VII The Magazine

Voices Of Stolen Children

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 +0200

The rebel Lord's Resistance Army and Joseph Kony, its messianic leader, have waged a campaign of massacres, torture, and abduction on civilians across Central Africa since the mid-1980s. Their 20-year bush war against the Ugandan government, which aimed to establish a theocracy based on the Ten Commandments, killed thousands and forced the displacement of around 2 million people.

Notorious for disfiguring its victims and kidnapping tens of thousands of children for use as child soldiers and sex slaves, the LRA now operates in the remote border region straddling the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan, where, since late 2008, it has stepped up its attacks on local villagers.

On May 24 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Lords' Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, making it U.S. policy "to protect civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army, to apprehend or remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield...and to disarm and demobilize the remaining LRA fighters."

Journalist Joe Bavier and photographer Marcus Bleasdale set out on a journey to Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan and Uganda on the trail of Kony's rebels. They wanted to understand how this mystical mass murderer still manages to evade capture despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant and an ongoing Ugandan-led multinational military operation. The questions they answer are all the more pressing as the United States plots its new strategy, attempting to succeed where so many others have failed in capturing Joseph Kony.

My Life, My Style

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

This fourth of VII's Visual Journey seminars explores how to turn personal expression into a marketable product in video and stills. As an emerging force in editorial, commercial and fashion photography VENETIA DEARDEN has made her passions into a career. MONICA ALLENDE, Picture Editor of the London Sunday Times Magazine, joins Venetia to discuss this intersection of personal and professional interests. "My photographic journey is very personal, and is really my life. I document what I feel, and where I'm at, which is obviously an ever-evolving state, so it's very much a journey. But whilst I travel widely, my personal projects are normally where my roots are."

Venetia's fresh energetic style has won her awards, a solo show at London's National Portrait gallery and a top tier client list including Vogue, W and The Sunday Times Magazine. Music videos and commercial projects are all imbued with the same easy energy that speaks about life and everything that's possible. Venetia has taken her own life and made it into a career.

To see more of Venetia's phots and videos visit:

http://www.venetiadearden.com/

Visit Canon:

http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/products/eos_1d_x/eos_1d_x.shtml

Photojournalisms

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

The notion of 'home' has shifting significance for Ed Kashi, a photojournalist who travels the world documenting social and political issues. For the past 30 years, Kashi has lived a life of intense engagement mixed with danger, anticipation, and loneliness. Encompassing nearly 20 years of photographs and journal entries to his wife, Julie, "Photojournalisms" (a supplement to Ed Kashi's new book by the same title) is a short, experimental film by Talking Eyes Media that provides a glimpse into the life and mind of an intrepid photographer. It is a complex collage defined by sensation, tension, and passion.

The book "Photojournalisms" is AVAILABLE FROM NAZRAELI: http://nazraeli.com/bookdetail.php?book_id=100411

To see more of Ed Kashi's work: http://edkashi.com/blog/photojournalisms/

To see more of Julie Winokur's work and Talking Eyes Media:
http://talkingeyesmedia.org/

ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/04/ed-kashi-parallel-lives/

Lens Blog: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/photographing-the-world-longing-for-home/?scp=1&sq=ed%20kashi&st=cse

Temporal

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0200

VII The Magazine is pleased to bring you a new short film by Christopher Morris. Enjoy the train ride from Arles to Nice!

To see more of Christopher's films and stills go to:
http://www.christophermorrisphotography.com/

War, Politics, Fashion

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0200

In this third of VII's Visual Journey seminars we look at how Christopher Morris' eclectic career has embraced conflict photography, political coverage, portraiture and fashion. For each he has shaped a distinctive visual style and most recently his embrace of video has led to a new phase of invention. Christopher leads a workshop through the process of working in several platforms simultaneously and learning to see afresh in each. He demonstrates his assignment process, which typically includes shooting stills in color while simultaneously shooting mono video from which he can subsequently edit stills for additional markets.

To see more of Christopher's work go to:

http://www.christophermorrisphotography.com/

Visit Canon:

http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/products/eos_1d_x/eos_1d_x.shtml

Siberian Supermodels

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0200

The supermodels who grace the pages of glossy magazines and couture runways at London, Paris, New York and Milan fashion weeks are arguably the most photographed women in the world. The most seen, the most recognizable, the most familiar women represented through still imagery. Yet we seldom know anything of the everyday lives behind the faces that pout and pose at us from glamorous magazine and billboard advertisements.

Who are the real people behind the sculpted, styled, perfected, objectified, idolized depiction of womankind? Where do they come from and what drives them to leave their families and their homes to travel the world as models? These questions led me to Siberia, one of the most remote corners of the earth, to discover the model agencies that cultivate these supermodels. Supermodels, who in reality are young children aspiring to become somebody else.

Some of the most beautiful women in the world come from Siberia, and international model scouts scour the lengths of the trans-Siberian railway every year searching for the next new face and multi-million dollar brand. The Russian look.. oversized Bambi eyes, small rosebud lips and china-doll like high cheekbones. Strict international parameters are adhered to for age, weight, height and bust, waist and hip measurements.

Travelling with Noah Models International as they held castings in major cities along the railway, I met some of the children who are aspiring to take on the world. Ordinary girls, each with their own personal struggles, hopes and dreams. Castings were usually held in drab community halls or gyms and girls would turn up in their dozens, bikini clad or in their underwear, high heels at the ready. Identified by numbers pinned to their bikinis and with their vital statistics (name, age, height and measurements) written on prison-style boards, each young woman would walk, talk and pose for a panel of scouts. Those identified as having potential were then photographed and videoed: the files to be sent to model agencies all over the world.

In Siberia's capital, Novosibirsk, I met 15-year-old Nadia Val who spent 12 months of the last 3 years modelling in China, but have never earned enough money to even repay her travel costs, which her agency advanced on her behalf. Then there was 14-year-old Olga Zhukova, who had never worked abroad when we first met. When I last saw her she had recently returned from Japan, her first time in Asia. Nastya Karzan, from Prokopyevsk, is a huge success story, and during an 18 month career has travelled to New York, London, Paris, Milan, Tokyo and Shanghai. Still only 18, she has modelled in 5 Christian Dior shows, and worked with John Galliano who she describes as her favourite designer.

Travel motivates many young girls, who long to see the world outside of vast Siberia. But for each girl who succeeds, there are hundreds more dreaming of the chance to work abroad and live their own Cinderella story. Modelling agencies across Siberia run schools for girls from the age of five. Here they learn how to walk, pose, diet, and apply make-up. With strongly defined gender roles and ideals in Russian culture, which dictates that men must be classically masculine and women always meek and feminine, it seems a natural rite of passage for young girls to attend these finishing-type schools. It is in the same way that Western society expects girl to attend ballet school and pony club, while boys play football and other gender affirming activities.

In the dimly lit modelling schools, packed casting halls or fashion shows in local nightclubs I often felt a deep sense of sadness and melancholy. Hopes raised and dashed in the time it takes to walk the length of a room and an intensified awareness of body and self, that can only be damaging in the long term. But I also understood the girls desire and drive to make their way in the world - in any way they can. A universal will that young women have, to experience life as deeply, and live it as fully, as they can.

To view more of Anastasia's work got to:

http://www.anastasiataylorlind.com/

The Family

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0200

"Our game's finished. It's finished for people like me." Joe Pyle

Ten years ago, in The Firm, Jocelyn Bain Hogg documented a thriving London underworld dominated by the players who made their names in the 1960s and 70s: Freddie Foreman; Tony Lambrianou; Roy 'Pretty Boy' Shaw; Bruce Reynolds; Reggie Kray, with whose funeral the book ends; and 'Big' Joey Pyle. Unique in his friendships with both the Krays and the Richardsons, who ran south London, Joey Pyle was one of the strongest figures in a sphere teeming with legends. His influence extended across London, from unlicenced boxing matches to the music industry, for thirty years.

Joey Pyle died in 2007, and the cover of this book is a picture of his tombstone. Of the old guard, only a few remain, amoong them Freddie Foreman and Roy Shaw. Joey's death marks the beginning of a new way of operating.

Having built his business, Joey was determined that it should not go to waste. His only son Joe had been groomed to take over from birth and would be a fine successor, but what would happen to the family if anything happened to Joe? Being a practical man, Joey decided to make provision. He looked around him and chose three men, each talented in different areas. Just before he died, he anointed Warren, Alan, and Mitch as his adopted sons.

They were tasked with three jobs: to look out for Joe, look out for the family, and look out for themselves. Warren is Joe's right hand man. Alan was spotted in the ring by old Joey, who trained him up. Mitch has retired. Joe oversees them all. These four men are at the centre of The Family. Now fathers themselves, they are far more circumspect about their activities than the Dave Courtneys and Bulldogs of The Firm.

In the age of information, trust is more important than ever before. Every member of the extended Pyle family has proven loyal. Lorraine, Joe's aunt, has been involved almost from the beginning. She sells tickets at boxing matches, as did her daughters before they had children of their own. Teddy Bambam's links with the Pyles go back to his uncles, who worked with Joey in the 60s. He helps to bring in new boxers, and runs a children's boxing club in Croydon on the side. Dave T has done what was asked of him for twenty years.

There are few plastic gangsters in these pages. The exhibitionism of the late 90s has given way to realism, the vaudeville pageant replaced with first communions and birthday parties. The game has changed, and the Pyles are astute enough to recognise this.

Get the book "The Family" here:
http://www.foto8.com/new/projects/publishing/1458-the-family

Don't miss "The Family" Exhibit now through March 2nd. at the VII Gallery, 28 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY.

Blank Piece Of Paper

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0200

As a Valentines Day gift to our loyal viewers VII The Magazine presents a special video by Ron Haviv featuring singer/songwriter Luthea Salom's "Blank Piece of Paper", an award winning single from her newly launched album "Kick In The Head". Luthea Salom's music of indie/folk songs are a mix of happy nostalgic tunes sung with her sensual and playful voice. The contagious and fun melodies have won over fans and critics alike including the Grammy Ballots for her last album. The Spanish/Canadian artist is a presence on stage where she offers a very strong, colorful, fun, feminine and slightly eccentric and humorous show.

Luthea Salom's "Kick In The Head" is available now on her website or on iTunes.

www.lutheasalom.com

Facts and Fictions

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0200

In 2011 Dimmock worked on her first feature, "Without" as co-producer and DP (dir Mark Jackson), which has won a variety of international awards and which earned Jessica the Kodak Award for Best Cinematography from the Hamptons International Film Festival. Josh Siegel, Associate Curator in MoMA's Department of Film, talks to Jessica about her 2011 feature movie "Without", including discussion of how a foundation in still photography can cultivate a distinctive approach in filmmaking. Dimmock will talk about how new equipment and new attitudes allow image-makers to integrate both stills and video coherently in their productions. The discussion includes practical tips on filmmaking as well as insights about breaking into the independent movie scene.

Dimmock's 2011 feature "Without" is nominated for a prestigious Gotham Award and has already earned Jessica the Kodak Award for best cinematography at the Hamptons International Film Festival and the Independent Visions Award at the Sarasota Film Festival. In 2010 Jessica directed and shot the video for the title song of Moby's latest album "Wait For Me". Most recently Jessica has shot stills and video for HBO's four part documentary "Weight Of The Nation".

http://www.rightonredfilms.com/home/

http://www.jessicadimmockphotography.com/

http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/products/eos_1d_x/eos_1d_x.shtml

Poetry In Motion

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0200

This is the first of a new series of videos for VII The Magazine that will soon have it's own section devoted to education. Until then look for them in The Interviews. In this video Seamus Murphy talks with Brian Storm of MediaStorm.com about how his experience of shooting video in Afghanistan using a new generation DSLR has led him to a new and unexpected career opportunity in the music business. Since 2010 he has shot 12 short films for PJ Harvey, the music sensation from UK, for her album "Let England Shake". You can see these videos by going to "The Videos" on VII The Magazine. Central to this will be a discussion of his innovative approach to the project, how to work with a musician and how the project eventually turned into a creative tour de force with screenings at multiple international film festivals. Viewers will learn how to develop their vision, which in association with the right gear can transform their professional practice.

Visit MediaStorm at: http://mediastorm.com/

Visit Canon: http://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/products/eos_1d_x/eos_1d_x.shtml

Eight Days

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0200

I felt an urge to take off on a trip - to do something unscripted. To document a self-expression that is increasingly precious in a society where we have perhaps become imprisoned by our own material desires. Our spirits can fly far and beyond these paradigms.

From Las Vegas through the desert to Burning Man, then on again to California, seven of us living like cubs for eight days. Stopping when we saw a stream or to stock up, otherwise racing through the landscape unhindered. No one expects to tread any new paths on a road trip. Europeans have hied themselves to America for adventure and discovery since the eighteenth century, and the Wild West has long been conquered. That was never the point. Yet somehow, every canyon we dropped down into seemed untouched, the light seeping into our bubble as if for the first time.

All humans were nomads once, and even in today's over-civilized, aspirational world we still feel a residual need to move with our own chosen communities. Tribal gatherings are as ancient a part of life, recently resurgent. I am curious about the social migrations to these larger festivities, and the pace at which they continue to gather notoriety.

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Over the next twelve days we will be featuring a new music video featuring PJ Harvey by Seamus Murphy daily. The accompanying text by Seamus will give an insight into his thoughts about making the videos. ENJOY!

'All And Everyone' is the longest track on the album. Dark, formal and auspicious. It starts with epic gravitas and grandeur building to a controlled and inevitable finale, like death itself. The care-free sing-along of the refrain: "As we advancing, in the sun, singing death to all and everyone" is like soldiers meeting their end with a tune in their heads, buoyed by love of each other and accepting their lot with a jeer. Its slowed-down delivery extends time like slow motion, a deliberate heightening of mortal last moments. It demands reac¬tion and makes me think how cursory is the nature of killing and being killed during war, making it all the more worthless. It was the film I most looked forward to making, and most dreaded. I found a clue to it in Essex at Old Leigh, a place recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and where the River Thames meets the sea. The film starts out with some imagery from Norfolk. With the ominous change in the music comes a day of brilliant morning sunshine under the pier at Southend. Later in the day the weather turned filthy, becoming a snow blizzard and I had to spend an unplanned second night in Southend. The next morning a few miles along the coast towards London, heavy snows forced me to stop driving and I pulled in at Old Leigh. I got bored stuck in the car and headed for the seashore. The tide was out and ropes and chains of fishing boats and other craft at anchor were being covered with wet snow, the scene resembled an art-directed battlefield in the grey light. I got soaked shooting this but it was better than listening to people on the radio going on endlessly on about local councils failing to grit their roads. Where was the Dunkirk spirit? After a while I turned around and was dumb-struck by red roses delicately placed in chains on the jetty wall. Discreet enough to miss if you weren't on the shore looking back or in a boat. Were they put there for a particular victim, a memorial to all drowned fishermen, or an expression of doomed romantic love? This line of flowers, with the changing direction and speed of the falling snow gave me something to start working with to approach 'All And Everyone'. I thank the snow for making me stop. The final sequence with the boat being launched and scudding across the sea was shot looking down over Chesil Cove in Dorset. I often had the languid saxophone that ends the track in my head when shooting lengthy sequences. My fear when shooting it was the boat would stop too long or fall out of the bottom of the frame before exiting the frame on left. It slimly made it. I loved the sea, the scale, the gathering gulls following the vessel, that it goes on that little bit too long and the tiny patch of land that is forever England.

PJ Harvey Web Site

www.pjharvey.net

England Photo Essay by Seamus Murphy

http://www.viiphoto.com/showstory.php?nID=1230