During my recent blogging break, I largely missed the story of Ed Kashi’s photographic report on the Kurds of Afghanistan Iraq (see comments), which is hugely interesting on a number of fronts.
One is that the nearly-12-minute multimedia report was auctioned by MediaStorm, with MSNBC eventually winning the rights to the piece. Brian Storm is making his mark on the new age of media, with MediaStorm, and now with an innovative way of selling good work. Given the number of non-traditional media companies out there with deep pockets (think Yahoo!), the idea of journalism auctions opens new possibilities for freelancers pursuing their own projects. (Link to the piece, and a note on watching it, is at the end of this post.)
Even more interesting than the sale was the project itself: the story is told through a “flipbook” format, with hundreds of still images flashing by, set to Kurdish music. What makes the piece compelling is partly the synchronization of music and image, but largely the pacing the images. Several will run by, creating the impression of motion, and then the presentation freezes, briefly, on a single, strong image.
I really liked the package. The combination of motion, image, sound and brief captions presented a much deeper picture of Iraqi Kurds than a traditional photo essay (or online slidehsow) could have.
But not everyone liked it. There’s a lengthy discussion at Lightstalkers.org, with lots of folks spending a lot of pixels arguing about the technique used and, occasionally, the content. One post that captures much of the tone, and reacts to it, is from Patrick Yen:
To me it represents an important move towards making journalism more universally and globally accessible. I cannot wait to see the MediaStorm edit.
Attempts like these should be better welcomed in the photojournalism community to make it better..
…instead, it seems like any approach that is new, different, or atypical is predictably and consistently ridiculed.
While healthy and constructive criticism is certainly necessary and essential in our medium, mindless personal character attacks that are jealously motivated just make us all look bad.
There’s more on the work at PDN Online and, from Kashi himself, at his blog.
Effective journalism is, to a degree, in the eye of the beholder, so you’ll have to judge for yourself. It’s here. And a note: The ad at the start plays fine, but the show itself, even with broadband, stuttered and stopped. I rewound, walked away from the laptop for about 10 minutes to let the whole thing load, and then it played fine.
SOURCE: A PHOTO A DAY | TAGS: PHOTOJOURNALISM, KURDS, FLIPBOOK, MEDIASTORM, ED KASHI
Further clarifiaction; Kurds live in Khorowsan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularily Balouchistan. Some, like those in Khorowsan, were put there by one of the Shahs to fight the Turkmens. Others, like those in Balouchistan, have gone at various times, such as during the Agri revolt etc. HOWEVER, with the exception of some of some of the Khorowsani Kurds, very very few still speak Kurdish. Kurds in Afghanistan for example can no longer be considered Kurdish in any meaningful sense, as with many of those in Khorowsan and elsewhere. As one taxi driver in Khrowosan put it to me, “I don’t know Kurdish, I just know I’m a Kurd.” And that was the extent of his knowledge.
Heja is absolutely misinformed, as are many other Kurds, regarding the distribution of Kurds in Afghnistan and Pakistan and the Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchistan provinces of Eastern Iran.
There are over 1.5 million Kurds in Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchistan. Over 1/4million live in Afghanistan and over that number live in Baluchistan, Sind and Punjab in Pakistan. Some of those are referred to as Baluch, but they are in fact Kurds. Many have the last name Kurdi. In fact Benazir Bhuttos mother was Kurd. The Sarpara, Rodini and Pirkani tribes of Pakistani Baluchistan are Kurds. Some of my Baluch friends consider their ancestry as Kurd and some Baluchi musicians such as Ustad Shir Mohammad Espindar recite Kurdi songs.
The major Kurdi tribes of Khorasan are Amarlu, Shadlu, Zafaranlu, Keyvanlu, Tupkanlu and Qarachorlu. They speak mostly the Kirmanji Kurdi dialect.
A well known Kurd of the Rika tribe in Kabul was Ali Mardan who lived in the 17th century. He is mentioned in traditional love stories in Afghanistan.
[...] Link via Notes from a Teacher. [...]
Heja:
Thanks. I knew that; it was a bit of sloppiness on my part. And, for readers interested in more on the Kurds, I can highly recommend the book A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts : Journeys in Kurdistan by Christiane Bird.
Mark
Hi Mark,
Just a quick note. Kurds are living in “Kurdistan” a mountanious area in northern mesopotamia divided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. There are no Kurds in Afghanistan.
Yours,
Heja