From BoingBoing:

Sergei Larenkov has photoshopped together modern images of St Petersburg with photos taken during the brutal Siege of Leningrad during WWII… The results are stunning. I walk through East London every morning to get to work, and sometimes you can see the terrors of war superimposed on the modern landscape — the sawn-off stubs of the iron railings that were harvested “for the war effort” (and dumped in the Channel without being turned into munitions after all), the single handsome old building stuck like an old tooth in the gleaming modern denture-work of sterile, post-War neubauten. But to see these ghost-photos is to see the invisible craters and hear the inaudible screams.

These images are really quite breathtaking. There are a few, where bodies are lying in the street or a wrapped course is being dragged along by a young girl, that actually gave me chills and made my heart ache a little. You can see more photos here, but a few of my favorites are below.

My thanks to the BBC for Picasso’s image of Guernica, and also their ongoing reportage of the events overseas.  I cannot thank you enough as an American for your journalism, both in the web and on television.

And to the Wikipedia, which might just be a tool to save the world from itself, for providing the link to the artist Picasso who painted this and why.

“…Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, showing the bombing of Guernica, Spain, by twenty-eight German bombers, on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. The attack killed between 250 and 1,600 people, and many more were injured. The Spanish rulers commissioned Pablo Picasso to create a large mural for the Spanish display at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937) Paris International Exposition in the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris.

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering war inflicts upon individuals, and in particular, innocent civilians. This monumental work has eclipsed the bounds of a single time and place, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. On completion Guernica was displayed around the world in a brief tour, becoming famous and widely acclaimed. Within fifteen days of the attack, Pablo Picasso began painting this mural. This tour brought the Spanish civil war to the world’s attention…”

I have chosen a poem of Lorca’s to accompany this painting.

“…Federico García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. An emblematic member of the Generation of ‘27, he was murdered^[1] by members of the fascist group Falange at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.^[2] A Spanish judge has opened an investigation of Garcia Lorca’s death, among the many others executed and disappeared, as a crime against humanity during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco years.^[3]

I wish to thank the hypertexts.com for making this web page about Lorca in light of the tragedy in Gaza the world faces on this New Year’s Eve. And the members of the Alliance of Civilizations in this time.  I thank the United Nations, as an American for what they understand about the world since the time they were formed a very long time ago…”

My deepest thanks go to WordPress as well, for what they have made for the world.  The tool with which to communicate.

It is a very dark day for Humanity today.  But I know that Humanitarianism lives in this world of ours, because I know it in my heart, and that is why I understand the poet RUMI even though I am an American.  When Rumi speaks of Shams he speaks to all that is best inside the human heart and the human soul.

President Sampaio on Gaza from the Alliance of Civilizations webpage.

Gacela of the Dark Death

I want to sleep the sleep of the apples,
I want to get far away from the busyness of the cemeteries.
I want to sleep the sleep of that child
who longed to cut his heart open far out at sea.

I don’t want them to tell me again how the corpse keeps all its blood,
how the decaying mouth goes on begging for water.
I’d rather not hear about the torture sessions the grass arranges for
nor about how the moon does all its work before dawn
with its snakelike nose.

I want to sleep for half a second,
a second, a minute, a century,
but I want everyone to know that I am still alive,
that I have a golden manger inside my lips,
that I am the little friend of the west wind,
that I am the elephantine shadow of my own tears.

When it’s dawn just throw some sort of cloth over me
because I know dawn will toss fistfuls of ants at me,
and pour a little hard water over my shoes
so that the scorpion claws of the dawn will slip off.

Because I want to sleep the sleep of the apples,
and learn a mournful song that will clean all earth away from me,
because I want to live with that shadowy child
who longed to cut his heart open far out at sea.

The U.S army doesn't want the public to see what is really happening in Iraq. Image: Bilal Hussein

The U.S army has refused to obey an Iraqi court order to release detained Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam Mohammed, insisting that it would hold him until January 2009.

The Iraqi Central Criminal court ruled on November 30 that there was no evidence against Jassam, who also works for other Iraqi media, and ordered his imminent release from Camp Cropper prison near Baghdad airport, where he has been detained since September.

The U.S military has claimed in the past that it has the right to hold detainees even if they have been found innocent by an Iraqi court.

Major Neal Fisher said of the case: “Though we appreciate the decision of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq in the Jassam case, their decision does not negate the intelligence information that currently lists him as a threat to Iraq security and stability,”

Iraqi morgue workers adjust shrouds over the bodies of the dead after a suicide bombing. Image: Bilal Hussein

Fisher went on to claim that Jassam could be freed in a military operation which will see many detainees released and some others handed over to the Iraqi government.

“He will be processed for release in a safe and orderly manner after December 31st, in the order of his individual threat level, along with all other detainees,” said Fisher.

Jassam was arrested September 2 in a raid on his home in Mahmudiya, during which his photographic equipment was confiscated.

This is not the first time a photographer or journalist has been detained by the U.S army without evidence.

In 2006 Iraqi Putlizer-prize winning photojournalist, Bilal Hussein, was imprisoned for 20 months under violation of both Iraqi law and Geneva Conventions.  The U.S military ’s claim that Hussein had links with insurgents was refuted by Associated Press executives after a review of his photographs failed to find any evidence of inappropriate contact.

Hussein argued that he was being targeted due to the politically sensitive nature of his work, a claim which Kathleen Carroll, AP’s executive editor, backed up: “The vast majority of the 420 images show the aftermath or the results of the conflict - blown up houses, wounded people, dead people, street scenes.”

Earlier this year 39-year-old Iraqi camerman, Ali al-Mashhadani, who worked for Reuters, the BBC and and Washington-based National Public Radio, was arrested for the third time whilst  attempting to renew his U.S military press card.

Young Iraqi boy grieves next to his brother's dead body. Image: David Swanson

Refusing to elaborate, an army spokesman claimed: “He is being detained because he has been assessed to be a threat to the security of Iraq and coalition forces.”

Reuters editor-in-chief, David Schlesinger, protested that, “Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defence. Iraqi journalists like Mashhadani play a vital role in telling this story to the world.”

Although Hussein and Al-Mashhadani have since been released it is not yet clear how long Jassam and others like him will continue to be detained simply for documenting a war which Bush famously claimed will bring “democracy and freedom” to the Iraqi people .

What is clear however, is that the rights of photographers and journalists under Iraqi law continue to be ignored and abused by the actions of the U.S army. As Media Executive Tom Curley explains: “this represents a miscarriage of the the very justice and rule of law that the United States is claiming to help Iraq achieve.”

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are glowing crimson, the air is crisp, and out have come the chunky knits and felt coats (and, to my horror, Ugg boots, again!). Autumn has made a welcome return, and this year she brings with her the 2008 Brighton Photo Biennial.

That's right!

The BPB is a high-profile event in the international photographic calendar. Showcasing images by profession and amateur photographers alike, the BPB comprises ten exhibitions held at various venues in Brighton and around the South-East coast (of England, not Guernsey, dear reader). The purpose of the festival is not only to celebrate international photographic practice, but also to provoke topical debate.

This year’s Biennial, guest curated by writer and critic, Julian Stallabrass, lives up to this aim. For the past few years, we have been bombarded by images of Iraq and Afghanistan; so much so that, in this age of spin, we have come to question the integrity of the photographic image. How much of war photography is about depicting a reality, and how much of it is heavily biased by political allegiances? Such questions are raised by 2008’s Biennial, which offers the public a look at a range of images taken and circulated during times of conflict.

Philip Jones Griffith's 'Vietnam' (1967)

The BPB’s focal exhibition, Iraq through the Lens of Vietnam, explores the idea that images of Iraq have conjured into public consciousness grisly memories of Vietnam. The layout of the exhibition leads the visitor to look first at Vietnam and then at Iraq. It urges the viewer to consider how the photographic documentation of how Vietnam has informed the images we now see online and in the mainstream press. One of the legacies of Vietnam is the ideologically-charged photo, and what is made its strong influence on the photographic representation of Iraq.

This is highlighted by the contrast between presentations of (apparently) heroic US soldiers in soft-focus, and horrifying snapshots of dismembered Iraqi civilians. The ‘image war’ spoken of by Donald Rumsfeld is starkly illuminated. It is made even more apparent by the depiction of children in each; on the one hand, kids are shown playing football with Western soldiers, and on the other, they are shown as the victims of cruel and indiscriminate warfare. The news editors on both sides certainly know how to attract the sympathetic public gaze.

Despite delving into the deeper implications of today’s images of conflict, there is one thing about the Biennial that really sticks: the undeniable horror and inhumanity of war. Photographers on the opposition may have been photographing with an agenda in mind, but their visual documentations of the ravages of war do not lie.

As the economic Winter draws in, such images are being replaced by falling graphs of the Dower Jones Index. Ultimately, in the face of this media shift, this year’s Brighton Photo Biennial is a crucial reminder of what is still tragically going on in the world. Its tone is sombre, and at times harrowing. It is also informative, and absolutely necessary.

The Brighton Photo Biennial runs until the 23rd November. For more information visit www.bpb.org.uk

Toot Sweet

XEROX Issue 3

Entitled Memory of Fire: the War of Images and Images of War, Brighton Photo Biennial 2008 will explore photographic images of war, their making, use and circulation, and their currency in contemporary society.
The provocative writer and critic Julian Stallabrass will curate ten exhibitions presenting photography, film and online material produced and circulated in time of war, and analyse how images have been shaped by the changing social and political conditions from the Vietnam era to the present. The exhibitions will include images produced by photojournalists, artists and non-professionals.
Through these images, Brighton Photo Biennial 2008 will look at the conditions of conflict, power and displacement and the radically different perspectives of the opposing sides of various conflicts. It will also explore the collective and individual memory of such images, their forgetting and revision, and their rebirth at times of crisis and war.
For its third edition, the Biennial stretches its geographical boundaries to include venues in Bexhill on Sea, Chichester, Portsmouth and Winchester, and increases its presence in Brighton with three exhibition venues, a series of participatory and publicly sited projects, the new Cultural and Information Hub shared with Brighton Photo Fringe, an extensive film programme, talks, workshops and portfolio reviews.
Finally BPB 2008 reaches the vast online community by launching in the late spring a new website that will function as a platform for ideas and discussion around the theme of photography and conflict. Julian Stallabrass and a series of scholars and artists will inform and provoke with original essays and online projects; users from around the globe will be asked to participate actively to the Biennial by posting comments and uploading images.
Have your say at www.bpb.org.uk

The National Gallery of Victoria is currently showing a collection of etchings made by German painter Otto Dix after the First World War. These are dark expressionistic works, in part influenced by the reccuring nightmares Dix had after fighting in the ‘Battle of the Somme’ in 1916.

What struck me while looking at these images was how appropriate a medium etching is for exploring images of trauma. The violence of the strokes made by the acid eating into the plate seem to possess all the destructive energy of war. In many of the prints Dix used a hardground etching, aquatint, and drypoint, to create a rich spread of different lines and tones. The drypoint marks, with their wide, burred edges seem particularly evocative of horror – they are akin to barbed wire, rough unshaven whiskers, dry twigs and grasses, and hoarse, throat tearing cries.

These are works that make no concessions regarding the suffering caused by war, however Dix did not see himself as an overtly political artist. According to Dietman Elger and Hugh Beyer in Expressionism, Dix saw the role of the artist as an observer rather than activist. He said, ‘Artists should not improve or convert others. They are far too insignificant. But they must bear witness.’

In the above image, Stormtroopers Advancing Under Gas (1924), the gas masks look like bare skulls, as the soldiers rush forward into death. In another image, a soldier gulps down food from a tin, surrounded by piles of bones. There are faces distorted by screams, by disease, by injury.

It seems that by expressing the personal, human experience of war, Dix’s images cannot escape taking a political stance. And I think it is the bearing of witness that is often a catalyst for change.