Copyright Fazal Sheikh, “Minal Sleeping” from the project Ladli

Fazal Sheikh is an artist and activist based in Zurich, Switzerland. His work has been widely exhibited, in institutions ranging from the Tate Modern to the Princeton University Art Museum to small huts in rural India. He has collaborated with numerous foundations and non-governmental-organizations, and he has won, among many other awards, a MacArthur Prize.

I asked him to do an interview with the PhotoPhilanthropy blog because he approaches collaboration, strategic partnerships and accessibility in a way that I find very inspiring.

I began our interview by asking how Fazal made his way to photography. He told me about his transition from ceramics to photography, and about how he figured out what to focus on while doing a Fulbright project in Kenya. He was there at a time when a huge number of people were fleeing Somalia and Sudan and seeking refuge in Kenya. So he traveled to the refugee camps, in the north.

FS: It seemed such an obvious thing to do, this simple act, but others had not approached the elders of the community, to ask for their willingness and permission. So I realized that was a very simple and direct way to begin working.

To visit a place, with an extreme vulnerability—which you have when you arrive in such a situation…I felt that I didn’t quite know how to render it. In fact I felt very intimidated about the idea of even beginning to photograph.

I traveled that first time with journalists and photojournalists—they weren’t inhibited at all about beginning to work and move through the camp and make these images. And I think that was not my sensibility. I was fearful of the idea of trespass.

And over the years, since then—that was in the early 90’s—I’ve started to realize that this fear that you have when you first arrive in a place is a good thing. Because although you may not know how to render the place, you’re also open to what it has to offer you.

And in that regard, the act of collaboration is kind of essential, because if there is any strength in the work I think it’s largely borne of what the people have given to this process.  They have said, look, this is the thing that’s interesting about our community. You may have read such and such, but we feel that this story of this person is important. Or, we’ve got this problem that nobody’s talking about.

EG: How does the way you make a picture relate to your goals as an activist and as an artist?

Well, I’m not very grand in terms of declaring that I’m going to single-handedly change any given issue. I think that kind of heroism is a bit overvalued. I think the best that we can do is begin to nurture a conversation.

And so your priorities when you’re making an image come through very clearly in the images that are produced. I’m very careful about the nature of trespass and I’ve opted for very formal portraits in the notion that it gives the person the chance to confront the camera: to confront me and by extension, the viewer.

And I think that, for me, that has value because it kind of levels the playing field.

You may have images that are made in a more photojournalistic realm, which do garner funds for these aid organizations, and I think they probably do that very effectively, probably much more effectively than do mine.

But, having said that, I think that it’s important to expand the vocabulary. Because the notion of just giving money to something to assuage your guilt is a kind of hierarchical relationship, wherein I as the giver am always above the person who is the recipient of those funds. And I never have the notion that I could be in that position, so I don’t adjust my behavior in the world to keep that from happening in the future.

But I think that’s a subtler and perhaps more complicated interpretation of what making images means. I wouldn’t like to dismiss those other kinds of images, I’m just not particularly comfortable making them myself.

And I can’t get away from work that is in sync with my own sensibilities. If you spend all this time in remote places, you’d like to be making work that you can live with, that you can stand by.

In the war photographer or photojournalist there’s always this degree of heroism. And I think there’s not much that’s heroic about going to a place to live for a month amidst people who live there for decades. You know. That’s heroism.

I think that the best thing you can do is just be receptive to what people have to tell you; be a kind of a vehicle—not a grand vehicle, but just somebody [who can] go and respectfully listen.

EG: I want to ask you about the Human Rights series. It seems to me from watching you over the last few years that your partnerships have become more sophisticated and complex.

FS: I hope I’ve become a little more sophisticated!

Initially, I think it was around the year 2000, I was a little bit unsettled by the idea that, in Afghanistan, I made a book that cost, I don’t know, 60 or 80 dollars, far beyond the reach of affordability for someone who was in the book. And I thought, well, wouldn’t it be interesting to try and make work that would be a little bit more accessible, and disseminate it, distribute it in a more democratic fashion?

So, although I continue to do the books, I also try to engage projects which allow that information to be filtered out, usually free of charge, and sometimes even going to people who don’t expect to be receiving the material.

EG: How do you do that?

FS: Well there are many different ways and I’m not always sure how successful they are. Some are more politically motivated: I did a piece called Ramadan Moon, which I did in the Netherlands, wherein we distributed I think 1,000 copies of that book. They were mainly distributed to politicians, lawmakers, the media, and governmental officials in the Netherlands, because it was about a kind of impropriety in their handling of immigrant cases.

But more recently, for instance…with the two Indian volumes [Moksha and Ladli]…we produced a series of posters, with the Open Society Institute—the Soros Foundation—to be distributed to 1,000 institutions in India. Women’s rights groups, universities, places that could house a set of posters and then mount an exhibition if they so chose, and then the posters would also remain in whatever archive was receiving them.

Again the idea was that you could make something free and accessible and in this case very political because it traversed the region from early life through old age and what it means for women in contemporary Indian society.

These are all experiments, but some of them are more effective than others. You have to accept that perhaps 30% of those that are received, people don’t really engage with, because it comes as a surprise often. But on the other hand, the poster series has had hundreds of exhibitions from it. Again, places that never would mount a proper exhibition; in rural areas, sometimes just a local hut, outside, taped up on the walls.

So to engage different facets of working: I’m happy and proud that the work is shown in museums–it also goes to university museums where you can engage with students. But having said that, it’s nice to imagine that people can look at the books on the internet or they can see a poster exhibition in rural India.

EG: How do you deal with giving people copies of pictures?

FS: It depends on the project. In the early projects I worked on I used Polaroid film, and these were people, generally speaking, who had never been photographed before, so the act of this collaboration and formal portraiture was well-orchestrated in the camps.

And then I would take the books back. And on several occasions I’ve used the books, years later, as a means by which to try and trace people, for instance in the Somali camps. And then more recently, let’s say in Vrindavan, which is the city of the widows, going back and forth. I mean I was revisiting the same people over the course of a couple of years, so I would either give them pictures then, or come back with pictures, or send the book when it was finished.

It’s important, wherever possible, to make somebody understand what the act of documenting really means. When you ask somebody for their permission, do they understand what it means if they are from a really rural area, that their image is going to be in a book or in an exhibition or some such thing?

And on occasion I’ve failed in that regard, because they are giving their testimony as a kind of catharsis and expecting it, in a way, to be brought forward, because they were claiming their story. I’m thinking more of the Somali images, one component of which were these voices of women who had been assaulted.

And I was concerned at the time that somebody would be reduced to that one moment of trauma in their lives, and so I didn’t publish them, and only published them years later when I did the second book. It was called A Camel for the Son and was about, essentially, a decade of life on the borders. And then I realized, in fact, if somebody has been strong enough to endure and to overcome such trauma, maybe it’s important to honor that, you know? And that I had in some way erred in not publishing their stories.

There are times when someone offers a poignant story and you have to be sensitive to when it’s appropriate to bring it forward, and you also have to be aware of where your own inhibitions or inabilities lie. As much as possible.

EG: I was looking at A Camel for the Son and noticing that you’ve had it translated into Somali. And has that made a difference? Has that changed the way you’ve been able to interact with the subjects and with other people afterwards?

FS: That’s hard for me to really judge. It was, for me, essential that it be in the language that they could also access; even on the internet it’s in their language. And I try to do that. I tried to do that also later, in the Indian volumes. Again to make things accessible.

In general it’s very difficult to mark a tangible impact of these things.

But I think that’s not so important. I think the best thing you can do is to put your work out there in a respectful manner, and, of course, hope that you’re not working in a vacuum. Which, I mean, I guess I’m confident enough to say I don’t think I’m working in a vacuum, but I also don’t want to declare that this work is certainly going to impact the situation in a certain way.

EG: How have you selected your projects?

FS: The early projects were very much based upon this dual narrative: one was the document of the place and the people, and the other was a kind of exploration of my own heritage, whether it was in Kenya with the legacy of my father; or, after working on that for several years, I went to work on the piece about Afghanistan, which was also exploring the legacy left me by my grandfather, my namesake.

And after that I think I’ve been drawn to things that are related to me in a more subtle way; sometimes an emotional, psychological resonance. Particularly issues which are not given a great deal of attention by others.

I think if you’re going to spend so much time and emotion dedicated to something, you want it to be something you really care about and something that hasn’t been attended to in a way you think might be useful.

So, for instance, the ones that, at the outset, you might say are less directly linked to me and my history would be Moksha, right? Which is a story about a town to which widows migrate when they lose their husbands.

But for me this was interesting as a challenge, because I wanted to make a piece that, when one looked at it, you’d imagine that it could only have been made by a woman. So not only to forge bonds across a religious, cultural, social divide, but also even to reach across gender. To explore the idea that maybe it’s possible to make a piece…in which you can meet somebody on a human level that transcends your gender divisions.

And I think a lot of the emotional tone of that book is very much in sync with some of my internal history, which is less readily described.

EG: How did you find out about the widows?

FS: This was sort of unusual for my working process, but I had read a small piece many years ago about this place to which widows were migrating, and I just thought it was kind of fascinating as an idea: the notion of exile, solace, hope all mingled together.

And so I determined to make one trip to visit the community. And, as in most of my projects, I never know if there’s going to be a means by which to make something. But I think that it’s worthwhile just going at first to see, and to explore whether you feel comfortable there.

It was the same thing as going to the African camps, in a way. You go with this extraordinary interest but also with this vulnerability of not being sure if you can do anything. And like I said—I don’t know if I said that clearly enough—but that moment of being really vulnerable has a great value, because it implies an openness.

It’s a moment of dread and fear for me each time.

But almost every project that I’ve worked on, I’ve had that feeling wherein you’re confronted with things that are new, that you don’t understand, that are at times intimidating. But though you are vulnerable and even on the defensive, you’re more malleable. You carry some of your priorities forward and they meet what the place has to tell you.

Fazal Sheikh’s upcoming projects involve a mid-career survey of his portraits and the final installment of his trilogy of books based upon India. Loosely speaking, he says, that volume is about heaven.

Eliza Gregory writes a weekly blog for PhotoPhilanthropy.

I got asked that several times before I left. No, it’s not in Africa, South America, or an island. It’s actually in Southeast Asia, tucked in right beside Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

WHY are you going there?

That was the question that immediately followed. It’s not really a popular tourist destination, unless you’re Angelina Jolie. And it’s not at the top of any lists for relief work. So why Cambodia?

For me, it was the cause that first drew me in. I had heard of “human trafficking” and couldn’t believe it was happening in our world! When I did a little research, I found out that trafficking in persons, or human trafficking, is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. Across the world, traffickers supply millions of human beings for use in forced labor activities such as domestic service, or work in rice fields, sweatshops, cocoa plantations, or mines. Some are trafficked into the commercial sex industry. Trafficking touches every single nation – America, Europe, Africa, Asia & more. There are an estimated 27 million people enslaved in our world right now. And human trafficking is the third most profitable illegal activity, right under arms dealing and drug trade.

Needless to say, my world was shaken. I couldn’t stand that people were being victimized like this! I couldn’t just sit idly by in my comfortable home in suburban America while women and children were being raped for profit and using products made by slave labor. I had do to something.

It’s not an easy cause to immerse yourself in, so I began just reading and researching and educating myself on the topic. I found through my research that Southeast Asia was a hotspot for not only human trafficking, but commercial sexual exploitation and sex tourism. I discovered that Cambodia is a sending, receiving and transit country for trafficking. Cambodians are most commonly enslaved for the purpose of commercial sex, begging, domestic work, fishing, construction and adoption. Victims often believe they are being recruited for purposes such as domestic work, or work in a restaurant. Most victims are deceived or, in a smaller number of cases, kidnapped, and forced into sexual slavery. Commercial sexual exploitation is the engaging or being forced to engage in sexual activity in exchange for immediate payment in money or other valuables. It is sometimes referred to as prostitution or “sex work”. One study estimates that the lowest statistics for the number of prostituted persons in Cambodia is between 40,000 and 50,000, and the highest is 100,000. Sex tourism is travel for the purpose of having or purchasing sex. It is estimated that US-based websites advertising worldwide sex tourism bring in over $150 million each per year. Cambodia, along with Southeast Asia, is a destination for this activity as well.
I desperately wanted to not only do something to prevent this crime from happening this war-torn and impoverished country, but more importantly help rescue and restore the victims that this injustice left in its wake. I found an organization that ran a home in Siem Reap, Cambodia, that helped girls leave the life of prostitution by providing a safe place that they could and earn money. I was so moved by their work, I began to make plans to visit. In August of 2009 I traveled solo across oceans and continents to this tiny home in this tiny city and immediately felt at home. I was greeted by open arms of girls and women who had experienced more pain than I could fathom. It was humbling and encouraging. I knew that my two weeks there was only the beginning of a lifelong journey working towards ending modern-day slavery in my world.

No one person can bring can end this injustice. But working together, we can bring it down. The first steps including awareness and changing public perception. Educate yourself on the topic and educate others. Learn to recognize the signs and signals of trafficking activity in your own backyard. Get involved with a local organization and join them in their efforts. Be a voice for the voiceless and speak up for the victims who cannot speak for themselves. Together, we can make slavery history.

In 2009 we will travel through Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, meeting with local people and small organizations along the way. Our goals will be to show how people in other parts of the world live and how you can make a difference that can better someone’s life. No matter where you live, there are many stereotypes and assumptions about other cultures that often limit your ability to make a personal connection. By showing the differences and similarities between cultures, we believe that more people will be encouraged to reach out to their neighbors across the globe. We also want to showcase the important work of small organizations that are truly making a difference. Instead of blind charitable handouts to people in need, many organizations are relying on education and sustainability to allow recipients to help themselves perpetually. These charities deserve more attention not just for their innovative work, but also because we can all learn from their experiences. Our hope is to inspire more people to reach out and make a difference to someone who lives a life different from their own.

Our year long trip will begin on January 20th in Morocco. Over the next several months we will weave our way through West Africa passing through some of the world’s poorest, yet most amazing countries. Then we will head to the Middle East, a region where many people maintain a relatively high standard of living, but find their lives often interrupted by religious and racially driven conflict. Next we will head to East Africa before venturing on to India. We won’t be able to visit every country in each of these regions, but hopefully our trip will provide us with a solid cross-section of the cultures and beliefs in each place. While a major motivation for our trip is to raise awareness through Collective Lens, our adventure is self funded and some of it will be for personal enjoyment. We plan to see some amazing cultures, make some wonderful friends, and learn about the world from a variety of perspectives.

If you know of any organizations, charities, or NGO’s in the regions that we will be visiting, please let us know about them. We are currently in the process of seeking out organizations to visit, and we’d love to hear from our readers. You can post in the comments or send us an email to info [at] collectivelens.com.

Naturally, you can expect blog posts about our travels here on the Collective Lens blog, but this blog will contain much more than that. We’ve gained a few writers lately. Russ will usually be writing about humanitarian issues, Chanelle will be writing about nonprofit strategies, and Heidi and Brynn will be writing about various issues in third world countries. (If you’re interested in writing for Collective Lens, read this.)

Thanks for your support everyone, we’re looking forward to a great year.

-Bryan and Laurie, founders of Collective Lens

Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day, and today over 4,000 people in Africa will die of AIDS, just as they do every day. 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.

As Russ says, AIDS is a human rights issue in addition to a medical and humanitarian issue. The right to a decent standard of living is being denied to millions of Africans despite the many medical advances in recent years. In plain and simple terms, those medical advances are not making their way to Africa.

Various organizations are raising money to bring the needed medications to Africa. You can donate through The Global Fund or NAT.org.

The World AIDS Day official website lists other ways to get involved such as selling red ribbons and teaching about AIDS in schools. Also, posters can be downloaded at the World AIDS Campaign’s website.

For more information:

• World AIDS Day official website
• Over 4,000 People Will Die Of AIDS Today In Africa. (Just Like Every Other Day)
• The Global Fund
• Avert.org
• World AIDS Campaign

In early 2008 Kenya experienced a violent upheaval after President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the national election, despite accusations and evidence of tampering with ballots. Riots and fighting amongst various political and ethnic groups quickly led to the deaths of hundreds within the first few days after the election.

During the crisis, bloggers and other “citizen journalists” began an online project to map the locations of attacks and violent outbreaks, and Ushahidi.com was born. People from all over the country could report incidents by email, SMS text messages from mobile phones, or on the web site. Every incident was categorized and placed on a map for all to see. It allowed anyone to instatnly grasp the magnitude of the situation as well as understand specific details and trends about the ongoing crisis.

Anti riot police – Police charge at protesters along the streets of Nairobi
by DEMOSH

Now Ushahidi is expanding. The organizers of the site recently announced that they are developing a web-based software platform that can be used by anyone to create the same type of crisis mapping and visualization project that took place in Kenya. A volunteer software team from Africa and around the world is working to create the platform which will be given away freely to anyone interested. The platform will be able to accept information from mobile phones, email, and the web, and the data can be viewed using Google Maps and a variety of charts and graphs. The software platform is scheduled to be alpha-tested in September of 2008.

The organizers of Ushahidi are looking for donations, people to help spread the word, and help from software developers. For more information visit Ushahidi.com. You can also visit the original Kenya project or United for Africa, a similar project mapping xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

Did you know that over one billion people do not have access to clean drinking water? Only 2.5% of the world’s water is freshwater. A few weeks ago we highlighted Blood:Water Mission’s efforts to build wells in Africa, and now we’d like to bring your attention to another organization that is helping to bring relief to the one in six people in the world without clean water.

charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of the money raised goes directly to project costs, funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of the greatest need. They also work to raise awareness of the water crisis through events, fundraising exhibitions and other public awareness campaigns.

While this public service announcement is very powerful, we found Scott Harrison’s photos even more reveling of the actual situation in Africa and the positive impacts brought on by charity: water.

©Scott Harrison for charity: water

©Scott Harrison for charity: water

Although it’s not very recent, TakeGreatPictures.com has a terrific interview with Scott Harrison about his photographic journeys through the years, including his work with charity: water.

In 2002, Dan Haseltine, the lead singer of the Christian rock band Jars of Clay, visited Africa. He witnessed extreme poverty, disease, and suffering. His experiences changed him, and he vowed to do something about it. Soon after, Blood:Water Mission was founded in the name of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial gifts of blood and water, and its primary goals are to help rid the African continent of AIDS and provide clean drinking water to the poverty stricken people of Africa.

Millions in Africa do not have access to clean water. Many live in both urban and rural areas where the only source of drinking water is a muddy pool or nearby river, sometimes also used for bathing or a latrine. Diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera are commonplace in such communities, and 50% of the developing world’s population suffers from waterborne disease at any given moment. Also, due to these diseases, two million children die every year. Additionally, without access to clean water, a person infected with HIV/AIDS is much more susceptible to disease. Because AIDS directly attacks the immune system, these usually non-fatal waterborne diseases become extremely serious.

Blood:Water Mission’s first major undertaking was the 1000 Wells project, aiming to build 1000 wells to provide clean drinking water in urban and rural locations. So far, over 340 wells have been built, and many more are underway. Raising money to build a well is only the beginning, however. After a well is built, Blood:Water and its partner organizations work with community members to teach local populations how to maintain and care for their new water source. Education and local leadership involvement are crucial steps following the initial construction. In many cases, community committees are formed to supervise the use and maintenance of the wells, providing for a sustainable solution that will last for years. Furthermore, a source of clean water in the middle of the community allows for more productivity. Obtaining water is traditionally a woman’s job in many African villages, and the task usually involved a carrying a heavy load up to five miles from the water source back to the community.

by justbarak

by justbarak

The organization has also had a large part in helping two brothers, Milton and Fred Ochieng, construct a clinic in Kenya that was began by their father who died of AIDS. The brothers were sent to America to become doctors, and while they were gone their parents died of AIDS. They then returned to Kenya to piece together their lives and finish the construction project. An award winning documentary film, Sons of Lwala, portrays their struggles as they attempt to gain supporters and complete construction of the clinic.

Blood:Water is looking for volunteers to help raise awareness and money. Some former volunteers have organized group bicycle rides and school projects to raise money. Amazingly, Daren Wendell has been hiking around the world since March of 2008, raising money along the way for the organization.

Learn more about Blood:Water Mission on their website or blog, or see more photos from justbarak on Flickr.

by justbarak