Photography Needed for Documentary on Muslim America and Hip-Hop

Specific Pictures and its contributors are pleased to extend an invitation to submit photography for an anthology, the companion book to New Muslim Cool a feature length film about a young Puerto Rican-Muslim artist devoted to Islam and hip-hop, coming of age in a Post 911 America. New Muslim Cool, made in partnership with CPB and PBS, is to be released in 2009.

This anthology will examine the relationship between Muslims and American popular culture, with an emphasis on hip-hop and the identities of young Muslims in the US. It will be the first photographic anthology to document a counter culture movement created by Muslims of the hip-hop generation and shaped by faith, fashion, music and politics.

Photographs, essays, interviews, and poetry will tell the story of this racially and ethnically diverse subculture that’s influenced popular culture in America over the past three decades. In the spirit of Jamel Shabazz’s Back In the Days and Shoichi Aoki’s Fruits this anthology seeks to compile vibrant images depicting contemporary Muslim youth culture in America.

This book will profile the best of Muslim Street Fashion, an interesting blend of North American style and Muslim cultural symbolism. Images of Muslim youth in traditional Arab keffiyehs and Nike high-tops, Cazel glasses and chains with “Allah” pendants, Timberland stilettos and denim jilbabs, will be profiled.

In addition, there will be interviews and images of Islam-conscious hip-hop pioneers, today’s young Muslim producers and artists, DJ’s, B-boys and girls, graffiti artists, slam poets, fashionistas, stand-up comics and activists; all of whom lend their voices to the ongoing dialogue about Islam in America.

Submitting your work:
We invite you to submit 5 to 10 of your strongest photographic images representing contemporary US Muslim youth culture. Color and/or Black & White images are welcome. There are no boundaries with respect to photographic style or technique.

Along with your images, please send an artist’s statement (two paragraphs) and image descriptions, as well as a bio (two paragraphs). Please indicate if you have series within your submission.

Guidelines:
CD Submissions: 
 Images should not exceed 5×7 inches @ 300 dpi.

Email Submissions: 
Send small .jpgs @ 72dpi
Email: NMCPhotography@ gmail.com

Please put “Photo Submission” in the subject field.

ABOUT THE EDITOR
Kauthar Umar is a documentary film producer, photographer and magazine editor. She is a co-producer for New Muslim Cool, a feature length film for PBS and was a New Media Institute fellow for the National Black Programming Consortium in 2006.

Umar’s photography has been featured in Tokion, Current, Trace212.com, Volunteers for Prosperity and on the cover of the highly anticipated book, American Muslim Women by Dr. Jamillah Karim. She has exhibited in New York City at The Kitchen of Bengal and in The Latin Collectors Gallery RESSURECTIONS exhibit.

Umar has written for ESSENCE and YM and serves as a contributing editor for Germany's Deutschland International and Islamic Horizons, where she also developed and edited the ground breaking 2005 issue, “Return To Roots”, about Islam in Black America. Umar is also an editor for the upcoming anthology CROSSING LIMITS: Poetry From American Muslims and American Jews.

Photographer Kimiko Yoshida's Self Portraits as International Brides

Born in Tokyo, Japan but based in Europe since 1995, fine art photographer Kimiko Yoshida turns the lens on herself, dressing up in items from old and new world traditions as well as other objects like letters of the alphabet.

Central to her photographs is the theme of ethnicity and with the exception of her "Letters" series, most of Yoshida's photographs portray her as a type of bride. For example, there's the Cowrie Bride with Yoruba headdress, the Amazon Bride with exotic plummage, the Kabul Bride in a white burkha and many more...

I imagine that photographer/filmmaker Cindy Sherman is/was an influence Yoshida's work. Beginning in the late 1970's, Sherman used "herself as a vehicle for commentary on a variety of issues of the modern world."

PHOTO: The El Dorado Bride (Gold Pectoral, Macaracas, Azuero, Panama, 1,100-500 before present; Nose & Neck Gold Ornaments, Moche, Peru, 1,900-1,700 before present; Gold Hair Ornament, Lambayeque, Peru, 1,100-900 before present). Self-portrait, 2005 - Copyright Kimiko Yoshida

Multicultural Artists Featured at Helsinki Photography Festival 2009

Opening January 21-24, 2009 in Helsinki, Finland. Among other events, the 4-day opening of the 2009 Helsinki Photography Festival includes 2 main exhibitions:

1. Aletheia – Positions in Contemporary Photographies (January 23 - March 22), presented at Meilahti Art Museum, revisits and reexamines fundamental questions regarding photographic practices and the photographic medium – including the very possibility of a medium – and their roles and impact within contemporary culture.

Participating artists include: Renaud Auguste-Dormeil, Francois Bücher, Maria Hedlund, Nanna Hänninen, Emily-Jane Major, Oscar Muñoz, Chino Otsuka, Liisa Lounila, Marja Pirilä, Jari Silomäki, Michael Wesely, Richard Whitlock and Kimiko Yoshida.

2.
Tense Territories – Contemporary Aspects on Territorial Behaviors (January 22 - May 24), a set of four personal exhibitions at The Finnish Museum of Photography.

Participating artists are Mohamed Bourouissa (Courtesy Gallery Les filles du calvaire, Paris/Brussels), Sini Pelkki, Carrie Schneider and Sauli Sirviö.

R.I.P Civil Rights Photographer Alex Rivera

On October 25, 2008 the world lost photography legend, Alexander (Alex) Rivera. A Northa Carolina native and World War II veteran, Rivera spent 30 years photographing segregation/integration, lynchings, wrongful persecutions and the daily life of Southern African Americans.

Although Rivera described his history-making work as "just another day on the job", he endured persecutions of his own - like the time in 1948 when he was jailed for photographing the three separate entrances to a movie theater, one for whites, one for blacks and one for Indians.

This year the North Carolina Museum of History, held a retrospective of Rivera's work titled Bearing Witness: Civil Rights Photographs of Alexander Rivera.

Photos of Barack Obama's Personal Life on the Campaign Trail

We've all seen him on the debates, in interviews, on posters... Obama's face is everywhere. But what do we know of the real Barack Obama - what is he like off-screen?

These photos by Callie Shell from the 2007/2008 Barack Obama campaign shot for Time magazine, show a side of our future president that many of us have never seen.

What they show is that Barack is considerate (he cleans up after himself), humble (he's got holes in soles of his shoes), physically strong (he does pull ups before giving speeches) and is the loving family man and husband that we all hope to see more of.

PHOTO: © Callie Shell / Aurora for Time

New Orleans Photo Exhibit Honors Photographer Jamel Shabazz

The MCKENNA MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART is proud to present

SHOOTOUT: Lonely Crusade... An Homage to Jamel Shabazz
Part of PhotoNOLA, sponsored by the New Orleans Photo Alliance

Curated by Shantrelle P. Lewis and Russell K. Frederick
Organized by Laylah Amatullah Barrayn

Sponsored by the Young Friends Society of A.D.I.

Featuring exclusive work from 25 of the hottest contemporary photographers:

Phil Asbury (Philly) - Laylah Amatullah Barrayn (NYC) - Betty Bastidas (NYC/S.F) - Delphine Fawundu-Buford (NYC) - Malik Yusef Cumbo (NYC) - Karina Dafeamekpor (GHANA) - Shawn Escoffery (NYC/NOLA) - Kerika Fields (NYC) - Don Fela Ford (Philly) - Dreama Goldsmith (NOLA) - Ava Griffiths (JAMAICA) - Akintola Hanif (NYC) - Ayana V. Jackson (NJ) - Terrence Jennings (NYC) - Nsenga Knight (NYC) - Jati Lindsay (DC) - Ezra Mabengeza (S. AFRICA) - Marissa Weekes - Mason (NJ) - Radcliffe Roye (JAMAICA) - Terrence Sanders (NOLA) - Ayo Y. Scott (NOLA) - Bayete Ross-Smith (NYC/S.F.) - Noelle Theard (HAITI/Miami) - Vernell Thomas (NOLA) - Amanda Williams (S.F.)

On View:
December 13, 2008 - January 31, 2009

Opening Soiree:
Saturday, December 13, 2008 - 6pm until... and after-party to follow!

The George & Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art
2003 Carondelet Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 586-7432
www.themckennamuseum.com

Barack Obama Limited Edition Photograph by Dawoud Bey

This morning I logged on to Facebook and had a notification from photographer Dawoud Bey:

Greetings All:
I am offering my portrait of the next president of the United States, Barack Obama, to private collectors and institutions. See my blog for details.

A portion of each print sale goes to the Obama Campaign. Get a one of kind photograph and help defeat the McCain - Palin soap opera.

-Dawoud Bey

Prices are $2,500 and $5,000 for these limited edition archival pigment prints. E-mail inquiries to: dawoudbey@aol.com

PHOTO: Barack Obama Portrait by Dawoud Bey Copyright © 2008 (All rights reserved)

Bloomsbury Photo Auction on Ebay - October 17, 2008

You too can own a piece of original, fine art photography like this portrait of actor/writer/activist/singer/athlete Paul Robeson by photographer Doris Ulmann.

Other prints for sale include works by notable Dodge & Burn-featured photographers like Sebastiao Salgado, Andres Serrano, Tina Modotti and Manuel Alvarez Bravo, among others.

See Bloomsbury Auctions' full catalog of photography up on Ebay Live Auctions.

PHOTO: Paul Robeson, ca. 1920 by Doris Ulmann (1882-1934)

Samoan Artist Shigeyuki Kihara Photography Exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Born to a Japanese father and Samoan mother, Shigeyuki Kihara will present her photographic work in the Metropolitan Museum's first exhibition of Samoan contemporary art.

Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs explores themes of Pacific culture, identity, colonialism, indigenous spirituality, stereotypes, gender roles (the artists lives as a fa’afine - the Samoan term for a transgender person), and consumerism. Read more about the Metropolitan Museum's Shigeyuki Kihara exhibit at Artdaily.org.

The exhibition will be featured on the Metropolitan Museum’s website.

Tyler Perry Opens Movie/TV Studio in Altanta, GA

Tyler Perry's life is a true American success story. He is a man who went from victim to victor.

Having suffered child abuse, Perry got his start by journaling his painful experiences which later became the material for several plays and movies that have changed the popular entertainment landscape of America.

Now it seems the playwright, screenwriter, actor and director and producer is on a mission to create his own Hollywood. And why not?

With a grand opening held on October 4, 2008, the Tyler Perry Studios is the first African-American owned studio in the country located in southwest Atlanta.

The studio occupies two former airline affiliated buildings and includes 200,000 square feet of television/movie sets and office space.

The opening was attended by notable Black actors and personalities such as Sidney Portier, Will Smith, Cicely Tyson and Hank Aaron among others.

Perhaps now there will be more opportunities for diverse American stories to be told on the silver screen as well as substantial roles for actors of color. I see Tyler Perry's studio opening as a major step towards the "minorities" of this country taking control of the way we're represented in mass media.

See more photos from the Tyler Perry Studios opening courtesy of ConcreteLoop.com

Now I'm just wondering, why didn't Spike Lee do this first?

Photojournalist James Nachtwey Fights Extremely Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDRTB)

Photojournalist James Nachtwey is using his camera for social change and breaking a big story today to share a vital story that the world needs to know about - creating awareness of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis currently threatening many poor, "third world" countries.

Watch the enlightening XDRTB documentary video featuring a montage of black and white documentary photography by James Nachtwey.

Nachtwey's photographs will be projected on outdoor screens around the world - find out where.

Spread the word so we can bring awareness to this preventable disease before it becomes the next pandemic.

Mexican Photojournalist Julian Cordona Straddles the Immigration Fence

A native and resident of Juárez, Mexico, since 1993 Julian Cordona has used his camera to document the devastating effects of NAFTA and globalization along both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

After attending vocational school, Cordona worked as a "maquiladora" factory worker himself where he earned money to buy his first camera. A self-taught photographer, Cordona has published and exhibited his work worldwide.

Ever wonder how the things you use everyday got made and by whom? "Maquiladoras" are manufacturing or export assembly plants in northern Mexico, producing parts and products mostly for the United States. Deplorable working conditions, insanely low wages (some as little as $9 or less a day) could qualify these factories as "sweat shops." The lack of taxes and fees imposed on the factory owners plus the existence of only 1 official government union further enables these injustices. Cordona's personal ties to this community and his subjects allow us to get an intimate, authentic and compassionate perspective.

Cordona's new photography book Exodus/Éxodo, a collaboration with writer Charles Bowden, is an expansion on their award-winning 2006 Mother Jones article and "puts a human face to the issue of illegal immigration."

PHOTO: Production line for cable-vision equipment. Antec Network Actives (Texscan plant). Copyright Julian Cordona