Who is your White Man?

 


"The white men are bad schoolmasters, they carry false books, and deal in false actions; they smile in the face of the poor Indian to cheat him; they shake them by the hand to gain their confidence, to make them drunk, to deceive them, and ruin our wives. We told them to leave us alone, and keep away from us; they followed on, and beset our paths, and they coiled themselves among us, like the snake. They poisoned us with their touch. We were not safe.We lived in danger. We were becoming like them, hypocrites and liars, adulterous lazy drones, all talkers and no workers...


The white men do not scalp the head; but they do worse - they poison the heart...."


From Howard Zinn's People's History of America. Who is your white man?

The World Cup: When England lose the only consolation will be the tears of Terry, Lampard and Cole

With the World Cup approaching, this comes from The Guardian

"The great hope behind holding big sporting events in developing countries is that the glare of international publicity will drive the process of reform. But it doesn't work like that, because the incentive structure is all wrong. Corruption tends to become more entrenched, since everyone knows that only two things are certain: first, there will be plenty of money washing around, and second, everything will have to be finished on time, come what may. So rather than reform, the local organisers hold out for short-term injections of funds, often to bail them out of crises of their own making. The Athens Olympics of 2004, which may in the long run have helped to bring the global financial system to its knees, is the role model here. The Greek economy wasn't bankrupted by the cost of hosting the games. But Greece's promises to reform its way of doing business, to meet the criteria of euro membership, had to be put on hold in the desperate rush to get the facilities built on time. An unbreakable deadline, with the world watching, means more backhanders being paid, not fewer, more black-market labour, more dodgy accounting practices, more skimming off the top. Hosting the Olympics made Greece more Greek.

....

In Why England Lose, and Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained, Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski describe why big sports tournaments rarely give the host country the economic boost that the organisers always promise – all those extra tourist dollars and investment benefits simply don't materialise. What these events do achieve is a short-term boost in national happiness – for a few months, people are cheered up by having something to distract them. Is that what South Africa needs? "About a third of all South Africans live on less than $2 per day," Kuper and Szymanski drily note. "These people need houses, electricity, holidays, doctors."

Never mind all that, here in Bath we are all looking to the helter-skelter World Cup ride with tremendous anticipation. The disappointing draw with Algeria, the stunning victory against Slovenia, the high hopes, the path to the final clearing before us before the last 16 defeat against Ghana, the tears of Terry, Lampard and Cole the only thing to savour as Spain, Germany or Italy God help us march on to victory and we wonder at what-might-have-been if every country in the world was as spoilt and self-indulgent as ours. 

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Fresh and Wild Explorations, Presentations, Portrayal and Creations

Fresh and Wild is the showcase of this year's UK graduates and here are a load of photographers from the Review Santa Fe.

The Fresh and Wild photographers are interested in, inspired by and focussed on.The photographers depict, attest, empower, evoke, evolve from, give a visual voice to, document (or attempt to), create, emote, consider, explore (or aim or attempt to), portray, capture, record, find and present.

We all know what they mean and we all do it ourselves but sometimes it just reads a little too formulaic. It kills the love. And that's a shame because I think the selection this year has more energy than in previous years.

The questions is which ones do you like, and which ones will do well. They're not the same and that's not even taking into consideration the ability to network, handshake, know the right thing to say, be presentable and financially viable. God, that's blown the cover on just a few of my limitations. This is 2010 and photography is for the socially ept and temporarily concerned.


The portraits above are by Steven Barritt,  David Plummer and Maria Kapajeva.

Elaine Duigenan: Pictures of Snail Trails

A long time ago one of my favourite bands was from Burnley. They were called the Not Sensibles and their record labels was Snotty Snail records. Which reminds me of Elaine Duigenan's latest work. Micro Mundi - pictures of snail trails. These were taken from the sides of old and derelict caravans ("damp and neglected is good for snails" says Elaine), the trails interweaving over time, one on top of another, old markings on top of fresh ones, so creating the map like images you see above.

After finding the trails, Duigenan photographed them on 5 x 4, then scanned and cropped them into circular images.

Micro Mundi will show at  Klompching, NY from June 17th to August 6th. 

And for a little bit of musical accompaniment what could be better than Death to Disco by The Not Sensibles. Sorry, Elaine.

Tony Fouhse: Are you looking for a subject?

 

A short question and answer with Tony Fouhse who is making the very interesting User pictures.

Why did you start the User project?

I was looking to shoot a project, meeting strangers, setting them up into little scenarios and photographing the results. I wanted to shoot this at dusk.

I went to a bunch of spots trying to make this work.  Mostly the people I met didn't have the time (or inclination) to participate.  In desperation I went to the corner of Cumberland and Murray Streets in Ottawa, where I know crack addicts were always hanging around. In order to do what I do, it's important that the people I shoot have some time on their hands in order to collaborate with me on the shoot.

I was initially met with a certain amount of suspicion (of course) and nothing really happened.  I was loading my gear back into the car, to try another spot, when an addict named Archie walked by.  He saw the camera and asked me (and this is a quote): "Are you looking for a subject?"

I replied: "Dude, that's exactly what I'm looking for".

He let me take his picture, and after that I shot 2 more setups using different addicts.

If I'd have left a minute earlier, or if Archie had come by a minute later the project would never have happened.

When I saw the results I knew right away that this was what I had been looking for.

A few days later I took prints back to give to the people I'd shot.  Other addicts saw the prints and liked them and my approach.

I've been shooting there for going on 4 years with the support and collaboration of the subjects.

What do you hope to achieve with the project?

I say, and I'm sticking by it.....all I'm trying to do is take interesting photographs.  I'm a photographer, not a social worker.

I'm just trying to take interesting photos.  But I'm also aware of, and have studied, the vibe on the corner and the history of photography.  I try to combine all of those things, along with my own aesthetic predilections, when I'm shooting.

Can photography/your work change the way we see people?

I'm kind of cynical when it comes to this.  But I'm constantly astounded/surprised by the reactions to USER, by what the people who view these images tell me about how their perceptions of addicts have been changed.

What do your subjects think of the pictures you make of them?

 I shoot business leaders, politicians and all kinds of "regular" folks for a living but  I've never met a group of people who bring more to the table during a shoot than the addicts I work with on that corner.  If you stood behind me as I was working there you would see them arranging their expressions and their posture.  You can see them thinking about how they want to portray themselves and their lives.  They are using the opportunity to show the "outside" world aspects of their fact that they think are important to see.

The view from Solsbury Hill, Bath: The 3 Disgraces

We interrupt this blog to bring you some important news from Larkhall, Bath.

First up is the news that  Oldfield School in Bath is to become an academy. An Academy is a school which has a certain degree of independence from government of various kinds. Schools that have been declared outstanding by Ofsted

The only problem for Oldfield School for Girls is the head, Kim Sparling (and I have neighbours who have been both students and teachers at Oldfield School and I don't want to repeat what they say about her because it ain't nice) , announced her decision during a consultation process on school closures in Bath. Instead of taking part in the consultation as other schools did, she abdicated all responsibility, took herself, her pupils and her school out of the democratic process and so removed herself and her school from all accountability. This is not reflected in the current school website but it was in the one that came immediately after the second consultation meeting at St Marks where Ms Sparling stated that Oldfield School no longer needs to take part in the consultation process, the parents don't need to attend the meetings and nobody should contribute anything to the process in any way whatsoever.

The consultation process is flawed to be sure, but one has to be part of it. I have a vested interest in one of the other schools in the consultation process staying open and continuing its policies of diversity and inclusion for all learners in the community. That school is St Marks. I accept that St Marks might have to close and that on exam results alone, Oldfield School appears to be the 'better' school. Even allowing for that vested interest, I can see that the staff and head of St Marks School are taking part in the consultation process, are providing an example to their students of how to be democratic and accountable. They are putting the best interests of their students and the parents of those students first, not using loopholes to get out of a flawed, but necessary process.

So what kind of example is Kim Sparling setting, what kind of person is she to evade the necessary issues? And in evading the issues, isn't she failing her students, her staff and the pupils at her school. Because she may imagine her actions are going to prevent closure of her school, but I have a sneaking suspicion she is actually hastening it.

Sorry, Ms Sparling, but from where I am sitting in sunny Larkhall, and to all the parents I know in the Valley Schools, your actions appear underhand and despicable. This is something I would never do. It is something most people would never do.  I would not do such a thing because I would feel myself to be corrupt in some way, I would know that ultimately I was giving a bad example to my students and their parents and the school. Ultimately I would be embarrassed and ashamed.

If you live in Bath or Bristol, whatever school you want to send your child to now or in the future, take part in the consultation process here.

And read the story here. In this article, the council gives the following advice to all parents, children and members of staff affected by Kim Sparling's proposal:

"Contrary to the original information provided by the school to its parents, this decision by the school governors does not impact on the consultation, which will continue as planned with a final decision on proposals to be agreed by (the council’s) cabinet on July 21.  We advise parents to attend the meetings already planned and advertised.”
 
And read another story here which details some local reactions to Kim Sparling's announcement.

I don't see the loopholes that Kim Sparling is trying to exploit as too much different from those being exploited by Golden Valley Paddocks over the hill in Woolley Valley. Their actions got two pages in the Daily Mail on Saturday and amount to a bending of the rules that defies belief. They are using planning law loopholes to front a farming operation that will suddenly transform into a property development operation causing damage to the valley and beyond.

Read the whole story here

And from the Telegraph.

Sign the petition here. 

And the final act in community vandalism taking place in Bath comes courtesy of  First Bus. Anyone who has ever ridden a First Bus or worked for them will know what a disgrace this company are. In Bath they are cutting services wholesale, severing links between connected communities. At the same time, they have been cutting driver conditions and hiking bus fares to unaffordable rates - how about £2.10 for a one and a half mile bus ride into town. Their actions increase congestion, pollution and drive local shops and services out of business. What kind of person makes these decisions. Have they no shame or pride?

Sign the Save our 6/7 Buses petition here.

If you live in Bath or Bristol, whatever school you want to send your child to now or in the future, take part in the consultation process here.

An Interview with Scot Sothern

Continuing on the Scot Sothern theme, here are some extracts from an interveiw with Scot Sothern by his son, Austin Wolf-Sothern. You can find the full interview here. 

A: What inspired you to take photos of prostitutes?
SS:
1. I thought maybe I could get famous in the arty underground, or at least acquire a cult following.
2. I couldn't afford real models.
3. Sex and cheap thrills.
4. I wanted to make art with a fuck-you attitude.
5. I wanted to end world hunger.

A: Do you remember what the very first photo you took of a prostitute was?
SS: I think 1986. I wrote another story about the first time but this is a different first time. I was living with you and your mother at Berkeley student housing in Albany. You were three or four. Your mother was a student and I was unemployed. The marriage was in ruins. In a rage one night after a bloody verbal bout with your mother, I drove to San Pablo Boulevard to pick up a whore. I guess I figured degenerate sex in the car would make me feel better. I had my camera and a roll of film and my flash attachment with me, so after sex, which did make me feel better, I took some pictures. It was a couple of years later, when I was crashing at my friend Matt's in the valley, before I developed the film along with another five or six rolls I'd shot by then. I continued the sessions until 1990.

......

A: What has been the general reaction to the show?
SS: So far everyone likes it. The people I've talked to seem to go gaga for the literary vignettes I wrote which are posted next to the photos. I think the writing helps to humanize the subject matter. I like that there has been such a favorable reaction, but at the same time I was hoping for some outrage. I've had twenty years of rejection from galleries and publishers because the photos and stories were too blatant somehow. Now I don't even get a single protest. That's fucked up. Hopefully over time I'll get more exposure and attract the attention of people who hate people like me and the art I make. In a perfect world I'd open up a heated dialogue or two. I always thought it would be cool to see a burning effigy with my face.