What I see in McConnell’s photographs is the Soviet empire receding. In its wake it leaves monuments to its hubris and carelessness. Chernobyl, in Ukraine, is one such monument; the naval base at Sevastopol, which Russia has retained by annexing Crimea, is another. With regard to Baikonur, the Russians have largely squandered the incredible work done during the Soviet period
Shortlisted for Aperture’s First Photobook Award 2014 This publication draws on the documents compiled by the photographer and political activist Miklós Klaus Rózsa (1954) from 1971 to 1989, consisting of an assortment of photographs taken by Rózsa as wel
Thanks to all the photographers who took part in our annual Aperture Portfolio Prize contest this past year. Judges have gone through the submissions and after much deliberation, we’re pleased to announce the five finalists:
Irish photographer Andrew McConnell was in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, for an assignment about education when forecasters started to track a powerful hurricane forming off of the coast of the Caribbean island. Colleagues he was with decided to leave—they were already due to fly out—but he opted to stay.
I was on my way to visit members of the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) at a jungle camp deep in the rain forests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The FDLR is comprised of Hutu extremists who fled Rwanda after their involvement in the 1994 genocide, as well as Hutu members of the former Rwandan army and a mix of displaced Rwandan Hutus. The people number approximately 10,000; they have lived in the jungles of Congo for the past 14 years and have been one of the fundamental causes of the Congo conflict.
