John Moore Speaks On His time Covering The Arab Uprisings

Photographer John Moore on 'Epic' Libya Battles, Arab World Revolutions from Mike Fritz on Vimeo.

Combat photography is something that is truly an art on it's own. War is a place where humanity rises and falls. Where death is a salty taste, and emotion is at is rawest form. The photographers that capture these moments are ordained with the most sacred stories one can ever cover.

In this video combat photographer John Moore speaks about his time covering the Arab Uprisings in the Middle East, specifically in Egypt, Bahrain, and Libya.

The Band's Visit

*A quick note - This is my first film review (so sorry you can tell) But I just wanted to share this movie with you because it really connected with me and I hope it does with you as well. I hope with time to continue to get better at writing film reviews.

You know when you get a movie from Netflix that you forgot you had on your Queue? It happened to me the other day and it was a pleasant surprise! I took a film class this past semester and was recommend to watch all kinds of movies outside of the required ones for class. This film caught my particular interest. Perhaps it's because I spent 8 months abroad in 2011 living in Israel Palestine. The familiar Hebrew and Arabic sounded like music to my ears, and the dusty abandoned roads shook up some memories I had been missing.

The film takes place over the course of one night. The Alexandria Police Orchestra is on their way to perform at the grand opening of a new Arab Culture Center in Bet Hatikva. Along the journey they loose their way and wind up in a no name town with abandoned streets and a sassy restauranteur named Dina.

Things I liked about the film: It's rare to find a film that surveys the human estate as it is. Hollywood is often too tempted to dabble between the lines and always fin the silver lining. But I really appreciated seeing a justly portrayed sense of reality, the starkness of loneliness, and the purposefulness and fulfillment that comes from a little bit of music. Although the plot centered around this orchestra, there were not any annoying continuums of music that dominated the scene for no particular reason, but when there were glimpses of the beautifully played notes it was appropriately filling in a void that no dialogue could have sufficed.

Watching this movie made me long for the place I really want to be...which is back in Israel Palestine. To see more film reviews, click here.

Women Photographers In The Middle East

As you know, I'm a photographer and I love the Middle East. It's a tough place to love according to other people's standards, but the moment I was there I was hooked. So when I found this interview with woman photographer Lynsey Addario (visit her blog here) I was inspired, encouraged and challenged. Here are some of my favorite quotes.

If a woman wants to be a war photographer, she should. It’s important. Women offer a different perspective. We have access to women on a different level than men have, just as male photographers have a different relationship with the men they’re covering.

Lynsey was often give access to places where her male colleges were not permitted because of the conservative culture.

In the Muslim world, most of my male colleagues can’t enter private homes. They can’t hang out with very conservative Muslim families. I have always been able to. It’s not easy to get the right to photograph in a house, but at least I have one foot in the door. I’ve always found it a great advantage, being a woman.

{ Lynsey is the female in the center of this picture }

 She goes on to say that photography is about relationships, and I couldn't agree more.

People think photography is about photographing. To me, it’s about relationships. And it’s about doing your homework and making people comfortable enough where they open their lives to you. People underestimate me because I’m always laughing and joking. That helps. They let their guard down.

About keeping a relationship at home while abroad:

There are many reasons. It takes a great toll on your personal life. It’s lonely. It’s physically demanding. You have to carry a lot of equipment. It’s emotionally taxing. You see and document things that take a lot to process, both mentally and physically. Most women, at some point, decide they want to put their personal lives first.

Most of my life, I had no personal life. I tried having relationships. But they were never successful because I was never home. That’s my fault. That was my decision. I would leave for an assignment and come back four months later. You can’t ask someone to be in a relationship with you if you’re not home. I think it’s a very good reason that a lot of women decide that they don’t want to do this.

About being detained in Libya and the affect on family at  home:

The hardest part about what happened to us in Libya, our having been detained, is what we put our loved ones through — more than what happened to us. The whole time we were detained, I think our main concern was that our families didn’t know we were alive. And we knew we would be hurting them. At times, it’s a very selfish profession. And it’s hard to put people through what we put them through. 

Click here to read the rest of the interview.
Click to read about her captivity.
Originally found at NatGeo.

The Beauty of Afghanistan

Afghanistan – touch down in flight from Augustin Pictures on Vimeo.
As each of us has his own impression of Afghanistan that is predominantly marked with pictures of foreign forces, explosions and terror, we were privileged to have access to capture daily life and portrait some people of Afghanistan.

We hope the pictures you know will merge with the pictures you see and will enrich your view on the country in the Hindu Kush.

Website: www.lukasaugustin.de
Ifon & Photos: Here
Twitter: @LukasAugustin

© by Lukas and Salome Augustin

All rights reserved

The Middle East

When I told people I was going to Israel Palestine to study abroad, I always got different reactions. Some were jealous and begged to be squeezed into any extra luggage space I might have (I had none), and others tried to mask the concern and shock on their face.  Most of this was thanks to the media in my country.

It's always been important to me to look at everyone the same. It's my fundamental belief that all humanity is equal.  And I have always done my best to keep in mind a constant check of any presumptions or opinions I had of a place, a people or an experience. My own family has some diversity and I live in Philadelphia, so I'm used to encountering people with different customs than my own and a different kind of beauty, but I also found myself a little bit scared to be entering into a territory even more foreign than South Philly. I'd be lying to say that the media attention on Israel Palestine didn't affect my state of mind going there to stay for several months.

The college I attended even went out of their way to instill what they call a "healthy fear". Yes, it's smart to be aware of your surroundings in a city, but I do that in Philadelphia...why should I be more aware in Jerusalem? Yes, I'm a tourist, and yes I stick out with my distinct Western appearance, but I never felt overtly threatened or targeted.

Whenever I see the Middle East in the news it always seems to be portrayed in the negative light. People groups, ethnicities and religions get thrown into that negativity and it frustrates me. Misrepresentation leads to ignorance which leads to fear which leads to irrational behavior and unjust prejudice. That's why I'm passionate about the Middle East. The people living there deserve a second chance. They deserve to be heard, understood, and not judged. I'm not asking anyone to cover up anything that's happened, ignore the past, or validate wrong things done in the world, but I simply ask you to open up your heart a little bit, remember that we're not perfect too, come with some understanding and inch towards forgiveness and look for peace.

My travels will once again take me to the Middle East.  But this time I want to focus on writing down the stories I hear and documenting what I see. What's really going on in the lives of these people that matter a whole lot to God.