F8MAGAZINE

Gianpaolo La Paglia. An Unexpected End.

If, the real estate and debt disaster in Ireland have filled the front pages of the most important news papers around the world, another unexpected consequence of the economic recession is the abandonment of horses.

During Ireland’s boom years, indeed, thousands of people bought horses as a status symbol but since incomes have been reducing, a lot of horses are being abandoned on public land. Their upkeep, nowadays, costs around €30 and more per day, too much for people who are losing their jobs.

The Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) estimate that around 20,000 horses are roaming abandoned in the countryside. Most of them have contracted diseases and in 2010 “49 horses had to be shot or put to sleep, more than ever before,” said Orla Aungier, manager of the DSPCA. 

Two places in Dublin are becoming the symbols of this drastic situation.  The first is Smithfield Horse Market situated in an old area of Dublin City and the other is the Dunsink Dump in North County Dublin.

Jenn Warren. Nyachuol Gatbel (L) was shot in the leg during a 3am raid on her village, Torkej. Tibisa Chol Gach (R) lost her daughter in the attack and now cares for the orphaned grandchildren. Along the Sobat River in Jikany Nuer territory, Torkej was attacked on 8 May by the larger Lol Nuer tribe, and is is vulnerable to repeated cattle raids because of their placement on the river and proximity to Lol Nuer lands. The family now lives with relatives in Hai Majak, an area of Nasir with many displaced. The Lol Nuer are perpretrators of repeated cattle raids and attacks against the Dinka, Murle, and Jikany Nuer sub-tribe. Tribal violence overall in Southern Sudan has dramatically increased in 2009, with over 2000 deaths, more people than have been killed in Darfur.

Thomas Pickard. PhD researcher Jane Edgar at Trajer Hut, Trajer Ridge, Vestfold Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica, January 2004.

Sol Neelman. Despite severe congestion and slick road conditions, weaving through San Francisco traffic has never been more fun than at the annual Big Wheel Race.

Jeremy Shutton-Hibbert. A woman and child stand outside their home in the Roma camp of Sintesti, near Bucharest, Romania, in August 1994.

Robert Leon. Cuban children, Santiago De Cuba, Cuba.

You are passionate about people, travel and indigenous cultures. Is photography your excuse for travelling and satisfying your curiosity?

No, it pays the bills. Just joking! It’s not an excuse, it’s a way-of-life I choose and make happen because I’m passionate about the World and my life in it. I love photography because it’s my way of creative expression - I’m a right-brained visually inclined person. My way-of-being has evolved by learning many things in many places about people and myself. My curiosity about the Earth and people has progressed into a mission as a responsible observer showing truth and beauty around us. My passion for photography has evolved into being a visual voice for all cultures and making a contribution to society, while evolving myself as a person with the experiences I have and expanding out to others sharing and learning from their experiences. The curiosity to see and go places evolved into enthusiasm to do something good, which gives me the energy to continue doing what I do. I consider us all indigenous people of Earth so we are all responsible for the Earth; my photography of indigenous cultures has no boundaries and includes everyone.

Thomas Lee. Unable to bridge the dock, a pump-boat fisherman has to skim through the water carrying his catch, a sashimi-grade giant yellowfin, and walk longer distance to the trading complex, making small-scale fishing difficult to sustain, General Santos, the Philippines, August 2009.

Larry Louie. Tenger Horseman, Mt Bromo, Indonesia.

What story from your travels has amazed you the most?

As I told you earlier I just recently got back from an area call Humla, Nepal. It is on the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in Northwestern Nepal. We were operating a 3 day eye camp there with Seva Canada. Being in the Himalayas, the scenery was spectacular, the air was so fresh that it actually tasted sweet with every labored breath I took (the altitude was quite high). The area has an airstrip on the edge of the mountain that has just recently been tarred. After you get off the plane, that is it - no electricity, no cars, no running water. It’s like being dropped off back in the 1700’s. Some people had walked 4 days and over mountains to reach us and others carried their children or elderly for days to come to our camp. That is not the amazing part - the amazing part is the hospital that is up there and their local doctor - Dr. Yeshe. Dr. Yeshe is from Humla, received his medical education from India through the generosity of a businessman/trekker from Hong Kong. Instead of setting up a cushy practice in India, he decided to return to help his people. He is the only doctor up there and a maverick in his profession doing everything from dental to obstetrics to minor surgery with limited supplies and medication. With the help of Citta USA (another non-government organization), they built a hospital up there about 8 years ago and recently through a Canadian donor, a surgical/maternity building was added on. The people in the area have outside contact for about 6-8 months of the year before they get snowed in. Dr. Yeshe lives among them, and stays put during the winter time where he said that it is the time that they need him the most.  With Dr. Yeshe, and the hospital, many many lives have been saved, from local children to foolish foreigners. It is his work and the work of the organization behind him that amazes me.

James Whitlow Delano. A Photo Back Story:  Burmese Girl Running, Mingyun, Burma.

Sometimes you try and think of something clever to say about a photograph and then realize that it just feels good to look at it.  This one falls into that category.  It was a split second reaction, a pivot cutting off conversation mid-sentence, to record a beautiful young woman rushing by to be with her friends in front of the monumental pedestal for an unfinished stupa, damaged by an earthquake before the egocentric king could force others to finish it for him. So, it sits, this beautiful ruin on the banks of the Irrawaddy River as if time did not exist.