On Jan 22, 2008 9:37 PM, Regina Hendrix <
regina1936@verizon.net> wrote:
Pasted in below is a notice I received from the Cultural Center about an
activist photographer who is traveling the world to document tragedies
in Third World countries. No where in this notice is MTR mentioned.
What do you want to bet there are no photos of our local Third World
which is being blasted away. I'm going over there to take a look. We
need to get him to photograph MTR, but then they wouldn't display his
work in the Governor's back yard, would they?
Regina
* Contact: *
Jacqueline A. Proctor
Deputy Commissioner/Communications Manager
Phone: 304.558.0220, ext. 120
E-mail:
jacqueline.proctor@wvculture.org
* For Immediate Release: * Jan. 22, 2008
* Social activist photographer to be interviewed *
* on "Inside the Artist's Studio" on Feb. 1 at the **Cultural** **Center*
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History has opened a new
exhibition, /Photographs by Paul Corbit Brown/, in the wings off the
Great Hall of the Cultural Center, Capitol Complex, Charleston. Visitors
are invited to come view the show through Feb. 29, and meet the artist
after a live interview and question and answer session in the Norman L.
Fagan West Virginia State Theater on Friday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. A
reception will be held in the Great Hall after the interview. The
exhibition, interview and reception are free and open to the public.
Brown was born in the small coal camp of Kilsyth in southern West
Virginia. He has been taking photographs since he was 12 years old. A
social activist, his work has led him to travel throughout the United
States, Mexico, Jamaica, Kenya, Russia, Israel, Laos, Thailand, Rwanda
and most recently, Indonesia.
Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, co-director of the University of Minnesota's
Human Rights Center says of him, "Paul Corbit Brown is an amazing
photographer and a passionate individual. We must allow ourselves to
stand in front of his photographs and stare into the eyes of those
around the world affected by social and human injustices."
In the 35 photographs on display, visitors can see images of street
children singing for food or money, and people living under bridges who
collect plastic bottles to sell or trade for food in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In Kingston, Jamaica, we see the lives of some 8,000 people who live
beside the garbage dump in Riverton City. Kibera, Kenya, the second
largest slum in the world with a population larger than one million,
provides stark images of poverty and homelessness.
Brown has taken photographs showing an Israeli soldier sharing his lunch
with a Palestinian boy, olive harvests, a picture taken at the aftermath
of a suicide bus bombing and the desert in Jordan. His most recent
ongoing project is to document the long-range effects of the 1994
genocide in Rwanda, and the resiliency of the people there struggling to
overcome the past as they forge a new future. He says, "I began
interviewing and photographing people from all walks of life in order to
come to understand the origins of the genocide, how it affected them,
how it continues to affect them, and how they are working to overcome
these effects through faith-based reconciliation programs, government
regulations and reconciliation programs, and the role of
non-governmental organizations in the healing/rebuilding process." Many
of his images are of the estimated 1.5-million children left homeless
and parentless as a result of the genocide. AIDS also orphans children
at the astounding rate of four per minute. One photo shows Zura, a
witchdoctor who saved 150 lives during the genocide and eventually
received a presidential medal for her courage.
When not traveling, Brown can be found in the solar-powered home he
designed and built in Fayette County. He supports himself through his
work with numerous Human Rights organizations as well as freelance work
for countless publications and the sale of his prints. Brown has had
significant exhibitions in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Md.; Columbus,
Ohio; Minneapolis, Minn.; and a number of galleries in West Virginia.
More of his photographs can be seen on his website at
www.paulcorbitbrown.com.
Jacqueline Proctor , deputy commissioner of the Division, will interview
Brown, and open up the floor to a question and answer session. Images of
Brown's work will be shown during the interview.
For more information about the exhibition or the interview, contact
Proctor at (304) 558-0220, ext. 120.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West
Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the
state's past, present and future through programs and services in the
areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and
museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center
in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state
archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia's
official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of
museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about
the Division's programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of
Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
* - 30 - *
* Media Note: *Paul Corbit Brown is currently shooting photographs and
teaching photography to young students in Jakarta, Indonesia, where it
is 12 hours ahead of our Eastern Standard Time. He can be reached at 011
62 8131 814 2621 or by e-mail at pcbphoto@yahoo.com until Jan. 24. From
Jan. 26 on, he can be reached at the same e-mail address or at (202)
841-0222. *Photos are available at our website
www.wvculture.org,
attached to this press release.*