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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | June 2005 
Human Drama Unfolds At Photojournalism Biennial
 Theresa Braine - The Herald Mexico
Though marked by controversy [see story below], the Sixth Biennial Exhibition of Photojournalism was far from overshadowed as the Centro de Imagen in Mexico City showcased some 240 photos snapped by 55 of Mexico's most talented photo chroniclers.
From aerial views of the graceful geometric shapes made by sports events, to the agonized and sometimes bloody faces of people caught up in violence, the exhibit offers a reminder of where we've traveled over the past two years. Though we wince to remember some events the controversial Reforma series showing the beating death of a 60-year-old man during last year's Oaxaca state elections; the wrenching, prize-winning photos of two federal police officers being lynched in Tlahuac. There are plenty of other themes: brides and grooms, a moving series of construction workers building the the second floor of the city's Periférico highway, a portrait of a lone welder atop the Torre Mayor at sunset.
Some of the most striking are sports photos, especially a series taken from a distance that show how small humans can seem even as they're accomplishing extraordinary feats. From above an Olympic-size pool, the swimmers are little dots in a huge blue expanse, their bodies leaving a trail. Likewise, a crew boat seen from above is almost unrecognizable the elegant arc of the boat's shape, the boat's wake in the green water flanked by the little whorls left from the oars.
In another room are pictures of actual bodies the Mexico Olympic track team, including medalist Ana Guevara and her exquisitely muscled physique in practice, traveling and waving to fans as she prepares to carry the Olympic torch.
A crowd of people packed the Centro de la Imagen for the event, many of them photographers. The mood was distinctly filled with anger at the choice of Jorge López Viera, as winner in the photoessay category for what looked to be a completely staged photo in the series "Mexicaltzingo, rebel territory." Scores of photocopies of the most controversial image alongside an image that it appears to be copied from were taped to the walls in protest, adding to the tension.
Next door at the Biblioteca de Mexico, a retrospective of winners of the National Fernando Benítez Prize in Cultural Journalism from 1997 through 2004 also opened on Thursday. It includes portraits of the Huichol Indians who work in Mexico's tobacco fields by 2000 winner Adrián Mealand, photo editor of EL UNIVERSAL's publication La Revista.
He told THE HERALD MEXICO that he started the project in 1997, originally with the idea of looking at pesticides' effect on the Huichols who work from January to June in the fields.
"Originally I was just going to take pictures of the conditions and the kind of life that I could find," Mealand said. But witnessing a family tragedy made him want to dig deeper.
"The first time I went down there a [premature] baby had just been born two weeks earlier," Mealand said. "But a two-month premature baby simply trying to survive on the tobacco fields living under a roof made by a plastic tarp with a couple of sticks" was too much for the infant, who died six months later. "That inspired me to do lots more work with that family because I could really find out what problems they have in their lives and how they overcome them, and how their problems evolve."
Mealand's personal connection to his subjects is evident. "This is Angela and Giovanni," he said, gesturing toward one photo as if he were introducing the woman holding a tiny baby whose eyes are shut. In the sideangle shot, Angela stares sadly into the distance as if knowing her son will not survive.
Controversy Surrounds Winning Photograph
Theresa Braine - The Herald Mexico
The woman is lying on her left side on an apartment rooftop. Her dark, wavy hair is tousled, her thick lips pulled back in a grimace as cigarette smoke drifts from her mouth. She's wearing only a striped tank top and underpants.
It's a striking photo and, some say, even more striking because there are apparently two of them. One was taken in 1999 by Chinese photographer Chien-Chi Chang for the Magnum Agency, and the other in 2004 by Jorge López Viera, who won first prize in Mexico's Sixth Biennial Photojournalism awards on display at the Centro de la Imagen.
The photos are so similar that when the 1999 shot was brought to the attention of the jurors who had already chosen Viera's work, one judge tried to have the prize taken away. However, the original award was upheld, and a controversy erupted both on the exhibit's Web site (www.fotoperiodismo.org) and at the opening itself.
"This is an exhibit of photojournalism, not photomontage," said Marco Ugarte, an Associated Press photographer who was protesting Viera's win.
Although the debate was ostensibly over the selection of what could have been a staged photo as a winner in a contest of photojournalism, it brought up other issues as well. Two questions in particular arise: the question of whether and how much photos can be legitimately manipulated that is, set up and taken to illustrate a theme rather than snapping an event as it unfolds; and the underlying question of photographic plagiarism.
The debate seems to unfold as such: Did Viera consciously take the elements of Chang's photo and set up his own version? It looks sleeker and more artistic than Chang's, and the fact that both women are wearing striped shirts seems much more than coincidence. If he did do that, does it constitute plagiarism? And whether or not it was plagiarism, is it ethical to set up a photo, even if Viera was subconsciously mimicking a photo he had seen?
In his letter renouncing the prize, Viera said, "It is not plagiarism and I maintain that I am the total author and creator, this is not disputable."
Ireri de la Peña, a freelance photographer for 18 years, said every image is manipulated in some way, whether you're adjusting the contrast or simply cropping the photo.
Even going back to the beginnings of photography, she said, there has always been the perception that spontaneous photography is capturing a moment objectively, an absolutely true moment. But "that was never realistic," she said, because the photographer's choice of angle, stance and lens, even before the shot is taken, is going to direct the way the photo looks.
The curator, Enrique Villaseñor, said there are disagreements every year about the prizes awarded. "There is always an intense reaction," he said. "What [the controversy] means is that there exists many different philosophical, technical, ethical and theoretical in the case of documentary photography positions. The result of such differences is that the prize selection is always controversial."
At the heart of it, he said, is that the "truth" often lies in the eye of the photographer.
"This controversy can generate two roads one leading to deep, serious, important discussion that generates useful conclusions for the understanding of photography," he said, "the other resulting in anger and personal discussions that turn into a destructive situation."
The latter course, he said, "would not produce anything and would damage a very important project that has lasted many years, has taken a lot of work and that we think is a unique forum for photographers at this time."
Theresa Braine is a freelance reporter based in Mexico. |
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