Photo by Emiliano Pinnizzotto from The Emptying of the Andes |
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Dear Spotlight Readers:
It is hard to focus on anything now other than the coronavirus —yet there are only two exhibits in this issue of Spotlight having anything to do with the topic. Rather, photographers from the world over continue to submit extraordinary work exploring issues as diverse as the depopulation of the Andes, animal husbandry in Turkmenistan, breast cancer in the US, surviving terrorism in Nigeria, and others.
Not that we haven’t received many exhibits to our Pandemic in Focus initiative. (You can view them here). But all pandemic work has been done just in the past six weeks, whereas most of the work in this and other issues of Spotlight has been done over years of assiduous exploration. Good visual storytelling takes time and is often not about the most current issue rattling the world only because time is need to evaluate, process, explore, document, re-evaluate, and repeat.
But we do hope that photographers will continue to document the most significant global upheaval of our time, both during the “surge” and the long slope downward as the world slowly struggles to open up again and the seismic changes that may follow. And we hope you will submit your projects to our Pandemic in Focus archives. In the next week we will be sending out a Pandemic in Focus Spotlight with the work we have already received.
The 2020 ZEKE Award for Documentary Photography, with a deadline for entries extended to May 7, is adapting to the changing landscape. All 12 jurors are still on board to review the work. We have been in regular contact with Photoville and they assure us that they are developing plans that would accommodate exhibitions of some sort, but probably not like Photoville as we have known it. Final plans will be announced as soon as they conclude discussions with the New York City Parks Department.
We are very excited that the Africa issue of ZEKE is now printed and in the mail. If you are not yet receiving ZEKE, please visit this page to learn how you can subscribe, order an individual copy, or access the digital version.
I hope everyone is well during these impossible times. We all look forward to the next few months when the virus stops devastating communities and the world can begin to slowly open up again.
Warmest Regards
Glenn Ruga
Founder & Director, SDN
Executive Editor, ZEKE magazine
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Add your documentation of the coronavirus pandemic or view work by other photographers.
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Spotlight: April 2020
Exodus>>
by Nicoló Filippo Rosso/Colombia
At the border with Colombia, a continuous flow of migrants from Venezuela crosses the line every day. A political and socio-economic crisis in Venezuela, from 2016 onwards, led to an increasing outflow of migrants from the country. Venezuelans said they were compelled to leave for reasons of insecurity...
The Emptying of the Andes>>
by Emiliano Pinnizzotto/ Peru
There is a very quiet and subtle migration taking place in Peru. It is a phenomenon of “rural-urban migration” that has continued incessantly for years, and is emptying the Andes of people who are leaving their lands under the illusion of a better future in the big city (Lima, Arequipa, ...
Everyday is a Saint Day>>
by Ricardo Teles/ Brazil
Black slavery lasted 350 years in Brazil. It was the most perverse, long-lasting, and lucrative business in the New World. As a result, Africans found themselves in a dire situation. Banzo, as silent suicide was called, and the quilombos, fugitive slave communities that originated mass revolt...
Running to Nowhere: The Central American Refugee Crisis>>
by Christina Simons/ Mexico, Honduras & The US
Central American migrants have been making the perilous journey through Central America and Mexico for over 30 years. It is an old refugee story but in the current political climate it is not only ongoing but heightened by the family separations and mass deportations from the United States. Yet the ...
At Oghlan>>
by Mohsen Kaboli/ Iran
Turkmens are one of the tribes living in Iran, often dispersed in Golestan and Khorasen provinces. They were engaged in animal husbandry from ancient times. The Turkmen tribes are divided into three main groups, called Gueklan-Yamut and Shakta. The horse is an animal that is very valuable to ...
A Journey with Others>>
by Gioia Kuss/ United States
About one in eight US women (~ 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer. In 2020, projections estimate 276,480 new cases. This project began as an offer to memorialize a friend’s breasts before a radical mastectomy to confront Inflammatory Breast Cancer. This morphed into a documentation of...
Last Wildest Place>>
by Jason Houston/ Peru
The Purús/Manu region in southeastern Peru is one of the most remote, inaccessible, and important areas of the Amazon, where still-intact ecosystems provide sustenance for settled indigenous communities and home to perhaps the highest concentration of isolated ...
The Sweet Quarantine Through Their Eyes>>
by Maurizio Gjivovich/ Italy
These are difficult days. The outside world has stopped in its silence. Here the children find their spaces and create new spaces, to face the fear of what is happening "out there". Their games become a reason to express their fears. They are my children who give strength to face this...
It's All In My Head>>
by Etinosa Yvonne/ Nigeria
It's All In My Head is a multimedia project that explores the coping mechanisms of survivors of terrorism and violent conflict. The project aims to advocate for increased and long-term access to psychosocial support for the survivors which in turn will improve their mental health...
Life After Life in Prison: Karen>>
by Sara Bennett/ United States
I met Karen on April 16, 2017, the day before she was released from prison after serving 35 years for a homicide conviction. When she left prison the next day and the only person to meet her was a taxi driver, I wondered where her journey would take her. I’ve been following her with my camera ...
Cousins>>
by Kristen Emack/ United States
My daughter and my niece's involvement in each other's lives is both gravitational and expected. We all grow up. The girls have each other to navigate this tender process, and I admire their innocent, confident relationships to themselves, their world and one another. Between them is an intimate...
Los Cartoneros>>
by Eric Verdaasdonk/ paraguay, argentina
Los cartoneros, a name they owe to the recycling of cardboard, but also all materials, as well as food items that are still 'edible'. They are actually the country's recycle system. Hundreds of families live from this often undervalued work...
Life at Lock Down in Kolkata>>
by AMLAN BISWAS/ India
The people of Kolkata, including other parts of India, are observing a nation-wide lock down due to present situation of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak rapidly in almost all parts of India. Police and other employees of different essential service providers are busy on their respective duties with ...
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About the Social Documentary Network
Social Documentary Network (SDN) is a global community of documentary photographers, editors, curators, NGOs, students, journalists and others who believe in the power of visual storytelling to build understanding and appreciation for the complexities, nuances, wonders, and contradictions that abound in the world today. Since our founding in 2008, the SDN website has featured more than 3,000 exhibits by nearly 2,000 photographers from all corners of the globe. Today, we have grown beyond the boundaries of a computer screen and produce gallery exhibitions, educational programs, calls for entries and our print magazine, ZEKE: The Magazine of Global Documentary. Recent exhibits on SDN have explored migration, the rising seas of Antarctica, Iran, asylum in America, teen mothers, and nomads of Kyrgyzstan. Click here to view all of the exhibits.
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