ZORIAH - A PHOTOJOURNALIST AND WAR PHOTOGRAPHER'S BLOG

The Girl With The Red Headdress

I took this portrait of a young girl in one of Kampala's largest slums.  I was walking through one of the back alleys when I saw her and I turned a shot a couple of frames.  She gave me a big smile when I walked away and I will always remember it when I look at this image.

TED Photography Talks - Part 1

I wanted to begin to compile lists of all of the photography and photojournalism related TED Talks.  There are so many good ones but I always have to dig to find them.  So, in order to save you the time of searching them out, I will begin to post everything I can find on photography in the TED archives here.  I am also placing a category for these posts on the sidebar, so you can find them all there.

Enjoy!

 

Miru Kim's underground art

At the 2008 EG Conference, artist Miru Kim talks about her work. Kim explores industrial ruins underneath New York and then photographs herself in them, nude -- to bring these massive, dangerous, hidden spaces into sharp focus.

Camille Seaman: Haunting photos of polar ice

Photographer Camille Seaman shoots icebergs, showing the world the complex beauty of these massive, ancient chunks of ice. Dive in to her photo slideshow, "The Last Iceberg."

 

Taryn Simon photographs secret sites

Taryn Simon exhibits her startling take on photography -- to reveal worlds and people we would never see otherwise. She shares two projects: one documents otherworldly locations typically kept secret from the public, the other involves haunting portraits of men convicted for crimes they did not commit.

 

Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth

Blaise Aguera y Arcas leads a dazzling demo of Photosynth, software that could transform the way we look at digital images. Using still photos culled from the Web, Photosynth builds breathtaking dreamscapes and lets us navigate them.

Wade Davis on endangered cultures

With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis celebrates the extraordinary diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, which are disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate.

 

 

Frans Lanting's lyrical nature photos

In this stunning slideshow, celebrated nature photographer Frans Lanting presents The LIFE Project, a poetic collection of photographs that tell the story of our planet, from its eruptive beginnings to its present diversity. Soundtrack by Philip Glass.

 

Rick Smolan tells the story of a girl

Photographer Rick Smolan tells the unforgettable story of a young Amerasian girl, a fateful photograph, and an adoption saga with a twist

  

James Nachtwey's searing photos of war

Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, war photographer James Nachtwey shows his life’s work and asks TED to help him continue telling the story with innovative, exciting uses of news photography in the digital era.

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Edward Burtynsky on manufactured landscapes

Accepting his 2005 TED Prize, photographer Edward Burtynsky makes a wish: that his images -- stunning landscapes that document humanity's impact on the world -- help persuade millions to join a global conversation on sustainability.

 

Brick Maker

A brick maker takes a short break while producing bricks by hand. Bricks are sold and used to build homes in many areas throughout Uganda.

Child Drug Addicts - Drug Abuse Among Children

I wont claim to be a specialist on the subject of child drug addicts, and I dont know any of the statistics (after a brutal course in college I will never again pay much attention to statistics.)  What I do know is what I see with my own eyes and what I experience when I travel and when I work.

I know that every country and every region has problems with drug addiction to varying degrees.  However I also know that in developing countries the problem is much, much worse than anything we see in the west.  

During my recent trip to Uganda I spent a good deal of my time in the slums of Kampala photographing the lives of the children that live in the midst of poverty and chaos.  In these areas, drug addiction takes on new meaning.  There are literally hundreds of children living on the streets as drug addicts.  Their drug of choice is the only one that they can afford, glue.  The vast majority are battered and bruised from constant fighting, wearing filthy, tattered clothes. 

Now add to this the fact that many of these children are missing hands and feet.  You see they cant afford food...the glue they sniff is cheaper and it takes the hunger pains away.  Of course the glue is not free and some of the children have been known to steal in order to feed their addition.  In an area where no-one has much of anything, the locals hide crude bear and wild animal traps to keep the children away.  It does little to solve or help the problem, other than taking the child off the streets for a week or two after they have lost fingers, toes or a limb.

Like most things in life, the problem is complex.  The most simple solution would be to make it more difficult for the children to get the glue that they sniff, as all they have to do is go to any one of the vendors on the street that will put some glue in an empty bottle for the children to sniff.  Locals agree that the children should not be sold glue, but the public official of this area (basically the mayor of this district I am told) is the one who imports the drugs and supplies the street level dealers.  His money and power keep him safe. 

Two boys pass a bottle of glue back forth, sniffing it in a back alley of a slum in order to get high.

 

A young addict getting high.

 

A teenager sleeping on the streets.

 

The filthy clothes of a child drug addict living homeless on the streets.

 

A teenage drug addict shows off scars he received in a street fight.  Most of the young addicts have no education and solve disputes violently between themselves.

 

A teenager exposes his foot which was caught in a bear trap.  Residents of many areas place bear and other crude metal traps around their property to keep the young drug addicts away.

 

 

Metal traps for sale in a local market.

 

A street kid with an injury from a trap.

 

A girl plays with an empty syringe that she found on the street.

 

A boy waits behind a mesh fence for medical aid.

 

Patrick, a young man who made it out of the slums and started his own organization, cleans the wounds of a street kid who was injured by a police beating.  There are few if any other organizations that provide help and outreach to local children.

 

Patrick hands out bread to young drug addicts after they received medical aid and a talk about life and how to get off of the streets.

  

A fight breaks out among teenagers for the last remaining piece of bread.

 

Street kids pass time in an alleyway that up to 30 kids sleep in each night.

 

Teen drug addicts sleeping in an alley.

 

Men smoke crack cocaine in a slum crack house.  Most child drug addicts continue their addiction as adults, moving on to heavier drugs such as crack and heroine.

 

Former street children and child drug addicts sing during classes in school and home founded by a former street kid.

 

A brief note and request:

Many of these photos, and many photos that have been displayed on this site over the past few weeks, could not have been captured without the help of my dear friend Patrick.  He was raised on the streets and has gone on to help children get out of horrible situations.  He is 21 years old and cares for 43 orphans in a house he built and founded himself.  Twice a week he does outreach for street children and drug addicted children in the slums of Kampala, many of whom end up being cared for and educated in his home.  His organization is www.raisinguphope.wetpaint.com  He is currently looking for volunteers to come to Uganda to help him, and of course funding for his sustainable projects.  I have met this man, spent weeks getting to know him and can say that he is a true, kind and amazing soul.  It is a gift if you have the chance to meet him and I vouch for him 100%  His work is important and if you can help him I promise your time and money is better spent on things like this than most other charities.  Follow his link and contact him if there is any help you may be able to offer.

Young Boy in Slum - Kampala, Uganda

A young boy poses for a photo in on Kampala's worst slum areas.

 

NOTE: This is a high resolution photo and can be downloaded and used as your iPad Wallpaper.  Just click on the photo, when it opens in a new window drag it to your desktop, then into iPhoto.  Sync your iPad with iTunes, then choose your settings in your iPad and select the Brightness & Wallpaper category to select the picture.  Enjoy