Wall to Wall Paneling

Its late so Ill do a brief post, but for the last three nights- after fabulous slideshows by Stanley Green, Ron Haviv, Kael Alford, Mike Chavez, Rodrigo Cruz, Eros Hoagland, Adriana Zehbruaskas, Daniel Aguilar, Stephanie Sinclair, Paula Bronstein, Andea Bruce and Renee Byer, we;ve been having some powerful panel discussions (filmed and audio recorded; excerpts of which will be posted here/one the Foundry website for all to enjoy). Weve enjoyed special guests Dario Lopez, head photo editor for AP Mexico, Enrique Martinez, head of Latin American AP, the legendary photographer Anthony Suau dropped by, and World Press WInner Daniel Aguilar joined in. Thus far we've discussed conflict and war photography- a very emotional panel, with a strong emphasis on difficult experiences, being a journalist versus a human being, helping others, the power of the image in creating change, and the personal toll/PTSD affects of so much war and suffering. Last night we heatedly discussed the current state of affairs of Latin American photojournalism- opportunities and challenges, especially concerning low pay rates, a lack of Latin photogs in major agencies and in print, and the lack of print space given to Latin American stories and issues since 9/11.
Tonights panel (no pics yet) was on women and their changing role and power in photojournalist today. Leica also had a sponsor presentation by the ever gracious Roland Wolff, who also loaned Stanley Greene's class 10 Leicas (including M8s) to use in the field. A wonderful experience for all invloved; stay tuned- with 140 studnets in the field all covering stories- from Mexican clowns to womens prisons, from prostitution and train riding immigrants to Orthodox monasteries and Santa Muerte worship- a whole host of stories and powerful images is developing; perhaps even a final book...