“Abebe” Goes to Vermont

“Abebe” has been curated into the upcoming “Blue” show at the Darkroom Gallery in Essex Junction in Vermont.

We are especially excited for this, as this image is being considered as a cover for the upcoming book that will be released in September 2014.

All images from The Mercato Workers series were taken in the market in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Abebe

Lecture: Portland Art Museum

What an honor to be included in the Portland Art Museum’s Brown Bag Series!

The title of my lecture was “Humanity Before Us: Crossing The Cultural Divide“.  I spoke about the lessons I garner from the various cultures I am assigned to photograph.  This also includes my own self assignments with “cultures” such as my own family background and heritage.  Coming to terms with our own reflection can be daunting at times, and I wanted this lecture to expose the good and the bad and everything in-between.

We are human.  We all make mistakes.  What is most enriching and important is how we take our own platforms of experience and adversity and move them into new ventures, relationships and art.

Here is a poem written by the Greek playwright Aeschylus that I have loved since I was a very young girl:

Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart
until, in our own despair, against our will,
comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.

Portland Art Museum Lecture

(Photo by Jon Combs of Pro Photo Supply)

Acosia Red Elk

Acosia Red Elk, color version, will be shown in the upcoming PDX Photo Month Exhibit, curated by Chris Bennett, from April 12 – May 6, 2014.

Come on out to one of my favorite cities in the world, Astoria, Oregon, to see the show and experience the chaos and quirkiness where the river meets the sea.

The artist reception will be from 6-9pm on April 12, 2014 at Lightbox Gallery.

Acosia Red Elk

Acosia at Lightbox Gallery, image by Michael Granger

Acosia at Lightbox Gallery, image by Michael Granger

TEDxPortland Book

Last summer, I received a call from the coordinator of the TEDxPortland, asking if they could produce a book of my images to hand out to all participants.

They wanted something with a gritty street look and feel, and requested that I send images of the “real” Portland and a few other areas: from skateboarders to drag queens to strippers to authors and everything in-between. I was also asked to create a few images for their sponsors as a thank you for their support.

This week the book will finally go to the printers and we could not be more excited to see it come hot off of the presses.  The book is available only to participants of the 2014 TEDxPortland talks.

If you want to take one home with you, get your tickets here.

Homeless man in park

Drag Queen at Peacock in the Park

Outside of the Chrystal Ballroom

TEDxPortland

Read, Set, Print! The First Prints For Prints Project

Our first Prints For Prints project was quite the ride!  Having only worked with the printers a few times before we left, we were a bit nervous about how we would perform in the field under extreme conditions. And we also did not know how we would work as a group, in Africa.

Soon after we arrived, we met up with my transportation and translator team in Ethiopia and they surprised us by taking us to see a football match between Ethiopia and Nigeria projected on a big screen which was set up in a beautiful park.  It was the perfect place for both groups to get to know each other in a spirited setting.

Dani and friends

The next morning, we got up early, grabbed our gear, and set out to go to Sheno, Ethiopia, the childhood home of our guide, Dani. His family let us set up the printers in their home so we could make photos and give prints to his extended family and to villagers around the area.  It did not take long to get the process up and running, and within a few minutes we cranked out our first print.

It was a beauty!

Sheno Ethiopia

I also brought prints that I had made before I left from images captured a year before and gave them to the family. It was an honor to spend time in this village and to see how much our prints were appreciated.

Sheno, Ethiopia

Once our process was humming along, we then branched out and made prints in various locations around Addis Ababa and in smaller villages outside of the city, some as far away as Lalibela and Arba Minch.

One other commitment of the Prints For Prints project is to train local students on various aspects of photography, in one-on-one sessions. We were fortunate to be able to coordinate this training with DESTA for Africa and the Nike Foundation’s Girl Hub projects.

Bill Purcell in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Steve in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Girl Hub Ambassadors in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

It was especially gratifying to watch local students in the workshop take over the printing, and make and donate prints to others that they met on the streets and in compounds.

Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

We printed from any spot we could find, and even sometimes while on the go!

Bill Purcell in Ethiopia

We also loved giving our cameras to the subjects and letting them photograph us. Such fun!

Heather and Steve in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

We made prints in places we never imagined, such as on top floors of high rise construction sites, and also in hospitals in remote areas of the Afar region.

Hospital in Afar, Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I also brought a print for each market worker I had photographed a year ago.  We laid the prints out on the ground, and people searched for those they saw in the prints.  My Ethiopian friend Habtamu and I gave each worker who arrived a print of themselves and they were really happy to receive it.

Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Market Workers, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Here are two of my finished portraits, created in two scenarios. The first image is Fatuma and her daughter Semed, right outside of their kitchen where they prepare food for a hospital in the Afar region.  The second image shows Raya in his place of employment, a construction site in the Bole region of Ethiopia.

Afar, EthiopiaAddis Ababa, Ethiopia

There is much to process about this first trip, and I look forward to making a few changes to the process so that we can have an even better experience during the next offering of this service.

Thank you to the community of photographers and other supporters who generously donated their prints, time and ideas to make this project fly!

Joni Kabana, Portland, Oregon, USA

 

Prints For Prints: A Makeshift Studio in Rural Ethiopia

One thing that has become apparent while traveling anywhere is how precious a photograph print is to a family, especially in the rural areas of Ethiopia.  Most families have no record or image of their loved ones, and when we are able to give prints to villagers, it is appreciated beyond measure.

So this November, I will be traveling to Ethiopia with a small team of photographers and we will set up a small portable studio in several villages. We will capture portraits and donate the prints to the families we photograph. In addition, each US photographer will be paired with an Ethiopian photographer so there is an exchange of talents: technical skills, cultural awareness, and love for humanity.

We are planning a fundraiser to help with the costs for this project.  The concept is simple: we are calling the fundraiser “Prints For Prints”, and we will auction matted prints from photo-loving friends (both amateur and professional photographers). The prints will be sold at a very reasonable “affordable art” cost ($50-100 sliding scale) during a fun and relaxed party, followed by music by Portland’s very own Ethiopian funk band: The Tezeta Band!

This event will be held on August 8, 2013 starting at 7pm at the Secret Society Ballroom and we hope you will be able to attend.

All ages welcome until 8:30pm, then it is 21+.

Follow me at @jkabana on Instagram during November to see this project in action.

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PrintsForPrints

See our Website to view all of the prints and the fabulous photographers!

 

Villagers in Marovoay, Madagascar look at a Polaroid photo that was just made with their family.

(Villagers in Marovoay, Madagascar look at a Polaroid photo that was just made with their family.)

Prints For Prints Poster

 

 

 

 

Ethiopia: A Girl Can

The imagery and sound I collected while in Ethiopia last November has been edited into a video and included in Mercy Corps’ new “A Girl Can” campaign.  It is an honor to be involved in this effort to assist girls’ education in rural Ethiopia.

(Photo by Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps)

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