Ed Kashi
Instructions: Each couple will prepare a 5-10 minute presentation, during which they will post on their blog sites, and then share with the class.
www.edkashi.com
www.viiphoto.com
www.talkingeyesmedia.org/about/ed-kashi
1) The name, origin, and essential purpose/philosophy of the individual or organization.
VII (Seven) is a photo agency dedicated to shedding light on the environmental, social and political injustices of the 21st century. The agency was founded by seven of the worlds leading photojournalists in 2001 (Alexandra Boulat, Ron Haviv, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Christopher Morris, John Stanmeyer and James Nachtwey.) Among the group of elite photographers signed to the agency is Ed Kashi, who joined in 2010.
Kashi is a widely recognized photojournalist, filmmaker, and educator. His images have been published and exhibited worldwide. Kashi's most recent work includes Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta, THREE and Photojournalisms, a combination of journal writings to his wife done over a 20-year period from locations all around the world. In 2002 Kashi and his wife founded Talking Eyes Media, a non-profit company that has produced short films and multimedia pieces exploring important social issues.
"Designed from the outset to be an efficient, technologically enabled distribution hub for some of the world's finest photojournalism, VII has been responsible for creating and relaying to the world many of the images that define the turbulent opening years of the 21st century... But this is not merely artfully captured, neutral observation; nor is it the doctrinaire elaboration of a political or social position. Each photographer is inspired by an array of often very different motivations, and it is from this breadth of reference that the agency draws its originality and strength." -viiphoto.com
New York Times interview with Ed Kashi
OTHER VII PHOTOGRAPHERS
Lynsey Addario, Jocelyn Bain Hogg, Marcus Bleasdale, Stefano de Luigi, Venetia Dearden, Jessica Dimmock, Adam Ferguson, Ashley Gilbertson, Ron Haviv, Ed Kashi, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Joachim Ladefoged, Christopher Morris, Seamus Murphy, Maciek Nabrdalik, Franco Pagetti, Stephanie Sinclair, John Stanmeyer, Anastasia Taylor-Lind, Tomas van Houtryve, Donald Weber
2) Show an example of multimedia work produced by the individual/organization.
A Vietnam pond has been contaminated from the U.S. Military spraying some 12 million gallons of Agent Orange herbicide from 1962-1971. A toxic chemical in Agent Orange, Dioxin, has been associated with cancers, diabetes, birth defects and other disabilities. Vietnam Red Cross estimates more than 150,000 Vietnamese children have been born with birth defects associated with Agent Orange.
The multimedia piece focuses on the story of Tan Tri age 21 and Tan Hau, age 10. Tan Tri's mother must carry him around because he is unable to walk or crawl. Tan thi Thu Hien age 18 is their sister who is normal and healthy. She teaches them how to read and she feels terrible because her brothers don’t get to do normal activities. The mother must stay home to take care of them. She carries them to the yard to do some exercises with them, then carries them back into the house to eat. She worries about what will happen to them when she is gone and not there to take care of them anymore.
The biggest struggle for these families are that they are no services or support given to them from the government. Agent Orange spreads through three generations. Slowly, British organizations are contributing to the welfare of those children with disabilities.
Children of Vietnam is an organization trying to help families in need and have reached out to Ly’s family. Ly is now in school and getting the food and medicine she needs. Children of Vietnam are currently “supporting 200 families through their services,” Luro’ng thi Hu’o’ng said. They repair homes and give vocational training. The community is coming together and families are finally getting necessary service.
This Agent Orange poison has affected numerous families.
“I saw the war as asomething that happened in the natural order of things. But the most long lasting effect, the most deavastatingly cruel things, is this kind of toxin. We don’t know when it’s going to go away,” Tan Dong said.
3) Explain how this work is similar or different to traditional journalism reportage. Lead a discussion with the class on the ethical dimension of this work, and its effectiveness.
At the turn of the century, Ed Kashi was one of few photographers who was able to embraced the internet as a way for distributing his work. Using new technology and traditional photojournalism-style reportage, Ed Kashi focused his journalistic eye on some of the worlds most pressing issues helping modernize story telling and define the use of multimedia. By publishing his work online it opened the door to other mediums as well like The New York Times Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic Magazine, AARP.org, MSNBC.com, MediaStorm, The Documentary Channel, and PBS stations nationwide.
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