WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath includes nearly 500 objects, photographs, books, magazines, albums, and photographic equipment.  The photographs were made by over 280 photographers from 28 nations who have covered conflict on 6 continents over the past 165 years; from the Mexican-American War in 1846 through present day conflicts.  The exhibition takes a critical look at the relationship between war and photography, exploring the types of photographs that are and are not taken during wartime.  Rather than presenting a chronological survey of wartime photographs or a survey of “greatest hits”, the curators have identified types of photographs repeatedly made during the many phases of war, regardless of the size/cause of the conflict, the photographers’/subjects’ culture, or the era in which the pictures were made.

For more information about the show -

Full LA Times Article

Every year, the Mountainfilm judges vote to give out various awards and prizes to some of the more exemplary filmmakers, artists, and activists they experience at the festival.  One of the most coveted of these awards, The 2012 Moving Mountains Prize, was given to a nonprofit organization called the Peaceful Uprising, co-founded by Tim DeChristopher, the man behind the film, Bidder 70.

Sometimes, I ask myself…where have all the heroes gone?  Growing up, I remember learning about such noble men and women, and how they changed the world they lived in to shape the world we live in today.  It seems my parents’ generation had a whole host of heroes and heroins to look up to; JFK, and his brother Bobby, MLK and Rosa Parks, all of them arose out of a dire need for social and political change.  Well, in a world without heroes, I’m here to tell you that Tim DeChristopher is a true bonafide hero through and through.

On December 19, 2008, Tim DeChristopher effectively sabotaged a Utah BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Oil and Gas lease auction, safeguarding thousands of acres of pristine Utah land that were slated for oil and gas extraction (fracking).  Tim Entered the auction as “Bidder 70″ and outbid industry giants for 22,000 acres of land ($1.7 million worth before the auction was halted).

Sounds pretty awesome right?  Well, no heroes are born without sacrifice.  DeChristopher was soon indicted on two federal felonies with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.  Tim knew full well the legal implications of his actions going into this thing, and he is not only prepared, but determined to serve out his entire two year sentence.  Luckily, while Tim is biding his time in jail, his message and incredible story are being carried out through this wonderful film, and the nonprofit organization behind it. Tim, following the ways of the great heroes before him, wields the mighty power of nonviolent action, and has co-founded, the Peaceful Uprising.

Their mission:

WE are committed to defending a livable future through empowering nonviolent action.  

WE seek to change the institutional and social status quo at the root of the climate crisis, and move toward a just and healthy world.   By pushing the reality of the climate crisis to the forefront of the public forum,

WE will secure the attention and inspire the revolution the climate crisis requires.

I was more moved by Bitter 70 than by just about any film I saw that weekend, and trust me there were a slew of incredibly moving films.  It wasn’t the saddest film I saw.  And the tears streaming down my face certainly weren’t of the happy kind either.  I think the sheer power and emotion of it all just hit me so hard because I felt like I finally found a real hero I could look up to.  It was also slightly scary realizing the sacrifice one must go through to become a real hero, yet empowering knowing what one person, one single act of bravery can do to change this world forever.

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To learn more about Tim DeChristopher, and the film Bidder 70, visit their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/bidder70?fref=ts

or their website at,

http://www.bidder70film.com/

For more information on the incredible Mountainfilm Festival, visit their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/mountainfilmtelluride

or their website at,

http://www.mountainfilm.org/

Dan’s exhibit and the folks behind Bidder 70 and the Peaceful Uprising movement will once again mingle this week, February 27th-March 3rd, at the Durango Film Festival in Durango, CO.  Images from Dan’s Journal #14 will be on display at the Open Shutter Gallery throughout the festival where Bidder 70 will be one of the feature films.

You can find more information on the Durango Independent Film Festival, and Open Shutter Gallery at:

http://www.durangofilm.org/

http://www.openshuttergallery.com/

https://www.facebook.com/openshuttergallery?fref=ts

In addition to many exhibited prints (including ‘Thumb Print’ above) Dan’s entire journal No. 14  is on display for the Durango show until March 31st.  The Durango Independent Film Festival runs from Feb 27th-Mar 3rd and Dan’s work will be featured at Open Shutter gallery throughout this time.

“Not since Buddy Holly has a 22-year-old left such a legacy after such a short life as Dan Eldon. And, with all due respect, Buddy Holly was no Dan Eldon.”

-Ted Holteen, Durango Herald

Follow the link below to read Ted’s full article emphasizing the enormous impact Dan’s art has had on the Durango community already.

http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20130207/ARTS02/130209696/0/SEARCH/Hard-to-forget

The MIDWAY film project is a powerful visual journey into the heart of an astonishingly symbolic environmental tragedy. On one of the remotest islands on our planet, tens of thousands of baby albatrosses lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Returning to the island over several years, our team is witnessing the cycles of life and death of these birds as a multi-layered metaphor for our times. With photographer Chris Jordan as our guide, we walk through the fire of horror and grief, facing the immensity of this tragedy—and our own complicity—head on. And in this process, we find an unexpected route to a transformational experience of beauty, acceptance, and understanding.

We frame our story in the vividly gorgeous language of state-of-the-art high-definition digital cinematography, surrounded by millions of live birds in one of the world’s most beautiful natural sanctuaries. The viewer will experience stunning juxtapositions of beauty and horror, destruction and renewal, grief and joy, birth and death, coming out the other side with their heart broken open and their worldview shifted. Stepping outside the stylistic templates of traditional environmental or documentary films, MIDWAY will take viewers on a guided tour into the depths of their own spirits, delivering a profound message of reverence and love that is already reaching an audience of tens of millions of people around the world.

http://vimeo.com/25563376

Production of the feature film “MIDWAY” continues through 2012.

Chris Jordan – Director/Producer
Stephanie Levy – Producer
Terry Tempest Williams – Writer
Jan Vozenilek – Director of photography
Rob Mathes – Composer
Jim Hurst – Location sound
Joseph Schweers – Camera
Manuel Maqueda – Advisor

For more information:
MidwayFilm.com

To donate:
midwayfilm.com/donate.html

Midway Project blog, team details, production diary videos:
MidwayJourney.com

Facebook – behind the scenes photos, latest updates
Facebook.com/MidwayJourney

Twitter:
twitter.com/#!/midwayjourney

Youtube:
youtube.com/journeytomidway

Opens at the MFAH in November 2012; travels to the Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and the Brooklyn Museum 

Houston—March 2012—In November 2012, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will debut an unprecedented exhibition exploring the experience of war through the eyes of photographers. WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath includes nearly 500 objects, including photographs, books, magazines, albums and photographic equipment. The photographs were made by over 280 photographers from 28 nations who have covered conflict on six continents over 165 years, from the Mexican-American War in 1846 through present-day conflicts.  The exhibition will travel to the Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Brooklyn Museum.

The exhibition takes a critical look at the relationship between war and photography, exploring what types of photographs are, and are not, made, and by whom and for whom, during wartime. Rather than presenting a chronological survey of wartime photographs or a survey of “greatest hits,” the curators have identified types of photographs repeatedly made during the many phases of war—regardless of the size or cause of the conflict, the photographers’ or subjects’ culture or the era in which the pictures were made.

The exhibition opens at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on view November 11, 2012–February 3, 2013. Following the Houston presentation, WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY travels to the Annenberg Space for Photography (Los Angeles, CA), March 3–May 26, 2013; the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.), June 29–September 29, 2013; and the Brooklyn Museum, November 8, 2013–February 2, 2014. A symposium and additional events will take place opening weekend in Houston. In addition, related exhibitions will be presented throughout the city of Houston, including at the Houston Center for Photography (HCP), as well as collaborations with Houston Grand Opera and other community partners (to be announced). At the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, the exhibit will include an original documentary film produced exclusively for the gallery’s high-resolution 4K screens.

Theme: Safari as a Way of Life

Winning entries will be featured on the website and all winning artists names will be published on exhibit information.

For more info:

• www.daneldon.org
• www.facebook.com/danieleldonart

Submit Work:

Create your masterpiece with your take on ‘Safari as a Way of Life.  Can be in any visual medium.

1. It can be landscape or portrait orientation
2. Minimum 4” x 6” Maximum 8” x 10”
3. On the back: your name, email address, the correct postage stamp to reach Malibu, California.
4. You may post it like you would a postcard or do it as an envelope.
5. Address it to:

DAN ELDON MAIL ART
Dan Eldon Center for Creative Activists
18820 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265

DEADLINE:

July 1, 2013 — we cannot guarantee artwork received after this date will be included in the exhibition and book, although it may be shown online.

Then what? When the artwork is received we will email you to let you know, it will be uploaded into an online gallery. Winning art works will be displayed at the Dan Eldon Center and maybe selected for publication.

On-Line Exhibition runs from March 1, 2013 – March 2014

Terms and Conditions

By submitting artwork you are agreeing to these conditions: We cannot return artwork. Consent for artwork and artist name to be used in publication and promotional material related to the Dan Eldon art call and Safari as a Way of Life exhibit.

No offensive material or content please. You can submit as many pieces as you like.

• Call for Mail Art Press Release

WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath includes nearly 500 objects, including photographs, books, magazines, albums and photographic equipment. The photographs were made by over 280 photographers from 28 nations who have covered conflict on six continents over 165 years, from the Mexican-American War in 1846 through present-day conflicts.  The exhibition takes a critical look at the relationship between war and photography, exploring what types of photographs are, and are not, made, and by whom and for whom, during wartime. Rather than presenting a chronological survey of wartime photographs or a survey of “greatest hits,” the curators have identified types of photographs repeatedly made during the many phases of war—regardless of the size or cause of the conflict, the photographers’ or subjects’ culture or the era in which the pictures were made.

Nearly five years ago, in a space above a club that Dan had patronized when he was 17 and living in New York, Dan Eldon captured the hearts and minds of New York with an amazing one night exhibit.  Over 29 works were sold that night to major collectors, establishing Dan as an artist worthy of a spread in The Arts section of the New York Times on December 27, 2007.  After an extended gallery in SoHo devoted to his work, Dan’s work moved out to galleries and traveling exhibits worldwide.  Dan’s work is beloved in over 40 countries.

In 2012, the Dan Eldon Exhibit was invited to exhibit at the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival where “Dying to Tell the Story” premiered, and is still a core part of the Mountainfilm’s Making Movies That Matter (MMTM) education initiative. Over 40 pieces of Dan’s work were also on display and for sale at Soho House West Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Look out for Dan Eldon’s work in 2013: from an exhibit of artists and their journals to a photojournalism exhibit touring major universities, a virtual gallery to journal workshops and film festivals. The college tour is an in-depth look at Dan as a photojournalist and will showcase Dan’s photojournalism images along with newly printed journal pages. The College Tour opened at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.  Dan’s art and journals will be at  Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, Colorado – February 1 through March 31 2013 and the Durango Film Festival.

A feature length movie based on his life, “The Journey is the Destination” is set to start filming in 2013, directed by Bronwen Hughes.

“Dan Eldon blazed through his short life like a meteor, leaving a trail that awes with its intensity and beauty.”          USA Today

For more information on booking this exhibit please contact: Cynthia Young email hidden; JavaScript is required

Visit us at www.daneldon.org  View the art at www.daneldoncollection.com  Follow us: facebook.com/danieleldonart

Reuters photojournalist Dan Eldon was killed at age 22 by an angry mob while on assignment in Somalia during the 1990s. Although his life was short, Eldon lived his years with voracious passion, leading an aid mission across Africa, working as a graphic designer for Mademoiselle Magazine, publishing a book, directing a short film and creating 17 extraordinarily powerful volumes of art work, all before the age of 22. 

• Call for Mail Art Press Release
• Dan Eldon Press Release

Photojournalist Dan Eldon left behind much more than the astonishing illustrated journals that would form The Journey is the Destination when he lost his life at age twenty-two while on assignment in Somalia. He also bequeathed a life story that has inspired students, teachers, artists, and creative activists—as well as a forthcoming film, an apparel line, and the Spring 2011 collection from Tom’s Shoes. Raised in Kenya, Dan grew up with a unique outlook on life. Through adventurous safaris and benevolent crusades around the world, he crafted a philosophy of curiosity, creativity, and charity. This unique visual biography showcases previously unpublished artwork from Dan’s acclaimed journals, letters, and snapshots that takes readers on a journey through Dan’s life and beyond, exploring the impact made by this remarkable artist on everyone who has encountered his story.

Dan Eldon was born in London in 1970 and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. As a photojournalist for Reuters, he helped trigger an outpouring of international aid with his photographs of Somalia’s brutal famine.

Kathy Eldon is the founder of the Creative Visions Foundation, a global organization that supports creative activists to use their talents to change the world around them. She lives in Los Angeles.