Vice has a new documentary out about Liberia. It’s getting lots of buzz around the web, and a few people have emailed me to ask what I think of it. The truth is that I haven’t seen it.  Thanks to a very, very, very sloooooow interent connection I can only read what people are saying about it rather than form my own opinion.

So far, the always interesting Ethan Zuckerman’s take gets to the heart of the matter:

So, is this a straightforward case of overprivleged westerners making fun of the poor, a contemptible piece of exoticism? I think the filmmakers see themselves doing something different: showcasing the strange culture collisions that occur in a world as interconnected as ours… Something about the VBS documentaries – the high quality of production, the unfamiliarity of the subject matter, the narrative of “adventure” rather than history – is generating a lot of buzz. As much as I want to object to the VBS video, which sensationalizes, uses historical footage with little context, and is a classic example of parachute psuedo-journalism, I have to admit that it’s a compelling piece of storytelling and that it caught my attention. Rather than critiquing it, I’m interested in picking it apart and starting to understand what makes it work. What could documentary filmmakers learn from VBS to generate a wider audience for their work? Is it possible to broaden your audience without playing to their desire to see something shocking and outrageous? Is it acceptable to use shock and outrage to get people to pay attention to parts of the world they know and care little about?

The field coordinator for the project was friend and colleague Myles Estey. He writes a bit about it on his blog Esteyonage, a frequent link-ee and definitely worth reading, here. Frankly, the Vice guys were lucky to have Myles working on this project. With the caveat again that I haven’t yet seen the film, I’m guessing that the input Myles provided makes Ethan’s questions harder to answer and keep the film from being outright sensationalism.

Myles tells me he’s getting a copy mailed to him in Monrovia and I’m hoping we’ll sit down and watch it in the coming weeks – as the generator flickers and heroine addicts and rebel warlords roam the streets terrorizing Liberia’s tentative peace! Okay, not really. My house is in a nice neighborhood and there’s a tea shop outside where I buy eggs every morning, there are always kids playing, and people bring chairs and benches and gather round in the evenings to watch movies and football games.

The Masonic Temple in Monrovia is getting a new coat of paint. Part of the cause of Liberia’s fourteen year civil war was the divide between the freed American slaves who founded the modern state and the indigenous people of Liberia. Many important government decisions were made at the Masonic Temple, where indigenous people were not allowed to enter. The Stone Mason Order is still active in Liberia today.

Mo’dernity, Mo’Problems: When I say this is an awesome blog, I’m not at all biased in that judgement by the fact that the blogger is my brother. In fact, I think that gives me all the more license to proclaim his blog crappy, but thankfully I don’t have to because it’s actually incredibly entertaining and insightful. I’m mainly writing this here so that he is shamed into continuing to blog. If you have any doubts about my proclamations, check out some African political science porn, and if that doesn’t get you going, this absolutely will. Even if you’re on ridiculously low bandwidth, I promise that the six hours this video takes to buffer will be worth it.

Long Gone Daddy: Though the Long Gone Daddy is now, well, gone, from Africa at least, he promises a few more posts digesting an amazing traipse across Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Plus, I’m always down with bloggers who post embarrassing photos of themselves dancing while dressed like a Republican senate intern. But, really, check out his great story on Kwani? and the Lunatic Express.

Rachel in Goma: Formerly in Kitgum, Rachel is now in Goma, transcribing daily life with a quiet sensitivity and refreshing lack of cynicism, at least for my cynical self. Her epic journey back to the USA for Christmas reminds me of all too many flights that are much too long, and her bit on lake gas and her small boat will make anyone want to buy a Ndege-Samaki.

This is Africa: Once you’ve left Rachel’s uncynical land and are looking for a good dose of mockery and perhaps even some lampooning, head over to Chris’s blog. While things called This is Africa usually make me cringe, I’ll forgive him and pretend it’s called Postcard Junky, since that’s what the URL says anyway. Worth your time because it’s always worth your time read people making fun of bad foreign correspondence or see mercenary travel guides, complete with cupcake car pictures.

Other new blogs (and old favorites) making my RSS happy are Cashew Man, South of West, Holli’s Ramblings, Things Seen and Heard, West Africa Always Wins, Jina Moore’s blog (currently under construction but up soon I hope!), and of course the staples.

Check out two cool new photo projects that help break down stereotypes and display more than your standard poverty porn. I also really like that both projects eschew the whole bad news/good news debate.**

The first is Africa Knows (HT: White African) that is a huge databank of the kind of images you can’t find anywhere else – everyday people, living every day lives.

The second is as much a sociology project as a photography project: Middle Class in Africa looks at who the middle class are and what their (usually unseen) lives look like. HT Afrique in Visu.

**More thoughts on this one of these days, but a quick question for all those who complain about all the “bad news” about Africa in the media – when was the last time you read good news in the media about Guatemala? And yes, I do know that Africa is a continent and Guatemala is not, but my point is that most of the media is made up of telling sad stories and bad news.

A few months ago, Steve Bloomfield came to Liberia and he wrote an article for the Observer on the amputee football team and I took photos for the story. Also, stay tuned here for more about Steve’s new book, Africa United.

Before they play, they pray. A dozen men, all missing a limb, lean on crutches and bow their heads. Shouts from a nearby football match and the sound of cars passing on the road beside us fill the air. The coach mutters an “amen” and the men lift their heads and begin warming-up. They move on their crutches with grace, dribbling around cones at pace, using the inside and outside of the foot.

Graham Green wrote a book called Journey Without Maps about trekking through “unexplored” Liberia. My friend Sean also writes a hilarious blog by the same name, but this post is about neither of those things. It’s about the maps we do have.

See this cool map here, and others here.

And now there’s a Google map of Monrovia that anyone can edit.

Also, this means there is now online evidence of the Monrovia pub called Red Lion. That’s right. A red lion bar!! I’m thinking 2010 will be a good year for me since it started with Red Lion imbibing on both weekend nights of my first weekend back in Africa.

Here’s one final that’s just for fun: the map on my iPhone during travels and travails upcountry with the lovely Jina Moore. In this case, there is no fork in the road leading to the road less traveled. There is only one road. And it is less traveled.

In January of 2009, I had just arrived in Monrovia and I wrote about three things I didn’t understand. Here’s one of them:

In a vacant lot, a boy, probably about ten years old, sat authoritatively on a the wall that ran the length of one side of the compound. In front of him were about five rows of younger boys, sitting cross legged, attentive, watching and listening to this other boy only slightly older than them.

In the comments, someone wrote that they had probably been child soldiers. I replied that I thought they were too young to have been soldiers in a war that ended five years ago and that I wasn’t ready to jump to any conclusions.

Turns out, they’re the Good Boys Soccer Team. A young adult coaches younger kids.

One of the things I love about my job is a license to answer my own questions.

And so, I find myself starting another year in Liberia. I won’t stay for the whole year, but there’s still so many things I haven’t photographed, and so many questions I haven’t answered. And then, onwards.

What are your plans for 2010?