The new Jon Vidar Photography, South Africa, and Iraq
Feb 22, 2010 | 3 Comments
Before I get to talking about my new adventures, I'd just like to mention a couple things about the new web site. Using MovableType 5 and Photoshelter, I have combined my travel web site and my photography web site...
Continue reading The new Jon Vidar Photography, South Africa, and Iraq.
FotoweekDC, advice from National Geographic, and more...
Nov 9, 2009 | 2 Comments
My last 5 days included 5,000 miles of flying and more than 300 miles of driving. I went from a photography awards ceremony and reception at the National Geographic Society in DC, followed by a gallery opening and a meeting with the Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic the next day, to a red-eye flight back to the west coast to shoot a 50th Wedding Anniversary party in Seal Beach and then to Santa Barbara to attend one of my good friends wedding receptions. At least I'm keeping busy...
Continue reading FotoweekDC, advice from National Geographic, and more....
Camps (Part II) - Moqoble and the Syrian Kurds
Jun 23, 2009 | No Comments
The Syrian Kurds living at the Moqoble Refugee Camp are officially recognized by the UNHCR as stateless. They have no citizenship. No country. No home.
Continue reading Camps (Part II) - Moqoble and the Syrian Kurds.
Kurdish Refugee & IDP Camps (Part I)
Jun 16, 2009 | No Comments
I'm down to my last day here in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and have seen all that I can this trip. As promised, here is the low down on my experiences with the camps I visited and an update on my life with the Dizayee tribe.
Continue reading Kurdish Refugee & IDP Camps (Part I).
My postmodern entrance into a premodern reality
Jun 11, 2009 | 2 Comments
Just a quick update, the trip is going well (minus watching a six year old smoke a cigarette) and I've had amazing luck regarding access to the camps. Read on to find out about the friends and connections that I have made on this trip. I should be posting an account of the camps next week along with some video. I'll keep you posted!
Continue reading My postmodern entrance into a premodern reality.
How to get into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Jun 5, 2009 | 3 Comments
Just in case anyone was thinking of vacationing in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq this year, I thought I'd lay out the way to get there... I got into the Grdachal camp yesterday as well. Twenty-two families living in an old school house in very bad conditions. I'll have some pictures up soon.
Continue reading How to get into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
A Culture Displaced
Jun 1, 2009 | 1 Comment
Things are going great over here so far! Got my residency visa and work permit in record time and I already have a meeting with a mayor tomorrow to get access to a refugee camp. Hopefully, I will get to photograph in one tomorrow!
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Summer 2009: Exhibitions Recap
May 17, 2009 | 2 Comments
The exhibit I opened on Thursday in Berkeley went great! Last minute, I was also asked to serve as a resident expert on Iraq in a project by a British artist at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. Read on for more details and a video of my lecture on modernization vs. traditionalism in the Kurdish region.
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Summer 2009: From Iraq to Chicago
May 6, 2009 | 1 Comment
Just a quick update and let everyone know what I'll be up to this summer. A LOT is going on, but the quick highlights are: I'm now serving as the Executive Director for the Tiziano Project; my first solo photography exhibit opens at UC Berkeley next week; I'm leaving to Iraq in three weeks; and I will be spending two months in Chicago for a Journalism Fellowship at Northwestern University!
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Microsoft's Dream Assignment 2009: Invisible Nation
Apr 3, 2009 | 11 Comments
To everyone that has helped work so hard to help me achieve my dream - my family, friends, coworkers, friends of friends, and, most of all, the Kurdish community - thank you.
Continue reading Microsoft's Dream Assignment 2009: Invisible Nation.
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