noor at fotografia europea 2015 - italy

Fotografia Europea 2015 hosts NOOR. The Municipality of Reggio Emilia, in collaboration with aBcM, presents the HOST project, inviting NOOR to bring its select group of highly accomplished photojournalists and documentary storytellers for a series of activities to the city, from 14-17 May 2015, Reggio Emilia, Italy.

HOST offers an exclusive opportunity to encounter and discover an internationally renowned agency through a calendar of activities and events in which participants can personally come into contact with some of the leading figures in contemporary photography.

NOOR WORKSHOP

From Thursday 14 May until Saturday 16 May 2015, as part of the Fotografia Europea festival, NOOR will host a three day practical workshop under the guidance of Stanley Greene, Jon Lowenstein, Sebastian Liste and Andrea Bruce.

 
 

The participants will work in four groups of maximum 6 participants per group. Each group will be guided by one of the photographers. There will be room for practical and theoretical discussions on how to develop stories and portfolio reviews. One day of the workshop will be dedicated for shooting and one day will be dedicated for editing the work done the previous day - so participants have to be in possession of a camera and computer. Due to the fast pace of the workshop, NOOR highly recommends that participants produce and edit their work digitally.

Each applicant will be able to choose the photographer they would like to work with, and all efforts will be made to accommodate their choice.

During the three days the four NOOR photographers will each give a presentation of their work, followed by a Q&A and discussion. These presentations can be attended by all participants.

The results of the workshop will be screened at the festival on Saturday night during the NOOR Night at Chiostri di San Pietro, the main venue of the Festival.

When: Thursday 14 until Saturday 16 May 2015 between 10:00 to 18:00 CET.

Cost: €300 (exclusive of €15 administration costs)

Admits: 20-24 people (5 to 6 per group)

RETHINKING THE PHOTO PROJECT

On Saturday 16 May 2015, as part of the Fotografia Europea festival, NOOR will host  a one day theoretical workshop under the guidance of Asim Rafiqui.

 

 © Asim Rafiqui | NOOR

The participants will explore how to discover story ideas in their own seemingly ordinary surroundings and how to produce photography projects and use digital media to create individual and unique works that go beyond the news cycle or the editorial publishing restrictions. The goal is to help participants rethink story ideas, understand the new possibilities of self-publishing, and begin to create multi-layered and complex projects that look towards audiences beyond the editorial and magazine markets. 

This is a project workshop, and not a photography aesthetics / camera use workshop.

We will focus on:

- discussing and developing participant story ideas

- project concept development

- project / story frameworks

- project research

- digital / online project layout and design

- digital tools and techniques for self-publishing works

When: Saturday 16 May between 10:00 to 18:00 CET.

Cost: €150 (exclusive of €15 administration costs)

Admits: 5-6 people

NOOR LUNCH

On Saturday 16 May 2015, as part of the Fotografia Europea festival NOOR will host 'NOOR Lunch Talks' with the following photographers on the following subjects:

 © Alixandra Fazzina | NOOR

Nina Berman  on 'Photography and Social Media'.

Francesco Zizola on 'Ethics and Photojournalism'.

Pep Bonet on 'Moving into Moving Images', about the power of  mixed medias.

Alixandra Fazzina and Benedicte Kurzen on 'Women; Two Sides of the Camera'. Alixandra and Benedicte will seek to discuss the role of women both behind the camera and as subjects in conflict.

Each applicant will be able to choose the photographer they would like to have the lunch with, and all efforts will be made to accommodate their choice.

The lunches will take place at Ristorante Enoteca Il Pozzo.

When: Saturday 16 May 2015

12:30 - 14:30 lunch + talk

14:30 - 15:30 possibility for a short portfolio review

Cost: €85 (including food, exclusive of €15 administration costs).

Admits:

The lunches with Nina Berman, Francesco Zizola and Pep Bonet will each admit 6 to 8 people.

The lunch with Alixandra Fazzina and Benedicte Kurzen will admit 12 to 14 people.

HOW TO SUBMIT?

1. Please download, fill out, and sign the registration form.

This can be sent via email to: info@abcmprogetti.net

2. Please make an advance payment of 100 EUR via PayPal

or bank transfer to:

Bank Account holder Stichting Noor Foundation

IBAN code: NL37 INGB 0004288015

BIC/SWIFT: INGBNL2A

Please clearly indicate with the payment your name and what it concerns, so we can track the payment. Please send a receipt of the payment together with the registration form.

3. For the 3 day workshop with Stanley Greene, Jon Lowenstein, Sebastian Liste and Andrea Bruce, as well as the one day workshop with Asim Rafiqui, you are required to have:

- Basic experience in documentary photography or photojournalism;

- A high level of motivation;

- English language skills (the workshop is in English);

- A good technical understanding of your camera equipment, a working knowledge of the media environment and basic image management skills.

To apply you need to send a PDF file not exceeding 6 MB including:

A CV including your contact information and a written text explaining your work and projects.

A portfolio of max. 30 images with text introductions and captions (please show your story telling skills by presenting at least one picture story of 8 images).

Please send your application with all the above requested documents (registration form, payment receipt, portfolio) to : info@abcmprogetti.net

Deadline: Tuesday 28 April 2015 EXTENDED! NEW DEADLINE: 5 May 2015 (before midnight C.E.T.)

If sending a PDF creates a problem, we accept links and word documents or alternative formats. For more information contact info@abcmprogetti.net.

Selected participants for the workshops and the lunches will be provided with necessary information in the form of welcome packs prior to the event and with a free pass for the festival.

FEES AND POLICY

Tuitions for the workshops and the lunches does not include flights, accommodations or meals. All on-the-ground expenses are the responsibility of the student.

Once you submit your application, you will be notified within 2 business days after the submissions deadline.

All fees must be paid within three days from acceptance. Students will then be emailed a full welcome package with suggestions for accommodations as well as a guide to Reggio Emilia.

Please note

- NOOR reserves the right to change or alter the program advertised.

- If a participant decides to cancel for whatever reason, it must be confirmed in writing:

. NOOR will reimburse all the registration costs except for €15 administration fee, if the participant informs NOOR of cancellation the day they receive the notification of acceptance to the workshop. Beyond this time limit, NOOR will charge the following:

. 50% of the cost if cancelled between 6 and 12 days before the workshop commences.

. 100% of the cost if cancelled less than 5 days before the workshop commences.

. All workshops that are commenced but not completed through the fault of either the contractor/or participant need to be paid in full.

- NOOR is not responsible for reimbursement of travel expenses in case a workshop is cancelled. We recommend that you buy refundable air tickets and/or travel insurance.

- A €100 application fee is required for each application. If accepted, this balance will be applied to the final tuition. If the student is not accepted, a refund of the application fee will be granted (minus €15 administration costs).

For any questions, or for more information, please contact Valeria Ribaldi.

benedicte kurzen's portrait of nigerian activist hadiza bala usman in financial times

For the Financial Times' feature on "Women of 2014," Benedicte Kurzen photographed Nigerian activist Hadiza Bala Usman. Bala Usman's bid to help free the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram turned into a global social media campaign that fast became a worldwide phenomenon. 

benedicte kurzen | story 'chibok and beyond' on boko haram, nigeria - published in stern

Stern published the extensive story by Benedicte Kurzen about the threat of the jihadist sect Boko Haram for people living in Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria.

benedicte kurzen covering ebola in stern

NOOR photographer Benedicte Kurzen has been covering the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Travelling from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia to the remote villages in the forest region, near the border with Guinea she has been a witness of the disease and the continuous threat it brings to the health care workers and people who are living and working in the affected areas.

Take a look at the Stern article below and the online slideshow here.

benedicte kurzen’s coverage of northern nigeria in le monde

Continuing her long term work on Nigeria, NOOR’s Benedicte Kurzen traveled to the north of the country to cover the Boko Haram kidnappings and turmoil in the region. Le Monde recently published some of her images from Chibok and Maiduguri.

NOOR pechakucha in new york

NOOR’s 7th Annual General Meeting was held in New York City from June 9 to 13. This year, we organized a special public event on Friday June 13 for people to come meet NOOR at a PechaKucha evening. With presentations from our photographers, the event showcased NOOR’s dedication to explore the human side of complex, global issues, as well as long-term and collaborative projects.

See some photos from the event below.

Stanley Greene presented his work from Chechnya and Dagestan.

Francesco Zizola spoke about his new ongoing project on overfishing around the world.

Andrea Bruce spoke about her most recent project about the cotton widows of India.

Kadir van Lohuizen presented his Rising Sea Levels project.

Benedicte Kurzen presented her work on the Boko Haram kidnappings in Nigeria.

Nina Berman first spoke about NOOR's outdoor installation project at Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. Later, she presented her work Evidence, part of NOOR's Modern Day Slavery group project.

Jon Lowenstein presented his long-term project about the South Side of Chicago.

benedicte kurzen's coverage of boko haram kidnappings in le point

In light of the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram, NOOR's Benedicte Kurzen traveled to the country's north to cover the story. Her images from Chibok and Maiduguri were published in French weekly Le Point. See her work in the tearsheet below.

 

world press photo pop-up group exhibition

All of NOOR's photographers have a strong connection to World Press Photo, as award winners, Joop Swart Masterclass participants and educators, jury members, or supervisory board members. To celebrate this fact, and with the World Press Photo Awards Days fast approaching, NOOR presents a small pop-up exhibition in an informal setting, featuring relevant work by all our photographers.

NOOR's pop-up exhibition is currently hanging at the Cafe de Engelbewaarder, which is situated just over the canal from Het Compagnie Theater, the location of this year's World Press Photo Awards Days. The exhibition runs until May 12th.

Address Engelbewaarder: Kloveniersburgwal 59, 1011 JZ Amsterdam.

This exhibition is supported by Nikon Europe.

All printing by FotolabKieKie.

Exhibition photos by Jen Tse.

on community, transparency, and integrity

As part of the NOOR-Nikon Masterclass for Documentary Photography, Jon Lowenstein gave a public presentation at SALT Galata on Wednesday night. About 70 people from the wider photography community in Istanbul attended. Jon showed and talked about his long-term ongoing project on Chicago's South Side, including his short film "A Violent Thread". He touched upon how local communities and their problems are representative of bigger social issues on a larger scale. Jon also expanded how he uses photography to engage with the community and how he collaborates with the people from his own neighbourhood.

The next morning, Kursat Bayhan, one of the participants from Turkey, presented a project that his newspaper Zaman initiated, called "Time in Turkey”. This gave the group a good example of how a newspaper in the region understands the importance of photo features.

 

The group continued with a long debate about ethics in photojournalism, led by Benedicte Kurzen. She stressed that in every step that we are taking as photojournalists, from getting ideas to having your images published, mistakes can be made. The group discussed issues to do with setting up, preserving the identity of the people that you photograph and work with, privacy laws, the importance of caption writing, post-production, altering content and misuse of images by clients when they are taken out of context. Integrity, being transparent, being able to stand for what you are doing as a photographer, and taking responsibility are key in this process.

 

“It is good that we are bringing up these examples of ethical misbehavior, since it is happening all the time in this industry and it jeopardizes our credibility," said Stanley Greene. "We need to be responsible because the public trusts us and we have to make them trust us.”

Images by Frank Zuidweg.

humbleness and respect

On the third day of the NOOR-NIkon Masterclass for Documentary Photography in Istanbul, our participants learned about being sensitive and compassionate storytellers.

“As photographers we have a big responsibility to inherit the stories of the people that we photograph," explained Benedicte Kurzen during her presentation. "We have to ask ourselves how we represent the countries that we are covering and realize what is the perception at the end of the road for the audience back home.”

“I feel that I am kind of close to you guys in a way. I am 34 and I have been shooting for about 11 years now," she said. "I see that you are having the same questions that I am having sometimes.”

She first showed a personal body of work about eight years of South Africa, the country she recently left to move to Nigeria. Benedicte, who moved away from home when she was 17 and moved to Palestine when she was 23, said that she sometimes still struggles to understand where she belongs and how she participates and observes in the places she lives and works.

"I also realized that the way people perceive you plays an important role," she said. "For example, in South Africa, white people are sometimes still associated with apartheid. For me humbleness and respect are therefore key.”

When discussing how to work with editors, Benedicte stressed that if photographers have knowledge that editors might not have, they need to communicate it. “You know your country better that any editor who sits in an office in New York, London or Paris,” she said.

You should never say "no" to an editor, Stanley Greene added, but personal vision is critical. Ideas often come from the text department, but aren’t always visual, he said, which is why you need to explain beforehand how you see the story and how you want to shoot and visualize it.

The group continues to learn a lot and have a great time at the masterclass!

Images by Frank Zuidweg.