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Kolga Tbilisi Photo Meeting 2013
Exhibitions curated by Tina Schelhorn, Gallery Lichtblick
A life's work, Benedict J. Fernandez (USA)
During the mid-Sixties, Ben Fernandez photographed throughout the streets of New York becoming one of the most important street photographers of our time, photographing a variety of socially significant events. Fernandez' photographs of protest activities in the New York metropolitan area, as well as across the country, served as a photographic diary of the protest movement of the 1960s. Fernandez's powerful photographs of the last year of Dr. King's life invite us to walk the streets with the photographer, sit in the family home of Dr. King. His photographs serve as an extraordinary account and visual testimony of a dedicated photojournalist who captured a period in this country's history.
Brooklyn Stories
Uncle Charlie, Marc Asnin (USA)
In the early eighties, the Brooklyn-born photographer Marc Asnin started taking photographs of his godfather, uncle Charles Henschke, for an art-school assignment. Now complete in the form of a book and gallery show, Asnin’s series of gritty, black-and-white photographs offer a intimate look at Charlie’s life and struggles, and also chronicle Asnin’s evolving perceptions over three decades, from his boyhood admiration of a man he viewed as his street-savvy, gun-wielding uncle to the reality of an aging man tormented by mental illness, drug addiction, and strained relationships.
We Skate Hardcore, Vincent Cianni (USA)
In 1993, photographer Vincent Cianni moved to the Southside of the Williamburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. Once there, he quickly became enthralled with the vivid character of the neighborhood—enjoying the sounds, smells and sights of this predominantly Latino area. Soon, Cianni was taking his camera out into the streets of Williamsburg to photograph the children and teenagers he saw every day. In particular, Cianni was drawn to a group of Latino boys who loved inline skating, and spent their days building amateur skate parks and learning new stunts. Over the course of the next nine years, Cianni continued to photograph this same group of boys as they grew into young men. He photographed them skating, hanging out with friends and family, asking neighborhood girls for dates, and eventually starting careers and families of their own. Short essays from Cianni, photographs, video stills, and commentary from the skaters themselves—either written directly on their photographs or taken from Cianni’s conversations with the boys—combine in a visually stunning package that traces the lives of one group of friends with a passion for skating.
China Stories
Chili, Red Star Hotel
This exhibition seeks to uncover resonances between the China of today and that of its deep and ancient past. Through this collection China emerges as a complex country of many contrasts, a place of wild natural beauty and tradition and of a diverse and varied population with a multitude of customs and beliefs. These compelling images offer not just a visual picture of China but present China’s stories suggesting a presentiment for its future.
Kurt Tong, In Case it Rains in Heaven
Participating artists among others:
Harvey Benge, Auckland, New Zealand – China Story
Michael C. Brown, New York – Revolution Restaurant
Chili, Beijing – Red Star Hotel
Stefen Chow, Singapore – The Poverty Line
Nathalie Daoust, Bejing/Berlin – Impersonating Mao
James Whitlow Delano, Tokyo – China: Dystopa/ Utopia
Luis Delgado, San Francisco – Cuentos Chinos
Antonio Julio Duarte, Lisbon – Macao Casino
Katharina Hesse, Beijing – Human Negotiations
Oyvind Hjelmen, Stord, Norway – Journey Elswhere
Liu Jin, Beijing – Fallen Angel
Ferit Kuyas, Zürich – City of Ambition
Pok Chi Lau, Lawrence/Hongkong - The Legacy
Elaine Ling, Toronto – Stone to Stone
Sherman Ong, Singapore - HanoiHaiku
Wang Qingsong, Beijing – Another Battle Series
Michael Rhoades, New York – Chinatown NYC
Frank Silberbach, Berlin – In Mengwang
Matthew Sleeth, Melbourne – Red China
Homer Sykes, London – Shanghai Odyssey
Ian Teh, London – Trace
Kurt Tong, Hongkong – In Case it Rains in Heaven
Robert Welsh, San Francisco – Grandma
Zsolt Szamódy, Budapest – The Back Allys of Globalization
Wolfgang Zurborn, Cologne- China! Which China?
Afghan Stories
Migozarad – It will pass, Wolf Boewig (Germany)
There is no question that, after the Persian Gulf, the region around the Caspian Sea is one of the largest oil-bearing zones in the world. Ethnic and religious diversity is both a cause and a consequence of numerous conflicts here. The “large scale” struggle for raw materials is overlaid by many “small-scale” disputes, some of which are very tribal feuds. Domino: large conflicts are sparked by small ones, and small conflicts escalate into major ones. So there is nothing romantic about pipelines. But for the part of the world being considered for this reportage, they are the modern equivalent of the Silk Road. The only exports that could bring hard currency into the region quickly are petroleum and natural gas.
In the present confrontation -the playing field- has widen, northwards and eastwards, includes now Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, from that of the original Great Game, Afghanistan. Local and global players are searching for ways to bring those precious commodities to international markets while keeping Russia and China from new geopolitical positions.
Given these conditions in its immediate environment, it is uncertain how long the people of the region will be able to remain if the Great Game continues to be play.
The Fighting Season, Louie Palu (USA)
"The Fighting Season" refers to a well-known time of year in Afghanistan when the warm, late-spring weather provides conditions and resources ideal for fighting Afghan-style guerilla war through autumn. Canadian photographer Louie Palu photographed the conflict in Afghanistan over a five period, based in Kandahar with short trips to Kabul, Farah, Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan, Khost and Nimroz provinces.
Palu writes, "I worked embedded with military units and independently. I focused my work on three of the most violent districts in the country west of Afghanistan’s most strategic city of Kandahar. This region is home to where Mullah Omar gave birth to the Taliban."
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