PICTURING THE WORLD

Charles “Stretch” Ledford: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 1993; color print. ©Charles Ledford

A woman peers through a line of military police towards a parade during the annual Naadam festival in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

Picturing the World: Carolina’s Celebrated Photojournalists is the first major exhibition of internationally recognized photojournalists who have studied at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, considered one of the most outstanding and innovative programs in the United States. This special exhibition will feature six award-winning photographers – Andrea Bruce, Jamie Francis, Janet Jarman, Charles "Stretch" Ledford, Susie Post Rust, and Ami Vitale - along with thirty images by another group of twenty-five distinguished photographers.

Curated by Rich Beckman, professor of journalism and mass communication, and Barbara Matilsky, curator of exhibitions at the Ackland Art Museum, Picturing the World presents a series of works that address some of the most pressing social issues of our time.

"Even as society becomes saturated with media imagery, individual photographs continue to capture decisive moments," says Matilsky. "Embedded in our memories are single photographs: iconic images of great tragedy and great joy. We rely on these pictures to create context, add meaning, and enrich our appreciation of the world in which we live."

"There are common themes within the exhibition that are born from the Carolina experience," says Beckman. "Dignity, respect, giving people a voice, building trust, and documenting without directing are cornerstones of our teaching."

In his introductory text for the exhibition, Beckman adds, "These photojournalists have traveled from the neighborhoods where they live and work to the far corners of the world in search of truth, with the hope of educating their readers and the goal of increasing understanding amongst all peoples. A lofty goal for underappreciated practitioners, but without their work, we remain isolated, insular, and stagnant. It is their eyes that help us understand our world."

An emphasis on documentary storytelling is evident throughout each of these artists' works.

Andrea Bruce's coverage of the war in Iraq was part of her 2006 White House Photographer of the Year portfolio. She is a three-time winner of this prestigious award. Working for the Washington Post, Bruce (class of 1995) captures the human side of life as well as the violent upheaval of war that has transformed the physical and cultural landscape of Iraq.

Susie Post Rust's breathtaking photographs from her numerous National Geographic assignments reveal her special talent for capturing the color and contours of landscape and people. Rust (class of 1984) documents rural cultures in lands as diverse as Pennsylvania, Ireland, and Uganda.

Ami Vitale's work provides a glimpse into the social life of men and women in Kashmir, a disputed territory between India and Pakistan. The military tension in the region provides an unsettling drama beneath the breathtaking beauty of the Himalayas. Vitale (class of 1993) has received many major awards for her work, including recognition as Magazine Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association.

Jamie Francis (class of 1985) shares his work from the small African-American community of Deuces in St. Petersburg, Florida. With great warmth and humanity, he brings viewers up close to the personalities of the street in a once-prosperous area now blighted by decades of shifting populations to the suburbs.

For her series of photographs "Crossing: Tale of the Rich North," Janet Jarman (class of 1989) followed the life of a single family for more than a decade, from when she met them picking through garbage in a Mexican dump, to their work as migrant laborers in Florida, and their lives in Texas. Issues of globalization and its impact on people in developing countries inform her work.

Charles "Stretch" Ledford (class of 1986) has spent more than two decades documenting the human condition throughout the world, much of it for The Commission, the highly respected documentary magazine published by the Baptist Foreign Mission Board. Included in the exhibition are his photographs from Kenya, Mongolia, and Arkansas.

The single photographs from twenty-five photojournalists were selected to represent a diversity of peoples, events, and geography. From images close to home - the devastation of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 - to those in far-flung corners of the globe - Russian children healing from radiation exposure to Chernobyl's nuclear reactor - these works were also chosen for their compelling visual interpretation of defining moments in world history and intimate portraits of life.

Picturing the World will also be accompanied by several educational initiatives. These programs are intended to stimulate visitor participation and reinforce the content of the work in the exhibition by providing a context for appreciating the photojournalistic issues that impact photographers' choice of and approach to subjects and stories.

The Ackland Art Museum has established itself as one of the premier showcases in North Carolina for photography by organizing exhibitions that draw upon its comprehensive collection of 1,500 works, ranging in date from 1843 to 2006, as well as hosting major exhibitions in the field such as Sebastião Salgado's Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Picturing the World builds upon this history by gathering the work of photographers who are rooted in UNC-Chapel Hill's program of ethical documentary storytelling. The local and global content encompassed by the exhibition will connect a wide audience to the human drama behind the image.

	Janet Jarman. Matamoros, Mexico, August 1996; color print. Courtesy of Janet Jarman. On a scorching summer afternoon in August 1996, Marisol Rodriguez, 8, daydreams at dusk while she waits for another load of garbage to arrive at the municipal waste dump in Matamoros, Mexico. Before they moved to the United States, Marisol, her mother, and her several siblings made a living searching for recyclable items to resell in the dump.
	Susie Post Rust: The Freedom of Summer, Southwestern Pennsylvania, 1994; color print. Courtesy of Susie Post-Rust. These two boys at the Bruderhof Community spend much of their time with other children their age in their “group.” During the summer they are able to explore and experience the outdoors. The Bruderhof is a community of Christians whose members try to live like the early church, owning all things in common.
	Ami Vitale: Dal Lake, November 24, 2003. color print. Courtesy of Ami Vitale. Indian Border Security Force soldiers patrol the picturesque Dal Lake in Srinigar, the summer capital of the Indian held state of Kashmir. Once a tourist hotspot, the only visitors to this magnificent landscape these days are Indian soldiers.
	Jamie Francis: Yates Barber Shop, 2001; color print. Courtesy of Jamie Francis, The Oregonian. Ella Fitzgerald, Muhammad Ali, Lena Horne, and others adorn the board at Joe Yates barber shop along 22nd St. South, where men have met for 46 years to play checkers. Fitzgerald and Horne both performed at a club on 22nd during segregation.
	Andrea Bruce: Unsettled, 2004; color print. Courtesy of Andrea Bruce, The Washington Post. Mariam Jassam, 3, prays alongside her aunt, Surham Mohammed, who housed her sister’s homeless family for several months after the war. Their home was destroyed in an air attack in Baghdad from US forces. They lived in a poor neighborhood next to one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces. (After the publication of this photo and story, an anonymous reader donated $5000 to the family to help them rebuild their home – which they did.)

Picturing the World is co-sponsored by the Ackland Art Museum and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Major support for this exhibition was provided by JW Photo Labs, with additional support from the Ackland Art Museum Guild, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, North Carolina Public Radio WUNC-FM, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, and The News & Observer. Exhibitions at the Ackland are made possible by the William Hayes Ackland Trust.