Open Society Institute Call for Proposals

The Open Society Institute’s Documentary Photography Project is pleased to announce upcoming 2008 deadlines. For complete application guidelines, please see the attached documents and visit their website at: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/photography CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Moving Walls 15 Deadline: Friday, March 28, 2008, 5pm (Eastern Standard Time) OSI's Documentary Photography Project invites photographers to submit a proposal and completed body of work for consideration in the Moving Walls 15 group exhibition. Moving Walls is an annual documentary photography exhibition that represents the obstacles—such as political oppression, economic instability, and racism—that society often erects and the struggles to tear those barriers down. 2008 Distribution Grant Deadline: Friday, June 20, 2008 at 5pm (Eastern Standard Time) OSI's Documentary Photography Project is offering a grant to documentary photographers who have already completed a significant body of work on issues of social justice to collaborate with a partner organization and propose new ways of using photography as a tool…

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Panel Discussion: Iraqi Citizens: War and Exile

Iraqi Citizens: War And Exile Nearly a quarter of all Iraqis, more than 4 million people, have fled their homes. The panelists will describe this crisis and discuss the potential for photographers and visual artists to bring human rights issues to public attention, and to advocate for policy change. A question-and-answer session will follow. Location: Fordham University, Lincoln Center 113 West 60th Street (at Columbus Ave.), LL Room 816Tuesday, Feb 5th, 7-9 pm Please RSVP to martinezb@humanrightsfirst.org or nailya@mindspring.com MODERATOR: Fred Ritchin – director of PixelPress, creating web sites, books and exhibitions investigating new documentary and promoting human rights. PANELISTS Nour Al-khal – an Iraqi translator who worked with the journalist Steven Vincent. Matisse Bustos Hawkes – Communications and Outreach Coordinator at WITNESS. Lori Grinker – photographer represented by Contact Press Images* Amelia Templeton – Lifeline for Iraqi Refugees Project at Human Rights First. Sponsored by Fordham Visual Arts Program, Fordham University…

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Promise of Protection, Our Hidden Poor, Northern Short Course and WHNPA Student Contest

Worth Watching: Promise of ProtectionAnother powerful multimedia piece from The News and Observer. Vernetta Cockerham-Ellerbee's husband made good on threats to kill her family when he stabbed to death her teenage daughter Candice in 2002. Cockerham-Ellerbe had begged police to lock him up. In a lawsuit, she's asking them to pay for failing to protect her. Our Hidden PoorThe Chicago Tribune published a special report, Our Hidden Poor, with an audio slideshow In their own voices. Tens of thousands of families confront what often amounts to a daily struggle, if not for survival then at least for dignity. And their troubles unfold mostly out of sight, in barren apartments, soulless shelters or overflowing trailers. In these unseen places, hope can be as scarce as cash; victories tend to be small, hard-won and fleeting. Events/Contests: Northern Short Course The 2008 Northern Short Course will be held in Rochester, NY, March 13-15. Confirmed speakers…

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Multimedia Round-up: Reign of Sand, A Journey Through Time, The Women of Evangel, The Crossing, and Vanishing Wetlands

All of these projects are fully worthy of their own posts, but in the interest of time, a week's worth of pieces worth watching: Circle of Blue: Reign of Sand A look at how the traditional nomadic culture of Inner Mongolia is changing as the grasslands turn to sand. Caused by many of the same environmental and policy-based conditions as the American Dust Bowl in the 1930's, this transition is having major effects on the people and land in Northern China.   Life: A Journey Through Time by Frans Lanting "The Life Project is a lyrical interpretation of life on Earth from its earliest beginnings to its present diversity. It includes a large-format book, a multimedia orchestral performance, a traveling photographic exhibition, and a dedicated educational website, www.LifeThroughTime.com. " The Women of Evangel, Healing and Hope by Tim Broekema A documentary on the Evangel Hospital in Nigeria, where some of the thousands…

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MediaStorm publishes Rape of a Nation by Marcus Bleasdale

Rape of a Nation by Marcus Bleasdale The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to the deadliest war in the world today. An estimated 5.4 million people have died since 1998, the largest death toll since the Second World War, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). After successive waves of fighting and ten years of war, there are no hospitals, few roads and limited NGO and UN presence because it is too dangerous to work in many of these regions. The West's desire for minerals and gems has contributed to a fundamental breakdown in the social structure. See the story.

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