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.
I found the scarlett lion on the roof of a friend’s house in Kampala back in 2006 when I went through a crate of discarded items he and a few other artists had gathered. On that day, I was looking for something and I found the lion: a discarded kid’s toy made in China on the cheap, that somehow found it’s way to 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.
I had the most amazing time this weekend snapping photos of the same sex weddings that took place this weekend with the passing of New York’s Marriage Equality Act while I was on assignment for Bloomberg Businessweek. Some photos there, some below, and more on my portfolio site.
Who can pass this up?? Faaji Agba is opening for Seun Kuti this friday at the Prospect Park Bandshell. HT to Africa is a Country.
Yesterday, Ciara Leeming over at Duckrabbit linked to an audio slideshow in the Guardian about male rape that accompanies a long written feature ont he same topic. It focuses on Congolese refugees in Uganda who were raped – some in DRC and others in Uganda. The audio includes many gruesome details, a practice all too common in journalism about rape, but I do think that photographer and writer Will Storr avoids sensationalizing the stories these men have shared with him. I felt uncomfortable watching the piece — which is certainly the point. Storr doesn’t leave us with any hopeful narratives or mutterings about how strong the Congolese are. Instead, there are just these men and their families and their tenuous futures.
Yet, the written piece begins,
Of all the secrets of war, there is one that is so well kept that it exists mostly as a rumour.
While female rape in Congo is widely covered, it is sensationalism to call rape against men a secret. The New York Times reported on this in 2009, it’s mentioned in the Mapping report, and elsewhere.
Reality TV show from Zambia helps former prostitutes find husbands. Um, right.
Is Nigeria’s richest man worth $2 billion or $13.8 billion? Is that even the right question to be asking?
Loving tumblrrrrs. Try this one: awesomepeoplehangingouttogether.
In Liberia, no need for violence or outright oppression to reign in the media – lawsuits that result in millions of dollars of damage will do the trick! (Nice job Aaron and Emily.)
Finally, the most awesome gay marriage posters ever. Check them all out since the one I’m reposting here just isn’t enough.
Monrovia, April 2009.
Several photo essays of the conflict and aftermath of the post-election violence in Ivory Coast are worth seeing. While the conflict received some (but not much) coverage from the mainstream media, the aftermath is already off the radar as some celebrate a supposedly successful intervention, and the results of atrocities committed by both sides are swept under the rug.
Chris de Bode’s story When Guns Fall Silent via Panos focuses on the aftermath in Western Ivory Coast. The first photo, of the crowded Catholic mission at Duekoue, shows the scale of the displacement, while many of his other photos show the individual impact.
Jane Hahn was on assignment for the New York Times during the conflict. She’s interviewed by the Lens blog here about the challenges of working in Abidjan and being one of the few foreign correspondent covering the conflict. Many of the images on her site show the gory reality of conflict, others show the intensity of political allegiances.
Peter di Campo went to Ivory Coast for the Pulitzer Center. He did a series of portraits that don’t reveal individuals’ identities, as well as images that document the severity of need for medical attention.
Stefano di Luigi’s photos on VII show a clear narrative of conflict, aggression, and a victor’s assent. John Ediwn Mason wrote a great post awhile back about di Luigi’s work and satire that’s worth reading, though I think the straightforward nature of this series keeps the photographer from lapsing into unnecessary visual cliche.
