Journalism, Photography

IWD2016: Françoise Demulder ‘Fifi’, war photographer

Today, the 8th of March, is International Women’s Day. This day serves as an occasion to celebrate the achievements of women, but also to campaign for gender parity. Many people wrongly believe gender parity only benefits women, but in fact it benefits society as a whole, propelling economic, social and cultural progress.

One of those women who had an effect on social and cultural progress was photojournalist Françoise Demulder.

Source: Linternaute.com Copyright: Georges Beutter

Source: Linternaute.com
Copyright: Georges Beutter

She once said that she hated war, “but felt compelled to document how it is always the innocent who suffer, while the powerful get richer and richer”.

She was the first woman to ever win a World Press Photo award, in 1977, for a photo of a Palestinian woman pleading to a Phalange militiaman in Karantina, East Beirut.

Source: World Press Photo Copyright: Françoise Demulder

Source: World Press Photo
Copyright: Françoise Demulder

She was known by her nickname, ‘Fifi’, apparently coined by Yasser Arafat, whom she met during the war in Lebanon.

She started her career in Vietnam, documenting the onset of the war in 1975 and she went on to photograph most of the major conflicts of the end of the 20th century. She was one of the few women who managed to forge a strong professional reputation in the predominantly male world of photojournalism.

She passed away in Paris in 2008, aged 61. You can read her obituary and more information about her life and work in this obituary published by The Guardian. This website has a collection of pictures of her through the years. Some of her work is available here.

To know more about International Women’s Day, go to http://www.internationalwomensday.com

Standard
2016 02 29 Tearsheet Financial Times Portrait of Mochtar Riady, Lippo Group
Photography, Published work, Updates

Tear sheets: Portrait for the Financial Times

Last month I shot a portrait of Mochtar Riady for the Business Life section of the Financial Times.

It was published on all the print editions of the Financial Times on February 29, 2016. It was also published on all the online editions.

2016 02 29 Tearsheet Financial Times Portrait of Mochtar Riady, Lippo Group. Published on Business Life, on all international editions, page 12, February 29, 2016. (Rodrigo Ordonez)

Mochtar Riady is the founder and chairman of multinational conglomerate Lippo Group. According to Forbes, he currently ranks #6 in the list of Indonesia’s richest and #854 globally.

Executives have limited time, so shooting portraits is an art that requires a combination of technical and interpersonal skills. In another post I will share more details about how to approach an assignment like this.

Standard
Photography, Published work

Tear sheets: WirtschaftsWoche (Germany)

Tear sheets of editorial photographs published in German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche (aka WiWo) on a story on medium-size enterprises in Indonesia, featuring Eztu Glass and Martha Tilaar Group.

2015 10 09 Tearsheet WirtschaftsWoche SMEs in Indonesia print Eztu Glass (Rodrigo Ordonez)

2015 10 09 Tearsheet WirtschaftsWoche SMEs in Indonesia print Martha Tilaar (Rodrigo Ordonez)

2015 10 09 Tearsheet WirtschaftsWoche SMEs in Indonesia print Martha Tilaar (Rodrigo Ordonez)

The story was also published online.

2015 10 09 Tearsheet WirtschaftsWoche SMEs in Indonesia web Eztu Glass (Rodrigo Ordonez)

Standard
Photographer Daniel Morel (top-left) poses for a photograph with neighbors of downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti, featured in his photographs and visiting the opening of his exhibition 'Sonje' on January 12, 2015 (mobile photo).
Journalism, Photography

After the earthquake

I had the honor of attending the opening of a very moving exhibition in Port-au-Prince on January 12 — exactly five years after the earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010. 

When the earthquake struck, photographer Daniel Morel was in downtown Port-au-Prince, in the same location he chose to host the exhibition. Continue reading

Standard
A car drives through the streets of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)
Photography

Street scenes and people of Cuba

Last month I was in Cuba at a very interesting time, just days after the U.S. announced the progressive restoration of diplomatic relations with the Caribbean country. That was indeed the topic that came up in virtually every conversation.

Cuba is a photographer’s paradise, full of life and colors in every corner.

Stay tuned for more images, also on my online catalog.

A car drives through the streets of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A car drives through the streets of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man looks out of a balcony as the sun sets in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man looks out of a balcony as the sun sets in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A neon sign with the word 'Revolución," Spanish for revolution stands on top of a building in the streets of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A neon sign with the word ‘Revolución,” Spanish for revolution stands on top of a building in the streets of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A woman uses an umbrella to shelter herself from the strong midday sun in the streets of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 27, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A woman uses an umbrella to shelter herself from the strong midday sun in the streets of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 27, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

Commuters ride a collective taxi in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, in the early evening of December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

Commuters ride a collective taxi in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, in the early evening of December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man uses a knife to open a coconut behind a stall selling items used in Santeria rituals at a traditional market in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 27, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man uses a knife to open a coconut behind a stall selling items used in Santeria rituals at a traditional market in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 27, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man makes a phone call on a public payphone as motorists drive by in downtown Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 26, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man makes a phone call on a public payphone as motorists drive by in downtown Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 26, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man holding a fish looks on as a girl eats an orange, near a traditional market in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 27, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man holding a fish looks on as a girl eats an orange, near a traditional market in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 27, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A young man applies paint to a street light across from the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 26, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A young man applies paint to a street light across from the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 26, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man sits outside a home's front door in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

A man sits outside a home’s front door in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on December 25, 2014. (Photo: Rodrigo Ordóñez)

Standard