Contact: Taj Forer
p. 919.619.9943
f. 775.908.5587
e-mail: taj@daylightmagazine.org


Photography Organization Publishes Photographs Taken by Iraqi Civilians

(Chapel Hill, North Carolina 07 June 2004) Why is media coverage of present day Iraq so one-sided? Taj Forer and Mike Itkoff, the editors of a Daylight Magazine, believe that self-representative imagery and text is the missing aspect of well-rounded documentation of any community or event. Through correspondents in Iraq, Daylight placed cameras in the hands of ten Iraqi civilians living in Baghdad and Falluja. These men, women, boys, and girls were offered the phrase “This is an opportunity to show the American public what you want them to see” – the results are astounding and will be published in the upcoming summer issue of Daylight Magazine (June 2004). Daylight Magazine ($10) seeks to explore new techniques in documentary photography, particularly ones that redefine the relationship between photographer and photographed.

The summer issue will feature an essay by Amir Hassanpour, the photographs of Roger Hutchings, Bruno Stevens, Sheryl Mendez, Samantha Appleton, and Daniel Pepper as well as work by:

• Susan Meiselas who has been a freelance photographer since 1976 has worked on projects in India, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and extensively in the Middle East. Her books include: Carnival Strippers, Nicaragua, and Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History. Meiselas is the recipient of the prestigious Hasselblad Award (1994). Her photographs of mass graves in southern Iraq to be featured in Daylight Magazine Issue 2 were originally published through many outlets in the early 1990s. However, these images have gained contemporary relevancy as they are being used in the current case against Saddam Hussein.

• Sean Hemmerle who was prompted by the repercussive events of September 11, 2001, to follow-up his photographs of Ground Zero with projects that documented the American war on terror: Afghanistan in February 2002 and Iraq in September 2003. He is currently working on a project about the American media, with plans to return to Baghdad. His photos appear regularly in Time, New York, Metropolis, and the Columbia Journalism Review. His photos have twice been selected for Time's Photos of the Year, and his work was included in Photo District News’s Photo Annual 2002. His current work will be on display through the Open Society Institute beginning June 10, 2004. It is also noteworthy that Hemmerle served in the United States Army from 1984 to 1988, receiving an honorable discharge with the rank of sergeant.


For more information about Daylight Magazine and/or to subscribe, visit www.daylightmagazine.org.
# # #