Christopher Anderson Magazine Photographer Of The Year

One of my favourite photographers. Thanks for the link.

Hmmm…I didn’t know El Alto in Bolivia was a slum. Never actually saw slums with city hall, mayor, a hospital and various public schools. Guess I went to the wrong Bolivia. Perhaps one’s perception of the world changes when your a local. Don’t mean to change the subject here but it is bad reporting.

actually Carlos to pick up on your point there, which is dead on, there are some other questionable aspects of his project that kind of bug me on the larger thematic level. The North American understanding of this putative “Shift to the Left” in Latin Am is seriously lacking in perspective, historical dimension and adequate definition of the real nature of this phenomenon. I am glad that the work can help to shift some media attention back to Latin Am, but I am very suspicious of how the political trends down here are being defined from outside by people who seem not to understand the history or present conditions well.

Jon, in the American media, the usual adjective that precedes “shift to the left” is “dangerous.”

Congratulations to Chris Anderson…..and to Farah Nosh as well.

Hey Carlos,
Your point is well-taken, though your charge of bad reporting may be misdirected at Chris. As you know, agency photographers have to rely on colleagues working in their offices to enter these competitions for them, often because they are on assignment far away at deadline time. I’m assuming here that you are referring to the short caption with the photo from El Alto in the Singles section of the Magazine Photographer of the Year portfolio from the previously cited link in this thread.

Keep in mind the enormous load of abuse that was heaped on Tyler Hicks by bloggers last year for a caption published with one of his photos from Lebanon in the New York Times that completely misrepresented what Tyler himself had written. Are you certain that Chris Anderson himself described El Alto as a slum, a term you dispute? Perhaps your argument could be with someone else rather than the photographer.

My point is to remind you that we all accept the loss of a degree of control when we release our photographs into the hands of others. I don’t know whether or not this has happened to you, but try to imagine how easily someone could misperceive your own perception of the housing issues you’ve photographed in Brazil if they were to read captions written by someone unfamiliar with the situation there. Would it be fair to condemn you in such a case?

Otherwise, hope you’re doing well down in Brazil and taking more great picture, amigo.

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRIS….to me: some of the strongest work out there: for me, his beirut images bite/broke me the hardest (if its possible (not) to compare images of ravishment and war).....

with regard to El Alto, I asked a student of mine (after Carlos’ comments) who IS BOLIVIAN and she said that El Alto (prodominantly composed of Aymara) is in fact a horribly impoverished city, and growing incredibly fast…filled with squalor and destitution, but yes also contains a “city hall, mayor, hospital, public schools…” etc….and I think Anderson used the word slum to connotate the conditions which describe the majority of the population who live there, which by my students description suggests that much of the population there, just as much of the population in Bolivia and elsewhere are severly lacking essentials: potable water, fit living conditions, etc…..If anything, I wouldn’t crucify Chris, nor his “reporting” on the hanging of this word, especially since slum concerns an area, more than an entire city itself…...and also, im not sure Chris’ report on both Venezuela and Bolivia were in fact about a history or analysis of s. american politics….as Eduardo Galeano points out (to me, THE writer/poet of s. american history ;)) ) this is an impossibility concerning much of the west’s and north’s culpability/influence in things….Chris’ work is harrowing and raw and filled, for me, with the shadow-songs that inhabit those places…that he is not Bolivian, nor is he an historian, does not for me (considering the work), lessen the strength or the stories contain in those harrowing and bone-chipped images….

I think, at least in the case of these reports, the criticism, is not warranted…......

I am very happy for Chris…..deeply earned….

bob

no hay de que, joão. la verdad es que su reporte me pongo un poquito nervioso por esta falta de conocimiento, o por lo menos, falta de explicación. Entiendo lo que dice Trotter, pero no he visto en ningun lugar, ni Magnum ni las revistas, un narrativo que acompaña las fotos con buena explicación. La responsibiliad todavía queda con el fotógrafo al final. Esperando.

Bob, you are misunderstanding my point. Course the reportage is not about the history, but it needs to be explained and contextualized properly, and it hasnt yet. As for Galeano, well cant say enough about his obra and I am even using some of it for my caña project. Marvelous inventive work. Best in spanish.

John, all you say is true. Just to be clear here, my own point is more about contextualizing images with adequate explications that allow outsiders to understand what they are seeing better - this is very tricky ground thematically, particularly given the utter ignorance of North Ams about their Southern counterparts. I just havent seen any adequate explanation yet to accompany these images and I would think that even though all of what you say is true, the photographer/author is ultimately responsible for ensuring that his work is adequately contextualized and explained. I have experienced myself all the problems you describe, but anyone at Black Star could have told you that I worked very hard with the staff to ensure that the images went out with a clear and complete explanatoin - alot of times the fault lies with the photographer, not the house staff. I am not saying that the fault is a matter of negligence, no—there are lots of factors, but it is part of the job we do and we have to be watchful and hands on.

Jon: :)))...you are absolutely correct!....dont worry, I wasn’t criticizing, I agree with your frustration of the West/N.American (read: USA) interpretation of all things Central/SouthAmerican-Carribean: its really depressing as you pointed out so succinctly!!...I just meant: I think we have to be careful of indicting the images/photographer when Anderson is neither a writer nor an historian and that I think his work is not historicizing nor contextualizing but just “viewing” viscerally what those moments were like….especially during the election….in and around those cities…...most aren’t, and I trust his work: as dispsticks into those moments, based on his life’s oevre…but, you are ABSOLUTELY right (write ;) ): photographs are not (not ever) enough, and they both don’t accomplish what words can but also often suggest what words cannot (that’s why i like/need both):...but that’s why i love your work in the DR, cause i think both your photographs and your words are working hard to bridge both: your photos (as Anderson’s) EVOKE and your words: unhinge/frame the context/time….though, not everyone’s Anderson (Jon) though ;))))))))))

I still love deeply Chris’ work!

cheers :))))

b

p.s. galeano: turned on to him by a friend from Argentina: his prose: like the fire from god’s tongue ’;)))) (that’ be fire water ;)) )

Galeano is just great stuff, Bob, just no end of invention and insight and beauty. The stuff on the Tainos and the early conquest is fascinating. Btw, the English tradition is actually pretty good, but the terse ironies are missing a bit. Spanish is very terse.

For the record, again, i am totally in agreement with the choice made for this category. No problem there at all, he richly deserves it. I was wondering why I hadnt seen any of his work in the WPP contest. Glad to see it surface here.

Hey Jon,
Hope to meet you one of these days down the road. Congratulations on the Alicia Patterson and hope you’re able to rebuild all your research that you lost on your computer.

As to your point about Norte Americano ignorance about anything south of, say, El Paso, as well as to your point about not seeing Anderson’s work out there… when I spoke to him about his Venezuela work last September in Perpignan he told me that for all the months of work he’d been putting in there, he’d had only one photo published and that was sold as stock to go with a story someone was writing on the oil industry, I think. He said the magazines had simply shown no interest at all in the things he was seeing. Nevertheless, when I saw him again a few weeks ago he was about to leave for Venezuela again and a neighbor of his in that Kent Avenue photo slum in Brooklyn told me last night that Anderson was still down there.

So, it’s definitely a work in progress and he’s definitely putting in the time on the ground. It’s his own project, rather than an assignment and I know I’d much rather see personal projects rewarded in these contests.

Take care.

Wow, I like it that one word can mobilize all these people. I am not attempting to disrespect Chris. He’s a great photographer and I commend him on his efforts to go to Venezuela when no one gave a shit. I met him there in Altamira after Chavez’s referendum and he was right on not to shoot the rich who began to demonstrate and assault anyone just to get media attention. Sore losers! We both stopped shooting while so many others just provoked or incited more violence.

What I question is the appropiate definition we give to things. Like for example the damage done by Bush in labeling Iran the Axis of evil. My girlfriend is Iranian and she was just here for a week. When introduced to people here they were immediately spooked or thought of Iraq. This in my belief is due to bad communication. Or take Ahmadinejad’s comments on wiping Israel off the map. Both Bush and Ahmadinejad’s comments and because the media takes them to the point cause a lot of damage. Some of you mentioned that perhaps Chris or Tyler did not caption his images. This is no excuse. This is their responsibility. I take great care in captioning properly precisely because of this. Sorry if I’m not off on assignment. This portfolio is not being published in a magazine it’s being submitted to a contest and could possibly tour and be seen by millions as well.

El Alto has some really awful parts of town but so does Rio de Janeiro, does that make the entire city a slum? The Prestes Maia building I’m shooting is in the smack center of Sao Paulo and I would call that a slum, but it doesn’t make the entire block one too. El Alto has 1 million people. It was illegitamly settled but is now an organized community in dire conditions but still a city. If it has drinkable water, bad sewage and is without electricity then some parts maybe be “slumatic”? But I simple disagree with calling an entire city a slum. And if the pic was captioned by some assitant then Chris is the one to suffer, sure, but who is responsible?

Definitions do a lot of damage. Not all rhombuses are square but all squares are rhombuses.

But in any case.. hats off to Chris for the last two years, I think the work has paid off for him this year with the awards and grants. Plus I understand the Sunday Times Magazine in London will be publishing a piece soon.

Thanks John for that greatly informative post! Hey, LS members always welcome at the Dominican LS dacha. Anytime you down here, just call. I should be heading to NYC, but not till it gets a bit warmer!

This may be way off the topic of the POY but….........

Latin American “leftism” is about fruit and the United States’s neocolonialism from the early 1900’s. In my opinion to understand the geopolitics of the region one should understand the fruit business of the region. Not sure if sugar is a fruit. Didn’t the US invade the Dominican Rep. in the early 1900’s? (along with C. American countries)

A Peruvian friend of mine were just discussing the crappy coverage of Latin America and S. America the other day. He makes several trips a year to the “Sacred Valley” in Peru to help children.

Thaks for keeping me honest. I do not pretend to be an expert on Latin America or even current events in Venezuela or Bolivia. I started photographing in these regions to seek understanding for myself…not to try and explain anything. My work is as much a personal discovery as it is anything else. I welcome advice and explanation from all of you who know much more about that part of the world than I. I am sure there are many problems with my pictures and captions that go deeper than my use of the word slum. I apologize. You are right that it is my responsibility. I take fulll blame. I am doing my best but as Rumsfeld says, there are things we know we don’t know and things we don’t know we don’t know. Make sense? Not to me either. I am trying to be as correct as possible, but I do make mistakes.
However, in the case of slum: probably not the most accurate choice of word, I agree. But here is what Websters says: “a densely populated usually urban area marked by crowding, dirty run-down housing, poverty, and social disorganization.” we could bebate how exactly El Alto meets each one of these descriptions, but I need to go take pictures right now.:-)

The truth is that El Alto is one of the poorest neighborhoods on the planet. Yes, by many estimates, poorer than places often described as “slums” in Rio and other cities. Oxfam goes as far to call it a “shantytown”, a name that I don’t agree with as the word shanty to me describes the kind of physical structures of a place. El Alto doesn’t really have buildings that I would describe as “shanty.”

anyway, maybe you’ll be interested in how the righ-wing wacko blogsphere is using your discussions:
http://www.snappedshot.com/archives/695-Christopher-Anderson-Photographer-of-the-Year.html

all best,
Chris Anderson

Wow! It’s pretty bizarre to have one’s comments lifted wholesale from a site where one is a member and have them posted-and rebutted-on an alien site. That would be my first “posting” in the right-wing wankosphere! Gotta love the google!

chris,thanks for the link to that blog.i don’t really understand their criticism of you or lightstalkers.their main arguement seems to be that we don’t all share the same viewpoint? can someone explain to me why that is a bad thing?i know that in conservative circles there is a deeprooted fear of anything that upsets their cosy but actually non-existent status quo,but even they cannot honestly believe the world can be so black and white.can they?

Congrats Chris… very well deserved! Your work continues to inspire so many of us. Thanks as always.

Best, -John

Chris et all.

Keep shooting! Keep asking!
And sorry for the mess Chris.. ;)

As for Webster? Well, like I said El Alto is a city and parts of it have slums. It’s definitely one of the poorest places on earth. Yet I think once again it’s not Cite de Soleil or Soweto.
Perhaps my idea of a slum since I was kid living in Rio, is the distorted one.

I’m happy to hear that the word spread fast and even gots pirated on that most interesting blogs.