Book Review | Afghanistan 2012 by Giles Duley

Text And Pictures by Derek Clark

On a cold morning in Feb 2011 Giles Duley was a documentary photographer covering the conflict in Afghanistan. While embedded with the American 101st Airborne, he stepped on an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) and is now a triple amputee. Remarkably, Giles went back to Afghanistan in 2012 to face his demons and keep a promise he made to an Italian surgeon. This book tells the story of his return and is split into two halves, Words and Images.

Shar Madani has done a fantastic job in coming up with an original design for this book. The tan soft cover reminded me of an old school jotter. This is not an expensive production by any means and the book is actually held together by three staples down the main spine (on the images side) and two staples down the other spine (on the words side). This is not a negative though as the hand-made craft design gives the impression that you have something really special and unique in your hand. It's hard to describe the design in words, but the pictures included with this review will do the job for me. Basically you open the book to the right as you would any other and then open the words section to the left.

The Words section tells the story of Giles brave return to Afghanistan after stepping on an IED and losing multiple limbs. Giles was ironically due to start a project to document a hospital funded by the charity Emergency, a promise he made to Italian surgeon Gino Strada and a promise he kept by returning in 2012. The courage Giles faced by returning to the place that changed his life in such a dramatic way is absolutely astonishing.

The Images section of the book feature a selection of black and white and colour photographs of victims of war, especially IED's. Each picture is printed alone on the right hand page, while the corresponding number is printed on the left hand page. This is just as well as the paper is not the thickest stock, but the quality of the printing is still high. His pictures are from an Afghan hospital and some people might find them a little too graphic. One such picture shows a hand being held over a trash can to catch the blood. Only three fingers remain intact in what is clearly a fresh blast wound and all the more powerful being a colour shot.

These pictures would have been difficult for any photographer to capture, but to think that Giles was himself a victim of an IED just the year before, doesn't bear thinking of. Giles had nothing to prove to anybody by going back to Afghanistan, but obviously he had something to prove to himself. The courage to make this journey back to the place where he lost both legs and his left arm is almost beyond imagination.

Giles was kind enough to sign the book for me and also included a signed postcard too. A really nice personal touch and something else that make this book just that little bit more special. my copy is a first edition number 409 of 1500. I'm not sure if there was a second edition produced or if the book is still available, but if you are interested in purchasing Afghanistan 2012 you should contact Giles through his website at www.gilesduley.com

8XAUG16

OUR PERSONAL CHOICES THIS MONTH

Issue 006 - Words from the editor

Everyone was under the pump this month. Summer is upon the northern hemisphere, where evenings are presently endless and turn into daybreak before night has had much of a chance to hit. For those of us who live/work in these reaches. this is the sunshine with which we make our proverbial hay. 

We had no theme for this issue, just a pair of technical limitations: shoot with a 35mm lens (or 50mm-ish equivalent), and do it at night.

So we did.

Welcome to The Evening Standard.

Enjoy.

- Charlene, June 2016.

Fleur de peau

By Vincent Baldensperger

Etudes à fleur de peau, là où la nature et l’humain se rencontrent. Anatomie d’une union indélébile née de la passion de l’un pour la beauté de l’autre, traits pour traits…

Studies, skin deep, where nature and humanity collide. Anatomy of an indelible union, the passion of the one for the beauty of the other. Identical. 

Body Transitions

BY BERT STEPHANI

A little over a year ago I was face down on the canvas after receiving some big punches. I got up just before the referee could count to ten and left the ring with my head held high. Still swaying on my feet but upright I made some big decisions, left the highway and chose some less traveled backroads instead. I didn’t know where my path would lead me, but I did promise myself that I would take my family on a holiday abroad after the dust had settled. 

And here I am, one year later, in a small cabin in the mountains in the South of France, surrounded by trees, fallow deer and my family. To upload this story I have to hike a mile through the forest and drive a couple more on treacherous mountain roads to get to the village café to get a slow internet connection with my café-au-lait. We’re down to the last days of our vacation but the kids, Griet and I have enjoyed so many amazing moments so far. 

I spend a lot of quality time with my family but rarely do I get to observe my kids as closely as now. Not obscured by the many layers of clothing the Belgian climate usually requires, it’s striking how my children’s bodies are evolving just like their personalities. 

Noa, the youngest is opening up like a delicate flower. She’s always been sensitive and still is but as her body grows, so does her confidence, her humour and her intelligence. Her sensitivity has become an asset to feel what the people she loves need: a kiss, a funny line, a dance or a hug. She always has the right cure before one even knows he needs it. 

Maya’s lines are turning into curves never to be straightened again. She’s not always sure what to do with her femininity but embraces it without fear. Like every father, I’m not sure if I like this fearless femininity and at the same time I have no defence against the charm that comes with it. I’m losing a carefree child but I’m getting a wonderful young lady instead. 

Kobe’s body is that of a young athlete. The lean muscles are the result of his determination, hard work and his quest to find his limits. Our stubborn souls inevitably clashed a couple of times in the past year. But deep down we always know that our mutual trust and respect will always persevere. We have forged a new balance between the two of us, a balance between two men. 

The small roads we’ve travelled in the last twelve months have been bumpy, even barely passable at times. But they were taking us in the right direction and we can look ahead to a lot more adventures. I accept that from now on, my kids will sometimes choose a path that may be different from mine. But I know there will be always crossroads where we will all meet and choose to travel down the same road for a while. 

Proof Of Life

Proof Of Life

Like a lot of cities, the real estate market in Sydney's inner suburbs seems to live by its own rules.

The character of Surry Hills is changing rapidly. While a lot of the buildings are of a similar style, 100-year-old worker's cottages, their condition veers wildly, from run-down student share houses with tattered flags in the window, to million dollar renovations with sports cars and SUVs parked out front.

This was never more apparent than recently, when the home of Natalie Jean Wood was put up for sale, after she was found to have died in her bed - eight years previously - and never been reported missing, or checked on by family or friends, in that time.

MODERN JACOBITE: ANATOMY OF A CD SHOOT. Part 1

TOMMY SMITH AND THE BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA:

REHEARSAL & RECORDING AT CITY HALLS

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEREK CLARK

Last year my photos were used exclusively on the Jeunehomme CD by Japanese pianist Makoto Ozone and The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. The pictures were live shots I did during a set of gigs when Makoto came to Scotland. I was delighted with the results and love the CD digipak design by NadWorks. To top that off, the cover photo was chosen by Makoto, which is praise enough for me. So that's a jazz orchestra and a classical pianist (Bare with me).

This year I've been working closely with Tommy Smith to shoot all the pictures for his latest CD 'Modern Jacobite' which was recorded with The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. So that's a jazz musician with a classical orchestra. Tommy has composed a dynamic piece of music for this new album that takes the listener on a journey and the BBC SSO was the perfect choice to bring the piece to life.

I was pleased to be asked by Tommy to shoot the various parts of this project as I could see from the start that it would be something a bit different and special. I couldn't have been more right and from the first day's rehearsal I knew it would be a privilege to be part of this project.

The pictures you see here are from The City Halls in Glasgow where the orchestra rehearsed and recorded the album. During the last few years of documenting jazz, I've been lucky to have been a fly on the wall to some really special moments. Being present during this early phase was one of those memories that is now etched in my mind forever. The sound produced by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is beautiful and moving and as I walked around the orchestra while they played and discussed the various parts, moving as quietly as possible, I was reminded once again how photography takes us on a mystery tour. At the end of each year I look back at what I've shot and there's always a few unexpected gems. That you see here was one of them, but it was just a part of what was needed to complete the Modern Jacobite CD artwork.

In part 2 I'll talk about the CD cover shoot.

Click HERE to buy Modern Jacobite CD.

The Body Deconstructed

“Anatomy

3. a detailed analysis; “he studied the anatomy of crimes”.”

By Patrick La Roque

How about the anatomic dissection of a life gone by? How about one last glance at a systematic deconstruction—40 years' worth of existence, tossed to the roadside in the end. This essay marks the end of a trilogy I never planned, preceded by Rains of March and, further back in our archives, Incoming.

Over two years have passed since that first story was published about an imminent storm on the horizon, the knowledge of a fast approaching tipping point threatening to throw all my sister and I knew overboard. But we had no idea. The thing about trials in life is that we survive, regardless of how difficult or impossible the task may be, because we're profoundly clueless: advance knowledge would send us cowering in a corner with our head between our legs. No, we only make it through once we're in the thick of it and have no other choice but to react.

“We’ve seen that emptiness in the distance, riding in on thunderheads.”
— Incoming, April 2014.

On our last weekend before the final move we walked through the now overgrown grasses in our parent's extended backyard, picking wild strawberries, remembering the picnic table, the field, the garden and everything that used to be. Man, how we could run through this yard. We went on one last survey before it all dissapears—a new house will be built here, pushed up against the old one; exactly what our parents had prevented when they purchased this additional land. But people don't care about land anymore.

A few days later I came back on my own to oversee the final phase. After years of anguish, after months of forensic shredding and digging through our past, I walked through the now empty rooms and realized sadness had given way to elation. Freedom, finally. I realized these were nothing but things, that the sum total of who we are needs to reside in so much more than what we accumulate. And that however hard we try, ultimately everything is out of our control. We can only hope to make a dent in the universe through others.

There's no real legacy in the material.

Before leaving I took one last look at the house. The discarded furniture and piles of trash in the driveway headed for either charity, recycling or dumpsters. A once thriving body now dismembered...and ready for rebirth.

We find ourselves abstracted

By Patrick La Roque