What I’m Reading
July 22, 2022
In today’s edition of What I’m Reading, I’ll start with another week in pictures series, have a read that connects to the review of the documentary The Salt of the Earth I wrote a month ago, and conclude with a radio segment on Afghanistan.
Week in Pictures
“Sonne, Sommer, Wärme — so schön, so gefährlich” is a visual summary of the penultimate week of June published by the online edition of the German magazine Der Spiegel.
The captions are in German, but the pictures speak for themselves. The main theme is the weather, or in a broader sense, the climate. Many of the selected photographs show the beauty or the dangers of summer.
The lead image depicts a gorgeous scene from the Glastonbury music festival that connects the beauty of the Earth with the beauty of humanity. A strong picture by Ben Birchall.
Other light summer pictures include a Mermaid Parade in New York that welcomes summer, dancers in Bali, or a very creative image from a nude swim event in Tasmania.
The photos from a wildfire in Brandenburg, Germany, climate protests, funerals of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, protests in the West Bank, or an equally sad and beautiful detail picture of a footprint in the dried-up remnants of what once was the river Po in Italy, are a bit heavier. They are not graphic but elicit somber thoughts, an important part of photojournalism.
New Salgado Project
I shared my thoughts on a documentary about acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado in late June. Investing in that documentary was one of the educational expenses in years. It shares countless insights, big and small, into the life and work of one of the most accomplished documentary photographers of our time. It’s an inspirational and educational powerhouse.
Shortly after I watched the film, I found a beautiful interview about Salgado’s latest project.
PetaPixel’s Phil Mistry interviews the photographer in “Amazônia: Sebastião Salgado’s Photo Essay Nine Years in the Making” about the new photo book and his career in general.
It’s a wonderful read that pairs well with the documentary, actually.
Without giving too much away, Salgado’s long career and his reporting from the Amazon rainforest fuel this 500-page photo book. Salgado provides details about his 48 trips to his native Brazil, which were each between one and three months long. He gives little nuggets about what his reporting included, how he gained access to remote areas, and how he dealt with the uncertainty that is part of working with the land and the people.
The interview also explores Salgado’s views on the questions of black and white vs. color, film vs. digital, lighting, and the role of smartphones in photography.
His comments are enlightening and an absolute treat for anyone interested in photography.
What strikes me the most is his goal for Amazônia, a book that Salgado wants to make society more sensitive to the importance of the Amazon rainforest.
He mentioned both the role of the current Brazilian government and the “consumption society,” hoping his readers become more conscious of their own choices.
As a final point and on a more photographic level, there’s a beautiful quote included that explains the “problem with photographers,” the personal costs of bearing witness, learning, and sharing what you’ve learned with the world.
Afghanistan Update
The world moves closer to the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s retaking control of Afghanistan. The BBC’s News World Service HARDtalk program recently aired a segment on the future of Afghanistan, which serves as a good reminder that we mustn’t forget the Afghan people.
The show’s host, Stephen Sackur, speaks with Fawzia Koofi, a female Afghan politician. She’s been in exile since the Taliban returned to power last year. The interview pursues the question of hope for Afghanistan, a country with a repressive political system and economic hardship.
It’s a fascinating 20-minute conversation that explores Koofi’s exile, a decision driven by the desire to be impactful and work towards a better Afghanistan. The duo also talks about the sadness of seeing Afghanistan revert back to issues Afghans thought they had left in the past.
I found it particularly valuable to hear about the role of the isolation strategy, which the world has used to pressure the Taliban, on the economic situation. Equally interesting is the discussion about the Taliban of the 1990s and early 2000s vs. today’s Taliban.
I highly recommend you give this conversation a listen, for it provides meaningful insights into a country that’s lived through more war and sorrow than most.
That’s all for today’s reading updates. Later in the week, I’ll launch my series on all things journalism, photography, and writing. And with a bit of luck, next week brings new reading insights, more journalism sharing, and new photography. Until then, enjoy your readings.
