Manca Juvan: Sans Papier

Photos © Manca Juvan-All Rights Reserved

Manca Juvan is a freelance photographer having completed her studies at the Slovene School for Photography, and has gleaned many awards and recognitions since then.  She was selected as Photographer of the Year in Slovenia for her reportage work in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and was  commended - in 2005 and 2006 - for her work on Afghanistan by the Slovenian Association of Journalists.

Nominated for the World Press Photo’s Joop Swart Materclass in 2008,  she was chosen in 2011 as one of three recipients of a scholarship for NYU/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights Program. Her work was shown at Photomed festival in France, and selected for its “Hall of Excellence” by The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography.

Her work was published in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic (Slovenia), Time.com, Marie Claire, The European Voice and Der Standard.

I particularly admired her gallery titled Sans Papier ("Without Documents"), which consists of a series of diptychs pairing the portraits of illegal immigrants in Paris with objects they brought from their native countries. Simple and yet evocative.

The Frame Does Ramadan

Photo © AP/Mohammed Zaatari-All Rights Reserved

The Frame, The Sacramento Bee's photo blog has featured 33 magnificent photographs of Muslims around the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan which runs this year from Aug. 1 to Aug. 30. During that period, observant Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn to dusk.

It was a tough choice as there are many images from photographers such as Kevin Frayer in India, Altaf Qadri in Srinagar, and Achmad Ibrahim in Jakarta which captured the many facets of Islam during Ramadan all over the globe.

However for the blog, I chose the photograph of Lebanese "dawn awakener" (known as the "mesaharati", holding a lantern and a drum to awaken observant Muslims for a meal before sunrise in the old souk of the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon.

President Obama In The West Village!!!

Photographs © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

The West Village's West 12th Street was abuzz a few moments ago with the imminent arrival of President Obama, who was scheduled to attend a fundraiser at the home of a Hollywood celebrity (Harvey Weinstein?).

I was there with my Canon 7D and a 70-200, and managed to capture his motorcade, and his car.  But I preferred to wave like a kid as it passed...and caught a glimpse of him, looking at the crowds and at his Blackberry.

A Dos Pasos Del Corazón: The Photographer Of Seville

I was impressed by this short documentary of Juan, who is a photographer in Seville (or Sevilla) who at the age of 85 years is still taking pictures at weddings, baptisms and communions. He has been practicing this profession since 1944.

The videography is by Sergio Caro  and Ernesto Villalba, and is a tribute to simplicity. I always advise simplicity in my multimedia classes, and to let the story be carried by the narrative. This video has all the ingredients of successul storytelling via narrative...it even includes faded old photographs as a way to introduce Juan's personal history. Unfortunately, there's no translation but I guess it's not too difficult to understand what is being said...more or less.

With that minor exception (seen through an English-speaking prism), this is a very well produced documentary.

It brings back my childhood memories of Monsieur Phillipe who walked the beaches in Alexandria, Egypt making pictures of families, children and friends. He used a twin-lens reflex camera, probably a Rolleiflex and would have the prints back in about 2 days.  Possibly Greek or Armenian, Monsieur Phillipe always wore a sweat stained Panama hat, leather sandals and knee-length white shorts. I recall he had extremely hairy legs, and his sandals threw sand whenever he walked on the beaches. He probably remained in Egypt until the late 60s.

What an interesting subject Monsieur Phillipe would make...in the same vein as Juan! I'd be interested to hear from anyone who may have know what happened to him.