This is a very lengthy and detailed posted BUT it contains amazing and very important information to prepare yourself for this summers workshop in Sarajevo. Even if you are not going to be able to make it to the workshop, do indeed read this entire post and watch/read/listen to all suggested material that is listed. It is great knowledge for ALL photojournalists to know:
This year, 2013, sees Foundry Photojournalism Workshops maturing into its sixth year. For an event that was fairly experimental when it was thought up and begun, those who volunteer and run Foundry are, trust us, the most surprised of anyone. It has taken five years of workshops, in five amazing, life filled locations- the beautiful chaos of Mexico City, the sky scraping Himalayas of India, the continent spanning souks of Istanbul, the vibrant nocturne that is Buenos Aires and the green trees and orange robes of Chiang Mai, Thailand have all been host to the kindness of Foundry's instructors, the sweat and tears of its staff and the vision and dreams of Foundry's motivated, passionate students.
Bosnia in general and Sarajevo in particular are very special places. Gorgeous in landscape and in people, this Balkan nation is in many ways the ideal location for photography classes. Sarajevo, known as the Jerusalem of Europe both due to its legendary tolerance and its location of major Catholic, Serbian Orthodox and Islamic house sod workshop and populations. It is a modern, fast paced European capitol city- many stories to shoot, great visuals and culture to document. It seems the perfect place for a workshop.
From 1992- 1995 a terrible war ravaged Bosnia, maiming, and massacring thousands. Some of the most iconic war photography of the last century was produced during this conflict, by some of Foundry's most esteemed instructors. Bosnia's war was a crucible for young war photographhers, the Siege of Sarajevo and Bosnia in general allowed latent talents to emerge and grow, and both single images that congealed all the horror, fear, pain, suffering, loss and anguish felt in this (and every ) war and visual photo stories were produced and published, trying to convince the outside world to intervene-and if not to intervene, than to at least care.
In a twist of sorts, many, if not most, of Foundry's instructors photograph -at least some of the time- war and violent conflict. Yet Foundry has to yet to be held in a post conflict, post war setting. Until now. The reasons for this are many and include issues logistical, practical, and in some respects, emotional.
Holding a photography workshop in a place that so recently shuddered with the thump of mortar and shrapnel, roiled with the screams of the dead and drying, torn by the staccato rips of machine gun fire requires many elements from both our faculty and staff and you, the student.
Though its been twenty years since Sarajevo and Bosnia were under the yoke of vicious conflict, the remnants and nightmares of that war are everywhere. From the casualness of shrapnel and bullet holes in concrete and mortar "roses" on streets, to the levels of PTSD in the population, to the soccer pitches still filled with the dead instead of children playing ball, to the ethnically cleansed villages across parts of Bosnia- once multi ethnic, Serb, Croat and Muslim, now everyone in these region all from the same ethnic group- the Bosnian War, with shooting over since the Dayton Peace ACcords, still affects people daily. There are three presidents. Students learn three different histories, based on their ethnic group. Jobs are doled out on a system of parceled slots- each ethnic group gets a certain amount of public jobs. Certain areas of Bosnia still seethe with ethic hatreds. The killing may be over but the war itself still lives for so many.
Preparing for the Foundry: Sarajevo 2013 Workshop asks YOU, the student, to immerse yourself in the recent past, in an effort to understand TWO things: First, the Bosnia War 1992-1995; Second, the aftermath of the war --1996 to today. As Sara Terry, noted photographer of the Bosnian war, says, "war is only half the story."Working in a post conflict nation requires you, the photographer, to work with extra sensitivity for people who have been thru unimaginable horrors, compassion for the wars victims, patience and acceptance of those who do not want to be involved or discuss the painful, very recent past or their losses or actions in it, and a deep understanding of both the war itself and the issues still wracking the nation of Bosnia. Anything less than this level of preparation and commitment is both a disrespect for the Bosnians you are documenting and your instructors good faith efforts.
If you wish to photograph almost any story related to the Bosnia war, you need to prepare NOW- contacting fixers, deciding on story ideas, finding NGOs and persons who can help you, doing all the reading and studying you can accomplish in order to understand the past and the current situation. Showing up for the workshop and planning on documenting Bosnia's war and post war life without serious, sincere preparation on your part is inexcusable and untenable.
This workshop requires its students to understand the past to be able to tell the stories of its present. The best way to understand and to prepare to listen to the Bosnians you will meet and interact with, whose lives yo will document, is to READ and to LOOK.
This war, as all wars, has its own terminology, DO not let that scare you off. Siimply understanding the following can help you greatly in understanding the war in Bosnia:
ethnic cleansing genocide Serb Bosnian Croat Siege of Sarajevo Ahmici Massacre
Multi-ethnic intermarriage Yugoslavia Marshall Tito
Srebrenica Gorazde Omarska Camp Kereterm Camp Trnoplje Camp
Mostar/Siege of Mostar Slobodan Milosevic Ratko Mladic Radovan Karadzic BiH Greater Serbia
ICTY- Criminal Tribunal For Yugoslavia UNPROFOR mass rape Prijedor Massacre
SEE:
When you get to Sarajevo, GO ON THE WAR TOUR. There is a link to the tour on Foundry's main webpage. It is only about three hours long but it will enhance your knowledge of the war untold amounts, and bring your pre trip reading to life.
READING:
Below is a reading list-- by no means comprehensive and certainly biased-contains some of the very best books about the Bosnia War. Many are written by journalists and children and soldiers. While reading all of them would be great, if you only read a few, start with the first four or so. Many can be found on Amazon.com for less than $1 US dollar or in a local public library.
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my war gone by, I miss it so- anthony loyd
love they neighbor: a story of war- peter maas
War is dead, long live the war--ed vulliamy* (absolute must read, documents Bosnia up until 2012- will help you most of all research)
Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo-- Zlata Filipovic
Then They Started Shooting: Growing Up in Wartime Bosnia -- Lynne Jones
Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia by Savo Heleta
My Childhood Under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary by Nadja Halilbegovich
When History Is a Nightmare : Lives and Memories of Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina by Stevan M. Weine
Surviving the Bosnian Genocide: The Women of Srebrenica Speak by Selma Leydesdorff and Kay Richardson
Srebrenica: Record of a War Crime by Jan Willem Honig and Norbert Both
The Graves: Srebrenica And Vukovar by Eric Stover and Gilles Peress
Srebrenica: by Tarik Samarah
Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995- Joe Sacco
The Fixer and Other Stories [Paperback]: Joe Sacco
Wounded I Am More Awake: Esad Boskailo
Logavina Street: barbara demick
A Problem From Hell: America in the Age of Genocide- Samantha Powers- Two excellent chapters on Srebrenica
MASS RAPE IN BOSNIAN WAR:
http://newint.org/features/1993/06/05/rape/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bosnias-rape-babies-abandoned-by-their-families-forgotten-by-the-state-519257.html
http://www.peacewomen.org/news_home.php
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LOOK- If you can, look thru/ acquire the book Bosnia 1992-1995. It is a compilation of tyne best photographs created by photojournalists during the war, and will teach you as much as the written work thru its visual history. None of these books are perfect; of course they express a bias, but all will help you understand the conflict mush more.
http://bosnia-book.com/en/
Look at Ron Haviv's seminal work, Blood and Honey, and try and understand who, what,where, why, how.
http://photoarts.com/haviv/bloodandhoney/
Look at the work of Ron Haviv, Roger Richards, Christopher MOrris, Gilles Peress, Gary Knight, James Nachtwey, Tarik Samarah,
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0302/rr_intro.html
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0104/morris_intro.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/04/20-years-since-the-bosnian-war/100278/
http://tariksamarah.com/thumbs.htm
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WATCH:
There are dozens of award winning documentaries online, mostly free.
Sarajevo Under Siege http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKg1TgOc52I
Srebrenica: Autopsy of a Massacre http://www.journeyman.tv/58510/documentaries/srebrenica-autopsy-of-a-massacre.html
Bosnia: Lost Images http://www.journeyman.tv/9456/documentaries/lost-images.html
Bosnia Revisited: Searching for Peace http://www.journeyman.tv/17514/documentaries/bosnia-revisited-searching-for-peace.html
Uspomene 677 http://vod.journeyman.tv/store?p=4814
Thee are also a few Hollywood movies made about the conflict and several great Balkan films, including the Oscar winner "No Mans Land". Watch Welcome to Sarajevo, In the Land of Blood And Honey,The Hunting Party, No Mans Land, Pretty House, Pretty Flame and Grbavica. None of these films are perfect but they will give you a greater sense of the conflict.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf7pEhlf3bw
http://www.inthelandofbloodandhoney.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slnr74cqX9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL8IF6431n4
The more you prepare the better photographer and the better journalist you will be. Foundry gives back to those who put the most into it. We are Bosnia's guests; we owe it to the Bosnian people to give our best efforts in documenting their stories.
