Ariel
June 28th, 2009 by Stefan
© stefan rohner
© Katya Bogachevskaya
Travesty: The Phantom World of the Transvestite by Katya Bogachevskaya.
© Jeff Widener
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square massacre (referred to in Chinese as the June 4 Incident, to avoid confusion with two other Tiananmen Square protests) were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) beginning on April 14. Led mainly by students and intellectuals, the protests occurred in a year that saw the collapse of a number of communist governments around the world.
The protests were sparked by the death of pro-market, pro-democracy and anti-corruption official, Hu Yaobang, whom protesters wanted to mourn. By the eve of Hu’s funeral, 1,000,000 people had gathered on the Tiananmen square. The protests lacked a unified cause or leadership; participants included disillusioned Communist Party members and Trotskyists as well as free market reformers, who were generally against the government’s authoritarianism and voiced calls for economic change [1][2] and democratic reform[2] within the structure of the government. The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square, in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which remained peaceful throughout the protests.
© stefan loeliger/stefan rohner
since I like some of these images and I dont have them here… from a common project with Stefan Loeliger (www.stefan-loeliger.com)

© rena effendi
Enjoy the exhibition House of Happiness by Rena Effendi.
© stefan loeliger/stefan rohner
since I like some of these images and I dont have them here… from a common project with Stefan Loeliger (www.stefan-loeliger.com)

© björn stridh
Sant’ Agata Catania
The celebration of the guardian saint of Catania, Sant Agata, takes place every year in the first week of february.
The pictures in this series are done in a rather small area of the city of Catania, around the Doumo and surrounding areas in the citys old centre during the time of this celebration in february 2009.
Sant’ Agata Catania from Björn Stridh on Still-Dancing

A wonderful portrait book of Spanish photographer Alberto García Alix.
“”Spain in the 1980s: a country in upheaval. Francisco Franco died in 1975 – the dictatorship had finally ended after 39 years. The country and its people started to enjoy new liberties and one of these people was Alberto García Alix, with his camera as his constant companion. “I never wanted to become a photographer,” he says in retrospect. But in fact, he has been taking photos of his surroundings since 1976. His father wanted him to study law, but Alberto García Alix refused and left home at the age of 20. In Spain back then it was a minor revolution against the patriarchy.
Left to his own devices he started a new life. A life full of liberties – and dark chapters. With his camera always at the ready, he photographed those around him: people on the street, motorcyclists, porno stars, drug addicts – and he was one of them for decades. “Back then, only the elite had drugs and we felt so privileged.” Alberto García Alix photographed these privileged few, many of whom have long since been dead. “Why am I still alive? Ask God!” One reason is certainly his photography which has provided him with a living since the mid-1980s. Today, Alberto García Alix is still mainly interested in people who lead excessive lives – people like himself. His passion and purpose in life is to photograph them – and it is also an inner compulsion.
“I want to give people dignity when I photograph them. The images document my love of the particular person,” he says. For Alberto García Alix, each shot reveals an intimate momentary encounter. He considers these “magical moments” the most beautiful in life. “I photograph the people frontally, usually they stare out at you – what is important is the dialogue between the person in the picture and the viewer.” It is not only photography that is of almost compulsive importance for Alberto García Alix, but also the act of developing the pictures. Then he is alone in his small darkroom with the person whose image gradually develops on the paper.
Looking back, would he have done anything different in life? “That question is not important – I have lived the way I lived.” Photography has given him a lot, and he has traveled far, meeting many people. “There were ups and downs in my life, but one thing is for sure – I am privileged, I am a born survivor.””"
Text from Deutsche Boerse Group

© hector emanuel
Republic of Lakotah
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota
Pine Ridge is home to Wounded Knee, where in 1890 three hundred men, women and children were massacred by the US 7th Calvary as they were being transported to the reservation.
Life in Pine Ridge is hard.
It is the poorest Indian reservation in the United States, with an unemployment of about 80% and almost half of its residents live below the poverty line.
Both the infant mortality and alcoholism rates are the highest in the country, while the life expectancy is the lowest (52 for women and 48 for men). v Many lack basic services such as running water, sewer, transportation, telephone, and the lack of health care is among the worst in the country.
Enjoy the series Republic of Lakotah by Hector Emanuel.
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