American Journalists Missing in Lebanon October 9, 2008
Riga-Two American journalists have been reported missing in Lebanon.
Russians in Crimea Story Proposal September 29, 2008
Russians in Crimea Tied to Moscow by Blood
Justin Vela
justinvela@gmail.com
www.justinvela.com
Single images and photo/audio slideshow
Crimea’s majority Russian population and the presence of Russia’s Black Sea fleet make the tiny peninsula attached to Ukraine the next potential flashpoint as Russia once again asserts itself on the global stage. The Russians living in Ukraine, especially in Crimea, are strongly opposed to potentially being given “fast track” NATO membership and want to strengthen ties with Moscow. Amid rumors that Russian passports are being handed out and that Moscow might consider annexing the peninsula, what do Russians in Crimea consider to be the best path for their future? With the Orange Revolution only four years old will Ukraine again be divided if it is offered NATO membership?
I will begin making images and recording interviews in Yalta and Sevestopol on 12 October. The sentiments of the Russian population in Crimea is a crucial story to tell before the December NATO meeting as it will put in context whatever decision is made and will explain another aspect of the Russia verses the West conflict for power and influence.
The images will show color daily life and portraits of Russians living in Crimea. See the shot list below. Through recorded interviews they will describe their desire for closer relations to Moscow and why they are against Ukraine joining NATO, as well as their ambivalence towards the West.
*The images displayed with this proposal are part of a long-term project I am doing on the regions caught between the influence of the West and Russia. Last January Serbia voted to power a pro-West President. It is unclear which direction other countries will choose.
In recorded interviews 2-3 Russians of varying ages will respond to these questions:
* How did Russians come to be the majority in Crimea?
* Why do the Russians in Crimea want closer ties to Moscow?
* Why do the Russians not want Ukraine to join NATO?
* Do the Russians want Ukraine to join the EU?
* Do the Russians want Crimea to become part of Russia?
* Do the Russians support the continued presence of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea?
Imagined Shotlist
* Russian Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol
* Downtown/Nightlife in Yalta
* Contrast between older and younger population
* Remnants of Soviet Gulag
* Symbols tying Crimea to Russia
* Signs of additional militarization (if any)
* Inside a home
* Interaction at the “Swallows Nest” castle
* 3-4 portraits of Russians living in Crimea
Additional Materials
Ukraine Rejects Russian Pressure Not to Join NATO
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080924/wl_afp/undiplomacyassemblyukrainerussiageorgianato_080924191005
Russia Wants to Keep Fleet in Ukraine:
Ukrainian PM Warns of Early Elections
http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/1187010,ukraine092608.article
Bio
Justin Vela is a freelance photo-journalist working on an exhibition project that will illustrate the current social conflict and political realities in the regions caught between the influence of the West and Russia. Last Winter and Spring he worked in the Balkans documenting Kosovo’s independence and Serbia’s choice of a pro-West government over a pro-Russia nationalist government. He has also worked in Latin American, the Middle East, and the US.
www.justinvela.com
Great Reportage on Pakistan September 9, 2008
NYT Magazine reportage by Dexter Filkins on Pakistan’s abuse of US support.
Keep on Blogging. It’s A Good Idea They Say. July 21, 2008
Amman-I’ve been sleeping a lot, which isn’t too inspiring.
Wednseday though I’m going to begin a lot of jumping around with a class and then will be headed to Finland and Russia in September.
I found this post on successful blogging on the Web. 2.Oh…really? blog.
Blogging does improve your writing and preception of the world, if only to encourage yourself to always have something to say.
Keeping this blog helps me digest a lot of the information I come across, though if I was to write everything up I wouldn’t ever turn off the computer!
Or they posts would get too long, not a good idea according to Web 2.Oh…really?
“We Barrow Rice, but not with Chopsticks.” June 17, 2008
Beirut-Briefly, today I interviewed Dr. Hiba Khodr Ph. D of the American University of Beirut. Professor Khodr and I will hopefully do a more in depth interview sometime this week. When I arrived at her office she was having last meetings with students before the end of the semester.
“When it comes to Globalization I tell my students we barrow rice, but not with chopsticks.
Globalization has had a lot to do with the strides women have made in the past few years with human rights and equality.
I was in the US for thirteen years. I came back because I wanted to give my children a chance to know their grandparents and the rest of their family.
My daughter had a hard time when we came back to Lebanon. With the sincerity. People in America, when they don’t like you they don’t put themselves around you. People here sometimes pretend to like you, but talk about you behind your back.
I don’t shake hands. Sorry, I am mean no disrespect.
During the July war I was giving a lecture in the US, a student, stood up and said, ‘No matter what we do, you will still hate us.’
I said, ‘Excuse me, but that is not true. I am a US citizen. We watch your shows. We wear your clothes. We do not hate you. We hate your policies.’
I get criticized even in Lebanon for wearing the headscarf. It is my choice. It is part of my beliefs and something that I like.
You have the image of someone who wears the headscarf as being repressed and abused. And sometimes that is true. Women are oppressed and abused in the Middle East maybe even more than we know.
Sometimes though we choose to wear the headscarf. I am not repressed and abused.”
5 Journalists Arrested in Jordan May 26, 2008
Belgrade-Five journalists have been arrested in Jordan for contempt of court and defamation.
“These sentences are a setback to press freedoms and do not serve the trend towards liberalising the press,” said Osama al-Sherif, who was sentenced as Ad-Dustour editor for allowing publication of the article on the court ruling.
HST’s Correct Additude May 23, 2008
“But what was the story? Nobody had bothered to say. So we would have to drum it up on our own.” -Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I had never been arrested before and the prospect of prison in Zimbabwe, one of the poorest, most repressive places on earth, seemed especially forbidding: the squalor, the teeming cells, the possibility of beatings. But I told myself what I’d repeatedly taught my two children: Life is a collection of experiences. You savor the good, you learn from the bad. April 27, 2008
NYT article by Barry Bearak on being arrested in Zimbabwe…
“I was being charged with the crime of “committing journalism.” One of my captors, Detective Inspector Dani Rangwani, described the offense to me as something despicable, almost hissing the words: “You’ve been gathering, processing and disseminating the news.”
“Necessity numbed my own caution. My articles required continuous updating for The Times’s Web site, so there I’d be in downtown Harare, a backpack slung over my shoulder, dictating quotes from my notebook and spelling names into the wavering connection of the mobile phone. Early on, I had asked that my byline be kept from the articles. But other reporters were less guarded about revealing themselves in print. I eventually followed suit.”
2 Russian Journalists Killed March 22, 2008
2 more Russian Journalists have been killed.
Phillip Jones Griffiths March 20, 2008
War photographer Phillip Jones Griffiths has passed away in his London home. His images from Vietnam set the standard for photographic reportage. NYT obituary here.
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