Freelance photojournalist Juan Carlos, based between San Francisco, CA and San Salvador, El Salvador, shares some photos from a story on his native country of El Salvador.

“In this country the young are like the sunrise, they don’t last long”
-Roque Dalton

El Salvador was at the center of international attention during the civil war in the1980’s and early 90’s, the war lasted for a twelve years, resulting in more than 80 thousand Salvadorans killed or disappeared, thousands forced into exile and many more continue to leave the country.  When the peace accords were signed in 1992, the people of El Salvador’s dreamed of a creating peaceful nation began.   That dream however was obstructed by the aftermath of the war. Since then it has not been able to gain social, political, or economic stability providing a fertile soil to harvest. Organized crime, drug trafficking, gang related violence, have made it impossible to achieve peace in the country. Now days it is considered to be one of the most dangerous countries around the world. In 2011 there were 4,374 murders, 370 more than the previous year a 9.3 percent increase, surpassing the 2009 record of 4,223 murders, making 2011 one of the deadliest, becoming one of the most dangerous countries for the young with the highest murder rate in the world for young adults ages15-24 and has some of the highest murder rates for people of all ages with a rate of 60% for every 100,000. Many of the murders go unsolved since the government’s prosecutor is only able to process a small amount of cases. Its police department and judicial system are corrupted, which makes it difficult to obtain justice, Impunity roams all over the country. Salvadorans have had to endure violent times, hoping that one day will be a peaceful nation.

See more photos of El Salvador on Juan’s website.

Mexican art photographer Jan Smith shares his work on Fukushima developed a year after the nuclear accident.

This is an intimate tour of the evacuated zone around Fukushima, in remembrance of the first year since the nuclear accident.  The images are presented with a composed eye but are paired with narrative that references cultural and historical anecdotes from Fukushima, as well as quotes from former residents of the evacuated areas.

See more photos of Fukushima on Jan’s website.

Sarasota, FL-based photographer Chip Litherland spent some quality-time in the locker room with Miami Heat’s LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.

So LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and I were there together hanging out and….well, there really isn’t going to be a time I get to say that again, so I’m going to take advantage now.

I was lucky enough to be part of the huge team that the fine folks at ESPN the Magazine put together for their latest One Day, One Game series. The point is to give fans a glimpse into everything that it takes for one single game to be put on with vignettes from every angle imaginable.  It was one of my most fun shooting days ever, and I don’t think I can really go back to “normal” access after this.  Of course I will, but now will at least have a hard time wondering why I can come back into the locker room and photograph a player in the ice bath.

Continue reading and see more photos on Chip’s blog.

J.R. Harrison, 19, looks down the sights of a rifle while Michael "Roady" Melnek, 15, steps back against the wall lined with heavy metal band t-shirts in Cameron Blosser's room in New Straitsville, Ohio.

Ohio University sophomore Ian C. Bates photographed the day-to-day struggles and happenings in the lives of Appalachian teenagers.

Historically, the Southeast Ohio region of Appalachia was once known for it’s immense amount of extractive industries. When corporations stripped the area of it’s luscious deposits of coal, salt, clay and timber deposits, they left, leaving the baby boomer generation embedded with a culture developed by poverty and unchanged for decades to come. Their children, now 20-somethings and teenagers, are struggling to find their own paths out of poverty, which often lead to crime and drug abuse.

Continue reading and see more photos on Ian’s website.

J.R. jumps off a homemade ramp in front of Cameron's house while Cameron and Michael watch. A few jumps later J.R. split the bike frame in half on landing and knocked himself out.

Pat pees between a trailer and van outside of the Blosser's home in New Straitsville, Ohio.

Brandon takes a hit from a weed pipe behind the library while Michael keeps watch for sheriff cars in New Straitsville, Ohio.

]]> http://thephotobrigade.com/2012/04/growing-up-lost-in-appalachia-by-ian-c-bates/feed/ 0 http://thephotobrigade.com/2012/03/faustinos-patagonian-retreat-by-vice/ http://thephotobrigade.com/2012/03/faustinos-patagonian-retreat-by-vice/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:38:36 +0000 admin http://thephotobrigade.com/?p=5533 do_sud_thumb("http://thephotobrigade.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Far-Out_Sutherland_1.jpg","Faustino’s Patagonian Retreat – by VICE")

Photographer Peter Sutherland and VICE recently traveled to the Chilean Patagonia to visit Faustino Barrientos, an 81-year-old gaucho who has been living on the shore of Lake O’Higgins since 1965. Peter’s photos were taken as part of VICE’s online video series Far Out, which is devoted to documenting the lifestyles of the most remote and solitary people on Earth.

VICE recently took a trip to Chilean Patagonia to document the life of Faustino Barrientos, an 81-year-old hermit whose pastoral life is slowly being eroded by The Man.

On the plus side, he still lives in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Take a look at these photos Peter Sutherland took while hanging out with Faustino if you don’t believe us.

And when you’re done with that, why not enjoy the film, Far Out: Faustino’s Patagonian Retreat?

Take a look at the rest of Peter Sutherland’s photos on VICE.com and watch the documentary that accompanies the photographs, Far Out: Faustino’s Patagonian Retreat, below.

If you can’t see the video above, please click here.

French photojournalists Gerald Holubowicz & Jean Nicholas Guillo are working on “Moneyocracy”, a transmedia documentary set during the 2012 U.S Presidential race, and have started a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds to complete their project.

If you can’t watch the video, please click here.

Moneyocracy is a transmedia documentary set during the 2012 U.S Presidential race. It looks at how the 2010 Citizen United vs. F.E.C ruling is affecting the U.S democratic process.

THE STORY

The story takes its roots in the 2010 Citizen United vs. F.E.C. Supreme Court ruling and analyses its consequences on U.S elections and on the American population.

What are the legal & political implications of this decision? Is this the beginning of a new era in which corporations will shape the political arena as they shape their businesses ? The project focuses on the rise of Super PACs and their affiliated organisations the 501c4, and documents how these organisations influence the political debate and American voters during the 2012 presidential campaign and beyond through political advertising.

Moneyocracy relies on an interactive documentary (i-doc), a documentary and a comic book, each of which explore a specific issue, allowing the viewers to discover the real influence of corporate money in contemporary elections. The journey takes the audience from Washington D.C to Chicago at the Obama campaign headquarters, to Tampa, FL to Charlotte, NC, during the GOP and Democratic National Conventions. Along the way, the authors interview some of the main actors of the campaign, including lobbyists, unionists, activists and lawyers, all of whom reveal the true consequences of the Supreme Court’s historic 2010 decision.

Learn more about the project on the Moneyocracy website and on its Kickstarter page.

Manhattan-based freelancer Robert Caplin documented the life around the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City.

Today I decided to wake up early on the weekend and head to midtown on my bike with my wife and photograph some of the activity around the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Normally I try to stay as far away from Fifth Avenue parades as possible, but I felt motivated this morning. Also, this was not for an assignment, rather just for ourselves, so there was no stress with deadlines or editor’s expectations. We decided to  concentrate on the activity around the parade because in order to get a good spot, we would have to stay in one place and not move…this way we got to roam and see all the participants of the parade warming up for the before the parade started.

It was fun, but as the start time approached, more and more highly intoxicated revelers began pouring out of bars, which wasn’t so fun. Anyhow, I hope you like my take on the parade!

See more photos of the parade on Robert’s blog.

NYC-based photographer and filmmaker F9photo shot a documentary about Ski Patrol & Search and Rescue teams and has started a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds to complete the project. Check out the movie trailer!

Over the last two winters I shot a documentary about Ski Patrol & Search and Rescue teams with the help of 14 talented filmmakers in Montana.  The project has turned out as an amazing visual compellation of the life and science behind backcountry snow safety.

View The Snow Guardian Movie Trailer: 

Click here if you can’t watch the video above.

Across the West, there had been 13 avalanche deaths this season as of Feb. 16, and with the boom in backcountry winter sports there is a critical need in avalanche safety training.  We hope our film covers much of the needed training and equipment needed to venture off the beaten path all while being visually breathtaking enough to entertain all generations of snow adventures.

The film is called Snow Guardians and I have started a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds to complete the project.  Shooting a documentary for HD broadcast TV is very expensive.   I have been very lucky to have the amazing support of some very talented filmmakers and film equipment makers to film the project.

We are in the process of editing over 3.5 Terabytes of HD footage that captured the lifestyle and visual beauty that draws people the rustic mountain lifestyle.  The cost to pay editors, visual effects specialists and to license music will be over $22,000 alone.  We have already incurred over $33,000 in expenses to shoot much of the film.  Your donation is critical to help us complete the project.

Kickstarter operates on an all-or-nothing funding model where projects must be fully funded or no money changes hands.  Even a $10 dollar donation can greatly help.

This is a Collaborative Film!  For only a few dollars you can get your name in the film credits!

Please share the link to the trailer and project on Kickstarter!  Please post it to your Facebook page and email your friends.

Snow Guardians Kickstarter page: http://kck.st/yP3fKI

Read more information about the film and see more behind the scenes photos on the Snow Guardians website.

After 5 games and many more practices, my 2011 stint with Monterey Trail Mustang football is complete.

I settled into my home away from home in Elk Grove, CA August 2nd, exactly one month after I relocated from DC to Sac. I reached out to a number of high school football programs in and around Sacramento looking to continue my interest in documenting the sport at this level. Soon after my initial feelers, I got a call from head coach, T.J. Ewing. He thought my work was pretty cool and said he’d love to have me come out. So I did.

The coaching staff was awesome and the kids were an excellent bunch of hard working, determined and accountable young human beings. Although the team finished 4-6 and missed the playoffs, it was great to document their journey. Enjoy and see you next season!

James Estrin of the New York Times Lens Blog asks for your participation in the latest worldwide project “Picturing 7 Billion”.

On behalf of The New York Times Lens blog, I would like to invite you to join us in a project called Picturing 7 Billion.

The United Nations Population Fund estimates that the world’s 7 billionth person was born on Oct. 31, 2011. Babies born this week come into a world that is changing rapidly.  While it’s hard to envision what it’ll be like when they are adults, we can show them what the world is like today.

This is where you come in. We are asking for your help in creating a photographic time capsule for these children. Before you take your picture, think about what you want them to know – 20 years from today – about the world into which they were born.

Make a photograph that documents how we live today and send it to us. We are looking for photographs taken between Oct. 31 and Nov. 11, not from your archive. We’ll publish a large selection on Lens and present prints to the families of the children Lynsey Addario photographed on Oct. 31.

Use this form to submit your picture. Please send us only one. Include your full name, the place and time the photo was made and a little bit about the image. Photos should be no larger than five megabytes, ideally at least 1,000 pixels wide. In keeping with photojournalistic standards, please keep Photoshop to a minimum.

Best,

Jim