In 2008 I went inside the largest detainee facility in Iraq, Camp Bucca, where Iraqis by the tens of thousands were being held by American forces. At the visitor center I saw this young girl waiting in line for a visitation with her father. The bright desert sunlight of southern Iraq illuminated her face and her mother’s black abaya acted as a drop cloth behind her, giving this spontaneous shot the feeling of a studio session.
Showing posts tagged Portrait
February, 2010 — At a meeting in an Arab village south of Kirkuk. Arabs here say they’re being targeted by Kurds in attempt to claim Kirkuk, and it’s oil, for Kurdistan. (photo by Josh Rushing)
Maidan Shahr, Afghanistan. January 2009.
Marine in Helmand, Afghanistan. July 2009.
Inmate 223800 — Richard Baker is serving two ten-year sentences for armed robbery. He found God in prison and had a demon tattoo on his arm converted into an angry Jesus. He told me before his conversion, he had been, “runnin’ from God for a long time.” After this photo was taken he was in convicted of two counts of aggravated assault and battery adding 10 more years to his sentence, as well as 10 years probation.
I’ve posted this once before, but I’ve gained a lot of followers in the last few weeks and with the Troy Davis story in the headlines today, it seemed relavent to put it out there one more time.
Feel free to share your thoughts about the episode. I’ll do my best to respond to every reply…
Last year Fault Lines traveled to Oklahoma where we gained access to death row:
To interview condemned inmate Michael Selsor:
We were Michael’s first visitors in more than ten years. He told us last June that he would see “this Christmas, but probably not next.” His last appeal was denied in October, so now he’s waiting for a date to be executed.
We also interviewed a number of families that have been effected by murder and had to deal with the death penalty in different ways.
It was one of the more difficult films I’ve been a part of. I cried during three of the interviews. They are stories and people I will never forget.
The result is an episode, of which I am very proud, on an extremely complex and gravely important story.
LEGACY OF WAR: A 15-year-old boy and his brother have shrapnel embedded in their arms and legs from U.S. bombs dropped during the Vietnam War.
Blind Woman of Ban Phanop 2 on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Here’s a second photo of this beautiful woman I saw in Laos. If you missed the description of this shot in my last post, here it is again:
She was sitting on a porch. It had just stopped raining; the sun broke through the clouds and perfectly lit her for a moment, just long enough for this photo. I shot it in the space between two wet boards in her porch. They were out of focus in the foreground creating the blackness around her.
I took these photos few years ago while filming an episode called “Legacy of War” for a series titled On War. Scroll down to find the video in two parts.
Blind Woman of Ban Phanop
She was sitting on a porch. It had just stopped raining; the sun broke through the clouds and perfectly lit her for a moment, just long enough for this photo. I shot it in the space between two wet boards in her porch. They were out of focus in the foreground creating the blackness around her.
This is from the same village that’s featured in “Legacy of War’ (see previous two posts).
NSA Recruits Hackers for Cyber Command
Continuing the theme of the Washington Post running front page stories about topics we covered last year on Fault Lines:
Earlier this week the Post published a story about the NSA (US National Security Agency) recruiting hackers for its new cyber command. Red Beard, featured in the episode above and pictured below, turned down an offer from the NSA to be a cyber-warrior of the future.
What “life” in prison really means…
The Washington Post has a front page (at least on their iPad version) review of a new documentary called “Serving Life” that airs tonight on the Oprah Winfrey Network. From the trailer, it looks really good. It’s such a tough, but important issue. I filmed a similar story last year (above) called “Dying Inside” with producer, Jeremy Young, and cinematographer, Snorre Wik. We gained access to eight prisons in three states: Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and New York. We interviewed one prisoner who was 100 years old (he has since passed away); gained exclusive access to an entire wing dedicated to inmates with Alzheimers; and witnessed sincere and surprising acts of compassion. Here are a few photos from the journey:
Inmate staring out of his cell at the Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.
Convicted child molester at James Crabtree Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.
Elderly Inmates are often victimized by younger, stronger prisoners. Inmates inside Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.
Inmates at Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.
Mary Rowe: convicted murderer, one-time prison escapee, grandmother and published poet. Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.
Inmate, Joseph Harp Correctional Facility.
Stroke victim and inmate, Bobby Moore. Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.
Inmate with Alzheimer’s in Fishkill Correctional Facility, New York. Often when I take a photo of someone I will show them their image on the screen on the back of my camera. The first inmate I did that with in the Alzheimer’s wing got very upset because he didn’t recognize himself. I believe it was partially because of the disease, but also because there are no mirrors allowed in the facility, so he hadn’t seen his reflection in nearly thirty years and didn’t realize how the decades had effected his appearance.
Willie Prenell. Convicted of first degree murder in 1977. He’s spent most of his life in prison for killing his friend Kieth Thompson in Oklahoma City.
Inmate watching the sunset from the yard at James Crabtree Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.
Colombia-20 on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
La Balsa’s oldest man tells of watching corpses float down the river during the worst of Colombia’s violence.
Colombia-10 on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Child miner at work. He was hoping to make enough money to buy books so he could go to school.
Mining for Gold 2 on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
Miner at Mondomo mining site.
Son of Iraq on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
From last night on patrol in south Baghdad. Unedited. Uploaded from iPad.
