July 2010 Archives



With the July 22 decision by the World Court in the Hague that Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia in 2008 did not violate international law, we thought it would be an opportune moment to look back at Joachim Ladefoged's powerful body of work on the Albanians during the Serbian conflict from 1997 to 2000. During the war, some 12,000 people from Kosovo were killed, of whom 4,000-7,000 were Albanians, and up to 700,000 Albanians from Kosovo took refuge in the neighboring country of Albania. See the multimedia slideshow here in Lens Culture's collaboration with VII The Magazine.

This is really great, artful, classic photojournalism from 1997-1999. WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGERY

In Tito's Bunker, Ziyah Gafic, takes us into the underground world of a top secret military shelter built by Yugoslav leader Josep Tito in Konjic, a small Bosnian town. Built by the Yugoslav army between 1953 and 1979, the shelter occupies a space of 6500 square meters and consists of 12 connected blocks. It resembles a complicated labyrinth, with residential areas, conference rooms, offices, strategic planning rooms, and other functional areas. The construction and existence of this bunker was kept a top secret until the 1990s, when it was finally revealed. Inherited by the Bosnian army "Tito's Bunker" is still operational and off limits to visitors.

This presentation is part of the special collaboration between Lens Culture and the photojournalists at VII Photo. Dig in to discover lots more, too, at VII the Magazine.

In an effort to convey an understanding of the current political situation in Iran, photographer and journalist Paolo Woods compiled these 123 images that he found on the internet, most of which were uploaded by citizen journalists. Since the contested elections last year, and continuing today, mainstream media has been severely hindered in its ability to photograph, film and report in Iran. Woods provides commentary on these photos and the situations he has encountered in Iran in recent times.

This work was projected at the Rencontres photo festival in Arles, France, last week. For me, it was by far one of the most relevant presentations there, since it explored the many ways photography is being used today to communicate worldwide in near-realtime by people using mobile phone cameras and sharing their images via sites like Flickr and Twitter.

The video is also available with French-language narration at rue.89.com.

You can learn more about Paolo Woods at his website: www.paolowoods.com
He recently published a book about Iran, which has its own cool, informative website: marchesurmesyeux.fr