Scarlett Lion

Gay. And Ugandan.

Glenna — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:29:59 +0000

I ask a lot of people. I ask for their stories, their past and present, their secrets, their fears. Most people give generously of themselves. They offer me a seat or invite me into their homes.

I’m always amazed by how much people share with me when all I’ve done is ask. But when I went to Uganda a month ago, I was especially astounded. At a time when an anti-homosexuality bill threatens to criminalize loving and living, several gay friends nonetheless invited me to their homes and allowed me to take their photos, to write down their names, to risk further exposure. They could have just said no. Many people I asked did. But a few didn’t. And I’m glad for it, and glad to share their stories here.

Read my article in Time, see a story a colleague wrote that uses one of my photos, and see more images on glennagordon.com.

Happy Weekend

Glenna — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:29:46 +0000

3,566 extra miles

Glenna — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:36:56 +0000

I’m not taking a boat, but I kinda think I’d get there just as quickly if I did: today I fly from Monrovia to Yaounde, Cameroon, via Nairobi of course, on a red eye that ends up at NBO at 5 am, but feels like 3 am to me because of the time change. This will be the third time I’ve taken this flight in the past five months. I walk up that weird ramp/staircase into the terminal, bleary eyed and exhausted, and buy juice at Java’s and try not to fall asleep in my chair.

(In case you’re wondering, the distance as-the-bird-not-the-plane-flies between Monrovia and Yaounde is 1,545 miles. The distance from Monrovia to Nairobi to Yaounde is 5,111 miles.)

I haven’t had as much time to blog lately as I would have liked, but I hope I’ll still get a few chances in Cameroon. And, hopefully I’ll also post soon about the work I did on a recent trip to Uganda that of involved, among other things, that same bleary eyed walk up those not stairs at NBO.

Court E and Rape in Liberia

Glenna — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:37:53 +0000

Here’s another dispatch from my work with Jina Moore:

World Vision: Many women and girls in Liberia suffer from rape and its aftermath, often while their rapists walk free. In Monrovia, judges and prosecutors are experimenting with a new court system that they hope will bring an end to impunity.

The parents of a young girl who was rape. They are trying to seek justice through the slow process of prosecution at Court E.

A young girl at an MSF clinic who is a rape survivor trying to seek prosecution through Court E.

Ester, a rape victim in Liberia, plays with a doll at the prosecutor’s office while waiting with her mother.

Photo of the Day: Photoshop Fun

Glenna — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:46:16 +0000

Photo of the Day: Peacekeeper Poses

Glenna — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:52:15 +0000

I’m feeling very protected right now.

Breaking News!! World Press Includes Lots of Awesome Photos from Africa

Glenna — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:56:29 +0000

Okay, I was so excited to see that Malick Sidibé won that I put up a blog post about it instantly. Now, hours later as my internet struggles to keep up with my photo-looking-desires, I realize that there are a couple of great photos from Africa of the total non-poverty porn vien included in the winners this year. Check out Francesco Giusti’s pictures of the sappeurs society in Congo, and Joan Bardeletti’s photo of a picnic on the beach in Mozambique, an aerial shot of JR’s awesome installation in Kiberia, and Denis Rouvre’s images of Senegalese wrestlers. There’s also plenty of standard fare that I won’t spend time linking to here, but, I’m happy to see these four examples mixed in.

Maybe this will be a good year for media in and about Africa. I certainly hope so.

Drawings on the Wall: LBDI and INRI

Glenna — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:32:10 +0000

Some things change and others obviously don’t. The Liberian Development Bank has a new office in town on Tubman Boulevard, one of the main roads in Monrovia. But just behind the main road, this rusted and ominous sign tells a different story. See more photos from Drawings on the Walls here.

Photographer from Mali wins one of the World Press Awards

Glenna — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:08:29 +0000

Congratulations to Malick Sidibé on the World Press photography prize! I really love his work so I’m very happy to see that he’s among the winners. And it’s great to see photos that aren’t of poverty porn.

(Though the World Pressers awarded a fair share of that too.)

See a great review of his work here, and buy his book here. I ordered mine on Amazon.com a while back and the next time I head to the USA, I’ll pick it up from my parent’s house in California, where it waits for me along with all those notices about my high school reunion.

And every day, I want to go to Mali more and more… and my high school reunion less and less.

Real World: African Autocrats

Glenna — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:52:16 +0000

Must read hilarity from This is Africa:

Enter Rwandan President Paul KAGAME, Ugandan President Yoweri MUSEVENI, and Libyan President Muammar QADDAFI. A corpulent Kenyan President Mwai KIBAKI sits on the sofa, stuffing his face with sausage rolls and scanning hot celebrity pics in The Star. Angolan President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS sits under a pile of cobwebs in the corner, an oil drip connected to his arm. Nigerian President Umaru Musa YAR’ADUA is nowhere to be seen.

MUSEVENI: You fat Kikuyu, always hungry!

KIBAKI: It is my turn to eat, bwana.

MUSEVENI: If you only eat a little – slowly, slowly – no one will notice. I fleeced the West for years before they realized I was no better than all the other tyrants. Some still think I am an example of the New African Leader. Haha.

KAGAME: Haha.

MUSEVENI: Haha.

YAR’ADUA: …

KIBAKI: Ndiyo, you are right. If I am not careful, Ban Ki-Moon will tell me that I should be tried at a special tribunal in the Hague. Hahaha.

MUSEVENI: Hahaha.

KAGAME: Hahaha.

ALL: Hahaha.

[Cut to Ban KI-MOON, wearing a pink tutu and blushing in the corner.]

KIBAKI: We Kikuyu have a saying: grmphluggerblursplatughrump [words drowned out by digestive noises].

KAGAME: In the bush we survived on canniness and wiles. For three years I ate nothing but Human Rights Watch reports. [lifting shirt to reveal washboard abs] Yoweri, feel my stomach.

MUSEVENI: You fat Kenyans cannot even agree on how to misrule a country.

KIBAKI: Yes, now you are handing out leadership advice. Mr. I Can’t Even Control an Unruly Kingdom Within My Own Borders.

MUSEVENI: [makes a flummoxed face]

KIBAKI: Mr. Let Me Bend Over So the Western Oil Companies Can Stick It In.

MUSEVENI: [cartoon teapot steam spouting from ears] Oh, so says the great leader of the Grand Coalition Government. So says him who can’t even manage to steal an election without maybe half the Western world noticing.