Not turning a blind eye: black and white portraits by Lee Jeffries

 

Flickr

“Photography is my means of expression. It embodies my beliefs and my compassion. I consider myself lucky at not having to earn a living from it as it allows me free reign to try and help others, and not the selfish needs of a client”

The above extract, from Lee Jeffries’ interview with Impose Magazine, may serve as a fine introduction to his work. It is not often that one comes across art in which aesthetic choices and technical skills are inseparable from a sense of autonomy and social consciousness.  Lee Jeffries is a Manchester-based accountant who for the most part takes pictures of the homeless. One of his portraits won the 2011 Digital Camera Photographer of the Year competition, which is hardly surprising given the emotional magnitude of his work. As Paul Bignell put it in The Independent, these are not snatched shots taken from a distance, but “intimate portraits captured in uncomfortable detail, every grain of dirt, every scar laid bare.”
 

And yet this work is more than brilliant photography. More often than not people avert their eyes from the homeless; we all know they are there, but most of us prefer to turn a blind eye and walk on by. It is this coercive ‘invisibility’ of the homeless that these portraits avert; or, if you prefer, they negate it in terms of Theodor Adorno’s understanding of the potential of art to challenge reified consciousness. In this respect, Lee Jeffries’ work constitutes an aesthetic and emotional restoration of the position of the homeless in the public sphere. In other words, this is art that matters; and according to Lee Jeffries’ interview with Impose Magazine, this is what matters:

“If one person looks at any of my images and feels compassion, enough to maybe offer a helping hand the next time the opportunity presents itself, then the image counts”

Flickr

Flickr

Twitter: LJ.@Lee_Jeffries

Flickr: LJ.’s Photostream

Anneke van Giersbergen: Everything Is Changing

annekevangiersbergen.com

Anneke van Giersbergen’s new album Everything Is Changing demonstrates her status as one of the finest vocalists, and moreover puts forward what perhaps is her best work as a solo artist so far. After fronting The Gathering for 13 years, Anneke formed her solo project Agua de Annique in 2007 and released three studio albums and a live one. Everything Is Changing is a new step which displays her musical identity to the fullest. The songs are considerably diverse in style, and at the same time they share strong melodies and striking layers of sound; a streaming version of the album is currently available here.

In a previous post on Feel Alive, the album’s opener and first single, the song was addressed as powerful, spirited, and elegant. The same applies to the whole album, part of which consists of upbeat (You Want To Be Free) and midtempo (My Boy) pop/rock songs, displaying charming (I Wake Up) and tender (Everything Is Changing) melodic lines. This is a rather natural progression of Anneke’s post-2007 solo work, and Take Me Home may be seen as a characteristic example; a video for this song accompanied the release of the album:

As Everything Is Changing progresses, its style gradually shifts; bittersweet atmospherics begin to emerge through a combination of strong guitars, evocative keyboards, and tight rhythmic patterns. This aspect of the album consists of post-rock compositions, which display solid riffs (Too Late) and explosive choruses (Slow Me Down), and can be anthemic albeit melancholic (Hope, Pray, Dance, Play), as well as mellow and yet forceful (1,000 Miles Away From Home). Stay may be seen as a prominent example here; a bass-driven midtempo song with an incredible chorus melody, and some of Anneke’s most emotionally charged vocals on the album. In terms of rhythmic structure and orchestration, there is also a welcome relevance to her last period in The Gathering.

Last but not least, Anneke’s love of the piano has been more than evident in songs ranging from Shrink to Wonder. There is one such track here as well: Circles. And the reason I left it for the end is that it is one of her best performances. This is not an easy thing to say for an artist who has her record; but then again, Anneke has never stopped surprising us, ever so pleasantly. 

Protest against internet censorship: the return of freedom of speech

On Wednesday 18 January the English Wikipedia, among thousands of other websites, went dark. This was part of a massive wave of protest against two US bills, the  Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), which in theory aim to stop copyright infringement, but in practice will infringe freedom of speech, and damage the internet as a free and open medium.

Dan Gillmor was very much to the point when he argued in The Guardian  that the issue is set in the form of a false binary: a choice between absolute state and corporate control over the internet, and piracy. In other words, if we do not accept that the state and private corporations will have the power to blacklist and block websites simply on the basis of allegations and without due process, we are supposedly endorsing piracy. This binary is misleading because what is actually at stake here is our democratic rights and liberties; and the real binary is in the form of a choice between freedom of speech, and its infringement.

Twenty-five Greenpeace websites also went dark on Wednesday. The organisation’s International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo gave an interesting example: Exxon/Esso had actually taken Greenpeace to court over alleged copyright infringement, because the organisation had spoofed the company’s logo  as part of its campaign against corporate abuse of the environment. “We said it was free speech,” argues Kumi Naidoo. “The court agreed with us [...] But had that decision been left to Exxon/Esso, we would have been shut down.”

Dan Gillmor talks about the creation of “an information monoculture where regimes work with corporations to control more than what we can read, hear and watch, because they will control how we can speak beyond the room we’re in at the moment”. After the protest on Wednesday SOPA and PIPA are in retreat, but as Wikipedia  put it, they “are waiting in the shadows.” Although the threat is still there, the protest has changed the agenda: the need to protect freedom of speech, and the will to sustain a free and open internet, are the new terms of reference.  And this may prove to be not only the greatest success of the protest, but the key moment in the struggle against censorship.

SOPA and PIPA would put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won’t have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn’t being infringed. Some foreign sites would be prevented from showing up in major search engines. And, SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

Wikipedia: SOPA initiative/Learn more

For years, the US has condemned countries like China and Iran for their clampdown on Internet use. But now, the impact of these new censorship laws could be far worse -- effectively blocking sites to every Internet user across the globe.

Last year, a similar Internet censorship bill was killed before reaching the US Senate floor, but it’s now back in a different form. Copyright laws already exist and are enforced by courts. But this new law goes much further -- granting the US government and big corporations enormous powers to force service providers and search engines to block websites based just on allegations of violations -- without a trial or being found guilty of any crime! 

Avaaz, US: Save the Internet petition

See also: 

Stop American Cencorship, A Campaign from Fight for the Future

 

How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting
Free Speech and Innovation, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Stop the Great Firewall of America, Rebecca MacKinnon, The New York Times

 The Great Firewall of America, James Allworth,
Harvard Business Review Blog Network 

Why We’ve Censored Wired.com, Evan Hansen, Wired

Creep

A beloved song back from the old days from a respectable and honest band...

 

What the hell am I doing here...I don't belong here...

So here we sway at the edge of the world, holding hands: a farewell to Theatre of Tragedy

Wikipedia

This is a very special version of a very special song; Forever Is the World was the title track of Theatre of Tragedy’s last album, as well as the final song of Last Curtain Call, the live dvd they made as a farewell gift to their fans, who also helped in its production. In the following extract both the band and the fans are aware that this is goodbye; understandably, there is more than tenderness in the air.

Forever Is the World is a rare song in that its sensitivity can only be matched by its enormous emotional tension; and I don’t know of anyone who is not touched by it, whether they are fans of the band or not. I suppose this is because it addresses the only issue that really matters: to hold the hand of your loved one even as the world ends, and because of this to feel as if the world is not actually ending; and maybe this is exactly the reason why it doesn’t…

Into a different kind of view
Not meant for human eyes
Everything’s dark and fades away
This moment just opened my eyes, now I say
I never knew anything felt like this
It has just begun

Please be aware of the change in your mind
Everyone’s telling lies
Somewhere between every now and then
Harmoniously facing the truth of your past
I know by now every night has its dawn
Be aware and see
I know by now every night has its dawn
Be aware and see

And as your last day draws to an end
Take my last good smile
All I can do now is watch as you fall
Bid my last goodbye

There’s an exception to every rule
Don’t trust the yellow light
Constantly searching to find your way home
The beauty’s been lying right here all along
Only man ends but forever’s the world
Just don’t fall asleep
So here we sway at the edge of the world
Holding hands
Clutching at straws, keep each other awake
World will not end on this shift
I never knew anything felt like this
It has just begun

The Mirror (Zerkalo), by Andrei Tarkovsky

soundonsight.org

Ingmar Bergman argued in his autobiography The Magic Lantern (Penguin, 1989) that Andrei Tarkovsky is the greatest film director, and said that “he moves with such naturalness in the room of dreams.”

This naturalness is the main reason I always liked The Mirror so much. And it is because of the same reason that I never understood why it is often considered to be Tarkovsky’s most ‘difficult’ film – on the contrary, I think it is the most personal and emotionally moving work by one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. The ‘mirror’ is precisely that, a reflection upon childhood and history, our personal and collective past, through the lenses of memories and dreams. The negation of the linear narrative is what allows the film to become so sweet and melancholic, and gives such an edge to Tarkovsky’s poetic cinematic vision, and such strength to his prominent visual language. Unique and ingenious – no one else could have done it. 

The full film with english subtitles may be found here. 

And in breathing, I think of you

There are, unfortunately, times of need; times of sadness, pain, and despair; times when the whole universe darkens, and even the stars seem not to have any more light left in them to shed. It is in these times that one has to bring out and rely upon their own light; this is far from easy, but it is an immensely empowering process, which is why the stars begin to glow again. And so this is what I do every time the universe darkens; I glow. 

And every time I glow, it is because I think of you.

For S.

Night is falling
I think of you
I’m walking home
I think of you
And as he calls me, yes I do
I think of you
How you doing?
I think of you
As we leave
I think of you
And I smile, I can’t hide
I think of you

I don’t know where your days are spent
Your lovers and you friends
But I know for sure
Of who you have been thinking

Far beyond the city’s lights
Are two who dream a life
Forgive them if they never find their freedom
Their freedom

It’s so late
I think of you
He walks me home
I think of you
I’m so sorry, I’m so tired
I think of you
And in the shadows
I think of you
I close my eyes
I think of you
Now I’m falling
I think of you

I think of you
As he calls me, yes I do
I think of you
I think of you
I think of you
I think of you
I think of you

And in feeling
I think of you
And in breathing
I think of you
And in seeing
I think of you
And in living
I think of you

 

My ten most anticipated films of 2012

As 2011 is now over, we look forward to the new film releases. Judging from the following trailers, it seems to me more than obvious that 2012 will be a very promising year! Two quick points; one, the films are in random order; and two, as the Dark Shadows trailer has not yet been released, a Movie Bytes feature is included instead. So, let’s start...

 1. The Descendants (directed by Alexander Payne)

2. Shame (directed by Steve McQueen)

3. Dark Shadows (directed by Tim Burton)

4. The Dark Knight Rises (directed by Christopher Nolan)

5. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (directed by Stephen Daldry)

6. Snow White and The Huntsman (directed by Rupert Sanders)

 7. Brave (directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman)

 

8. Hugo (directed by Martin Scorsese) 

9. J. Edgar (directed by Clint Eastwood)

10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (directed by Peter Jackson)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: a revolution unlike any other?

Wikipedia

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a film of considerable merits, as well as a particularly rich text in terms of political and cultural references. It is a prequel, but its storyline is original and only loosely connected to the classic 1968 film.  Its foundational myth is the relationship between the scientist Will Rodman (James Franco), and the chimpanzee Ceasar (Andy Serkis). The film initially focuses on Rodman, who attempts to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease by testing a genetically engineered virus on apes, in effect increasing their intelligence. The narrative gradually shifts to Ceasar as he grows up in Rodman's house and develops his unique identity, and focuses on him as he  eventually finds himself in detention together with other apes. It is Ceasar who will lead their rebellion; director Rupert Wyatt characteristically addressed the film in a BBC report as “a Spartacus story.”

The Planet of the Apes series is an example of the link between popular culture and politics, and has attracted academic attention as such; see for example Richard von Busack, Signifying monkeys: politics and story-telling in the Planet of the Apes series, in Gregg Rickman, ed., The science fiction film reader (Limelight, 2004), and Eric Greene, Planet of the Apes as American myth: race, politics, and popular culture (Wesleyan University Press, 1998). Rise of the Planet of the Apes is similarly important, but at the same time it is considerably more complex; it combines science fiction, political fantasy, and family drama, while drawing upon elements from the prison film genre and narratives of escape.

The film is quite rare in terms of its representation of rebellion from the point of view of the insurgents. It starts and ends with scenes of apes in their natural environment. In the opening sequence in a far away jungle, apes become victims of violent attacks by humans; they are hunted down, captured, detained, and abducted. In the last sequence the insurgent apes are free, having reached a forest outside of San Francisco, and thus having symbolically returned to the beginning; as Ceasar puts it to Rodman, this is “home.” In between these two sequences, the narrative depicts the suffering of many apes, as well as their subsequent struggle against oppression and exploitation. In this respect, it may be read as a political allegory potentially concerning all kinds of oppressed peoples. However, the film also includes literal references to animal rights, particularly with regard to the so-called ‘use’ of apes in laboratories, that is to say their incarceration, ill-treatment, torture, and extermination. To its credit, the narrative does not sentimentalise their suffering; it puts their case forward in political terms. 

Thus, this is a story of the oppressed liberating themselves, and, significantly, liberation is depicted as a goal achieved collectively. Ceasar’s aforementioned reference is pivotal in this respect, because he was born in a laboratory, and grew up in a human house; “home” in fact is the ape collective in the forest, rather than the forest itself.  Earlier on in the film, Ceasar finds himself in a position which allows him to escape; but unlike individualistic narratives of freedom, the point here is not the escape of one, but the liberation of all.  Moreover, Ceasar does not use his intelligence for his own benefit, nor ‘leads’ the other apes to freedom from a position of power; in contrast, he is a leading figure precisely because he chooses to share his gift with the collective. Similarly, the aim of the apes is not to rule the world but to free themselves, and they effectively avoid using unnecessary violence in their effort to do so.

Andy Serkis’ superb acting is a key component of the film.  The use of special effects enables the capture of his performance and its digital display in the form of Ceasar, who communicates his thoughts and feelings mainly through his gaze, facial expression, and body language. It is through such means, and almost exclusively without the aid of dialogue, that complex issues of identity and political consciousness are articulated. The other apes are played by actors in the same way, and it is through their performances that the insurgency is narrated. 

 

OutNow.ch

Unfortunately, Rise of the Planet of the Apes has significant weaknesses when it comes to the representation of gender. There are only two female characters in the film, the human vet Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto), who has an almost entirely decorative role, and the chimpanzee Bright Eyes (Terry Notary), who is Ceasar’s mother and gets killed early on in the film. In sharp contrast, all the key characters, both human and ape, are male, and so seem to be the rest of the insurgent apes, as well as the law enforcement agents they are up against. Is it that difficult to imagine an intelligent woman making scientific discoveries, or a strong female character leading the revolution? Apparently it is. And sadly, knowledge and consciousness, as well as the revolution itself, are in effect portrayed as issues only for men to be concerned with.

Of an aspect bright and fair: Happy New Year!

 Occupy Wall Street

A fortnight ago Time presented its 2011 person of the year: it was “the protester”. This came as a surprise to many, given that the magazine is not exactly the most alternative source of information on the planet; its choice, however, may also be seen as an indication of the fact that it is not possible to overlook the on-going global movements of dissent. And from a cultural point of view, I cannot think of a better song to welcome 2012 than the following classic by the incredible Patti Smith: 

I was dreaming in my dreaming
Of an aspect bright and fair
And my sleeping it was broken
But my dream it lingered near
In the form of shining valleys
Where the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
That the people have the power
To redeem the work of fools
Upon the meek the graces shower
It’s decreed the people rule

People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power

Vengeful aspects became suspect
And bending low as if to hear
And the armies ceased advancing
Because the people had their ear
And the shepherds and the soldiers
Lay beneath the stars
Exchanging visions
And laying arms
To waste in the dust
In the form of shining valleys
Where the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry

People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power

Where there were deserts
I saw fountains
Like cream the waters rise
And we strolled there together
With none to laugh or criticize
And the leopard
And the lamb
Lay together truly bound
I was hoping in my hoping
To recall what I had found
I was dreaming in my dreaming
God knows a purer view
As I lay down into my sleeping
I commit my dream to you

People have the power
People have the power
People have the power
People have the power

The power to dream, to rule
To wrestle the earth from fools
It’s decreed the people rule
It’s decreed the people rule
Listen, I believe everything we dream
Can come to pass through our union
We can turn the world around
We can turn the earth’s revolution

We have the power
People have the power