NOTES FROM THE FIELD, Rena Effendi:
Recently I went to see the Damien Hierst exhibition at Tate Modern in London. There it was, the world’s most illustrious piece of art – a skull cast in platinum and set in diamonds. I waited in line to enter a dark cubicle specially built for it. Only six people were allowed to enter at a time. This way you could spend some quality time with the skull, intimately, in the dark. I watched it glow inside its box with its infinite reflections on the glass walls, eerie sparkling object with a missing tooth. Then I noticed the most interesting part of the installation - the facial expressions of the other five onlookers. Diamonds cast off light that reflected in their eyes giving them a special glow, a mixed look of awe and greed. They looked like actors from an old black and white Disney movie, pirates who had just discovered treasure and couldn’t wait to get their hands on it. I probably looked the same way.
In Sohag, Upper Egypt, I visited the Monastery of Great Martyrs of Akhmeem. There it was again, this time a female skull, dating back to 284 A.D. adorned with a crown of fake diamonds, but believed to have special healing powers, skin and hair intact and inspiring awe in thousands of Copts visiting the site. “The saints are bleeding to this day and the women’s hair is still growing, we even have to trim it. When the pope took one of the Saint heads in his hands, the head glowed. They are blessed!” - the keeper of the monastery tells the tale.
Monastery of Martyrs in Akhmeem became a place of pilgrimage for many Copts, as they believe attending the relics of the saints can miraculously cure ailments with divine power. These relics are of persecuted and tortured Copts dating back to the period of Emperor Diocletian and his colleague Maximian, 284 A.D. Sohag, Egypt.
May 2012
Saiful Huq Omi
Mother Jones and Magnum Foundation
Saiful Huq Omi, a photographer based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, first focused on Burma’s Rohingya refugees in 2009, when he began documenting their lives in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. The Rohingya—an ethnic, religious, and linguistic minority from Burma’s northern Rakhine State—have been persecuted for decades; nearly a million of them are estimated to reside in Burma, while another half million have sought refuge in Bangladesh. Smaller populations have fled to other countries.
View full photo essay on Mother Jones.
NOTES FROM THE FIELD, Donald Weber:
One of the earliest examples of storytelling that sets the tone and structure of all western literature is the epic tale of Gilgamesh, a demi-god of superhuman strength, a Sumerian king from southern Babylon, which is what we know as Iraq. A fascinating story that today is being mimicked in the creation and construction of a new Kurdish state. I love these moments of serendipity when you see History unraveling itself again, a cyclical nature that time really does not change, a slight evolution of what we already have defined. In my case, the themes and ideas of Gilgamesh are mirrored back to us, just in a modern setting.
The basic plot goes something like this: Enkindu, a wild beast-man created by the gods to counter the ruthless tyranny of the king Gilgamesh, eventually become friends after an initial confrontation. Together, they begin a journey to the west. During their journey, Enkindu is slain by the gods in retribution for his killing of the monster Humbaba. Distraught by his friend Enkindu’s death, Gilgamesh sets out to redeem himself through immortality. The arrogant and brutal hero is transformed into Gilgamseh the broken mortal. During this pursuit, Gilgamesh is lead on many adventures, the most notable being his encounter with Utnapishtim, an ancient hero who survived a tragic flood. The tale bears many resemblances to the Biblical story of the Flood that Utnapishim is often called the Babylonian Noah. Gilgamesh learns that his quest for immortality is a futile one, that the creation of death also contains the seeds of death.
The life you are seeking you will never find. When the gods created man they created death, but life they kept for their own keeping.
When humans die, humanity continues to live.
During my travels in Kurdish Iraq, I saw many instances of the epic tale of Gilgamesh reflected back. Gilgamesh’s journey is a reflection of his struggle to become a better, selfless, leader. I, too, see in the Kurdish people’s quest to remake their land and identity, it is a transition from the wilderness to civilization, about accepting death in a triumphant and honorable manner, just as Gilgamesh and Enkindu did, 4,000 years ago.
What does primitive man lose in the process of becoming civilized – and what does he gain? When people use violence for political ends, how do they justify it and at what scale do they undertake it given differing situations and ideas abut them?
When Enkidu tells Gilgamesh his dream of the Underworld, Gilgamesh responds, “We must treasure the dream whatever the terror; for the dream has shown that misery comes at last to the healthy man, the end of life is sorrow.
Quilombo - A culture of resistance
In Brazil, during the four centuries of tension and confrontation of classes in the slavery system, thousands of slaves escaped from the europeans plantations and created the quilombos.
Originally “quilombo” means “place where one is with God” in Banto language. The quilombo rebuilt in Brazil as a territorial organization of African origin and it worked as an outlet against the violence of slavery. Wherever slavery flourished, so did resistance. Even under the threat of the whip, slaves tried to carve spaces of autonomy through rebellions. And then they created a new social organization of runaway slave communities represented resistance against European acculturation.
During the slavery times in Brazil and almost hidden from civilization, the free slaves recreated their African origins. They have never abandoned their culture, keeping the secrets of ancient customs. This alternative communities sought to reproduce Africa in the Americas, and in which all members were free and equal, just as they had been in their homeland.
In the Amazon, hundreds of families lived and produced hidden in the bush, running away from slavery for an unknown time length.During my course over the TransAmazonian I have met some of these maroon communities. There, inhabitants still retaining the memory of the time of slavery while they managed for generations to pass on the secrets of the rivers and jungle to survive.
Sim Chi Yin, 2010 HR Fellow, featured on Newsweek
“Waiting for Justice in Beijing”
Many Chinese citizens travel long distances to seek justice in Beijing courts. However, when they arrive many are unable to afford accommodation during their stay, sleeping outside until their day in court. View whole story here.
Sim Chi Yin, 2010 HR Fellow, featured in PDN’s Picture Story
Beijing’s Basement Dwellers
Due to the rapid economic growth and mass migration, many workers find themselves in cramped quarters in China’s metropolises. Sim Chi Yin covered the “Rat Tribe,” a derogatory label given to individuals living underground in Beijing’s old air-raid tunnels. To view full story, please continue here.
To commemorate yesterday’s World Press Freedom Day we want to highlight the work of EF photographers who put their lives in danger to bring to light the stories that matter the most, especially in light of the worsening conditions in press freedom. According to the Associated Press, journalists are being attacked and murdered at an “astonishing pace.” Along with UN President, Ban Ki Moon, Reporters Without Borders also condemned the worsening conditions of the freedom of press — 179 journalists were detained and 67 were killed in 2011, making it the deadliest year for journalists on record. Since the beginning of this year, 22 more deaths have been reported. Just today, two Mexican photographers were found dead in a canal in the state of Veracruz. Here at home in the US, journalists too have been harassed and assaulted, and more than 70 have been arrested, mostly in relation to the Occupy Wall Street protests across the nation.
But thanks to the brave work of photographers like Thomas Van Houtryve working in the border between China and North Korea (two countries with some of the lowest press freedom rankings in the world); Cedric Gerbehaye’s work in the South Sudan; Teun Voeten’s Narco Estado in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Yuri Kozyrev’s work on the protests and turmoil in Yemen, these stories are coming out. Some of our 2012 EF grantees are also working in areas of dangerous conditions, including Rena Effendi in Cairo, and Ben Lowy in Libya.
Boniface Mwangi
TEDx Conference
2011 HR Fellow Boniface Mwangi spoke at a TEDx Conference in Kibera on the political role photographers could play.
Sim Chi Yin, 2010 HR Fellow, has published new photo essay, “Boxing in Burma.”
NOTES FROM THE FIELD, Rena Effendi
Kerolus Dawood, a 22 year old survivor of the Alexandria “All Saints” Coptic Church bombing of January 1, 2011. Thirty two people died in the bombing and 97 were injured. Alexandria, Egypt. April, 2012 His testimony:
It was like an earthquake. A big blast, I rushed out to see what happened and saw lots of bodies downstairs, torn off limbs, some people’s clothes were blown off so they covered them with newspapers. My mother was missing, so were both of my sisters and my aunt. I called out for my younger sister. If something had happened to her, I would not be able to live through it. People ran up and down in panic, everyone was looking for their family members trying to make sure they were not blown up. Blood was everywhere, but no sign of ambulance.
Firemen came instantly, something very strange, as it usually takes a long time for them to show up. They came out of nowhere and started washing everything with water, blood flowed on the streets and into the gutters. My mother, my older sister and aunt were killed by the blast. I saw my younger sister, she was gravely injured, but still alive, I rushed home with her, as she needed urgent help. That night I saw my mother’s body in the morgue, she was missing a leg. I recognized her only by the clothes that she was wearing that day.
My younger sister is now in a hospital in Germany, more than a year after, she still needs new surgeries to treat her injuries from the blast. She is a brave and amazing woman! One of the worst memories of that day was watching the firemen wash the blood of my family down the sewers.
