23.6.20 LIVE LUMIX FESTIVAL TALK – STORYTELLERS OF THE FUTURE
This photographer and his talk was along the same theme as Fred Ritchen’s talk above and I may use some of the material for my critical essay so I’ll only post a summary here for now.
Misha Vallejo
Like Ritchen he believes we need new approaches which aren’t romantic so tha we can bring truth to photography. He researches and works in a humanistic way, and shared his project “Secret Sarayaku”, which records the struggle of the Kichwas who live in Ecuador and are defending themselves from the exploitation and destruction of the rainforest for purposes of extracting oil. He used a variety of media to document the lives of the people in Sarayaku over three years, and works in a non- linear way. His work is collaborative and empowering for the subjects.
My learning: In relation to my assignment 3 I note his comment on book making: Start the project first, and the project will suggest what the end result should be like.
I was interested that Vallejo says it is important to listen to people outside the photography world and not to need validation from the photographic world – as Ritchin said, the best work doesn’t always win prizes.
References:
Gonzalez, D. (2018) ‘At Home in the Jungle, Everything Is ‘Alive and Has a Spirit’’ In: The New York Times 20/04/2018 At: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/lens/at-home-in-the-jungle-everything-is-alive-and-has-a-spirit.html (Accessed 22/06/2020).
Home (2020) At: https://secretsarayaku.net/home?locale=en (Accessed 22/06/2020).
Photography 2: Documentary 