Ami Vitale

January 14, 2003 7:57 PM

Ami Vitale,a photojournalist takes some incredible pictures of Africa, Europe and India. Her still images convey so much raw emotion and context. Case in point, a picture from the Gujrat communal violence shows undiluted fear in the eyes of the man being dragged away by the police.
posted by tboz (9 comments total)

Truly spectacular! My only complaint is that I'm certain I can't afford archival prints of her work.
posted by mosch at 8:30 PM on January 14, 2003

Beautiful pictures, she even manages to make the obvious, seen-it-before images (grief at funerals, cracked earth with single plant, etc) look fresh. She's got a really nice eye, most impressive. Thanks, tboz, nice link.
posted by biscotti at 8:38 PM on January 14, 2003

Wow, thanks tboz - loved this site. Some photos are sublime, some are disturbing, but what a window on the world and the human family she presents. The juxtaposition of violence and beauty is quite striking in some of her essays, like the Kashmir. I was also really intrigued with the camel fair at Pushkar - hard to believe that this is contemporaneous with e-bay.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:47 PM on January 14, 2003

The female circumcision photos are chilling. Nothing like seeing a closeup of a hand holding a dull knife and a little girl's severed clitoris. Now I know how men feel when they remember John Bobbitt.

To view, go to www.amivitale.com, select Launch Portfolio and choose Guinea-Bissau from the menu.

I'll be sitting with my legs crossed for a while and won't soon forget the tears of five-year-old Awa Balde.
posted by VelvetHellvis at 8:50 PM on January 14, 2003

This is so GodDamn fucking disturbing.
....
Words can't describe...
posted by EmoChild at 10:05 PM on January 14, 2003

VelvetHellvis, thank you for summing up my horror.
posted by arielmeadow at 10:09 PM on January 14, 2003

No thanks. As powerful, impacting, what have you as the photos may be, photodocuments of children being tortured is not something I'll seek out...
posted by jonson at 10:52 PM on January 14, 2003

I'm in agreement with you, Jonson. I wish I hadn't seen those photos. The trite phrase "indelibly ingrained in my psyche" comes to mind. It's your choice not to look. My motives in explaining how to find the images weren't out of some sick desire to gawk at the human horror show. Ami Vitale's site is all Flash and there's no way to link directly. I believe it's common courtesy to link to the the thing you comment on whenever possible. Simple as that.

I was browsing the portfolio and found those photos. Viewing those images was akin to having a cold bucket of water tossed on me and a sucker punch in the stomach.

I wish those photos and atrocities that happen to young African girls never existed
posted by VelvetHellvis at 9:06 AM on January 15, 2003

What an incredible image maker... Her photos run the gamut from horror to hilarity. Don't miss the Prague photos — the police guarding McDonald's is classic.
posted by letitrain at 9:25 AM on January 21, 2003