Scarlet Lion

The American documentary photographer and photojournalist, Glenna Gordon, talks on five photographers who influenced her work.

Image by Glenna Gordon.

I shot this short, no-frills interview in my office at The New School. The format is simple: The subject sits on a chair in my office while I point the iPhone at them. They decide what 5 things they want to talk to about. The first guest is Glenna Gordon, photographer and blogger based in Liberia. She happened to pass through New York City. Glenna decided to talk about her 5 favorite photographers.  First, Malick Sidibe; second three photographers from the PANOS Agency (Andrew McConnell, Robin-Hammond and Kieran-Dodds); then Tim Hetherington,  Krisanne Johnson; and, finally, Lynsey Adario.

Watch:

Some other notes: I did not want to add any props, so the video is accompanied by a list of references at the end of this post. I tried to make as little edits as possible. It was my first attempt.  I messed up the color at the end, but I’ll get this right over time. You may also get sea sick from the wobbly camera work (if you can call my holding a phone camera that).

For more on Glenna’s work, see here.

Further Reading

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Drip is temporary

The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.

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The sound of revolt

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O som da revolta

No seu terceiro álbum, o artista afro-português Scúru Fitchádu funde a sabedoria ancestral com a revolta urbana, transformando memória e militância em uma trilha sonora para a resistência.

Biya forever

As Cameroon nears its presidential elections, a disintegrated opposition paves the way for the world’s oldest leader to claim a fresh mandate.

From Cornell to conscience

Hounded out of the United States for his pro-Palestine activism, Momodou Taal insists that the struggle is global, drawing strength from Malcolm X, faith, and solidarity across borders.