I’m Glenna Gordon, an American photographer and journalist, presently commuting between West Africa and Brooklyn. Previously, I lived in Liberia. And before that, I lived in Uganda. I’ve traveled and worked in over a dozen countries in Africa.
This blog is named after a found object — a plastic lion that was in a crate of discarded items a friend and a few other artists had gathered. I sat on their roof in Nakasero, Kampala sorting through the crate. On that day, I was looking for something. “You are lost!” a Uganda might say. But, I’d found this discarded kid’s toy, made in China on the cheap, that somehow ended up in East Africa. Something about the hollowed out, paint-chipped figurine appealed to my understanding of this place: I’d never seen a real lion, after all.
... on Why Invisible Children can’t explain away this photo Chris Herwig lived in Liberia for several years, working as both a freelance photographer and an UNMIL photographer.
Planes and helicopters are common forms of transportation here, even though the country is so small, because the roads are that bad. Makes for nice photos though. Here, Chris edited together many of the aerial snaps he took over the years he lived in Liberia.
Sorry-o! This blog is having some technical difficulties with archives, searches and content transfers. Hopefully this will all be sorted out by next week.
… Shine Da God Son, one of Fisher’s protégés, was one such young person. When Fisher met Shine (real name Abdul Malakhi Kamara), he wanted to be a musician, but also a gangster. He had lost his father during the war, and was hanging out with a bad crowd who settled their problems with violence. “You can’t work with me with that kind of attitude,” Fisher told him. Shine cleaned up his act and has since produced three albums with several hit songs — including one called “No More Beatin’, No More Dissin’” — and is working on his fourth.
Shine talks too quickly, as if he’s the only person in West Africa who is in a hurry. He wants to be famous — but he also wants more. He wants to see Sierra Leone move toward peace and development. Fisher believes the path to reconciliation is for young men like Shine to lay down their weapons and pick up microphones. “Even [during the war] the rebels put down their guns when the music came on,” he says. “The military and the rebels danced together, and when they’re dancing, they don’t have to fight.” Read more…
If you’re reading this, you’re on my new site – www.ScarlettLion.com.
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Also, I’d like to thank to wonderful and patient Joi Foley. She ddi a great job, and if you’d liker her to make you a website, send her an email: joi@atomicheart.org.
