months in cooperation with Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry and National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency found no involvement of Western forces in any abuse. REUTERS/Mirwais Harooni #

In this Monday, Jan. 14, 2013 photo, female members of Afghan special forces, first row, pose for a picture after attending in a practicing a house raid on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s army is training female special forces to take part in night raids against insurgents despite cultural taboos as foreign combat troops take the backseat ahead of their eventual departure at the end of 2014. In a country where women traditionally are expected to stay home, their participation in the special forces is breaking new ground in ultraconservative Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

An Afghan refugee, center, stands while a group of men make their way along a muddy path of a slum during a rainy day, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. Pakistan has been hosting hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees dating back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan three decades ago, thousands of them still live without electricity, running water and other basic services. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) #

Afghan farmers work at a vegetable field in the outskirts of Jalalabad on February 17, 2013. The economy of Afghanistan can be categorised as poor and unstable as it lacks proper industrialisation, there is a lack of well-developed manufacturing and infrastructure facilities, and it is dependent on foreign aid and assistance. Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images #

An Afghan man flies his pigeons over a rooftop in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Ahmad Nazar) #

An Afghani woman walks in front of the Sakhi shrine during a snowfall in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, Feb. 4, 2013. Kabul has been experiencing below freezing weather and snow for several days. (AP photo/ Ali Hamed Haghdoust) #

See all of the images from the Denver Post here

Giles Duley: ‘I lost three limbs in Afghanistan, but had to go back … ‘

Photographer Giles Duley was nearly killed after stepping on a landmine in Afghanistan. Back home, fighting for his life in hospital, he made himself a promise: to return to Kabul to complete his mission of documenting the savage toll that war takes on civilians……..

This is his story. From The Guardian

A few months earlier, I sat in the searing heat of Sudan with Gino Strada, the charismatic chainsmoking surgeon who set up the Italian NGO Emergency, discussing the plight of civilians caught in the Afghan conflict. I was visiting their project in Khartoum, documenting their groundbreaking Salam Cardiac Centre. Over dinner, Gino told me about the work Emergency was doing in Kabul. I had shied away from Afghanistan because I felt so many great photographers were already working there. I’ve always said that if I get somewhere and there’s another photographer there already, I’m in the wrong place. My main interest has been the untold stories of human suffering around the world. However, as Gino explained, with his typical Italian passion, about the plight of civilians caught up in the years of conflict, I realised it was a story I had heard little of. So I resolved at that point to go and document Emergency’s work there, and I made that promise to Gino……….

Seven-year-old Ataqullah at the Red Cross limb-fitting centre in Kabul. A year before, while walking to school, he’d stepped on a landmine, losing an arm and leg. Photograph: Giles Duley

While on this embed, one cold morning in February 2011, I stepped on an IED (improvised explosive device), which had me fighting for my life in intensive care for the next two months and left me a triple amputee with only one arm intact……….

Giles Duley with Afghan boy Sediqullah at the Emergency hospital, Kabul. Sediqullah’s hands were damaged when he played with an unexploded fuse. Photograph: Neil Bonner/Minnow films

Read all of this moving and powerful story here If you can’t read there will be a documentary on the tv Walking Wounded: Return to the Frontline will be shown on Channel 4 at 10pm on 21 February

Photojournalist launches watermark app for iPhone photos

As told to Olivier Laurent at the BJP. Photojournalist John D McHugh has released a watermarking app on the iPhone in a bid to root out copyright theft on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram……..

“I developed the Marksta app because I was tired of people stealing my work on the web,” says Marksta’s founder, John D McHugh, a photojournalist best known for his work in Afghanistan. “I often work in incredibly dangerous situations to show the world the stark realities of war and revolution. I can’t describe how frustrating it is to find my images online without any credit or byline.”

 Rather than fight what can’t be fought, he says, “I’ve tried to adapt my thinking to the cold hard reality that as soon as I post a photograph online it will be copied, shared and posted around the world. If I want people to know it’s mine, whether for payment or just kudos, I see no way other than to write my name on it.”

To do so, McHugh enlisted the help of a developer to create an iPhone app that would streamline the process of adding a watermark to images.….MORE

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2233605/photojournalist-launches-watermarking-app-on-the-iphone#ixzz2IiVZnSBp
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Afghanistan: April 2012

From The Atlantic Magazine

“For nearly three years now, I’ve been posting monthly photo essays on the war in Afghanistan, and a question I hear fairly often is, “Why do you do this?” My intent is to continue to focus attention on what is actually happening on the ground — far from policy debates or speeches. As long as we, as a nation, are sending thousands of men and women into harm’s way and tasking them with acting on our behalf in a foreign country, we need to be aware of what we are asking them to do, what their lives are like, and what the lives of the Afghan people are like. This is true even if the conflict has been going on for more than a decade — and even if we don’t all agree on whether we should be there at all. As of April 12, 120,000 soldiers from 50 nations are committed to Afghanistan, with 90,000 of them from the United States. All are working toward the planned 2014 withdrawal. Gathered here are images of those involved in this conflict over the past month, as part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.”…MORE PICTURES

A firefighter sprays water on a burning fuel tanker in Kabul April 23, 2012. The cause of the blaze is unknown and police are investigating. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani)

An Afghan woman looks into the camera in Mazar-i Sharif, capital of Balkh province, on March 30, 2012. Mazar-i Sharif means “Respected Shrine” but the city is known by tourists as the city of the blue mosque which is located in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Hazrat Ali. (Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

Georgian soldiers and a translator greet Afghans traveling on the major supply route while on patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan.(US Army/Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Duran)

A Marine MRAP sits on a patrol base in Helmand province, run by 5th ANGLICO and Co. A, 31st Georgian Light Infantry Battalion. The Georgians’ mission is to provide security for the local area and a main supply route.(US Army/Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Duran)

U.S. soldier Nicholas Dickhut from 5-20 infantry Regiment attached to 82nd Airborne points his rifle at a doorway after coming under fire by the Taliban while on patrol in Zharay district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on April 26, 2012.(Reuters/Baz Ratner)

More pictures 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

1

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) #

2

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) #

3

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 #

4

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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Pictures of the Week: February 24, 2012

From the ever excellent pBlogs on The Denver Post images from around the world.

Two girls reach for fresh strawberries at the 7th International Strawberry Symposium on February 18, 2012 in Beijing, China. The 7th International Strawberry Symposium is being held in the Changping District of Beijing, from February 18-22. Changping is a well-known strawberry growing district and production base in China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Kenyan army soldier Nicholas Munyanya, wearing a helmet on which is written in Kiswahili “Tea in Kismayo”, referring to a key strategic Somali town under the control of al-Shabab, checks his ammunition belt near the town of Dhobley, currently under control by Kenyan military and Somali government forces, in Somalia Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. Kenya’s military has been fighting inside Somalia in an ongoing offensive against militant group al-Shabab since October, when Somali gunmen carried out several kidnappings in Kenya. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

An Afghan man aims a sling shot toward US soldiers at the gate of Bagram airbase during a protest against Koran desecration on February 21, 2012 at Bagram about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Kabul. Afghan protestors firing slingshots and petrol bombs besieged one of the largest US-run military bases in Afghanistan, furious over reports that NATO had set fire to copies of the Koran. Guards at Bagram airbase responded by firing rubber bullets from a watchtower, an AFP photographer said as the crowd shouted “Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar” (God is greater). SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images

Gilles of Binche’ dance during a carnival parade in the city centre of Binche, Belgium, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. The Carnival of Binche dates back to around the 14th Century, with the clown-like Gilles performing their traditional dances to the sound of drums to ward off evil spirits with their sticks. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

Free Syrian Army fighters stand guard in Idlib, northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border, on February 20, 2012. The Red Cross said it was in talks with the Syrian authorities and rebels to halt the violence so it can deliver aid amid calls to allow women and children out of the besieged city of Homs in central Syria. BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images

To see all the pictures from this Denver Post blog go HERE

Giles Duley’s portfolio

From the pages of the Guardian.

A fashion photographer who left celebrity behind to capture humanitarian issues, earlier this year Giles Duley lost both his legs and an arm during a landmine explosion in Afghanistan. Here he talks through his best shots.….more

To see more of Giles’ work visit gilesduley.com
To contribute to Giles’ fund and aid his rehabilitation visit gilesduley.org

South Sudan 2009
‘A Nuer woman in delivery at the moment of her child’s death. This reflected the dire need for better healthcare in South Sudan; as the nurses were limited, I’d had to help the doctor. I stopped for a moment to take this. It was so private but I felt it should be recorded. In the horror of such an event, there was a strange sort of calm. I’m not a religious man, but that was the closest I’ve felt to something spiritual. Months later, the photo won an award and I felt incredibly uncomfortable about that’

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