Two photographers

Two photographers, two ways of seeing the world ; the first impression you get when you discover those 2 persons, crème de la crème among the photographers, is that they are fundamentally different.

Sudan, 1993 - Famine victim about to receive water in a feeding center.

One, Natchway, a somewhat lonely man, is risking is life to take picture of terrible sceneries; “I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated” (http://www.jamesnachtwey.com/).

Linda Ronstadt in a red slip, on her bed, reaching for a glass of water in a 1976 cover story for Rolling Stone magazine.

The other, Leibovitz, is more than a pho tographer, she is "a photographer of celebrities who has herself become a celebrity" (http://www.bookrags.com/biography/annie-leibovitz/) and seems to have got an enjoyable and playful view of world; “I'd like to think that the actions we take today will allow others in the future to discover the wonders of landscapes we helped protect but never had the chance to enjoy ourselves.” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/annie_leibovitz.html)

Two views with such a an insurmountable gap in the middle.

One is life and pride of our world; “I wish that all of nature's magnificence, the emotion of the land, the living energy of place could be photographed”.(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/annie_leibovitz.html)

More Demi Moore (Aug. 1991) featuring Moore pregnant and nude

And the other death and hope for a better world;

"Is it possible to put an end to a form of human behavior which has existed throughout history by means of photography? The proportions of that notion seem ridiculously out of balance. Yet, that very idea has motivated me." (http://www.war-photographer.com/en/)

Zimbabwe, 2000 - In a tuberculosis ward where the great majority of the patients suffer from AIDS.

I however think that however those protagonist's image is antinomic, they are fundamentally the same and rather led by the same intentions. "For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war." (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309061/quotes)

South Africa, 2000 - Grandmother cared for young girl affected by HIV.

A life of taking pictures of world's disaster. "Most war photographers become cynical after a while" (comment in War photographer Film). Natchwey was able to avoid that and see the humanity of each person, victims as well as war criminals. In a way, it reminds me of one Avi Mograbi's comments (directors of the documentary movie Z32) about the use of CGI-masks to hide the protagonists : “[...] it was very important to me that you would not think that this person is a monster, a natural born murderer, because he’s not, he’s an ordinary person. This is a normal person who has gone through a certain upbringing that involved indoctrination. He is not just “the Israeli soldier.” He is the Soldier.” (http://www.yidff.jp/interviews/2009/09i029-e.html)

He does not aim to show the world's misery for itself, but “to give a voice to those who otherwise would not have a voice”. (http://www.ted.com/talks/james_nachtwey_s_searing_pictures_of_war.html)

He wants to increase the world awareness to their existence, to touch us by our similarities, our humanity.

Family Barack Obama in the White House

“A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.”

(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/annie_leibovitz.html)

Her work consists in taking the humanity of those people, the part which will make us feel closer so that we do not see them as unreachable people but human beings.

The concept of celebrities, as well as war victims are nothing but human creations in the way they are not natural, they are not wild landscapes. People then grant them different values according to their own backgrounds, culture, views of the world.

South Africa, 1992 - Xhosa young men in rite of passage

"That images are, after all, like seals placed upon the invisible. But in some images there are empty spaces where the invisible has made notable inroads. It is present."

(Comment from a photo exhibition in Germany)

Whatever is the subject of the photographer, its role consists in taking in taking realities, in taking present. And in that fashion, both of our 2 photographers are very talented, they light up their subjects.

Sting in the desert, covered in mud

Japanese portrait - All the same ?

First of all, I want to say that my deepest and most intense Japanese style life experience was not in Japan, but in Korea. I was H24 with Japanese people, speaking Japanese only, thing I am far from being able to say while in Gaidai. Those picture are then from the past semester, in Korea.

Japan, this small island on the border of the Asian continent, has an image somewhat blurred for a lot of westerners and the worldwide spread oriental-ism through the past century is not making things more clear. Let’s try to draw a broad portrait of those strange guys.

Japanese people all have the same jet-black haired. They also all have high-tech mobile phones. They take their shoes off more than we do.

They have small and slight bodies

They eat a lot of rice.

They take a lot of picture.


They can sleep pretty much everywhere and at any time, in any situation.

They can't drink much.

Well, to some extent, it is a good broad portrait. But there is a lot more to say about them.

They are not so interested in foreign culture outside Japan, especially Korea.

They are so polite, respectful under any circumstances.

They eat healthily

And only small quantities.

They are very reserved and shy.

So reserved...

They only think about studying/working.

They always keep impassive, unshaken faces. They would not let themselves do some grimaces and other funny faces.

They are actually the most serious people I have ever met.

From a first shot, and compared to some westerners, Japanese people have more physical characteristics in common than we do have in France or in the States. With image associated to their strong collectivism sense, one could be tempted to imagine and describe Japanese people as being all the same, Asian, similar with boring similarities.

http://gemssty.com/2007/06/28/uniformity-manufactured-landscapes/

I however think that they do have a lot of particularities. Just from the people I showed in my picture, one Keiko, also called Haeja, is a Zainichi Korean more Japanese than the other ones. Nano is from Okinawa and her way of speaking, behaving, nearly aggressive is so far away from the typical quiet Japanese girl one could imagine. And the last one, Yuuko, originally from Tokyo is a mix of both, with a good dash of crazyness and a definitely international mind.

Japan is actually more like that.

Everyone has more or less the same roots, Asian, but they all have pretty nuances which makes this country such an eternal discovery world and not a boring repetition.