Carole Alfarah, Syria

Jess Clementine Bollaert, United States

Sebastian Enriquez, Peru

Danai Iconomou, Greece

Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist, United States

Eugenia Maximova, Bulgaria

Andrei Nacu, Romania

Alok Rai, India

Nikolaj Svennevig, Denmark

Winners were selected by guest judge Peter Van Agtmael/Magnum Photos. (http://petervanagtmael.net/)

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This year’s workshop in Sarajevo will be something of a homecoming for Thorne Anderson. He lived and worked as a photojournalist in the Balkans for seven years in the second half of the 1990s, covering culture, politics, and conflict in Turkey, Bulgaria, and the newly independent countries of the former Yugoslavia  for The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report,  and the German Die Zeit and Stern magazine among others.  He is co-author/photographer of the 2005 book, Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq (Chelsea Green Publishing).

He believes it is important for photographers to challenge themselves and their audiences, to immerse themselves in the lives of their subjects, to see beyond the obvious, to extract the extraordinary from the mundane, and to reveal the sacred in the profane.

Thorne received an M.A. from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He is a dedicated mentor and has taught at the the University of Missouri and the American University in Bulgaria. He is currently Assistant Professor in photojournalism and multimedia storytelling at the University of North Texas, Mayborn School of Journalism.

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CHIANG MAI – August 4 2012 – Australian Nick McGrath (above, r) has won the prestigious Golden Scarf Award for the 2012 Foundry workshop.  Selected by the workshop faculty,  and awarded at the closing slideshow of student work, held at the Art Museum of Chiang Mai University,  it rewards the highest achievements in the workshop.

In nominating McGrath, instructor Ashley Gilbertson praised not only his photographic works but also his team spirit, which he described as “second to none.”   “He’s bent over backwards.” Gilbertson said, “to assist every single other student in our workshop…”

McGrath currently works as a photographer and editor in Bangkok, Thailand.  He entered photojournalism from a career in the corporate world.

One-year websites from co-sponsor liveBooks were awarded to students Min Zar, Guy Likasit, Maneenoot Boonrueng, Kaung Tet, and Barat Ali Batoor for their achievements.

The audience also saw a new installment of the cult video series “The Scarf Saga.”  This underground work, only screened at Foundry, stars the Foundry faculty, and is produced and directed by fashion photographer Claire Rosen.   The works present important commentary in dramatic form on that all-important photojournalism accoutrement – the neck scarf.

The Sexiest Instructor Awards went to Jared Moossy and Andrea Bruce, to the delight of many in the audience.

A new award was bestowed – to the youngest photographer attending.  It went to 12-year-old Jemima Maycock of Banff, Canada (below with Eric Beecroft), who along with her 14-year-old sister Sadie, worked on the same basis as other students producing works on an orphanage in Chiang Mai (Jemima) and street dogs (Sadie).  Yes, their mother was here with them, but they were on their own in creating their works with instructor Dave Storey.

The workshop ended with cheers for everybody, copious thanks to Eric Beecroft and the Foundry staff, and a group photo (below) taken by Foundry alum Mervyn Leong.

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CHIANG MAI – 3 August 2012 – It was a day in which milestones were reached for some and others were sent back for still more images.  Excellence was the byword, and everybody realized it.  The pressure was building, but so was the excitement.  Work continued on all fronts during the day.

During the evening program, instructors Adriana Zehbrauskas (above), Ashley Gilbertson, Michael Robinson Chavez, Maggie Steber, Jared Moossy and Henrick Kastenkov showed significant works from their career, and answered student questions about them.

Founder Eric Beecroft (below) introduced the evening program by bestowing copious thanks individually to the hard-working Foundry staff and the faculty.

Finally, besides tuk-tuks (three wheel taxis) and songteaus (pickup trucks with passenger seats and covers on the back, operated like a cross between a bus and a taxi),  the most popular ride around Chiang Mai is the motorbike or motor scooter.  Below, Foundry’s own Hell’s Angels gang of instructors and faculty leave Chiang Mai University on their two-wheelers after a long, hard day, following a songteau with me in the back using my iPhone camera to catch the fun.  Gang members are (l-r) Walter Astrada, Tiffany Clark, Ron Haviv, Claire Rosen and Jared Moossy.

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CHIANG MAI – 2 August 2012 -  Instructor Suthep Kritsanavarin (above left) along with nearly all other instructors spent Thursday evening until after 11 pm at Documentary Arts Asia reviewing portfolios with students.  Applying experience, objectivity and insight, they worked while students waited in the street outside, which had been blocked off for the night.  DAA also provided a traditional Thai dinner for students to purchase, as well as a team of masseuses working in the street on the muscles of students and instructors (for a modest fee) to help dispel aches and pains resulting from carrying kit and being hunched over laptops for hours editing images.

Below instructor Ashley Gilbertson (l) meets with student James Monroe Adams IV to critique his portfolio.

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CHIANG MAI – August 1, 2012 – Andrea Bruce (r) talks with students Rob Goodell (c), and Insiya Syed (l) on Goodell’s preliminary showing of his project work.  By midweek students were scrambling to make sure their reportage was evolving properly and that they were producing the best possible stories.  Many were sent back into the field to augment elements of their story.  Some stories fell away completely, leaving student scrambling to replace them.  But there was no shortage of story ideas.

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CHIANG MAI – 31 July 2012 – This evening workshop participants heard a presentation by Dr. Paul Harper on psychological trauma associated with covering conflict and social issues, followed by a panel discussion by instructors on the effects they had observed in doing that work.

The panel discussion ranged far and wide, with participants noting the effect of conflict work and why they did it, and in some instances why they didn’t.  All acknowledged that prolonged exposure to conflict takes its toll, but wise personal management can permit a photojournalist to cover conflict, perhaps even indefinitely (though there was disagreement on that topic).

Participants in the panel included (below l-r) Ron Haviv, Walter Astrada, Paula Bronstein, Adriana Zehbrauskas, Agnes Dherbeys, Andrea Bruce, Ashley Gilbertson and Dr. Paul Harper.

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CHIANG MAI, 29 JULY 2012 — Coming from from all over the world, the fifth annual class of Foundry students assembled in Chiang Mai tonight to complete the registration process and to pick up instructor assignments and class materials.

More than 125 students registered for a week of challenge, learning and growth guided by some of the worlds leading photojournalists, who donate their time to Foundry’s mission of training emerging photojournalists throughout the world.

Instructor Maggie Steber delivered the keynote address.  Her message was clear – photojournalism is not about the photographer, but rather about the subjects.  They should always be at the top of a photographer’s priorities, and being sensitive to them will always produce better photographs.

The students gathered in front of the interesting building housing local sponsor Documentary Arts Asia (DAA), at times filling the street.  After listening to the keynote address and staff information updates, students met with their instructors to receive information on what will be happening in each class.

Tomorrow classes begin at the excellent facilities at Chiang Mai University, and student projects will be identified and planned, and students will fan out into the city and countryside to begin their work.

The crowd of over 130 students from all over the world congregates in front of the Documentary Arts Asia building on Foundry’s opening night.

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