Jon Lowenstein

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) toinfo@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.

looking back on the rnw-noor academy in mexico

A report back from academy moderator, photography editor and consultant Claudia Hinterseer (former managing director of NOOR)

After five intense days, the workshop has come to an end and looking back I can only say that it was a big success.

We explored the young photographer’s interests, passions and visual story ideas; concepts they will develop with the long-distance support of Jon Lowenstein and Sebastian Liste. And although still at an early stage, all the photographers left with a clear idea of what projects they will work on in the months ahead.

 

 

 

A recurrent learning point this week was: follow your heart! This approach also surfaced regularly in the presentations Jon and Sebastian gave of their long-term personal projects. To achieve the best, your passion and work should be aligned.

We debated and discussed issues of ethics, security and the possibilities Instagram and other (social) media offer. We looked at a wide range of photographic projects for insights and inspiration and talked about the international photography market. Besides this, and much more, we spent the evenings together exploring Mexico City by night.

 

 

If you would like to get to know some of the participants, read their testimonies here:

Fred Ramos (El Salvador)

Sara Escobar (Mexico)

Enrique Rashide Serrato Frias (Mexico)

Ernesto Perez (Venezuela) 

 

And so as the week came to an end, the photographers became more and more eager to start shooting their projects; this can only mean good things are to come… stay tuned via #rnwnoor.

 

For a video impression of the workshop see here.

 

Text and images: Claudia Hinterseer, testimonies by Michiel Bles.

rnw-noor visual storytelling academy in mexico kicks off

A report back from academy moderator, photography editor and consultant Claudia Hinterseer (former managing director of NOOR)

 

So nice to be part of a NOOR project once again, it feels natural, like I’ve never been away…

It’s day one of the Latin-American chapter of the RNW-NOOR Academy and we’ve kicked-off on a high note: Jon Lowenstein, Sebastian Liste, Michiel Bles and Cristina Fernández Cuéllar of the Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) and myself - united with eight Mexican, one El Salvadorian and a Venezuelan photographer at the beautiful Monterrey Tech University in Mexico City.

 

 

 

 

The Academy started a few weeks ago with a visual literacy workshop for the picture editors and designers of RNW in Hilversum, and now here in Mexico the aim is to elevate the skills of local photographers for RNW’s El Toque platform to collaborate with. After these five days they will each - during three months - work on visual stories with the support of Jon and Sebastian, culminating in the publication of their work on the El Toque platform. So stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we first took our time to get to know one another. In discussing which topics people cover; not surprisingly a lot deal with issues relating to narco-culture, violence, and disappearances, but there’s also interest in indigenous people and contra-culture for instance.

 

It’s a mixed group with some more-established, strong visual storytellers and some less experienced students of photography... and there’s a good vibe. Most importantly, everyone is serious about their work, and that’s a good thing too - as Jon put it laughingly: “‘…’cause otherwise it would be a nightmare to work together for 12 weeks!”

 

 

For me it’s at the same time a small reunion: at the welcome dinner NOOR photographer Andrea Bruce, who recently moved to Mexico City joined us - “que padre!”, so cool, as the Mexicans say.

 

 

Text and images © Claudia Hinterseer

rnw-noor visual storytelling academy participants

NOOR and Radio Netherlands Worldwide are proud to announce the list of 10 participants for the Visual Storytelling Academy, which starts Monday 20 October 2014 in Mexico City. We sincerely thank everyone who applied and congratulate the photographers who will be taking part in the academy:

 

Antonio Contreras Sanillan

Diego Mateos

Enrique Rashide Serrato Frías

Ernesto José Pérez Ramírez

Fred Ramos

Ivan Castaneira

Sara Escobar

Mariana Guevara

Itzia Sanchez

Montserrat Díaz Guzmán

 

During the academy, these participants, together with NOOR member photographers Jon Lowenstein and Sebastián Liste, and photography consultant and editor Claudia Hinterseer, will share experiences, work on portfolios, improve editing skills and learn how to pick up and develop stories.

 

We are looking forward to meeting all the participants, having the chance to learn about their work and sharing experiences.

about thinking visually

This week in Hilversum, the Netherlands the RNW-NOOR Academy kicked off with a three-day training on visual storytelling for a select group of editors working for Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW). The 14 participants represent different regional editorial departments of RNW being the Arab, Africa, Latin America and China Desks. Amongst the participants were also social media editors and web designers from the ‘Themes & Projects’ department.

 

 

The group, together with NOOR photographer Kadir van Lohuizen and photography consultant and photo editor Claudia Hinterseer, learned how to select and develop visual stories from existing photographic material.

 

 “It’s great to see the enthusiasm amongst the participants. Everyone seems eager to explore new ways of visual storytelling on their respective online platforms and get inspired by Kadir and other great photographers’ work,” said Claudia Hinterseer. “It’s very interesting to discuss topics like image quality and resources, ethical and copyright issues, and sequencing with this varied and energized group.”

 

Claudia Hinterseer gave an introduction to picture editing and led a hands-on session where the participants had to prepare an online thematic slideshow from scratch, using the themes and resources available to RNW, in order to make the exercise as realistic as possible.

 “It’s almost like making a movie,” said Kadir van Lohuizen about working on long-term multimedia projects. “The difference between making a movie and being a photographer is that you have to do everything yourself, the research, the planning, the shooting, etc.”

 

Kadir van Lohuizen showed and talked about his extensive project Via PanAm and allowed the group to edit a part of his story, which lead to interesting discussions about different opinions and ways of editing a story.

 

Kadir also reflected on how nowadays he uses video as part of the process: “For me with video it is the sequence that makes it strong. With stills it is the decisive moment that makes it strong. I use video more to support my stills.”

 

 

“The NOOR photography workshop really opened my eyes to great tools and ways to build a photo story,” commented Issa Shaker video editor at the Arab Desk.

 

Catarina Gomez, social media editor at the Themes & Projects department, found the workshop very refreshing:  “Photo editing is not only about illustrating your written story, it's about thinking visually how to tell your story. I never thought it was possible to tell a story with just still images.”

As part of the RNW-NOOR Academy, Jon Lowenstein and Sebastian Liste will conduct a training in Mexico City from October 20-24 for 10 young visual storytellers from Latin America. After the initial 5 day workshop the group will be mentored for three months by the NOOR photographers.

jon lowenstein on the ground in ferguson, missouri

Since last week NOOR photographer Jon Lowenstein has been covering the protests and upheaval in Ferguson, Missouri - the St. Louis suburb where Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot by police on August 9th 2014. Follow his Instagram feed for the latest from the streets and the community of Ferguson.

 

Jon is covering this pivotal moment with his long-standing commitment to in-depth documentary that confronts the realms of power, wealth inequality and violence. He is available for assignments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

slavery uncovered in chicago

Slavery Uncovered is a new visual advocacy campaign addressing human trafficking and forced labor in the Chicagoland area. NOOR's Nina Berman and Jon Lowenstein participated in a workshop and public presentation at the campaign's opening last night, May 21 at the Art Works Studio at 625 N. Kingsbury, Chicago.



The exhibition included work by Jon and Nina as well as artist Mike Genovese. The workshop and presentation also included filmmaker Nina Alvarez and writer Anne Ream.

Jon and Nina also took part in an insightful radio interview about the project. Give it a listen here. 

Jon's work on victims of modern day slavery was also published on CNN Photos. Take a look here.

See NOOR's Modern Day Slavery group project on our website.

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.