burn, curated by Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey and designed by Anton Kusters, describes itself as “the leading edge in visual storytelling.” We could not agree more with this statement.
From the burn site;
“Modeling is an addiction.” Johanie, 24, aspiring model
Black Girl is a portrait series on young black women in the New York City area who aspire to be models.
Even as little girls, many women dream of becoming a model. The glamour of strutting along the runway with cameras flashing, being a spokesmodel for the latest line of make-up, or being plastered on billboards in Times Square can be too enticing to ignore…
There is, however, a huge segment of aspiring models who will find attaining their dream disproportionately difficult. They are black women… At the February 2010 New York Fashion Week, a whopping 85% of all models used on the runway were white, just 8% black. This is in no way representative of New York City’s, the United States’, or the world’s population… In doing this project, I used a modeling website to contact models. I found that, despite so few black professionals, nearly three-thousand young black women (just within 50 miles of my NYC zip code) are striving to attain their dream, or at least their interpretation of it.
Despite the odds and a stark downturn in the fashion, advertising, and magazine industries, these aspiring models have high hopes and remain steadfast. … Using an approach that is part anthropology and part fantasy, the women photographed are a cross-section of real people who want to do every kind of modeling, from runway, high-end fashion, print or commercial work to eye-candy and artistic nudes… I hope that these portraits can in some way contribute to their pursuit.
Erika Larsen reflects on her experiences thus far with the indigenous Sámi, in the Sápmi region of northern Sweden, in a wide-ranging interview.
What is your project in Sweden?
I came to Sápmi and more specifically northern Sweden to live and learn from families of Sámi reindeer herders. Sámi are the indigenous people living in the Arctic Circle region of northern Scandinavia and it is the largest area in the world with an ancestral way of life based on the seasonal migrations of the animals. Sámi are by tradition reindeer herders and have lived a nomadic lifestyle based on the reindeer migration. [...]
I am a storyteller. Here my imagery engages, on a daily basis, the lives of these people. I am creating photographs, film footage and written journals of my time here.
My filming explores the Sámi’s symbiotic relationship with the environment, illustrates their existence in today’s world and continues to seek the mystery and beauty which fueled past generations providing sustenance for the modern Sámi today.[...]
featureshoot.com did a Q&A with Redux photographer, Mark Leong, about his work and his assignment for National Geographic Magazine entitled “Asia’s Wildlife Trade.”
Rudy has recently relocated to the Chicago area and is available for assignment. He’s still splitting his time with NYC so please email us or call to find out where he is.
Writer Scott Bowen first met Erika Larsen while on assignment covering an ice fishing contest for Fortune – Small Business in Walker, MN. On True/Slant, Erika and Scott join forces once again to discuss the fullbright project Erika has been working on for the last year, “Sami, The People“.
“I first met professional photographer Erika Larsen when I was on an assignment for Fortune – Small Business magazine in February 2008. She and I, and our videographer, FSB photo editor Katy Binder, went to Walker, MN, to spend time with about 17,000 revelers at the annual Eelpout Festival, a huge mid-February party minimally disguised as an ice-fishing contest. That story ran in the last issue of FSB this December, and you can read it on-line here (it’s now content for CNNMoney.com).
The second day in Walker, out on the 36-inch-thick ice of Leech Lake, the temperature at daybreak was -20 F. I was wearing every thermal layer I posses and a snowsuit rated to -40 F. I was doing o.k., but it was not easy, and all I was doing was interviewing people. Larsen often took off her gloves and face-covering to operate her fabulous 4×5 field camera. She showed such aplomb about her work in those conditions that she seemed to possess a deep Nordic endurance.
So I was not surprised to find out that she is half Norwegian, and I was also not entirely surprised but gladly impressed to learn back in 2009 that she had won a Fulbright grant to venture to Sweden to live among Sámi reindeer herders.
I managed to catch up with her, on-line, while she took a break from her fieldwork in Sweden, and we conducted an interview via e-mail. (Note: All photos here copyrighted to Erika Larsen Photography.)
1. What first generated your interest in the Sámi?
I wanted to live with an original hunter-gatherer-herding society in order to understand the primal drive of the modern hunter today. I also wanted to learn about natural plants, foods, and remedies that existed in the arctic landscape.
I should specify I am living exclusively with Sámi reindeer herders and my Fulbright project is only focusing on that part of Sámi culture. About ten percent of the Sámi are herders. There are also coastal Sámi, who fish, and Sámi of other lifestyles who also speak a different language.
2. In the beginning, with your Sámi host family, did you experience any moments of culture shock?
Not really. I think I was very open to learning about the Sámi culture and lifestyle and never went expecting things were going to be anything like my life in the U.S. There was an inevitable period of comparing and contrasting what I was accustomed to, in terms of lifestyle, but this has greatly tapered off.”
See the rest Erika’s interview with Scott Bowen on True/Slant.
Gina LeVay took her voice to the airways of WNYC and The Leonard Lopate Show on Monday, January 11th. You can listen to Gina’s interview here.
From the WNYC site;
Photographer Gina LeVay and geologist/Scott Chessman talk about Sandhogs, the miners who work 800 feet below the streets of Manhattan, tunneling through bedrock to build the largest unified infrastructure project in New York City history—the 60-mile-long City Water Tunnel #3. LeVay’s book Sandhogs is a portrait of the hidden characters and systems of underground New York.
On behalf of Gina, and the rest of the Redux Pictures team, we would like to thank Leonard Lopate and congratulate him on what is his 30th year on the air.
