After Nhem En arrived in Phnom Penh, he was sent to study political science and military tactics at a technical school. En was again promoted to an elite youth unit and sent to China for training in late 1976, at the age of 15. After the group arrived in Peking, they were divided, some sent to train in military and naval affairs, others in industry or agriculture. Nhem En was selected to study photography. When he arrived back in Phnom Penh, En was assigned to Unit 870 at the Ministry of National Defense under Pol Pot. At the age of 16 he was sent to photograph the incoming prisoners at S-21 Prison.
Even though En had learned only the basics of photography, he was given a studio and several assistants at S-21. Nhem received his daily orders directly from Khmer Rouge interior minister Son Sen and prison commandant Brother Duch: “Every time I met with them they both told me to be very careful when taking photographs, not to ruin or lose them, and to keep them in order. I was also told to keep the darkroom clean and proper…. They told us that we were clean-minded, and we were the representatives of the Angkar.” Nhem said that he was told by Son Sen that the purpose of the photographs was “for conducting investigations on issues about the CIA spies, KGB, Vietnamese.”
New archive of 40+ audio interviews with great photographers – lens culture photography weblog:
Great news! We are so thrilled to post this link to our fantastic archive of audio interviews with great photographers from around world. We’ve been recording these conversations for more than five years now, and our hardworking staff at Lens Culture Towers finally got around to pulling them together into one accessible place!
AMERICANSUBURB X: THEORY: “Words by Henri Cartier-Bresson (1973)”:
I’ve been taking pictures when I was very young. I think I don’t remember what age. I started by painting and drawing and for me photography was a mean of drawing and that’s all. Immediate sketch done with intuition and you can’t correct it. If you have to correct it it’s your next picture. But life is very fluid. Well sometimes the pictures disappeared and there is nothing you can do. You can’t tell the person, oh, please smile again do that gesture again. Life is once, forever.
::: The Travel Photographer :::: Phil Borges: Women Empowered:
Phil Borges, the acclaimed documentary photographer and CARE, the humanitarian organization that fights global poverty by empowering women and girls, are continuing a successful multi-year collaboration with the launch of the Women Empowered Project.
Rob Galbraith DPI: DSLR Camera Remote for iPhone comes to life in v1.1:
Here’s a rundown of what’s new in DSLR Camera Remote 1.1 (Pro Edition) for iPhone, as well as its companion Mac/Windows application, DSLR Camera Remote Server 1.1
Photographer Anthony Karen has documented the modern-day Klan in their homes, at rallies, and at Klan gatherings, taking us deep inside a world we would otherwise never see — a world most of us might not even want to know about. The unnerving photos featured here, exclusively on LIFE.com, are from his new book, “The Invisible Empire: Ku Klux Klan.” “The majority of people I’ve come across,” Karen told LIFE, “you’d only know they were in the Klan if they decided to share that.”
Julius Shulman, Photographer of Modernist California Architecture, Dies at 98 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com:
Over a career of more than half a century, Mr. Shulman almost always used black-and-white film, the better to reduce his subjects to their geometric essentials. But he was also able to make the hard glass and steel surfaces of postwar Modernist architecture appear comfortable and inviting.
AMERICANSUBURB X: THEORY: “Unshuttered Lens: Dorothea Lange, Documentary Photography, and Government Work, (1935-1945)”:
Was Dorothea Lange a cultural interpreter? Former Lange assistant, noted photographer, and protege Rondal Partridge, said, “You ask questions of great photographs, and great photographs ask questions of you.” (1) Lange’s photographic work “begs the question.”
Making lasting images is a full-time job. There’s just no way to do great work if you’re a photographer only 40% of the time. You can’t do it if you’re worried about transmitting as soon as you have something that is “good enough”. That’s how standards get set, and now “good enough” is where the photojournalism bar is stuck.
It’s that time of year again for the best little underground photo conference out there – GeekFest. St. Petersburg, Fla. is the place to be September 11-13. $100 is a low price to pay for inspiration and motivation and fun.
Showcase: Extremely Large Format – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:
Shaun Irving, 34, has always been into photography. So much so that for the past six years, he has been taking photographs from inside his cameras: old delivery trucks he’s turned into mobile cameras by tricking them out with surplus military lenses and heavy doses of ingenuity.
Thus, the “world’s largest traveling camera,” which has taken photos from Virginia to Spain and back again. The proof can be found at cameratruck.net, a Web site dedicated to all things camera truck.
Michal Daniel’s street portraits of unsuspecting subjects add up to a compelling and provocative body of work. With spy-like stealth, he gets as close as he possibly can to his subjects and while pretending to be distracted by his digital organizer, he photographs them with an outmoded and rather shoddy mini camera.
RESOLVE — the liveBooks photo blog » Archives » Ed Kashi Travel Notes – A return to the Niger Delta reiterates the challenges of overseas photojournalism:
After publishing Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta in 2008, Ed returned to the Delta in May for nearly seven weeks to shoot a video for the State of Bayelsa. Despite his extensive experience in the area, the experience was a constant trial. For photographers who have worked overseas, this will no doubt sound familiar — for those who look at their images, it’s a compelling glimpse into how they are made.