Multimedia Example

I have abandoned my project idea in Hangzhou but the trip gave me the chance to test a new sound recorder and compact reflector so I put together a short multimedia piece to test this equipment and see what the quality is like. There is no developed story, its just an example of technique but see what you think, I am very happy with my new sound recorder (its a Zoom H2 if you were curious).

Track 1 live recording in Hangzhou

Track 2 by Rob Shields as Skypilot.

Untainted Tea

I came back from Hangzhou on Thursday and after much reseach have decided not to base a project there. Whislt it is a beautiful place and good shots will be easy to come by I don't think there is enough of a story. There is more to mobile journalism that pretty pictures. If I spend a little time there I could do a story on the increase in Coffee shops there and the trend for younger generations to drink coffee instead of tea. I could also look at the fall in tea sales due to the current economic decline and the rise and importance of internation tourism in Hangzhou, but I don't think these are strong enough stories to spend 6-8 months on which is the time scale for these project. If anyone is looking for a short form subject to do a piece on Hangzhou might be worth a visit. If you are looking for a major issue it is not the place to be though, you will not find a story like Munem Wasifs tainted tea. http://www.munemwasif.com/ . The fact is despite a decline in sales, the industry in Hangzhou is doing pretty well compared to other parts of the world, if anything they are taking sales away from places like Bangladsh where many farmers are reported to have invested in equipment for processing green tea not expecting a global trend for Chinese green tea. Looks like I may well be heading back to Tibet for a project now. More on this to come so watch this space.

Been A While

I know it has been a while since my last post and I am afraid this one wont be too long as I have lots to do. I am currently planning 2 project that will take me to the end of the year. The first of which will be on the Chinese tea industry and the second on the recovery and re-building of the Wolong Panda reserve after the 2008 earthquake. I have completed my Stoddart essay and the previously published piece was totally changed and pretty much not used. As of yet there is not a copy online I am affraid. I am off to Hangzhou on Monday to do some reseach on the tea industry and have recently signed upto twitter so you can see updates there at http://twitter.com/josephbolt

Stoddart Essay

I am currently in the process of writing an essay in which I am focusing on the Sudan works of Tom Stoddart and their appearance in the Guardian newspaper in 1998. I have been given a limit of 2000 words, a tough challenge to say the least. Many moons ago I would of been glad to only write 2000 words but now its a testing task to write such a small piece that remains in depth.

I guess the real task is to remain focused, keep to the point and don't beat around the bush as they say (something a blog doesn't stop us from doing). Coming from a fine art background makes this a real challege, years of studying conceptual art means I can read endless meaning into, and intellectualise even the smallest of things. I am sure other artists and my old art tutors wouldn't like this comment but I don't mean it as negative thing. I think what I am trying to get at is I have to change my approach slightly with journalistic writing, picking out the pieces of most relevence to the story and issue, and this doesn't always mean the most interesting pieces, but pieces when put together give a clearer and more forcused and driven debate (which in the end turns out to be something of more interest and worth) Perhaps this isn't even the move from fine art into photojournalism but the jump from BA to Masters. None the less it is a tricky tasks but one I am enjoying.

Below is a small section from the essay, this may totally change at a later date though as I am still writing:

On discussing the BBC's Children in Need telethon in 2005, Guardian writer James Harkin writes;

(…)compassion fatigue, refers to the psychological exhaustion said to be induced by endless appeals for money and sympathy. If charity begins at home, then compassion fatigue begins when it comes to places far away.
(Harkin. J, 2005)

He suggests that due to what he calls “the latest buzzword” (Harkin. J, 2005), compassion fatigue, many viewers of this appeal did not donate. He also makes the suggestion that there is a link between compassion fatigue and distance, the phrase “one fireman in this town is worth 10 in the next” springs to mind. He goes on to say;

In an interview with this newspaper earlier in the week, the head of the UN development programme offered it (compassion fatigue) as the explanation for the pathetic response to the humanitarian crisis following the earthquake in Pakistan and Kashmir.
(Harkin। J, 2005)

This phrase has been popularly used for some time now. In her 1999 book entitled Compassion Fatigue Susan Moeller discusses cases of it in the 80’s, the 90’s and earlier. Given this idea of compassion fatigue, why then did Stoddarts images published in the Guardian on 12th August 1998 still manage to raise huge awareness and funds for the cause.

Old Blog

Some of you might be interested to know I started (but never finnished) a blog when I went on a world trip in Jan 2007. It is a less formal blog design for my friends back home to keep up with my journey but contains some pictures I posted as I was on the road. This is quite interesting as the pictures you post in the moment are not always the ones you would sellect at a later date. You are inevitably influenced by having just had the experience and cannot evaluate the image as a standalone. I am sure the same is to happen with this weblog but I guess that is part of the point. Here is the link http://joestravelling.blogspot.com/

Josephbolt.com launched

www.josephbolt.com is officially up and running, whist its been online for nearly a week now I have been tweeking a few things but it should all be running smoothly now. Featured on the site are 4 image galleries, 2 of which are documentary based and 2 band based. As I produce more documentary projects these will be posted. Furthermore there is an animated slideshow in the video section of my site. This displays more images and tells the full stories of the people I met during the urban poverty project as discused earlier in my blog (see here) As always I am updating my flickr account. To see what I am currently working on its a good idea to keep an eye on that as I put more images on there and you'll generally get an advanced preview of the projects I am working on.

A Taste For Life

For those of you that might be interested there is a photo contest being run through Flickr that has links with Magnum Photos. http://www.atasteforlife.co.uk/index.php/home/ Well worth checking out.

Crossing the Line

"In 1962, a U.S. soldier sent to guard the peace in South Korea deserted his unit, walked across the most heavily fortified area on earth and defected to the Cold War enemy, the communist state of North Korea. He then simply disappeared from the face of the known world. He became a coveted star of the North Korean propaganda machine, and found fame acting in films, typecast as an evil American. He uses Korean as his daily language. He has three sons from two wives. He has now lived in North Korea twice as long as he has in America. At one time, there were four Americans living in North Korea. Today, just one remains. Now, after 45 years, the story of Comrade Joe, the last American defector in North Korea, is told."

(taken from http://www.crossingthelinefilm.com)

This film is being shown in Brooklyn Bar, Dalian, China, on 20th March 2009, 20:00-23:00. Sounds well worth a view for a truely unique insite into North Korea. If you don't live in or near Dalian visit the website www.crossingthelinefilm.com and you may be able to arrange a screening near you.

Website Temporary Location

I have posted links to my blog and website on flickr now so they are not just visible to people on the my MA course. I must point out to visitors from flickr that my web location http://www.britishcouncilworkshops.org/josephbolt/ is only temporary until I have finished designing it. It will soon be relocated to a new address so watch this space for details.

Migrant Workers Brief

Assignment: You are required to produce a feature story for World Picture Network on the theme of Migrant Workers. For this assignment there are no specific instructions on meta data. The images (we expect between 4 & 6) should be related to a positive news story about the benefits of migrant workers and you should consider protecting the images against being used for a negative story on the same subject.

This project was really tough, probaly the toughest days shooting on the course so far. The biggest thing that made this project a real challenge was the "positive" twist. It is very easy to shoot a negative story on migrant workers but there are so many negative stories and the theme of migrant workers in China has been covered so much. It is important to have positive stories out there so that both sides are covered, however, on the day of shooting it was raining and snowing! It is so hard to shoot any story in a positive way outdoors in rain and snow, but it really tests your photography skills (and the waterproofing on your camera). I have posted the 6 submitted images on my website http://www.britishcouncilworkshops.org/josephbolt/images.html but I have also posted other images on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/joseph_bolt/sets/72157614915340024/ I must point out that the images on flickr don't all fit the brief and I am aware of the possible nagative use of some of the individual images, however I feel it it a strong set and on whole it has a postitve feel. I have also decided to post them in grayscale as I feel it hides some of the dirt and gloom that could be seen as being nagative.

Pictures From Previous Project

Migrant Workers Single Day Project

For this weeks 1 day project we are expected to "produce a feature story for World Picture Network on the theme of Migrant Workers." This was a theme a number of us came across on an assignment a couple of weeks back. I was dissapointed that were weren't doing picture stories at the time as Doris and I interviewed several people who's stories all intertwinned and choosing a single image was hard. That would of been great for this project however this gives me the motivation to explore it from a different angle. I would like to make a multimedia piece from the previous project so once I am fully trained in multimedia this may be posted on my website. I the mean time I have posted a few of the shots here.

Start of Blog

Todays uni workshop was on creating blogs and linking them to our website. This blog should soon be running off my website but until then here is a link to the site JOSEPH BOLT PHOTOGRAPHY