Check out a recent interview about The Girl Project on RelateMag.com... and when you're finished browse RelateMag - its a great website.
http://www.relatemag.com/the-girl-project-photographing-your-life-in-the-raw/
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
INTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Jonathan Torgovnik
© Jonathan TorgovnikIt is hard to believe that we have hit the 15th anniversary of Rwandan Genocide. To honor the victims there have been many cultural and artistic events happening world wide. I recently saw one such event at the Aperture Foundation called Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape
From Aperture:
During the 1994 genocide, hundreds of thousands of Rwandan women were subjected to massive sexual violence by members of the infamous Hutu militia groups, known as the Interhamwe. Among the most isolated survivors are women who have borne children as a result of those rapes. Due to the stigma of rape and “having a child of the militia,” the women’s communities and few surviving relatives have largely shunned them. Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape brings together Jonathan Torgovnik’s remarkable portraits of these women and children, and their harrowing first-hand testimonies.
I must say, I knew going in I was going to be upset by the show. Given the subject matter I expected to be upset. But I had no idea. I was in tears by the 3rd picture (out of 31) and felt connected to the strangers featured in a way that I find difficult for most photographs to accomplish (and I'm not one to underestimate the power of a photograph). I was startled by my inability to separate myself from the stories in front of me. Torgovnik's posed portraits, in collaboration with powerful quotes from the women detailing their experiences, provides a forthright and brutal reality.
Some of the quotes by the victims are quite graphic. Should you be interested in reading some of them visit Torgovnik's website. In the upper right click on "stories". Then click on "Intended Consequences" and when the images load click on an image and then click the "text" button located to the left of the photo.
I must say, I knew going in I was going to be upset by the show. Given the subject matter I expected to be upset. But I had no idea. I was in tears by the 3rd picture (out of 31) and felt connected to the strangers featured in a way that I find difficult for most photographs to accomplish (and I'm not one to underestimate the power of a photograph). I was startled by my inability to separate myself from the stories in front of me. Torgovnik's posed portraits, in collaboration with powerful quotes from the women detailing their experiences, provides a forthright and brutal reality.
Some of the quotes by the victims are quite graphic. Should you be interested in reading some of them visit Torgovnik's website. In the upper right click on "stories". Then click on "Intended Consequences" and when the images load click on an image and then click the "text" button located to the left of the photo.
© Jonathan Torgovnik
© Jonathan TorgovnikThe Book: http://www.aperture.org/ic.html
For more information on genocide worldwide : http://www.enoughproject.org/
For more information on the anniversary of Rwandan genocide check out these links:
http://www.foundationrwanda.org/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/07/rwanda.genocide/
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/developing-world-stories/2009/04/rwanda-genocide-anniversary.html
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