Friday Shout-Outs and Attention-worthy Projects

This week we take a new look at an old concept: BUREAUCRACY. We also highlight some great projects that can use your support or attention (including a PhotoShelter member captured in Libya).

Shout-Outs are a regular Friday thing, and you can be part of it, too. Send us suggestions! If we think it’s worth shouting about, it will show up here in the blog on a Friday. To submit something, scroll to the bottom to see how.

A WORLD PORTRAIT OF BUREAUCRACY
This collection of images win the titles of “most fascinating content of the week” and “time-sucking-productivity killer of the month” awards, as given by me.

Netherlands-based photographer Jans Banning‘s long term project titled “Bureaucratics” is a series of environmental portraits of people who work within bureaucracy around the world. He mentions their official titles, what they actually do for government, and their salary.

The images are incredible, and it’s hard not to look at each photo and read every caption – and see how little most people are paid throughout the world.

Banning’s work is a refreshing mix of both art and journalism, and his specialty theme is state power and its abuse.

HUMAN NEGOTIATIONS
Photographer Katharina Hesse is currently raising funds via Kickstarter to complete a documentary project titled “Human Negotiations”, an independent collaboration between documentary Hesse and writer Lara Day, exploring the lives of a community of Bangkok sex workers through both images and text.

The project came into being in 2007, when Hesse and Day met during a photography workshop. Over the course of three years, the pair returned to Bangkok’s red-light districts repeatedly to interview and photograph more than two dozen women.

Pledged funds will go directly towards printing costs so that Human Negotiations can be published as a book to coincide with an exhibition at Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, China’s foremost space for contemporary photography and video art.

NEO-NAZI FAMILY TRAGEDY

Photojournalist and film maker Julie Platner was recently featured in the NY Times Lens Blog, in a story titled “A Family Tragedy in a Neo-Nazi Home“.

Just 12 hours after she photographed Jeff Hall, the leader of a Southern California chapter of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, he was shot and killed at his home.

Police charged his own 10-year old son with the killing.

Throughout Platner’s year-long documentary, it was Hall who was the primary contact with the controversial group.

HUGE PANORAMIC PRINT
Congrats to Shawn Lynch, a photographer with construction and architectural photography specialists Bernstein Associates. One of his images will be displayed prominently in the first annual Long Island City Arts Open, taking place on May 14th-22nd, 2011.

His image (above), a giant panoramic showing the skyline of Long Island City, has been printed 6-feet long, and will be displayed with various other images of Long Island City.

LAST UPLOAD BEFORE CAPTURE
Just before he was captured by pro-Gaddafi forces in Libya, South African photographer Anton Hammerl uploaded a series of photographs to his online archive. His wife, Penny Sukhraj, accessed an edit of those pictures and asked Africa Media Online to represent the images which are now available for publication.

For more up to day information on his capture, visit the Free photographer Anton Hammerl page on Facebook.

SIX PAGE PROFILE
Congrats to Kevin Steele, a Santa Barbara, California-based photographer who specializes in action, adventure, editorial and commercial portraiture. His images were featured in a six page feature in the Spring Nikon World magazine.

“The six page piece explores my use of space and people within typically wide compositions,” he said. “The opening spread is the image below, one of my favorites.”

CORRESPONDENT’S DINNER PHOTOS
Washington, DC-based freelance photographer Brendan Smialowski shot a series of photos from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last week. These images are currently on display throughout the association’s website.

Photo by Brendan Smialowski

---

I am always looking for things to include here in our Friday Shout-Outs – so if you have anything you think is worthy, let me know. One great way to do that is to post a note to Twitter with my name in it (@heygrover), and that way I won’t forget it later. Don’t have Twitter? Email me: grover-at-photoshelter-dot-com.