Last week, I posted a "Pop Quiz" for you to test your knowledge on "contemporary photojournalists". I posted a few photographs taken by one of today's top photojournalists and also gave a few written clues. Let's fill in the blanks for the written portion, shall we?
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| All Photos By: Marcus Bleasdale, from "The Last of the Viking Whalers", nd. |
These
photographs were taken by photographer, Marcus Bleasdale who
works for many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). This particular photo essay is about
whale hunting in Norway. For this community, whaling has
always been a part of their heritage although due to economical
situations and cultural changes, this line of work is diminishing.
Bleasdale works as a documentary photographer and is originally from the United Kingdom. He is co-owner and also a member of the VII Photo Agency. As mentioned above, Bleasdale works for NGOs that focus on health and human rights issues, such as Human Rights Watch and Medecins San Frontieres. Bleasdale's photo stories are ones that are not covered by the mainstream media. After Bleasdale covers a story, he sells his photos to the NGOs for them to use in publications or on websites. His images have also been seen in The New York Times, The New Yorker, TIME Magazine, Stern Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine, Le Monde and Sunday Times Magazine - to name a few. Bleasdale has also received many awards; including being named "UNICF Photographer of the Year" in 2004. Bleasdale is best known for covering the mining of minerals in the Congo; images from that story were published by Nat Geo (click "here"). His work has been exhibited globally: at the Federal Office Building in New York, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, the United States Senate, the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the House of Parliament in London and the White House... again, just to name a few. Currently, Bleasdale is based in Oslo, where he continues to work on the story of what he calls, "The Last of the Viking Whalers".
As seen on VII Photo, "The whaling and fishing supports families, yet rips them apart, and communities are slowly dying, threatening their very existence. The shrinking population leads to shrinking schools. Classrooms are made up of just a handful of young students, the older children need to leave their home on the islands at 15 years of age to go live and study on the mainland. Mothers and fathers see this as the price they must pay to continue hunting and fishing. These trips are the first of many, which manifest in the children never coming back to live and work in these dying fishing communities, they prefer to seek work in oil companies or in tourism. The rubble of the closed schools from a generation ago mark empty islands where communities have simply closed down, dismantled their homes and taken them elsewhere" (web).
"A few determined hunters fight the harsh elements to carve out a living and protect the communities where they are based. The island of Skrova, off the coast of Lofoten, is the historic center of the whaling community in Norway, one fish and one whale factory supports the whole community and despite higher profits beckoning them to relocate to the mainland, they stay on the island determined to support their community, a modern example of the Viking ancestral spirit of these folks" (web).
Bleasdale sees this particular documentary being about preservation of heritage and how the economy can sometimes change a culture. To read more about Bleasdale's latest photo project, click "here".
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01. Bleasdale, Marcus. "The Last of the Viking Whalers." VII Photo. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
02."Marcus Bleasdale." Marcus Bleasdale. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
03. "Marcus Bleasdale." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
As seen on VII Photo, "The whaling and fishing supports families, yet rips them apart, and communities are slowly dying, threatening their very existence. The shrinking population leads to shrinking schools. Classrooms are made up of just a handful of young students, the older children need to leave their home on the islands at 15 years of age to go live and study on the mainland. Mothers and fathers see this as the price they must pay to continue hunting and fishing. These trips are the first of many, which manifest in the children never coming back to live and work in these dying fishing communities, they prefer to seek work in oil companies or in tourism. The rubble of the closed schools from a generation ago mark empty islands where communities have simply closed down, dismantled their homes and taken them elsewhere" (web).
 |
| All Photos By: Marcus Bleasdale, from "The Last of the Viking Whalers", nd. |
"A few determined hunters fight the harsh elements to carve out a living and protect the communities where they are based. The island of Skrova, off the coast of Lofoten, is the historic center of the whaling community in Norway, one fish and one whale factory supports the whole community and despite higher profits beckoning them to relocate to the mainland, they stay on the island determined to support their community, a modern example of the Viking ancestral spirit of these folks" (web).
 |
| All Photos By: Marcus Bleasdale, from "The Last of the Viking Whalers", nd. |
____________________________________________________________________________
01. Bleasdale, Marcus. "The Last of the Viking Whalers." VII Photo. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
02."Marcus Bleasdale." Marcus Bleasdale. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
03. "Marcus Bleasdale." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.