photo credit: Andrea Bruce
Honfleur presents “LAUNCH” by Women Photojournalists of Washington
FOTOWEEK: November 7th – 14th
FOTOWEEK DC Opening Reception: November 7th @ 7pm
As WPOW evolves from a local organization into a national nonprofit, the show represents the organization’s mission to connect to and educate the public of the work of women photographers, appropriated titled Launch. Members entries were to embody the words “embark, initiate, introduce and propel” as the theme of this show.
This show was generously curated by Susanne Miklas (Newsweek’s Deputy Director of Photography), Melanie McWhorter (Photo-Eye’s Book Division Manager) and Pamela Chen (Photography and Multimedia Producer for the Open Society Institute.)
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Astrid Riecken, Allison Shelley, Abby Greenawalt, Ashley Twiggs, Algerina Perna, Amanda Lucidon, Andrea Bruce, Carol Guzy, Gabriela Bulisova, Jamie Rose, Katie Falkenberg, Laura Elizabeth Pohl, Melina Mara, Sarah L.Voisin & Yanina Manolova
I briefly caught up with Melanie McWhorter, one of the curators of the exhibition and friend from my Santa Fe days, to ask her a few questions.
I’m excited to see that you are part of FotoWeek DC this year! You are one of the curators for the Women Photojournalists of Washington exhibition “Launch” at Honfleur Gallery. How did you get involved?
Melanie: Susana Raab is a member of this organization and she emailed to see if I would be interested. I was an admirer of her work and was lucky that she signed up for me to take a look at her portfolio at PhotoNOLA. From the meeting, she and I developed an even deeper level of respect for what each person does in the “photo world”. Her work was included online at photo-eye and I included her in a group show for Fraction. She suggested me as a juror for WPOW competition. I was invited by Beth, the coordinator, to be a juror for the annual competition of WPOW themed Launch. I was honored to be the only juror not directly involved in the fields of documentary or photojournalism.
Can you talk about some of the photographers included in the show.
Melanie: Well, it is difficult to judge the strength of a photographer’s aesthetic or their ability to effectively use the photographic medium with just one image and within the confines of a themed exhibition. I was pleased to see a few images included by Amanda Lucion, Carol Guzy and Gabriela Bulisova and that many of them fit into the given theme of the exhibition. Lucion’s images of migrant workers revealed the hardships of this lifestyle. Guzy included captions for each image giving much needed context to the photographs of the women of Sierra Leone in a project she calls “Birth & Death”. Finally, Bulisova’s images, much less descriptive and even “artsy”, shows of the plight of Iraqis in the US.
Will you be at the opening?
Melanie: I wish I could be at the opening. Fotoweek will be an exciting time in DC.
Melanie: I wish I could be at the opening. Fotoweek will be an exciting time in DC.
A selection from Melanie McWhorter’s picks for the WPOW Annual Competition:
© Ashley Twiggs
Deborah Stockton holds one of her ducks on her farm in Ivy, Virginia. Stockton is a board member of Virginia Independent Consumers and Farmers Association that promotes farmer-to-consumer trade. She says that Albemarle County, Virginia could feed itself several times over with food grown and raised locally.
© Andrea Bruce
Six years ago they were fishermen, not ferrymen. But now, in the Haifa neighborhood of Baghdad, sewage runs through the narrow alleyways directly into the river. Waterside restaurants stand abandoned, their owners still afraid to open their doors. The fish have disappeared.
© Carol Guzy
“Every minute, every hour, pregnant women die in Sierra Leone.” -Amadu Sesay, brother of Jemelleh Saccoh who died giving life. Women lay on threadbare gurneys in a ward infested with mosquitoes and the stench of urine and death. Bintu Kamara, 28 years old, waits in the labor ward of Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Freetown. She survived an emergency C-section but her baby was stillborn.
© Gabriela Bulisova
Three generations of Iraqi women — a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter — were violently separated and forced to flee to three different countries. Now, after three years of experiences none of them want to recall, they are finally living together as new American residents. However, even in the United States, they live in hidden exile, unable to reveal their identities for fear of being discovered by their male relatives and Iraqi anti-American forces. The mother, a former Coalition Provisional Authority employee, was labeled a “collaborator” and targeted with assassination attempts. They rely on their strong Christian faith to remain hopeful about their future in the U.S.
© Yanina Manolova
After Molly Hoopes, 18, a heroin addict, spent 28 days in prison, she was court-ordered to live at a residential treatment center for adolescent addiction known as “Bassett House,” in Athens, Ohio. A month earlier, her twin sister, Morgan Hoopes, was in treatment at this same facility for drug addiction. “I came here the day she left. We’ve never been apart for more than 12 hours until we were sent to jail. I’m court- ordered not to see her and can’t talk to her. She was sneaking drugs to me. But I love Morgan. She is the only person I want to be with,” Molly Hoopes said.
Thank you Melanie for answering my questions in the midst of releasing flash flood: issue two! Check that out here. And come to the opening for “LAUNCH” tonight!