Philip Jones Griffiths | (c) Alice Smeets | Used with Permission

Tomorrow marks the 3-year anniversary of the passing of Philip Jones Griffiths, one of the leading photojournalists of the 20th Century. Born in the small town of Rhuddlan, in Wales, Philip became a member of Magnum Photos in 1971 and was most famous for his work in Vietnam, most notably for his book Vietnam Inc., a seminal piece of photojournalistic war reporting on the Vietnam War which was credited as helping change the tide of western opinion on the conflict.

Philip was one of my heroes. It’s not often that people get to meet their heroes. It is less often that they ultimately can be able to call them a friend. I am lucky that I can, if only for a short period of time. On this anniversary, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts about my time with this inspiring photographer and man.

Vietnam Inc.

I first discovered Philip’s work in 2003, whilst undertaking a 1-month internship at Magnum, in their London office. I spent my brief internship filing slides and cataloguing prints. It wasn’t glamorous but I had fortuitously gotten the job when I rang Magnum by phone to see if they had any internships. I was fresh out of studying a Zoology degree and I was looking for any chance to learn about photojournalism. Another intern had just cancelled and they asked me if I could start two days later. I jumped at the chance.

As I stood there filing slides, I became distracted however by the bookshelves which contained many of the photographers’ books. One of the first books I picked up was Vietnam Inc. The book took my breath away. I had never realised the real power of photojournalism until I picked up this book. Leafing through the pages, every image captivated me. Philip’s witty and intelligent captions intrigued me and brought about another level of relevance and importance to these images. I was entranced.

In 2004, I was invited back to Magnum to undertake their 1-year paid internship. This was a wonderful year, which allowed me to spend time with many of the wonderful staff and great photographers. I was most excited though when the opportunity arose for me to meet and spend time with Philip, whose work I had been pouring over since my first encounter with Vietnam Inc. the previous year.

One day we received a call to the office. It was Philip. He was looking for someone to help him move into his flat in West London, which he was relocating to after discovery of the illness which would eventually take his life in 2008. He needed a pair of hands to move furniture and as I was the only free intern at the time, I went to help. When I arrived at Philip’s flat it was strange at first. This was the first time I had met him and he looked slightly embarrassed that he needed the help of an intern. I was more than happy to help. I was secretly very excited but didn’t want to appear too keen. For photographers, Philip was, and still is, a real icon.

Philip Jones Griffiths | (c) Alice Smeets | Used With Permission

After an hour or two, we had finished moving the furniture and both sat down for a well-deserved cup of tea. We began to chat. He had only just returned to the UK, so was keen to hear about the office and catch up on goings on. As we chatted, the hours started to pass and I ended up spending the whole afternoon with him.

The week after we got another call to the office from Philip, asking if I could come round the help him again. And so it continued that summer during my internship. I used to drop around to his apartment whenever he needed a hand with anything. After finishing the job at hand, we would sit down and talk. He would explain his philosophy for photojournalism. He would take out his books, leaf through them and tell me stories about his favourites. He would leaf through other photographers’ books and tell me which were good and which weren’t! I realised how lucky I was to be experiencing this time with Philip.

Vietnam At Peace

After I left Magnum in the autumn of 2005, I went to China for the first time for 6 weeks. On my return I went to visit Philip to show him my images. This was the first time I brave enough to show him some of my work. I was thrilled when he was positive about the images I showed him. Sitting in his office, we sat side-by-side as we went through each image as he gave me his thoughts. Another priceless experience. In 2006, I returned to China and kept in touch with him via email and dropped in to see him whever I was in London. He was always happy to take time out to offer me some thoughts.

In March of 2008, I remember opening up the photography new sites I visit each morning, to discover a picture of Philip. The headline announced he had passed away. It had been a couple of months since we had last exchanged messages but I knew his health had deteriorated in that time. Still, I was shocked and saddened.

Philip was a real inspiration to me as a photojournalist. His philosophy for why photojournalism is so important and the power it holds, sits with me whenever I go to take pictures. Some say classical photojournalism is dying. I beg to differ. As long as people are influenced by great work like that done by Philip, then his philosophy will always be around and run deep in many photojournalists. I feel his philosophy influences me, as it does countless other photographers working today. I treasure my copy of Vietnem Inc., although I never plucked up the courage to ask Philip to sign it.

I wanted to share an email Philip sent to me in one of our last correspondences a couple of months before his death. I think it typified his what I perceived as his spirit and attitude to photography in the brief time that I knew him. I am sure he wouldn’t mind me sharing it here…

Dear Sean,

Just got back to London after a delightful week in Italy. Sun was shining, food excellent and all the women beautiful. I was at a place called Savignon for a foto-festival. Robert Frank did not turn up but a Malinese photographer called Malick who had just won the big prize in Venice did. We all had exhibitions together with some Italian art photographers. My “Middle Years” show was the best attended and if I was a “normal” person doors would have to be widened to get my head through. Accolades all round that for me confirmed my view that real people appreciate real pictures. The local shoe maker bought four prints but the real highlight was when a waiter in a restaurant showed me his mobile phone with a new screen-saver – a picture of mine he’d snapped at the exhibition. That’s what it’s all about!

All the best,

Philip

Africa Through a Lens | BBC

Came across a very interesting article on the BBC website this morning titled “Africa through a Lens”, that I wanted to share with you and spread the message about. According to the article…

“Thousands of old photographs from across Africa – as seen by British colonial staff stationed there – have been digitised by The NationalArchives and put online, in the hope that the public can help identify some of the people, places and customs captured on film.”

There’s a 4 minute slideshow which runs through the pictures with a commentary by presenters on BBC Radio 4. It’s well worth 4 minutes of your time.

Some of the images reminded me of the work of the great George Rodger, one of the founding members of Magnum (under-rated and overlooked a lot, in my opinion) and his work in Africa. You can view his profile on the Magnum site here.

Inside a Photographer's Notebook | Images (c) Steve McCurry / Magnum Photos

<<Return to the Learning Zone I haven’t done one of these posts for a while, so thought it was about time I shared another page from my notebook. If you haven’t seen the previous posts on this, you can head here and here to see them. The concept is simple. When I was beginning in photography I compiled a notebook of pictures, phrases, poems, sayings etc. that inspired me. I did so that when I was out shooting and I maybe had a down moment, or was lacking inspiration, I could turn to it to help me get going again.

The above page are pictures by the legendary Magnum and National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. I chose them because for me they represented the exoticism of the places he photographs and I wanted to be reminded of the dynamics of a photo that you could create using objects within a frame (see pic on left) and the power of a simple, well-lit portrait (see pic on right).

At the time, I believe I was reading a book by the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. I was completely captured by how he wrote about life and losing love in Japan. One small haiku that stuck with me was the following:

“furin ya, koenaki kaze wa, uta wa seru”

The translation, although not literal I believe, was interpreted as:

“alone, the wind has no voice, but when it moves through the wind chimes, it sings”

For me at that time, the photographer became the wind and the camera the wind chimes. I liked that idea very much and wanted to remember it.

A sandstorm in China's central Ningxia Province. 2009

As many followers of my work and my blog will know, much of my work falls within the category of environmental photography. As talks begin in Copenhagen today, on the immediate future plans of our governments to tackling climate change, it seemed appropriate to write a special blog post on photographing climate issues in China. In between the text are some of my favourite images from my work on climate change here in China.

A lone chimney stack on the outskirts of Baoding, China's first carbon-positive city. 2009

It seems that photographing climate issues have become quite a trendy topic recently. Magnum photographer Martin Parr recently described it as “as hip as it gets” in a recent blog post (via/ the excellent Duckrabbit, who do sterling work on Climate issues in Bangladesh, by the way). This is all unsurprising really. Climate change is the story of our generation and it’s a bandwagon that everyone should be jumping on. Our responsibility as photographers comes with truly understanding the issues we are photographing and being clear in the message that we are trying to convey with our pictures.

The blade of a wind turbine. 2009

I like to think I have a slight advantage in covering climate issues as my educational background stems from that direction. My interest in the sciences stemmed from high school in northern rural England and was fuelled by a degree in Zoology. Whilst many of my course colleagues and friends went off into scientific research, teaching and working for science journals, I decided to follow my passion for photography. I naturally gravitated towards photographing environmental issues. Now, my bookshelves are lined with as many books about photography as about science.

A worker in a factory producing solar panels. 2009

Today, I find myself in China photographing from the front line of climate change. During my time in the country, I have photographed air pollution, desertification, environmental refugees, sandstorms, disappearing grasslands, wind power, solar manufacturing etc. all key instruments and factors in the myriad of ways China is involved with how our world is changing.

Air pollution hanging over Shanghai. 2008

I really do hope that some kind of concrete and progressive agreements will be agreed upon this week which start to push us in the right direction, however I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t skeptical and a little pessimistic. What can I do? How can I make even a jot of difference? Well, it is up to me to try and get my work out there. ‘Out there’ in the sense of getting it in front of the eyes of people that matter. That includes you. I want you to see what I am seeing and witnessing here in China and present it in a way that is clear, reasoned and visually arresting. Why? Because we should all know what is happening to our planet. What happens here in China affects you, wherever you may be reading this from.

Tourists travelling on the Yangtze River near to the Three Gorges Dam. 2008

This week, my work on desertification will be shown in Copenhagen as part of the Earth Journalism Awards. I received an honorable mention for my work on “China’s Growing Sands” and I am delighted visitors to the summit will have a chance to view my images from my work on desertification. This will be my small contribution. As I have blogged about before however, I am increasingly pushing this work online and in print into as many different outlets as possible, trying to spread the word.

Human remains in the abandoned city of Yingpan in Xinjiang province. 2009

My single goal as a photographer is assist in the understanding between cultures and people. It’s a simple goal. I have no delusions that I think my photography ‘will change the world’ but I hope that it informs and increases awareness. I just want to understand the world better myself. I hope when others look at my images, they can understand it more with me. With a camera in my hand, I think I can do this and do my part. As one of my heroes, the late Magnum photographer Philip Jones Griffith’s, said, “You have to leave this world a better place.” Let’s hope our leaders do.

]]> http://gallagher-photo.com/blog/2009/12/07/climate-change-copenhagen-and-china-special-post/feed/ 0 http://gallagher-photo.com/blog/2009/11/13/one-from-the-photo-scrapbook-magnum-internship-2/ http://gallagher-photo.com/blog/2009/11/13/one-from-the-photo-scrapbook-magnum-internship-2/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:13:23 +0000 Sean Gallagher http://gallagher-photo.com/blog/?p=1357

Myself (left), Paul Hayward (center) and Alex Yallop (right)

It’s Friday night here in Beijing and rather than being out and about, I have just returned from another busy day since my return from the US last week. It always seems that being away from home for any period of time leads to a serious build up of work that needs to be caught up on upon return. As I was going through my archive tonight, I stumbled upon another photo taken from my time as an intern at Magnum Photos London office during 2004-2005. Readers of this blog in its earlier stages will know I have already posted one photo from my internship, here.

The above photo was more than likely taken on a Friday night, probably around 5 years ago now in what was the old Magnum London Office situated on Old Street in central London. Pictured above are myself (left), Paul Hayward (centre) and Alex Yallop (right) my fellow interns at the time, indulging in a beer in the office after what I am sure was a typically busy week.

Moments like this were a great part in the whole experience of being an intern at Magnum. Chances to stop and digest what we were experiencing, were fairly few and far between but the bonding experiences we felt as interns was something pretty special.

It’s also great to know that we are all still in touch and finding our own paths in photography. If you ever get the opportunity to intern at Magnum, or any other quality photo-agency for that matter, one of my biggest pieces of advise would be to grab every opportunity you are presented with. Paul Hayward (pictured center) for example, is now the head of the digital department at Magnum London after starting as an intern in the same department. Alex Yallop (pictured right) is now a professional freelancer, spending his time flitting between Europe and Asia. I, myself, have been freelancing in China since leaving Magnum and was lucky enough to be awarded Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey’s Emerging Photographer Award last year. Many other interns have gone on to be assistants of the photographers and previous intern Jonas Bendiksen is now even a member of the agency whose photographers he once made coffees for and whose phone calls he answered!

My point is, if you get an opportunity, a chance, a break etc….seize it. You never know where it may take you.

Diwali celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London. UK. 2004

A friend of mine reminded me this weekend that it was the Hindu festival of Diwali this week. In case you don’t know, Divali (or the Festival of Light as it is also called) is a celebration held over 5 days by Hindu communities throughout the world. Lights are lit, fireworks are set off and families come together for this important day.

Diwali celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London. UK. 2004

This week’s ‘Photo of the Week’ comes from Diwali celebrations, not in India, but in London. I took them in 2004, during my one year paid internship at Magnum Photo’s London office. I remember having only been at Magnum for a couple of months when this festival came about. Having been inspired day-in-day-out (as I was for most of the year) I headed out onto the streets to try and capture some of the colour and fervour that surrounded the festival on the streets of the UK’s capital. I’d like to share five of those images with you taken during celebrations in 2004.

Diwali celebrations in North London. UK. 2004

The festival of ‘light’ refers to the Hindu belief that darkness represents ignorance and light represents knowledge, therefore lights are lit in many ways to symbolize the defeat of negative forces (violence, lust, bigotry, envy etc.) through knowledge. That’s a pretty good message in my book!

Diwali celebrations in North London, UK. 2004

London is such an amazing and inspiring city sometimes. Having photographed events such as Diwali, Chinese New Year, the Thames Festival etc., I am proud to be British when I see the kaleidoscope of cultures and people who live in the city. There are only a few cities on earth which are like this and symbolise the multiculturalism that has become part of the country’s identity.

Diwali Celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London. UK. 2004

To find out more information about Diwali, head over to the DivaliFestival.org website.

burn.gallery.show

Yesterday and today, or today and tomorrow, depending on your time zone sees the launch of the new burn.gallery.show. This is one of the newest ventures for Burn magazine to raise funds and increase exposure for this new and exciting online photography magazine. If you have been living under a little bit of a rock in photography circles recently, then you may not have heard about Burn, the brainchild of the legendary Magnum and National Geographic photographer David Alan Harvey.

I first met David in 2003 when I attended one of his workshops in Lisbon, Portugal. At that time, I was an english teacher in Japan and was experimenting with photography and looking for inspiration, hence I travelled back to Europe to participate in one of his workshops. What I found was a man of incredible passion and enthusiasm for photography that was palpably infectious. Attending his workshop was one of the most important things that happened to me, photographically. On presenting my portfolio to David, he deconstructed it in a way I had never had explained to me before. Critical of many of the photos he saw, only a couple remained the critique that he barely liked. I decided from that moment to prove him, and most importantly myself, that I was able to create good pictures.

On January 1st 2008, through his blog Road Trips, David awarded me his first emerging photographer’s fund. Today, Road Trips has evolved into Burn magazine, which David has created alongside Anton Kusters, his Creative Director. Burn is an inspiration for many photographers who are struggling in a time when it seems that photography is being strangled and devalued.

The burn.gallery.show is the first print exhibition of many of the emerging photographers who have appeared through Road Trips and Burn, alongside legendary photographers such as Elliott Erwitt, Bruce Davidson, Susan Meiselas, Alex Webb etc. I am honored that one of my images has been chosen to run alongside these photographers. The image chosen is this one, that was featured on Burn earlier this year.

To find out what burn is, go here

CHINA. Beijing. A young girl plays in the destroyed remains of hutongs (traditional homes) in central Beijing near Tiananmen Square. The hutongs are being destroyed to make way for new developments aimed at modernising the city for the 2008 Olympic Games. 2006.

This week’s ‘Photo of the Week’ was taken in 2006 as part of a story that I did on the destruction of the ‘hutongs’ of central Beijing. For those of you who aren’t aware, the hutongs are a maze-like series of homes and dwellings that used to dominate central Beijing. I say used to because many of them were destroyed in the run-up to the Olympic Games as the city strived to modernise in anticipation of all the visiting eyes that would be looking upon the city.

Whilst the hutongs were arguably a backwards way of living and inefficiently used space, they represented an relatively unchanged age of Beijing that dated back hundreds of years, even as far back as when the Mongolians ruled the capital. Controversy arose also during the destruction of the hutongs as reports emerged of forced evictions and residents not being given adequate compensation.

During my first trip to Beijing in 2005 (sponsored by a grant I received after completing my internship at Magnum Photos) and during 2006, I documented the destruction that had been taking place in the center of the city. You can view more of the images here, at the website OpenDemocracy.net.

Inside a Photographer's Notebook #2 - Quotes

<<Return to the Learning Zone “I would stare at the grains of light suspended in silent space, struggling to see in my own heart. What did I want? And what did others want from me? But I could never find the answers. Sometimes I would reach out and try to grasp the grains of light, but my fingers touched nothing.” – Haruki Murakami – Norweigan Wood

“If there is something in a picture that you cannot explain, it’s a sign there is something interesting.” – Luc Delahaye

“I only know how to approach a place by walking. For what does a street photographer but walk and watch and wait and talk, and then watch and wait some more, trying to remain confident that the unexpected, the unknown, or the secret heart of the known awaits just around the corner.” – Alex Webb

Myself and Ileana Athanatos packaging Eve Arnold's Marilyn Monroe Prints during my internship at Magnum Photos. 2005

In 2004, I was lucky enough to to be selected for the prestigious 1-year paid internship at Magnum photos in their London office. This was  an incredibly important year for me and for the development of my knowledge about photography. It is an experience that I shall have to blog more about, as I receive regular emails from people asking me about my time at Magnum and seeking advice about applying for an internship.

The above photo is a brief snapshot from one of my days in Magnum’s London office, pictured alongside a print of Marilyn Monroe  by the legendary Eve Arnold, on its way to an exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery in early 2005. Pictured on the right is my friend and former colleague Ileana Athanatos.

I distinctly remember spending the best part of two days with Ileana, carefully rolling, wrapping and packaging all of these prints, readying them for transport. Dealing with such large prints, coupled with the fact they were rather expensive and important ones, led for a very slow process I can assure you. I remember being especially attentive as I didn’t want my internship prematurely ended as a result of putting a crease in one of the prints! Needless to say, I remember we managed to pack all the prints without incident and the exhibition was a success.

Having come from a background completely unrelated to photography, being selected for the Magnum internship program was one of the best things that could of happened to me. It offered me an insight into the world’s most prestigious photo agency, a chance to meet and talk with most of the photographers and an opportunity to see the vast amount of work that goes into the agency, behind the scenes, by the staff in the Magnum offices.

As mentioned above, I shall blog about my experiences at Magnum more, however for now I shall have to leave you with just this brief glimpse.