8b - the new documentarian

8/8/2019 8B - The New Documentarian

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snapixelmagazine issue 8

The newdocumenTarian

october 201


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From HIV + by Nathan Weyland. See the rest of the story on page 22

Snapixel Magazine I The New Documentaian I 03


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Contents

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Pete Dicampo Lie Without Lights

Nathan Weyland Bon HIV+

Ande Hemann Uban Oe:the Secet Lie o Scappes

Aimee Guymon Luz

Dipti Desai The Bazaa


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F

o this issue, weve hand selected ive stikinglypoweul pojects showcasing the talent o the

new geneation o up-and-coming documen-tay photogaphes. These pojects exploe issues inthe wold today anging om a child bon with HIVto a village stuggling to be head by its govenment.Though these pojects, ou photogaphes havepainstakingly evealed the subtleties that accompanysuch sensitive issues. Yet the most compelling aspecto these pojects is that hope that can still be oundin each situation.

These stoies ae not about pity. They ae aboutadmiing the stength that individuals can ind in

ovewhelming cicumstances, and about the lovethat is adiated onto the people aound them. Thisis undoubtedly the most solemn issue ou magazinehas eleased yet, and it is one that we publish withpide.

We hope you not only enjoy looking at the mag-niicent wok o these ive photogaphes, but that itmakes you want to pick up you camea and go outto connect with people though it.

Kaitlyn

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EDITOr

ArT DIrECTOr

CONTrIBUTINGPHOTOGrAPHErS:

KAITLYN ELLISON

ADAM OLIVEr

rOBIN LAM

AIMEE GUYMONWWW.AIMEEGUYMON.COM

ANDrE HErMANNWWW.ANDrEHErMANNPHOTO.COM

DIPTI DESAIWWW.DIPTIDESAI.COM

NATHAN WEYLANDWWW.WEYLANDPHOTO.COM

PETEr DICAMPOWWW.PETErDICAMPO.COM

WrITEr/COPYEDITOr



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In our current trend-

dominated society, jumping

from one needy cause to the

next seems to be the norm.Documentay photogaphy was once a tool that aided the endeavoo social change. It was thought that by evealing the invisible,unseen hoos ovelooked by society, the public would be spuedto action and change. Now howeve, with the toent o bad newsthat we ae baaged with on television and online eveyday, hadlyanything seems to elicit action. The photogaphs that once caiedso much compassion and conscience ae now seen as commonplace,something thats to be expected with bad news.

Instead, we have become voyeus, ueled by the exoticism o human

decay and dawn to the titillation that accompanies photogaphyo anything unusual o scandalous. Outside museum and galleyinstallations, the powe and impact o documentay photogaphyhave been educed in the ood o consumeist images that we aeexposed to on a daily basis. Some say that documentay photoga-phy should be concened about society and play an active ole insocial change, but with so little attention om the public, how isdocumentay photogaphy supposed to ulfll these esponsibilities?

The camea was used as a scientifc tool in its oigins, but gaduallyphotogaphes began aiming thei camea lenses onto thei own so-cieties, documenting the dak undebellies o the city and the dank

living conditions o the poo, the ciminal, and the woking classes.rathe than exhibitionist, photogaphy was a telescope that peeedinto the cacks o society which had until then been lagely ignoed.Social documentay photogaphes like Jacob riis and Lewis Hinebought mass attention to uban social plights, undoubtedly aidingin popula social eom o the time. Doothea Langes MigantMothe became an iconic symbol o the catastophic eects o theGeat Depession.

Selective

tranSparencyBy Robin Lam



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Social documentay photogaphy had a clea goal thento instigate social amelioation. Nthe ole o the documentay photogaphe has bled into that o a photojounalist, with the lbetween the two oten blued. Taditionally, documentay photogaphy was a style in whthe one attempted to exploe and eveal a situation o social issue and epesent it with minidistotion. On the othe hand, photojounalism is a visual extension o jounalism itsel, eldiectly to cuent headlining news and communicating the visual stoy that wods cannot cvey alone. Take o instance, the documentation o the ecent oils spills in the Gul o MexImages o bids, otte, and othe wildlie coveed in oil and dying on the coast spaked headebates, angy outbusts, and an explosion o condemnation on BP. Massive news coveagecompanied the images and undoubtedly helped speed up the esponse to the ecological disa

Howeve, contempoay photogaphes see documentay photogaphy as something moe ato the pocess o fnding tuth though expeience. I think a lot o photogaphes in this gae obsessed with the idea o telling the tuth without ealizing how subjective the geneexplains photogaphe Pete DiCampo (Lie Without Lights). [Howeve] in the poceschoosing which images and which moments to ft into a stoy, we eally end up choosing tuth. Its up to us to choose the tuth that best epesents what we see. But even then, in soway, ou own pesonal eelings on the subject ae going to come acoss. Tuth then, is composed o had acts and fgues, but o the emotional dialogue one expeiences when awith images o anothes eality.

Instead o only seeking social justice, contempoay documentay photogaphy oten fnds icitiquing social elations, and along the way, binging attention to the ise o new social claand the ogotten individuals let in its cacks. Ande Hemann in his poject Uban Oe: Secet Lie o Scappes, photogaphed the homeless citizens o the San Fancisco Bay Aand thei dangeous stuggle to scimp a living out o scapping metal om abandoned buings. What stated as a pesonal poject o him eventually became a stoy about a unction

community, the ecession, and the need to tun a buck at any cost. Though his images goup o homeless people living beneath a eeway o-amp, Hemann attempts not meelecod thei daily lie, but to show a dieent pespective o how lie was aected by the esion. Though these individuals do not have the legitimate o espectable jobs that ae expeo citizens, they too wee just as aected by the ecession as evey othe woking peson wWhen the pice o dieent scap metals dopped, the man-hous and isk outweighed thetun at the scap yad, causing most o these people to eithe wok hade o fnd othe meto make money. At the vey end, Hemann shows that the homeless have the same desiany odinay citizen to make money and ean a living. As a scappe om the demolished Wington Packing Copoation Tuna Canney once told Hemann: Why do they cae i we scthe metal om this building? This place is going to be ton down at some point anywaywdoing the owne a avo. I they need it done, why dont they hie us? We want jobs. Well

jobs.

It is no longer

a unified force

meant only to ig-

nite social change

or reveal flaws in

society, but rath-

er, it is a tool

that allows one

to take a look at

a community from

within, and also

have the breathing

space to step back

and reflect on

what is seen.

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Fom political, to humanist and aesthetic, documentay photogaphy is motivated by a widevaiety o emotions and desies. It is no longe a unifed oce meant only to ignite social changeo eveal aws in society, but athe, it is a tool that allows one to take a look at a communityom within, and also have the beathing space to step back and eect on what is seen. The

inspiation and atisty that dives these photogaphes could be as mundane as a backwatevillage o as blood pumping as a steet iot. Be it o eom, to inom, o simply to ollow apesonal desie, documentay photogaphy allows the viewe to exploe the essential, intinsicom o an expeience though a seies o images.

The esulting naative is at once both aesting o its visual stimulation, as well as its inevitableundelying ole as a ecode o histoy itsel. What needs to be changed is ou exposue to itand ou ecognition that it is a om o education as well as a voice o change. rathe thanteating such images as sensational, we can ealize the intinsic value they pesent; they povideus with an oppotunity to empathize with ou ellow men and use what limited capacity wehave to make a dieenceeven i that dieence is only to be less ignoant o the wold andthe people aound us.



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Like a moth attacted to a single ame, Pete DiCampo wasdawn to the poject Lights in Ghana in an inexplicable,mystical way. As a Peace Cops voluntee in the village oWantugu, I was out wandeing one evening, and noticedchilden eading the Koan by ashlight in the village's cen-tal mosque, DiCampo says. I was attacted by the beauty

o the situationthe hypnotic ecital o the passages, athe eanest way they studied by ashlight. That became tbeginning o [this] poject. Fo the next thee yeas DiCapo would document the lack o electicity in ual Ghaas well as the esulting eects it had on villages, the egioeconomy and standad o living, and its people. Thou

Life Without Lights

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the lack o electicity sties potential economic gowth andpepetuates the cyclical natue o povety in the egion, Di-Campo does not accept that Lights in Ghana is meely astoy about electicity. [This is] a stoy about people whohave no epesentation in thei own govenment. The way Isee it, thee ae two main stengths to this stoy. One is that

I was able to explain a vey specifc impediment to develop-ment, instead o just contibuting to a discussion on povetyin a vey geneal way. The othe is that I was able to pesenta poblem, but not victimize the people I was photogaph-ingthee's an issue that needs to be solved.

Photogaphs and captions by Pete DiCampo

Yea-ound in Ghana, the sun sets at 6 p.m. and ises at 6 amthus, the esidents o communities lacking electicity live halo thei lives in the dak. Ove ten yeas ago, the govenment oGhana began a massive campaign to povide the countys ualnoth with electicity, but the poject ceased almost immediatelyate it began. The wok sluggishly esumes duing election yeas,as candidates attempt to gane populaity and votes. But at pes-ent, an estimated 73% o villages emain without electicity inthe neglected nothan aea compising 40% o the county.

Living without lights is moe than just a mino inconvenience.Electicity povides a paamount step on the ladde o econom-ics, and nothen villages know what is being kept om them:lights to study and cook by, machiney and eigeation, and astandad o living that would attact teaches, nuses, and oth-e civil sevice wokes om the city, not to mention oeigntouists.

That said, some oms o pogess ae inevitable, and a numbeo supising moden amenities eveal themselves in the night.Mobile phones ae widespead, and a gowing local flm industyallows nothenes to see movies in a setting and language a-milia to them o the fst time in thei histoy. All o this existsdespite the absence o a convenient outlet in which to plug basicelectonic appliances.

A close look at the lack o electicity in villages eveals muchabout thei complex dependency on cities and on the West. The1.6 billion people living without electicity woldwide shae acommonality in both the advantages they ae denied and thetechnological advances that slowly pevade ual lie.

[Pete DiCampo]

- robin Lam



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Village Elde

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Childen eading the Koan by ashlight at a mosque in Wantug


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Above: The cew o Mavelous Films Intenational, a local company om the neaby ci

flms a scene in Voggu. Only in the past ew yeas has a gowing local flm industy allownothenes to see movies made by thei own tibe, in a setting and language amilia to them

Following page: People boad the last ca o the night though Wantu



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Snapixel Magazine I Summes En d I 31


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Kevin Damian, 8, was bon HIV positive. He takes a wide vaiety o medicine thee times a day to keep hisillness at bay, and makes monthly tips to the hospital o check-ups and blood samples. His mothe died o

AIDS six yeas ago at age 20.

In Mexico, HIV tansmission om mothe to child emains a seious poblem and one that photogaphe Na-than Weyland has begun to exploe with his poject, Bon HIV+. Weyland stumbled upon this little-knownpoblem in Mexico duing his paticipation in the 2008 Foundy Photojounalism wokshop, and was imme-diately dawn to the compassionate community and amily membes who stive to deal with this situation. Ileaned so much about how HIV can continue to devastate a amily o moe than one geneation, somethingI neve even ealized beoe, Weyland explains. [Gandmothe] Teesa, the pimay caetake o Kevinand his uninected bothe, was immediately wam and openso common in Mexicoand she seemed toundestand what I wanted to do and why. Doing this type o wok, being let into people homes and lives, be-ing pesent duing thei most intimate moments, eally teaches you something about geneosity and shaing.

- robin Lam

HIV +

Photogaph and captions by Nathan Weyland

The devastation and pain that HIV causes amilies has been well documented. Howeve, what is not equentlyealized is how the vius can be passed to childen and continue to theaten amilies and stain fnances. InMexico, less than one quate o pegnant women can access medication to pevent tansmission to thei child.This seies o images is a potait o one such amily. [Nathan Weyland]

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Previous page: Teesa comoKevin ate a late-evening squabbwith his both

Left: Kevin and Teesa embace thei living oo



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Kevin in ont o his apatment in Pealvillo.

In the evening, the bothes play a boad game while Teesa does choes.


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Kevin and Edwin ace up an escalato duing a shopping tip.

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Teesas bothe lives on the steets o thei neighbohood and stuggles with alcohol addictionSometimes he has a git o Kevin, his nephew

Following page: Kevin once again hides unde the table to avoid eatin



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Ub OTh St Lif of Ss

Photogaphs and captions by And Hemann

Undeneath the o-amp o a majo San Fancisco, CA eeway, six hom

less people have ceated a home and community aound a dangeous, labo intenstadescapping. Coppe and othe metals ae extacted om abandoned buildiand discaded objects like motos, pipes, and cables. In Uban Oe: The Secet Lo Scappes, Ande Hemann has documented the ceativity and dange that liesthis opeation, as well as the lives o the homeless individuals who ely on it to ma living. They wee the invisible, homeless, below the ada so-to-speak, Hemasays o his subjects. All they wanted was [o] the system to take notice that they wthee and needed help. In the end, these scappes have the same desie as any invidual in ou had-pessed economy: the desie to fnd a job. In the image SomewhElse, (see page __) scappe Steve is captued in a poignant thought, wondeing hto make enough money to pay the ee to take a dives license test so that he can

ply o a eal job. In the end I hope people will ealize that the homeless ae humbeings like the est o us, not unwanted animals on the steet that society has bebudened with, Hemann explains o Uban Oe. They have lives, they cae thei own. They have hopes, deams, and needsto make a living.

- robin Lam


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Standing amongst a goup o ogotten, unshaven and dity chaactes unde a Fancisco eeway o-amp, my eyes cant believe what they ae seeing: a modenmining camp, complete with a BBQ, chais, a laundy aea, pets, and tools o esize and shape. Amidst the stinking heaps o tash, toweing piles o disegadedlongings, and emnants o stipped electical cables and othe components, exicamp like no othe. Six people have been living in this small wedge o a space o y

with all the amenities that one could imagine.

The goup consists o a motley cew o chaactes: vetean scappes who have mthan 10 yeas o expeience, a ew newbies, and a plethoa o passe byes om ocamps visiting to shae dugs, ino, ood, and convesation. The scappes wovigoously ove six months to extact as much o the metal om an old neaby buing as possible. The owne o the building tied vaious measues to keep them such as welding thei access points shuts. The scappes wee neve be deteed. Wthees a will thees a way, they always told me. They keep sealing up, and well kfnding ou way in.

But due to an incease in illegal scapping, the local scap yads had been hit by un

cove police aids and a new estiction was put in place at the scap yads. No scwould be bought unless it came in by ca. No longe could the scappes bing by bike o oot. No could scappes sell stolen scap, manhole coves, Cal-tans signs, o any othe scap that bea special makings o the owne, o oigin. Despeo money the membes o the goup sold thei scap this way to tun a vey ast bwith no questions asked. [Ande Hemann]


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Above: Stating his day, Steve cawls out o his eeway living space. The space measues ou byou by twenty eet. No one is sue exactly what the spaces ae used o. They make geat homes

though. Steve ound this place ove seven yeas ago, it took him 30 minutes to py the metal coveo and move in. Hes been living hee eve since.

Left: Beoe leaving camp o a day in the abandoned actoy, Steve and Mike gab thei gol clubsand walk out to the lagoon to hit a ew gol balls.

Previous page: Sheis deputies have been aiding the camp lately looking o patol dodges.Steve, a vetean scappe and long time esident o the camp, waits to baicade himsel in his holeas he watches a patol ca pak nea the encampment.


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Coee is made and letoves eheated o beakast. Food sanitation doesnt seem to be an issue hee. Tcamps ood comes om many dieent souces. Otentimes it is aleady spoiled o thown o


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B

hudogetshelpeapplyingabandageandsplint.recentlyhelostthetipohisfngeatthefstjointtoascappingaccident.


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Above: In between scapping jobs, eveyone gathes at the camp to elax and do smalljobs like epaiing equipment, stipping cable, eating, and planning the next u


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Depession, unlike humans, has no discenment. It doesnt cae what language you speak, what god you pay to o what couty you ae om. Luz, a univesity-educated woman, immigated to the United States om Mexico in 1998. While many Ucitizens see he as not belonging, o not one o them, Luz like millions o othes, stuggles with depession. Oten depessionhidden and kept secet, coveed with a oced smile and a silence. Luz battles with he thoughts and the numbing eect sadnhas in ode to fll a univesal need to love and eel the love o he amily. [Aimee Guymon]

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San Fancisco-based photogaphe Aimee Guymon neveguessed that a baie in language would one day become hegeatest stength in bonding with a subject. When Guymonfst began spending time with Maia de la Luz, a univesityeducated immigant woman om Mexico, the lack o a com-munal language was an obvious issue. Maia speaks Spanishand I only speak English, so one might think that it would

have made things hade, but actually it made it easie, saysGuymon. We couldnt use wods to communicate with eachothe so instead we had to connect on a deepe level astethen usual. By the end it elt as i I had gown to know andundestand he in way I hadnt with anyone beoe. Thisdeepe bond was extemely impotant o Guymon becauseit allowed he to ealistically potay the stoy o Maiasstuggle with depession and the loneliness o immigation.I think many people dont want to see immigants as humanbeings, people that have a need o a bette lie to suppotthei amilies, things that all o us want and stive o. Mygoal was to show the human side o immigants though theconcept that emotions ae univesal and depession is some-thing that almost eveyone can elate to by eithe having eltit themselves o seeing a loved one cope with it. Maiasovewhelming love o he amily is the stength that pullsthe viewe though these images, and is evident in Guymonsphotogaphy. You can see the pain in he eyes, the smileshe oces he mouth to make, Guymon says o a potaito Maia and he son. Howeve the light shines on he sonas she holds his ace thee and he smiles his child like gin.She had just made him laugh. She was always tying to makehim laugh. She told me she didnt want him to be like he,

always sad.

- robin Lam

LUzPhotogaphs and captions by Aimee Guymon



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THe BazaarwHen a markeTpLace DIeSPhotogaphs and captions by Dipti DesaWhen an old bazaa dies, it tuns out to be a lot o things. It becomes living quates o the poo, studispace o stuggling atists, a playgound o cultue-vultues who sell pesonal aticles o the deceased opoft, and much moe. A shot distance om the amous Chinese fshing nets in Cochin on the southwecoast o India, the bazaa which once ed the histoical spice-tade o the Potuguese and the Dutch, die

This is whee Pedo Alvaes Cabal bought his eet in 1500, inauguating the Euopean colonization oIndia. The bazaa has become less than a skeleton o what it once was, as seen in the ollowing image[Dipti Desai]


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Fo Dipti Desai, the old, decepit bazaa in Cochin, India, is all at once a souce o employment, shelte,and inspiation. The desie to document the bazaa was instinctual, a cetain homecoming, Desai says.Sometimes you want to be a stoytelle, sometimes you want to tanslate an expeience into images de-pending on how much you sink into the moment, and sometimes you ae diven with a cause. Fo thepoject Bazaa, Desai has no message to impose though he photogaphy, instead ocusing on he pesonalexpeience with the language, subtle nuances, and cultue o the community. I believe I was moe pesentas a peson than as a photogaphe duing this poject, she says. The poject itsel was a convesation;talking [to my subjects] about thei amilies and jobs, and listening to thei stoies was what led to this.

A bazaa is a mystical place o tade, eligion, and ideas, immotalized in popula cultue by movies likeDisneys Aladdin. Desai shows the melancholy that is let behind when such a bazaa dies, leaving behindthe ghost o the thiving place o tade it once was.

- robin Lam

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Photo by Dip

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Were looking or the beSt ac ssu Sapx Maaz w pus s pjcs m s

paps w ca fd. i yu a ss w yu cama, wd

s yu w.

W accp sumsss uu ssus, sd a yu cu pjcs

[email protected] csdd puca.



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