fireflyphotofilms-blog

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http://www.vimeo.com/40379197   When you've given everything, what do you have left? A beautifully shot video by Tyler Stableford

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

Shattered - Tyler Stableford

https://vimeo.com/40379197   When you've given everything, what do you have left? A beautifully shot video by Tyler Stableford

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

https://vimeo.com/40379197   When you've given everything, what do you have left? A beautifully shot video by Tyler Stableford

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

Shattered - Tyler Stableford

https://vimeo.com/40379197   When you've given everything, what do you have left? A beautifully shot video by Tyler Stableford

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

Shattered - Tyler Stableford

https://vimeo.com/40379197   When you've given everything, what do you have left? A beautifully shot video by Tyler Stableford

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

Shattered - Tyler Stableford

https://vimeo.com/40379197   When you've given everything, what do you have left? A beautifully shot video by Tyler Stableford

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

MediaMash Bristol Tomorrow 23rd of April

 MEDIAMASH BRISTOL - Tomorrow the 23rd

      Grab some work and head down to Under the Stars 7pm - 10pm

  There will be screenings and then we'll break off into groups to show work so make sure you bring some work: laptops, prints, books anything goes.

  Want to chat about an idea, show some photographs you’ve recently shot, a finished project or just come and hang out with other photographers? MediaMash is an evening where you can talk to your peers and receive feedback about your work. Join us for an evening of crit, feedback and networking.

Submit some work If you would like to present some of your own images or multimedia at the start of the next MediaMash please get in contact: [email protected] - or simply bring down your work on the night for the table discussions.

Under the Stars Bar Narrow Quay Habourside Bristol BS1 4QA

Please check for updates and book your ticket at our website: www.fireflyphotofilms.com/mediamash We look forward to seeing you there!- The Firefly Team

#Bristol #media mash #mediamash #firefly photofilms #firefly #network #critique #photography #multimedia

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

BJP: Fernando Moleres' struggle to help juvenile prisoners in Sierra Leone

Freetown. Checkers is a popular game in prison, with inmates sometimes gambling, often ending up in arguments and fights. Image © Fernando Moleres / Panos / laif.

For the past two years, Spanish photographer Fernando Moleres has been helping juvenile detainees in some of the most violent prisons of Sierra Leone. He speaks to BJP about the authorities' inactions and how he's trying to make a difference.

Author: Olivier Laurent

"Thousands of children in Africa have been abandoned and are living in prison, with adults, in conditions so extreme that their survival is at stake. Overcrowding, violence, sexual harassment, promiscuity, malnutrition, poor hygiene, infectious diseases, and lack of medical care are all common," says Spanish photographer Fernando Moleres about his project Juveniles behind Bars in Africa. "Most African countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) which has strict regulations on the detention of juveniles."

His exhibition is on show at Visa Pour l'Image, and he speaks to BJP about how he's been fighting to help these kids escape the violent conditions that are plaguing Sierra Leone's prisons.

BJP: What pushed you to cover this particular issue?

Fernando Moleres: My project started at Visa Pour l'Image a few years ago when I saw Lizzie Sadin's Juvenile Suffering exhibition at the Couvent des Minimes [Sadin's work was on show in 2007]. Part of her exhibition was made up of photos from Africa, and this particular part surprised and touched me. That's when I decided to work on this theme.

BJP: But why Africa over other continents and countries?

Fernando Moleres: First, it was because you have more chances of dying in these prisons than anywhere else - you can die of diseases, malnutrition. Also, injustice is more flagrant than anywhere else. There are barely any lawyers, some detainees have spent years in prison without even going in front of a court. There is a deep injustice - deeper than in any other country such as Russia, India, Israel or the United States.

BJP: How do you make the transition between the idea and the actual images? How do you get access, in essence?

Fernando Moleres: The entire process lasted two years in total. It all started with a Spanish bursary that allowed me to launch the project in the first place. I had one year to complete this work and I spent six months investigating the subject, trying to find the prisons that would allow me to work within their walls. I chose Sierra Leone.

BJP: When you describe, in the text accompanying your images, that you were the sole white man among 1300 black detainees, what impact has this had on your work? How did you come to be accepted within the prison?

Fernando Moleres: When I first arrived in that prison, there was a marked distance between myself and the detainees - except from a few men that wanted to see their stories told, who wanted to expose the conditions they lived in. I particularly remember one man, named Joseph, who spoke a little bit of English and became my guide. He had been accused of murder and had been in that prison for several years, so he knew the place quite well, who to speak to. These people helped me enter that world.

BJP: You also denounce the fact that NGOs aren't helping these detainees. Is that really the case? Why not?

Fernando Moleres: I think the main reason is that NGOs prefer to work on projects that relate to young people and women - on health issues. It's a lot more difficult for them to pay attention to people caught in the prison system. It's difficult to find support from the public for a widespread campaign. For many people, when they see someone in prison, they think that person deserves to be there - because they did something bad, we think about violence, drugs, etc. It's easier to get public support to help starving kids or pregnant women. But, people don't realise the extent of the injustice present in these prisons. They are forgotten by everyone. When I was asking for help to NGOs - the Red Cross, Médecins du Monde, etc. - no one, absolutely no one wanted to help me. Of course, I was there on my own initiative; so I didn't have a project they could study, send to Europe for the green light, which would then be rescinded... There's so much bureaucracy that in these cases it would just not be possible.

Pademba Central Prison, Freetown. Bathing in rainwater. The wet season is the best time as inmates can wash. Water is a real problem in prisons in Sierra Leone: there is no running water and sometimes no drinking water, unless prisoners pay for it (1000 leones or 25 US cents a bucket). Image © Fernando Moleres / Panos / laif.

BJP: I understand that, beyond taking photos in these prisons, you are helping these young people. Why are you doing that?

Fernando Moleres: What's going on there really is dramatic. I had to help them. How? I can bring some medicine inside the prisons [Moleres would take pictures of the detainees' conditions to show to pharmacists and doctors outside the prison and get the right treatments]. It's very simple for me - I put them in my bag and get them in easily. What I do as well, is create a link between the detainees and their families. I can find them and call them. What you need to know is that a lot of families are not aware that their kids are in prison. Now, I'd like to help them differently. I'd like to do more than getting them out of the prisons. I'd like to prevent them seeing the walls of a jail in the first place. I can do that by being there during their first trial and by paying for their bail.

BJP: How do you manage this work, in addition to your full-time job as a photographer?

Fernando Moleres: I'm actually not the one that is actually going to court to help these kids. I pay a salary a person I've worked with in the past. This person is tasked with going to court, find guarantors for these kids and pay their bail. I'm also looking to develop other aspects - for example, where should we house orphans. This person receives $300 a month, which I pay from my own funds. Right now, I have enough money for three to four months, but I'd like to go beyond that, and that's why I've started this campaign to raise funds.

BJP: What exactly are you trying to do?

Fernando Moleres: Right now, I'm just appealing for people to give money. I'm also trying to build a network of lawyers and other people that can help us locally.

BJP: Would you like to expand your activities beyond Sierra Leone - maybe across other countries in Africa?

Fernando Moleres: No. Simply because, right now, I'm the only one paying for all of this. I'm spending my own money. This exhibition, which is travelling around Spain at the moment, has received an award from the NGO Medecins du Monde. During the award ceremony, I asked them if they could help me finance this project. Their answer was no.

BJP: How do local authorities, including prison guards, react to your work?

Fernando Moleres: In Sierra Leone, the authorities are trying to change the perception that poor people don't have access to the same justice system as richer ones. This sense of injustice has, in the past, led to a war. The government thought that the easiest way to prevent a war was to improve conditions within prisons or to change the perception of justice. The University of Oxford has launched a study to find out what should be changed to help these detainees. They found out that Sierra Leone was plagued with corruption - for example, a prison guard only earns $30 a month, which is barely enough to buy three lunches in a bar. So, of course, these men try to find other revenues. As a result, while there is a will to beat corruption, in reality it's a lot harder to achieve.

BJP: What about the media? Have they helped in getting your message out?

Fernando Moleres: My goal was to get this work published in newspapers and magazines, and, indeed, I've been successful in getting the story out there. It's been published 12 times in Europe already - three times in France, twice in the UK and in Spain, etc. I think this project is easy to publish, because it's focussed on one country - Sierra Leone. What I'd like now, is to get another circle of people to react to this work. I'd like to see people exercise pressure on Sierra Leone to change these conditions. I think it would be easy for an organisation to force Sierra Leone to do something. The United Nations, for example, would be the perfect organisation to do so. Talking about the United Nations, when I was in Sierra Leone, a representative from the organisation came to the prison to visit the detainees. I went with him. He talked with a few dealers, the guards, etc. But when other detainees came to see him to denounce the injustice of the entire system, his answer was: "I'm not here to solve your personal problems." This man, whose name is Antonio Maria Costa [his official title is Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna], has access to the country's vice president and home affairs minister. He could have done something about it, but he chose not to

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/q-and-a/2106122/visa-pour-limage-fernando-moleres-struggle-help-juvenile-prisoners-sierra-leone#ixzz1s1dmS4lc

#bjp #british journal of photography #Fernando Moleres #Freetown #panos #photography #Photojournalism #Sierra Leone #Visa Pour l'Image

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Firefly Photofilms: Easter Special

Paul Jeffers:

 Our Lady of Ta Pinu

  Mark Esplin and Biel Calderon:

Crucifixion in Philippines

#Biel Calderon #christian #christianity #Crucifixion #Crucifixion in Philippines #easter #god #jesus #mark esplin #multimedia #Our Lady of Ta Pinu #paul jeffers #Philippines #photofilm #photography #Photojournalism #Ta Pinu

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Aletheia Photos - Greek mourners: it was not suicide, it was financial murder

Athenians gather in the spot where a 77 year old man shot himself dead in Syntagma square. The suicide letter he left made it clear his choice to take his life was related to the financial crisis that Greece has now been in for it's fifth year. This largely symbolic act attracted a crowd to pay their respects, many claiming that suicide had past through their minds over the last year. Later in the evening the riot police attacked the square with tear gas and clubs, fearing what a gathering of this nature could provoke. Please click and share the film bellow:                           http://www.aletheiaphotos.com/a-blog/2012/4/5/greek-mourners-it-was-not-suicide-it-was-financial-murder-vi.html

#aletheia #aletheia photos #financial murder #greece #greek #greek mourners #guardian #murder #riot #riot police #Ross Domoney #suicide #Syntagma #Syntagma square #the guardian

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

Must See - Jason Howe

Jason P. Howe

Hello everyone, I hope this message finds you well. Not sure how many of you saw my recent posting but I finally managed to get the pictures of the IED blast in which the soldier next to me lost both legs last November published after 5 months of discussions and fighting hard against the MOD who did not want them out there.

I am assured that they are the first photographs of a British soldier wounded and still on the battlefield to be published for nearly 30 years, since the Falklands War. The MOD never did fully approve or fully release the images but I published them with the wounded soldiers full consent and approval.

Would like as many folks as possible to see this reality and little bit of history since it is after all why we as photographers continue to go out there, pls share if you feel appropriate.

Many thanks, Jason.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/TBK0tRq2bQU

#british #conflict #falklands war #ied #jason #jason howe #jason p howe #MOD #photography #Photojournalism #Soldier #war #youtube

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Slideluck Potshow - Deadline Extended

Hello everyone!

This is a reminder that Slideluck Potshow is returning to London on Wednesday, 25 April at 81 Leonard Street and that the deadline for submissions is approaching!   Considering many of you will be away having fun over the Easter weekend, we have extended our deadline for submission to 10 April 23:59 GMT.   Emerging and established photographers working across all genres are invited to submit their work on the theme of Gender AND/OR Identity. The theme can be explored from a number of perspectives, such as, historical, cultural, social, psychological and emotional. Details on how to submit can be found here.   The show will be curated by Fiona Rogers (Firecracker, Magnum Photos) and Harry Hardie (Here) and consist of two parts that will compare male and female interpretations of the theme.A £10 submission fee applies. 20% of the amount raised through submissions will be donated towards the Firecracker Grant to support European female photographers.   All entrants receive a £28.95 voucher to print your own photo book from Blurb, plus a 15% discount on any Viewbook plan. The best story of the evening, as selected by Blurb editors, will be rewarded with a £200 Gift Card to spend on Blurb.com Additionally, participating artists may be selected to be featured in GUP Magazine and/or DEVELOP Tube

#blurb #develop tube #fiona rogers #firecracker #gender #gender and identity #gup magazine #harry hardie #here #identity #london #magnum photos #potshow #slideluck #slideluck potshow #viewbook

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NOOR - Climate Change

Poland is one of the largest producers of coal in Europe and not coincidentally, also one of the continent’s most polluted countries. The Upper Silesian Coal Basin in Poland, where coal has been mined for more than 150 years, is thick with mines, steel mills, coke ovens and chemical plants. Waste from these industries fills hundreds of dumps across the region. Smoke from coal-fired plants pollutes the air. Runoff from the mines has contaminated the groundwater, streams and lakes. Underground exploration has caused irreparable damage to the landscape. In Poland, 93 percent of the energy comes from burning coal, a major producer of greenhouse gases. http://vimeo.com/24718231

#climate change #firefly #firefly photofilms #greenhouse gases #multimedia #NOOR #Photographer #photography #Poland

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The Yasuní National Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i9j3Aj6u1LQ

The Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon is one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet. It is home to many indigenous people including some who voluntarily maintain no contact with the outside world. Unfortunately the Yasuní also sits atop between 412 and 920 million barrels of oil and the oil companies are desperate to start drilling.

Photographer Julio Etchart traveled to the Yasuní national park and met the Huaorani community who have come up with their own way to keep the oil in the ground. Photo and video by Julio Etchart, edited and produced by New Internationalist. For more info visit: http://www.panos.co.uk/multimedia/?sgn=n

#Ecuadorian amazon #firefly #firefly photofilms #julio etchart #multimedia #new internationalist #panos pictures #Photographer #photography #The Yasuni National Park

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Family Center - Iraq

http://vimeo.com/17850844

The Family Center in Rapareen exists to provide knowledge and opportunities to Iraqi women and their families. We provide continuing education to those who want to help their own families, thus giving them a better future. Through programs and innovative ideas, the people of Rapareen, Iraq finally have a chance for a hopeful future.

For more info visit: hebervega.com/help-4/

#family center #firefly #firefly photofilms #herber vega #iraq #multimedia #Photographer #photography

[fireflyphotofilms-blog]

Storytelling for Change: One Hedge Fund’s Response to the Occupy Wall Street Movement

It started out as a small group of determined protesters in Manhattan’s Financial District in 2011 but in less than a year Occupy Wall Street has made its way to more than 100 cities across the U.S. This group claims to represent the 99% of Americans living in this country who have become victims of corporate greed and an inefficient government. “Wall Street” which traditionally represented a certain financial status and a means to the American dream, has morphed into a symbol of the 1% of wealthy Americans responsible for a devastating economic downturn and a struggling middle class. Whether or not you agree with their premise, the one thing that Occupy Wall Street showed us in 2011 is the power of the people and the strength of the collective through social networks and multimedia.

http://vimeo.com/33716703

As shown in the short Occupy DC trailer created by Major Multimedia, the protesters calls for change build a strong case for both government and corporate social responsibility. There is an excellent opportunity today for companies across the globe to identify with the 99% and to contribute to finding solutions to the challenges people face  ?  and one Chicago Hedge Fund is doing just that. Here is Grosvenor Captial Management’s  answer to the Occupy Wall Street Movement and how it is helping the Chicago community:

http://vimeo.com/32530436

Tell us what you think. How should corporations respond to the Occupy Wall Street Movement? What other examples of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have you experienced firsthand?

#corporate social responsibility #CSR #firefly #firefly photofilms #journalism #major multimedia #multimedia #storytelling for change #wall street

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Tips of the Trade – Multimedia

This month’s branch meeting returns to Tips of the Trade, this time multimedia with Chryssa Panoussiadou, Lewis Whyld and a third speaker to be confirmed.

Chryssa Panoussiadou is a photographer and a filmmaker based in London. She has a strong background in editorial photography and TV news production.  From 2000 and for five years she was based in Jerusalem working in Israel and the Palestinian Territories as a freelance photographer for Panos Pictures. Chryssa currently directs, produces and edits news and documentary films while photographing for various international clients. She holds an MA in Documentary Research for Film and TV (University of the Arts London). Lewis Whyld is a Photojournalist for the Press Association. He recently won the P.A Video Journalist of the Year Award for films in which he combines photography and video.

For more info visit: http://londonphotographers.org/2012/03/march-2012-newsletter/

#Chryssa Panoussiadou #firefly #firefly photofilms #journalism #Lewis Whyld #london photographers branch #multimedia #national union of journalists #panos #Photographer #photography #tips of the trade