f/stopblues
photo loner
"Our Culture Is Our Resistance" is the name of the portfolio from Jonathan Moller. It's a photojournalism series in Guatemala between '93 and '01 shot with a Mamiya 6.
His series (paraphrased) focuses on groups uprooted from their homes during the Guatemalan civil war, namely the Communities of Population in Resistance (CPR) group. When their friends and families began to be massacred, they were forced to take refuge in the mountains and jungles of Guatemala and stay in hiding until the civil war finally ended in 1996 (36 years after it's start). After the Peace Accords were signed, the survivors were able to come out and resettle on their old lands and start their lives over.
Moller documents the families' lives while in hiding, as well as the upstart of their lives after the war. Many of the survivors went to seek out the remains of their family and friends who were massacred or disappeared. The remains were exhumed from clandestine cemetaries to be reclaimed by the loved ones. Some of the most poignant images, IMO, are from these exhumations and the families who were able to find the truth and begin the healing process.
I'd recommend picking up this issue (August - #65) if you have a chance. The images are beautiful, not only in the sense that they're aestetically and technically superb, but the fact that a sympathetic eye is turned towards the prolonged grief these people endured. They're finally being able to gain some closure and come to terms with their losses. This is an important facet of photography. That is, using its powerful visual capabilities to make people aware of the human rights abuses taking place throughout the world. Anything that expands someone's vision beyond their backyard should be embraced.
<stepping off the human rights soapbox> :angel:
Have a great weekend guys!
His series (paraphrased) focuses on groups uprooted from their homes during the Guatemalan civil war, namely the Communities of Population in Resistance (CPR) group. When their friends and families began to be massacred, they were forced to take refuge in the mountains and jungles of Guatemala and stay in hiding until the civil war finally ended in 1996 (36 years after it's start). After the Peace Accords were signed, the survivors were able to come out and resettle on their old lands and start their lives over.
Moller documents the families' lives while in hiding, as well as the upstart of their lives after the war. Many of the survivors went to seek out the remains of their family and friends who were massacred or disappeared. The remains were exhumed from clandestine cemetaries to be reclaimed by the loved ones. Some of the most poignant images, IMO, are from these exhumations and the families who were able to find the truth and begin the healing process.
I'd recommend picking up this issue (August - #65) if you have a chance. The images are beautiful, not only in the sense that they're aestetically and technically superb, but the fact that a sympathetic eye is turned towards the prolonged grief these people endured. They're finally being able to gain some closure and come to terms with their losses. This is an important facet of photography. That is, using its powerful visual capabilities to make people aware of the human rights abuses taking place throughout the world. Anything that expands someone's vision beyond their backyard should be embraced.
<stepping off the human rights soapbox> :angel:
Have a great weekend guys!
