Le dessous des cartes.

(In french only)
It's already nine years old, but I find his neutrality and suggestions clear-sighted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSvcG8GleTc

The groups' names issue : Anti-normalisers, the sensitive realm of NGOs, and the photography vs. yellow pages balance...

Why are the names of the NGOs, communities, and charities documented in Giving Peace Faces not published with the images?

After thinking about the consequences of publishing the groups names or not, and having a really good email and face to face chat with one member of a project I will hopefully portrait in May (and they do such an amazing, breath taking work that I have to bite my tongue, or rather my hands, to not link them), I have taken the decision not to release the names of the groups I have contacted and whose members have accepted to be portrayed as part of Giving Peace Faces.

Here is a concise list of the main reasons why I have decided against it.
I hope they make sense.

•  Giving Peace Faces is not about providing a list of groups doing some valuable work in Israel and the West Bank. It has neither the resource nor the will to do so. Others, whose purpose it is, do this much better.

• Giving Peace Faces is a Photography project before being anything else, providing the names of the groups would take that primarily Photography focus away by making it a list of organisations.

•  Groups emerge and disappear all the time in this region, the resulting publication would become obsolete quite quickly.

•  Because of anti-normalisers, some groups avoid most publicity and recognition as much as possible: in order to reach their participants and do a real in depth job, especially in the WB, and offer a real opportunity for dialogue to people that would never meet and talk otherwise, they need to stay out of the anti-normalisers radar. The idea I could possibly jeopardise their work and efforts makes me feel sick. Not publishing the organisations names and giving the choice to the people I portrait to change their real name is a simple and efficient step to reduce that risk to the minimum.

• It might be that only one pilot scheme is of interest, inside an organisation that does not focus on dialogue and exchange on the whole. No names avoid confusion.
  
• Communities, more or less organised as projects, charities or NGOs, can be very susceptible about other groups operating in the same field. Some might disapprove of the work, words or members of other groups. It is fair to say that with 20 to 25 organisations to be part of Giving Peace Faces, a clash would be unavoidable sometimes.

• Last but not least, at the core of Giving Peace Faces are individuals, not groups. The person's names are important in making the portraits about real people. It is up to them, after a discussion, to release their name or not with their portraits (because of the anti-normaliser issue mentioned above).

-Possibilities and Solution:

In the consent form, possibility to request or decline having the group's name/link on a dedicated link page (not in the publication at this stage)

20 days to go, or so...

Still an awful lot to do before travelling to Israel and the WB, but thanks to the Talent Development bursary I now have in my possession a plane return ticket (with a meal, no stopping for 6 hours in the middle of the night in an Ukrainian airport - sorry Ukraine, nothing against you - , and the possibility to travel with some gear and clothes without paying the double of the price announced).

My carbon footprint is haunting me at night, but I will look into saving my karma very shortly.

Even better though: I could go ahead and buy 25 films for the duration of my trip, that's £119 on my head.

Hence, a blog.

After a year and a half, three notebooks, ink left right and centre, it's time for sponsors and therefore for accountability… hence this blog. So here I am!

Giving Peace Faces started as a tiny idea in Autumn 2011 and developed into a full Contemporary Photography project.
It developed further mainly through talking about it to patient friends and family members (does this project makes sense to other people, or just to myself?),  sleepless nights of research and countless bursaries and prizes applications.
In March 2013, I jumped on an opportunity, travelled to Israel and met four of the organisations I had already spotted and contacted, and photographed staff of three of them.
Back with some images and some self-confidence, I finally was awarded a bursary (Talent Development) that same month, so that I have enough funds to go back, shoot more, and build the series up. Go here for more info about the project itself.

I am now in the process of planning the ten days I will spend there in May, drafting the photo and text content release form, drafting the interview template with the help of some journalist and professionals, finding a sponsor for a camera bag, trying to find out where to go and where not to go and how, build an independent pre-series website on the blogspot platform, find accommodation in Israel, order enough films, re-draft my sponsor budget, and secure who I will meet there.

Blog coming soon