Temperatures reached over 40C in July, the highest ever recorded in the UK, and much of the country hasn’t seen substantial rainfall since. Many parts of the country have officially declared drought status where restrictions on domestic water use will be enforced.
Picture : Parched tree, Kensington Gardens.
Being stateless and having no identity simply does not cross the minds of the majority of peoples around the world, and when Patricia befriended Laila and Siti about 6 months ago, she knew she had to tell their story. There are many Rohingya refugees living in Malaysia, and aided by private organisations and charities.
Laila and Siti have no right to exist. Before they were born, their parents fled their home country of Myanmar and landed in Malaysia, a country which is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not grant legal status to refugees, including their Malaysian born children. Along with their parents, Laila and Siti have been denied one of the most fundamental rights upon which all other rights depend.
“Caught between two cultures – never completely accepted in either.”
Without a nationality, these young women have been robbed of their rights to identification, education, healthcare, employment, and freedom of movement. In other words, they have never had any rights.
This project portrays two sisters and their unconventional, but not uncommon, refugee story that does not include a journey of any kind.
Second-generation refugees have a different experience than their parents. Language and cultural barriers dissolve, but with them, so does a sense of identity and community. Caught between two cultures – never completely accepted in either – they only have each other.
The aim of Patricia’s project is to generate greater empathy and understanding of the refugee crisis through a long-term lens. While most mainstream media coverage portrays harrowing journeys and struggle to integrate into new societies, it is not often that we get to know the challenges they face down the line, for them, their children, or their children’s children.
Unfortunately, Malaysia is not unique in the region. With nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees scattered
throughout South and Southeast Asia, countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, India and
Pakistan are also not signatories to the Refugee Convention. The persecution of Rohingya people within Myanmar continues to this day as does the deep sense of exclusion towards refugees in the region, which has only intensified with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. With no physical community, social media is one of the spaces the sisters can inhabit to express themselves and create their own identities.
They carefully choose their wardrobe and makeup and spend their time self-directing their photoshoots throughout the city of Kuala Lumpur. Creating ‘insta-stories’ and posts connect them to a world beyond their reality. Here, they join other young women of their generation in a land that allows them to dream, create and project.
Laila and Siti exist here.
The way the sisters use social media inspired the framework for telling their stories. Some of the images in this series were developed and directed by Laila and Siti themselves, giving them a voice in the representation of their own identity – the very thing they have been robbed of in other aspects of their
lives. Through the universal visual language of social media, we can reframe our understanding of
refugees by removing the element of ‘otherness’ and enhancing the element of ‘sameness’.
We can see them as they wish to be seen.
Patricia Krivanek is currently based in Malaysia, and has a background in anthropology and humanitarian relief. She has lived and worked in over 17 countries. Through her photography, she seeks to highlight
stories that speak to the human experience with the goal of generating empathy through a form of visual anthropology. Patricia’s images have been exhibited in international exhibitions including Edition 365 with the British Journal of Photography and Exposure+ Photo in Kuala Lumpur. In 2021, one of her images was selected as a finalist for the Canon Malaysia Award in the Kuala Lumpur Photoawards 2021.
Earth Day 2020 today, calls for Climate Action. Clean air is a major factor to healthy living. During the current pandemic, many industrial centres across the world – China, India – have seen a dramatic improvement if air quality and a reduction in CO2 emissions. In the UK there are current research into the causative effects of London’s highly polluted air and the number of serious COVID-19 patients. The city of Milan in Lombardy, the most polluted and affected region in Italy, has announced an ambitious plan to rededicate 35kms of city centre roads to cycle and pedestrian use this summer.
I hope for a cleaner and healthier post-pandemic world, which could begin with forest regeneration and less reliant on fossil fuels.
October 2019, Colonna della Madonna dello Stellario, Lucca, Italy
“Our mind is enriched by what we receive, our heart by what we give.”
~ Victor Hugo
Encountered an anti-fascism and anti-racism rally in Central London this afternoon. There seems to be a protest of some sort every weekend in this city and this weekend is no different. Division and hate are so prevalent in many societies today, from East to West it seems like they are inherent in the very being of humankind. We just commemorated Armistice Day last weekend, a stark reminder of what man can do to each other.
Italy has a certain style and elegance that cannot truly be captured in pictures. The mix of culture, food, fashion, architecture, religion and a legacy so steeped in significant European history has culminated in a rich, thick, gravy of sensory and visual delights for photographers.
I was going through my archives in search of staircase pictures recently (see Simply Stairs ) and discovered several collections of images I have taken over the years in Rome, Venice, Tuscany and elsewhere. I managed to select these to illustrate what I mean. It is also different from France, another country which I have visited a lot.
This is one mega-exhibition that involves so many photographers & designers that will be traveling from Tokyo to Paris in 2018. Am honoured to be part of this historic event.
Press Release 01 November 2017
“SHIBUYA – TOKYO CURIOSITY by TOKYO-GA”
DURATION: January 2nd to January 8th, 2018
VENUE: Shibuya Hikarie 8/Cube
Organized by NPO TOKYO-GA
Supported by The 4th ward, Paris. Shibuya ward, TOKYO
Cooperated by TOKYO-GA Supporters Circle
~ Curiosity connects the world ~ Identity・Diversity・Traceability ~
As one of the most dynamic city environments in Asia, Shibuya is at the forefront of new, on-the-edge trends and more particularly, of the emergence of a new Japanese life style. The dynamics of Shibuya have attracted the attention of the Japanese media and institutions. With the support of the city ward, the NPO TOKYO-GA has been charged to produce an exhibition featuring Shibuya’s identity at Shibuya Hikarie in January 2018.
This first exhibition will be the forerunner of what we would like to conceive as a traveling exhibition that presents the identity of Shibuya and the young Japanese generation abroad. Concrete and abstract themes will be featured through photography as a central element combined with mural video projection, virtual reality and art installations.
” I expect Tokyo-GA to communicate the exquisite charm, power, and vibrations of the Tokyo Megalopolis, with its sceneries and urban landscapes, a succession of vertical and horizontal rhythmical symphonies, which no other city in the world can give.”
~ Richard COLLASSE, President, CHANEL.K.K.
TOKYO-GA Participating Photographers
Satoshi ASAKAWA, Jean-Michel BERTS, Navid BARATY, Yukari CHIKURA, Renate D’AGOSTIN, Giuseppe DE FRANCESCO, Michael FEATHER, Stéphanie FRAISSE, Michel FRAPIER, Haruhi FUJII, the GAZE, Emmanuel GUILLARD, Mikio HASUI, Roland HAGENBERG, Tatsuya HIRABAYASHI, Kenji HIRASAWA, Taishi HIROKAWA, Tomoki HIROKAWA, Naoki HONJO, Norihisa HOSAKA, Minoru HOHTSUKI, Rie ISHISHITA, Kimiko ISHIYAMA, Gentaro ISHIZUKA, Keiichi ITO, Ooki JINGU, Bishin JUMONJI, Daisuke KAMIMURA, Chiaki KANO, Junpei KATO, Haruna KAWANISHI, Evarett KENNEDY BROWN, Rei KISHITSU, Eriko KOGA, Yasutaka KOJIMA, Kentaro KUMON, Osamu KURIHARA, Edward LEVINSON, Sebastien LEBEGUE, Steven LEE, Ilse LEENDERS, Tomoaki MAKINO, Yoshiko MATSUNAGA, Chihiro MINATO, Muga MIY AHARA, Mamiko MIYAHARA, Christopher MORRIS, Daido MORIYAMA, Yuki MORITA, Ken-ichi NAGASAKI, Masataka NAKANO, Hiroki NAKASHIMA, Sakiko NOMURA, Katsumi OHMORI, Mitsugu OHNISHI, Ryo OHWADA, Atsushi OKADA, Tsutomu ONO, Yuki ONODERA, Daisuke OOZU, Cesar ORDOÑEZ. Thomas PRIOR, Bruno QUINQUET, Takehito SATO, Tatsuya SHIMOHIRA, Taku SHINDO, Vincent SOULIE, Jeremie SOUTEYRAT, Ichigo SUGAWARA, Masayoshi SUKITA, Takeshi SUMI, Mikiya TAKIMOTO, Saori TAO, Kiyoshi TATSUKAWA, Yukinori TOKORO, Yoshihiko UEDA, Makiko UI, Kikuko USUYAMA, Kazuhiko WASHIO, Kazuki WATANABE, James WHITLOW DELANO, Michael WOLF, Celine WU, Masami YAMAMOTO, Yuki YAMADA(CHAP-TYAPU), Naomi YANAGIMOTO, Hiroshi YODA, Alao YOKOGI, Guenter ZORN
TOKYO-GA 東京画 MISSION STATEMENT
DESCRIBING TOKYO SCAPES BY 100 PHOTOGRAPHERS
In spring 2011, Japan experienced one of the biggest tragedies of its history that will remain in the memory of people for generations. The tremendous earthquake, the enormous tsunami and the catastrophic meltdown of the Fukushima power plant, all three incidents have damaged heavily the beautiful Japanese landscape and the trust in a safe Japanese nation.
TOKYO-GA, established in April 2011, gathers photographs taken by 100 photographers who have chosen Tokyo as their subject. Through the perspective of these photographers, “TOKYO-GA” wants to promote reflection on the development of the Japanese capital in the aftermath of the 2011 disaster. By looking at the works, the onlooker is invited to ponder over what is beautiful, what is sad, what is important, and to evaluate the possibilities that may lie ahead. The works illustrated show us some aspects of what is essential for Tokyo, something fragile such as an atmosphere, a behaviour or a gesture.
TOKYO-GA invites to share the beat and breath of Tokyo, a city undergoing big changes in this decade, and to witness the presence with sincerity through the eyes of 100 photographers who have each of them identified Tokyo in their own personal way.
Naoko OHTA
Commissioner Founder – TOKYO-GA
Further information
NPO TOKYO-GA
c/o KLEE INC TOKYO
8-12-25, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 Tokyo Japan Tel: 81-(0)3-5410-1277 Fax: 81-(0)3-5410-1278
Mail: info@tokyo-ga.org
http://www.tokyo-ga.org/
Ends
This is John Hook, 81, from the Welsh town of Deri, in the Darran Valley. I met him walking his dog, a little pincer, along a path by a stream and we chatted. The Welsh are really friendly, like that. Maybe it’s just the older generation. He had worked as a coal miner in three collieries when he was younger, and also help started steel works in England. Now, retired, he stays outdoors as much as possible, walking and enjoying the countryside.
In the 50-70s these valleys in South Wales were major producers of coal in Europe and there were numerous collieries providing employment to the local population for generations. The beautiful countryside where we met were completely blackened with the spoils, slag heaps and soot from the mines. These were all cleared and the land replanted or regenerated into public space. The last mine which closed here was in the early 80s as the industry collapsed.
France24 broadcast journalist reporting live from the Candlelight Vigil at Trafalgar Square for the victims of the terrorist attack at Westminster on 22 March, 2017. The last vigil I attended here at the same London landmark was on the occasion of the Paris attacks of November 2015.
This evening’s vigil was attended by thousands of local residents and visitors who filled the square, surrounded with armoured police vehicles, road closures and many armed officers.
explorenation.net ~ photography posts, workshops, writings and thoughts by Steven V-L Lee 
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