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Today I am working on an assignment in cosy Georgia ..........
The message that I saw from Jess Hurd last night said she was on the Haiti / Dominican Republic border awaiting permission to cross in to Haiti and join a military aid convoy.........
Last night too I was reading about the injuries to a British Photojournalist Phil Coburn who I know through the BPPA...... it appears he has lost one of his legs in an explosion that killed his Sunday Mirror writer colleague and American Marines.........
I guess I feel a little sheepish that right now these guys are pushing and risking all to make telling photojournalism......... and I am here in America working in hospitals and businesses.
Reportage is not inherently or necessarily dangerous but it can be......... good stories do not always involve violence....... but many do......... I salute my colleges who are pushing at the edge........ people who are risking everything to tell those stories from the edge...... I have been there........... but right now I am watching them from here and worrying for them..........
This last few weeks I have been working intensively in America........ sometimes I feel frustrated not to go to the big news stories........... but this week I am content to stay out of Haiti............. to watch like everyone else on the TV......... to see the terrible disaster that has befallen the people of Haiti and to weep for them from a safe distance....... not to have to hold it together amongst them.
Donate to the relief of the people of Haiti
Donate to help Phil Coburn's family
The picture above was shot during the time of the genocide in Rwanda.
Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXX
PS......... Mega interview with me Jez Coulson.......... I am very grateful and happy that Lynda has secured and written a huge article for the Carolinas Art Magazine The Main Street Rag that together with my photographs takes up 22 pages of the magazine not including the title page or indeed the front and back cover which also feature my pics........... :-)) I am very keen indeed to see how my pictures look ........ slightly less keen to see written what I said.......... hehehehehe........... but I think it will be a bit of a collectors item for anyboby interested in the life and works of yours truely........:-)) I still have not seen one but I have it on good authority its a pretty mega thing....... hard back covers art quality printing......... :-)) Might be worth investing in one and waiting to cash it in at Christies Art Auctions......... hehhehehe.......... :-))
Here is a slither of the text that I have been given as a 'teaser' :
JEZ COULSON: THE QUEST TO CAPTURE BEAUTY An Interview by Lynda C. Ward ** “A reportage artist captures reality, big and small, and brings a visual language and an interpretation to that reality in order to transform it into art.†--- Jez Coulson
[below are excerpts from Ms. Ward’s introduction and from her interview with photographer and reportage artist Jez Coulson. The complete introduction and in-depth interview, along with a selection of Jez Coulson’s photographs, are available in print in the Winter 2010 edition of the Main Street Rag Literary magazine which may be purchased at: HYPERLINK "http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/back_issues.php http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/back_issues.php
Excerpt from Ms. Ward’s Introduction: Seven hundred fifty feet above Boston in a glass enclosed observatory, I noticed a man leaning against a wall looking outward. Dressed in gray and with an old, beat-up black bag resting at his feet, he had two Canon cameras slung around his neck, one poised in his hands, the viewfinder to his eye as he snapped hundreds of photographs. His appearance held no hint of his true identity or of the horror he's seen. While other visitors circled Boston's Skywalk and only glanced at the setting sun, he stayed in the same spot, beside the same window as if mesmerized. As an amateur photographer, I stood behind him and tried to see what he was seeing through his camera lens. After I circled the Skywalk again, I said, "Hello"—captivated by his presence. My third time around, I asked, "Are you a professional photographer?" His gaze shifted. He took me in focus. "Yep." Photography has always fascinated Jez Coulson. He inherited his first camera, an Agfa Rangefinder, from his grandfather when he was six-years-old. Even before this, Jez pretended that he was a camera . . . (The complete introduction is in the print version of the magazine: HYPERLINK http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/back_issues.php
Excerpt from Ms. Ward’s interview with photographer/reportage artist Jez Coulson: Ward: Your photojournalism has often put you in the midst of horror. How do you find dignity in such a horrible places? Jez Coulson: Some photographers look for only the horrific images, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's a place for shocking photos, the kind that slap you in the face: the kind that say look at what's really going on here … But I'm not looking for images that people can't look at … If I make the pictures too shocking, people can't look at them. I'm not really known for shocking images. Mine are slightly quieter … I want a picture you can look at so you can explore the picture's emotions. You can look for horror or you can look for humanity. I prefer images that capture the pathos, the humanity. I'm looking for humanity in all circumstances … (The complete and in-depth interview is in the print version of the magazine along with a selection of Jez Coulson’s photographs: http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/back_issues.php
** All rights reserved. The above excerpts are used/printed with expressed permission from Lynda C. Ward and Main Street Rag Literary Magazine. Any use in any form of this material without expressed permission from Ms. Ward and Main Street Rag is prohibited.
Cheers Jez XXXXXXXX
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.... The photography and slightly mad life of reportage artist Jez Coulson ....