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Posted: 18 Sep 2015 05:00 AM PDT
 A Kalahari San Bushman climbing a tree traditionally used for firewood. The Bushman makes use of a variety of natural resources for daily life, including a whole host of wood for different purposes.  A mother and daughter, in traditional dress, perform a Bushman dance. When documentary photographer Daniel Cuthbert drove seventeen hours into the Kalahari Desert to meet the Bushmen for the first time, the only thing he had to go by for reference was a lengthy set of co-ordinates with the message, meet us here at 4pm. On Cuthbert’s Sat Nav this spot showed up as the definition of the middle of nowhere: a no-man’s-land inaccessible by road. With a medium format Rollei 6008i, he set out into the wild nothingness of the savannah to document the Bushmen of modern-day. Bushmen – also known as the San people – have existed in Africa for 20,000 years, but since the government started moving them into camps in attempts to eradicate their traditional lifestyle, they have been forced to adapt to a new way of life. Disappearing Cultures: The Bushman is a documentary project by Daniel Cuthbert, which looks at the lives of modern-day Bushmen and explores the struggle between tradition and modernity in a culture that is being gradually pushed towards extinction. Cuthbert focuses on two groups – a family of Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert who still lead a somewhat traditional nomadic lifestyle, and the camps in Platfonitein where the majority of the Khwe Bushmen are now living. In these camps, alcoholism, drug abuse, and teen pregnancies are rife, simply because there is nothing for them to do. There are no job prospects, they are ostracized by other South Africans, and are denied legal citizenship and identity. The tragic reality of the situation highlighted by Cuthbert is that, “what was once one of the most self-sufficient communities on earth is now surviving on hand-outs from charities.”  Young Khwe Bushmen in Platfontein prefer western fashion for inspiration, over more traditional ways of dressing. Often the abuse they receive as Bushmen, be it when they speak their language or dress in a more traditional manner, pushes the youngsters to fit in rather than embrace their culture. You say that it was quite a lengthy process to gain access to photograph the Bushmen. What difficulties did you encounter along the way? “As with all good documentary projects, taking the images amounts to about 10% of the total work; the rest is spent gaining access, permission and on logistics. The Bushman project was no different, except I had to deal with numerous NGO’s and support groups to gain access to the Platfontein group and to arrange access to the family I’d be living with in Kalahari. Couple that with a round trip of 3000 kilometres for each visit, and this project pushed me on a physical level. Initially I drove for 17 hours to meet the family, which meant I wasn’t exactly the freshest when I greeted them for the first time. Then came the language barrier. I don’t speak Khwe (the traditional clicking sound), and they didn’t speak English. Cue numerous sand drawings and hand gestures.”  Teenage pregnancy is on the rise. Many young girls pretend to be pregnant after seeing the older girls in later stages of pregnancy. Your subjects appear relatively relaxed and natural in your shots. What was their initial reaction to you photographing them? How did you gain their trust? “At first, it was almost amusement than anything else. Here was this tall blonde guy who’s walking around, sweating like an idiot and armed with a huge black box (I was shooting with a Rollei 6008i medium format camera) and smiling and saying hello in Khwe (which I swear came out wrong, too many clicks and I bet I was insulting them whilst trying to be formal). After a few days of this, I guess I was finally ignored as the new kid and just allowed to get on with talking to people (via my translator) and finding out about their story and lives.”  Teenagers with no job prospects or aspirations turn to alcohol to pass the time. This has led to a heavy drink culture in the youth, with many spending their days idling and drinking to keep amused. ‘Why not, I love being drunk. It’s better than sitting around doing nothing. We have nothing to look forward to.’ What camera did you use to shoot this series, and why? “I shot this project on a Rollei 6008i. I have a deep love for medium format as a medium and along with Kodak Portra 160/400 NC film stock, achieved the look and feel I wanted for this project. In addition, shooting medium format means you only have 12 frames before you need to change, so you plan the shots better, especially when it’s 36 degrees outside and the heat is melting the film. In addition to the Rollei, I had a Canon G9, which I used to show instant images to those who wanted to see. This was a huge hit with the kids and really broke the ice.”  You mentioned that the older generation were determined to preserve the traditional culture whereas the younger generation were more accepting to change. Do you feel there is a future for the Bushmen? Is anything being done to help them? “This is actually a tough question to answer. I’ve not been in touch with the groups for a while now and I’m sure some of the situations have changed for better or for worse but at the time, the younger generation accepted the forced changed and saw a positive side. I guess this stems from the fact they’d never really lived the traditional Bushman way, whereas the older generation yearned to go back to simpler times. I think there is a future but not sure if it’s how the Bushman want to live. Forcing them to live in horrible camps in an inhospitable area isn’t the way forward. Alcoholism is now an issue and this is eroding traditional values, as is the reliance on the state for support. There are groups whose sole task is to help the Bushman, but again not having been in touch with them for a while now, I can’t say if they are succeeding in helping or not. I hope so.”  The Christian church groups have tried to convert the Bushmen to Christianity and promised donations and the construction of a church inside Platfontein. To date, this is still incomplete, however the church actively seeks new members.  An elder Bushman lady sits in her traditional dress inside her modest home. She currently acts in a play called ‘Son of the Wind,’ which tells the story of the disaster that befell the tribes during the Angolan war for independence. The post For the Bushmen of Africa, Life is a Struggle Between Tradition and Modernity appeared first onFeature Shoot.  |
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Posted: 17 Sep 2015 08:42 AM PDT
 Farrell, MS, 38630 In “Post Script,” photographer Rachel Boillot‘s work about the gradual disappearance of the United States Postal Service as seen in parts of the South, she is speaking about two fading systems: that of the decline of the American postal service and that of the analog film process. “I was initially intrigued by the dilemma of the Postal Service because of the parallel to my own field,” Boillot says. “Like the letter, the analog photograph seems threatened at present. Digitization has rendered aspects of my own practice obsolete—even entirely extinct.” As the postal service continues to see budget cuts, shifting market needs, and consumer interest change, Boillot has been documenting the fading symbols of this 200 plus year-old institution by turning her lens on the old post offices, small towns, and empty mailboxes as seen in the South. Boillot notes that “the closing of rural post offices is a national (and international) concern and not just unique to the South; Rural Swiss communities are experiencing a similar crisis,” she says, but “states like Maine and Missouri are hit hard by this, too; not just Arkansas.” Boillot limited herself to the South to “employ a system of constraints on the work in order to actually execute a bear of a project.” We spoke with Boillot about her approach to powerfully nuanced image-making, the shifting landscape of the US Postal Service, and a few more questions that touch upon questions of ‘old’ and new systems, film and its processes, and the South.  IdaCan you talk about the connection that a small town has with their postal service? “It is both about a connection beyond and a metaphor for the identity of place. The post office serves as town center in rural communities. Often acting as a town’s sole address, this location embodies the numerical identity of place; without its presence in the landscape, a ZIP code is lost. ZIP codes and post offices testify to the existence of a community on the American map. Their deletion both matters and doesn’t. In spite of these losses, residents remain anchored in place. In spite of post office departure or a vanished code, the home stands. Attachment to family land lingers and is rooted far deeper than digits. “Feelings about it all vary from person to person, place to place. Many feel slighted and excluded without a postal presence. Others are just as glad to exist without a place on the map and intervention of federal bureaucracy. In Cook Springs, Alabama, the populace was generally thrilled to regain the now vacant post office and turn it into a locally led town flea market. “I still found that most were dismayed to lose an essential gathering place and its role in their daily routines and conversations. The postmaster or mistress was something of a local arbiter. They knew that if someone didn’t come for their mail on a given day, someone ought to go check on them—something might have happened on the farm, some local citizen might be endangered or in need of care. For many, it’s their one daily trip to town, one which they relish. It’s an important moment of social engagement as stories and confidences are shared over the P.O. countertop. “Without a local P.O., town residents might have to drive as much as thirty miles on the mountainous, poorly paved roads near Harlan, Kentucky, spending their precious little gas money—even to receive medicine for veterans that is only available by mail.”   Pastoria Carefully painted personal mailboxWhat did you learn (about the people, the community, about yourself) while making this work? “It became my introduction to the rural South, a landscape I now adore and continue to linger in. I grew up in the suburbs of New York, with a brief childhood stint living abroad in Singapore. Coming from the urban and suburban Northeast, I had never really experienced a truly rooted sense of place – the almost feverous attachment to a homeplace that is bedrock to the communities seen in this work. A disproportionate number of closing post offices are located in the South. So, what is a national concern is most firmly embedded within this soil. The rural South has undergone great changes, far greater than I can detail here, over the past century, really. The closing of the post office is but one window onto that story (or stories). “As I traveled, I learned of cultures and stories now embedded within my visual vocabulary, but not fully divulged within the confines of the frame. But what exists beyond the frame has forever broadened my own mental landscape.”  Post-office window John JackCan you tell me about the weeping willow tree image? “I met Jack, who is both the Postmaster and Sheriff in his south Georgia community, because two little old ladies called the law on me while I was photographing the post office. Every photographer gets the police once in a while; I’ve had several encounters. This one was some different, though. The women peeking through their shades across the street weren’t so concerned with my taking pictures of the post office. They just thought I was a missing girl they had seen on a milk carton! I look young for my age and was clearly not a local. They called Jack to reclaim said missing girl. Once the confusion was resolved, I spoke with Jack, followed him on his daily duties, and photographed him at the construction site he was overseeing adjacent to the P.O. one town over.”  Postmistress In CalypsoThe post The Vanishing of the United States Postal Service in the South appeared first on Feature Shoot. |
