Smithsonian Magazine article

Years ago I was involved in this CBS movie, a documentary that was produced by my friend DeWitt Sage. For it we found several families in a refugee camp in Austria, filmed as they went through the anxieties of the selection process, then flew over to the US with them and filmed them off and on during their first year here.

Although I was nominally an associate producer on the project,  I also took hundreds of photos. And in the current issue Smithsonian Magazine revisits one of these pictures as part of their Indelible Image series. And they also enlisted DeWitt to write the accompanying article. I knew at the time that it was a gift to be part of their experience, and you can read about it here. The article is the story of one of the families we followed, Andrej and Alec Bozek, a Polish factory worker and his three year old son, who escaped on their own and made it to the US after six months of waiting in the camp. Some time after they arrived here, Mrs. Bozek and their two other children were allowed by Polish authorities to join them here, against all odds.

While working on the new story I revisited the photos I did at the time and found all kinds of things that have never been seen, so I'm putting a few of them here on the blog.

The first ones are from the camp, and the last picture is of Andrej and Alec today.

And here are Andrej and Alec now, different and yet just the same.

Choreography/Multimedia Project

A few years ago I did a project in New York with Alison Chase as a part of the Guggenheim Projects series. It set off a number of thoughts that have been slowly coagulating, and we are not working together, along with videographer Derek Dudek, on a new piece. We tested a few ideas recently, and here is a gallery of the images. Very exciting! Not like my work, and yet is is, sort of.

Stop me if you've heard this before.

(This post mirrors one posted today at ASMP's Strictly Business Blog, but I thought I'd put it here for those who don't get there.)

When I write about photographing I sometimes feel that I’m repeating the same thing over in slightly different ways.

But then maybe there’s only one thing to say. And it’s something along the lines of, “Everything is everything.” So after writing my last post (Taking Pictures for No Reason At All) I began thinking that the pictures that drew me into photographing—other people’s, not mine—were mostly freestanding images of great power. They were not usually part of a series or a story, and those that were really stepped out of the line and stood there alone. In other words, they did their own heavy lifting.

Specifically, I’m thinking of a Roy Decarava photo of an empty hallway, of a Robert Frank photo of a pedestrian walking past a building with a neon arrow on it (in Butte, I think), of a Duane Michals picture of a Russian acrobat. Emmet Gowin said that an Ansel Adams photo of new grass against a charred trunk really moved him in the same way.

I think of these photos as moments of purity, perhaps best understood in musical terms. What I mean is that we are all familiar with musical phrases, songs, whole pieces that don’t “mean” anything or narrate anything or convey a preselected thought or emotion. Instead they contain their effect without no outside reference necessary. We expect that of music.

On the other hand, we often think of photographs as being “pictures of things.” So we look for interesting subjects. I’ve done my share of that, but what really drew me on when I first started were those photos I took that just were. I was not chasing a job (I had one) and I wasn’t trying to say something. I just wanted to take a picture that somehow held it’s own meaning, like a kind of pure presence. I hoped that with luck someone else might feel the same thing when they saw it. But that wasn’t what drove me. What I wanted was to be expanded by something I’d done myself.

I’ve spent years making a living, satisfying clients, trying to explore the world of things and ideas, and working to construct this being called Seankernan. But still the only thing that really excites me is when one of those ineffable pictures turns up in my take. THAT’S what the work is. And that’s what I still want from photography. Not a job, a profession, not a show or a publication. I want to wake myself up.

Oaxaca Workshop: Day of the Dead

Life and Death a creativity workshop for photographers Location: Oaxaca, Mexico Dates: Oct. 24th – Nov. 4th, 2009 USA Info: (360) 301-4121 • www.jonathansafir.com Mexico Info: Cel. (044-55) 1365-1746 • www.lalux.com Cost: $1,950 USD (A few scholarships are available - please inquire by email - see Discussion Board below) (transportation to/from Oaxaca, accommodations and meals are not included) We have assembled an unusual group of teachers for this workshop that lets us explore our own creativity while taking us into the heart of Oaxaca during Mexico’s most profound ceremony, the Day of the Dead. We’ll work together on a series of creative exercises that take us to a greater awareness of our ways of seeing and let us rediscover what was so compelling about our first encounters with photography. The workshop will meet daily in the unique and awe-inspiring Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, which hosts the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca, in the center of the city of Oaxaca. We will begin each day with exercises inspired by The Artist’s Way, led by Enrique Cervera. The exercises are intended to reflect on our own true authentic desires and inspirations. We do this, first by locating our creative blocks, then by identifying the sources of these blocks, and finally by learning the tools to tame these creative monsters. Sean Kernan will guide us as a group through a series of exercises that use music, theater games, and written observations to let us experience our creativity directly, not only to produce photographs but to be more aware of our own experience. At the same time, we will start our work in Oaxaca and Oaxaca's central valley, as the population prepares for the Day of the Dead, one of the most profound, fascinating events in the culture of Mexico. Jonathan Safir, who has been working on an extended film project in Oaxaca for many years, will guide us through the intricacies of this significant event. His experience and knowledge gives us the unique chance to get into the deeper mystery of the continuity between life and death, ceremony and party, tradition, art, business, and most deeply, heritage. We will visit sites around the valley where we will experience the local culture through Oaxacan art and food, looking at the vital role that "art" plays in the continuity of tradition. We will visit different artists' studios - paper-making, glass-blowing, printmaking, hand-making chocolate in women's homes, and Day of the Dead bread bakeries, as well as cemeteries and markets, and a wide array of culinary experiences. As we work, we will also meet daily to discuss the photographs that we are making, so that we can get a sense of how our work is developing. If you’ve been working alone, as most photographers do, this will be a wonderful chance to see how your work affects others and to refine it. We will also continue to do various creative exercises. The aim of the week is to let our work extend us while it carries us into an extraordinary cultural event. In this sense it will be a kind of retreat, not 'from' something but 'into' something new. The workshop is not just for the photographically accomplished, but for all photographers who want to discover and refine their own work as artists. The only requirement is that one should arrive ready to drop one’s habits and to be surprised. As a practical matter, bring: your camera and laptop, comfortable clothing for a climate that ranges between the high 80s and the mid 50s. A tripod might be useful, but extensive lighting would not be needed, beyond perhaps a small flash. INSTRUCTORS: The teachers, who first met in a class at Parsons School of Design in New York over 20 years ago, bring together a complement of talents, as you will see below: Sean Kernan is an unusual teacher who has careers in commercial and fine art photography. His interest is in exploring the nature of creativity and its central role in our lives. He has taught at the New School/ Parsons, International Center for Photography, both the Maine and Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. He has lectured at Art Center (Pasadena), Wesleyan, University of Texas, Yale, PhotoPlus Expo, and at the ASMP series, Strictly Business 2. He has also given convocation and graduation addresses at several schools and colleges, and was a keynote speaker at the CASE Editors Conference in Chicago in 2006. Recently, he has conducted workshops in creativity and criticism for faculty at Art Center, and a “Master Class for Masters” at the Maine Media Workshop. For this work he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Art Center. He is the author of two monographs, "The Secret Books" with Jorge Luis Borges, and "Among Trees." He has had shows in the US, France, Italy, Mexico, Korea, Greece and Egypt, and his work has been published in those countries as well as China and Iran. He also originated the idea for the CBS Special To America, and was its associate producer. He writes occasional articles for Communication Arts. His work can be seen at http://www.seankernan.com Enrique Cervera Bernatovich is a photographer, writer and producer. He lived in Paris, France from 1981 a 1986. There he studied French Literature at Paris I University – Sorbonne, and Social and Economical Administration at the Paris XIII University - Paris-Nord. In 1986 he moved to New York City, USA, where he completed a BFA in Photography at Parsons School of Design. He lived 18 years there, assisting full-time for photographers Annie Leibovitz and Mary Elen Mark; and free-lancing for others such as Deborah Turbeville, Sarah Moon, Steven Klein, and many others. As a professional photographer he has worked for a wide array of clients, including Jazz-Hot Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, French Glamour, Tiempo Libre, El Nacional, Merrill Lynch, and VB&P, among many others. He has 16 group and 4 solo exhibition in five different countries. He has also collaborated in a large number of art projects, including cinema, video, performance, concerts, conferences, and festivals. He won 2'nd Place in the APA Awards (Advertisement Photographers of America). He has been teaching art in different ways since 1991. He has been invited as a host teacher at Parsons School of Design, Universidad del Valle de México campus San Miguel and a wide range of photography and art interest groups. He has been teaching the Artist’s Way since 2006, first as part of Mexico City’s Culture Ministry and then as a private teacher, training a wide range of people, from other artists and high-school teachers to accountants, lawyers and housewives. He has been an active participant in the communities where he has lived and worked, collaborating with several NGO’s (Non-Govt. Organizations) in sexual and reproductive rigths, micro-financing for women and community vegetable and fruit gardens. He is passionate about permaculture, bio-architecture and related themes. His work can be seen at http://www.lalux.com. Jonathan Safir counts among his trades photographer, filmmaker, producer, editor, writer, software developer, hospitality/food/beverage, bodywork, and teaching. In 1989 he completed a BFA in Photography at Parsons School of Design in New York City. He worked as a photographer in New York and later in San Francisco, CA. His work has appeared in art galleries, magazines, book and cd covers, street fairs, annual reports, on the web, and as "art" in thousands of people's homes and offices. He has been represented worldwide by Getty Images (formerly Photonica) since 1991. Previously, he studied mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley, during which time he developed and implemented a highschool small-group workshop model through the Professional Development Project. He has continued teaching and tutoring privately since 1983. He studied chi gung and Shaolin kung fu in NY, beginning in 1987 with Alan Lee. From 1995 though 2000, he studied water method Wu style chi gung, t'ai chi, and bagua extensively with Bernard Langan in California. He has continued his studies with Luo De Xiu from Taiwan in Gao style bagua, and with Michael Gilman in Yang style t'ai chi in Port Townsend, WA. He has been teaching chi gung privately with adults and teenagers for over ten years now. In 2000, he began work on an extensive video documentary film project in Oaxaca. He has worked with dozens of creative staff members, Oaxacan and international, and will be continuing the interview process this year exploring the question of art and artisan within the tradition of Day of the Dead. To date he has over 40 hours of interviews and 100 hours of overall footage, including interviews with the artists and politicians, historians and elders, anthropologists and farmers. His photography work can be seen at http://www.jonathansafir.com

Contact Info

Email:
Location:	Oaxaca, Mexico

Henry Fielding's idea of a good portrait

"It hath been thought a vast commendation of a painter to say his figures seem to breathe, but surely it is a much greater and nobler applause that they appear to think." Fielding, 1741