Patty Biegun

Every morning children like these rise to face another fight for their lives. In America, our children are spoiled on video games, expensive toys, designer clothes and an over abundance of food that is taking a toll on their health.

Sometimes, we can be a selfish country and turn a blind eye to the suffering of others. We see hunger and death on the news and shake our heads in sorrow wondering how such things could happen.

Look at these faces and, please, do what you can to help heal the world.

In this bountiful world there is no reason children have to go hungry. Scenes like this are not confined to third world countries. They are everywhere in this, the greatest country in the world.

I never intended to include a bio on this site. Its purpose is to share my work with the world, nothing more. My reason for including a bio is the hundreds of emails I receive from aspiring photographers wanting advice on how to go about….. well, being a photographer. I even get emails from established photographers who want to do Third World work. Also, I receive offers to speak at Universities and Colleges (please note, I am not a speaker and though your offers are gracious and enjoyed, I respectively decline in advance). So, with that said, on to the bio:

I have learned from the best photojournalist/photographers in the field: Adams, Evans, Lange. They taught me the true meaning of photography. Of course, they all died before I became interested in the magic of the camera. Having spent many years as a folk artist I had the eye for composition; my soul had the eye for subject matter.

When I decided I wanted to work with black and white photography, a pure art form, I decided to teach myself. I bought the best books by the finest photographers and studied their photographs and methods. I spent hours looking at photographs in newspapers and magazines. I bought books on exposures and processing that carried me into the technical aspect.

I traded my 'K-Mart Special' camera for a Nikon FE-2 and bought a few lenses and an SB-16 flash, and of course, a motor drive. I purchased a used enlarger and easel and made a makeshift darkroom.

By trial and error I spent 6 months creating something good enough to submit to a local newspaper. It was, as we call it in the business, a feature shot. I told the editor I would do some assignments if he ever needed an extra camera. He called me two weeks later and I covered a local parade.

After the photos were submitted he wanted me to write the 'cut-lines'. Huh? My master teachers never told me about cut-lines. After the photo editor explained a little about newspaper work, I was on my way and did six months with the little paper before I realized photographing parades and county fairs were not exactly my idea of soul work.

I worked from time to time for the newspaper but took my camera to the streets and photographed the homeless and struggling refugees who had come to America seeking political asylum. I knew I wanted to use my photos to send a message.

Finally, I found one of the most prestigious photojournalist in the US and offered to carry his gear around. I commuted back and forth from Atlanta to Boston every two weeks for six months. At first, I lugged camera equipment around and mixed chemicals. He quickly realized my talent and had me to do some shoots for him. Before I left, I was developing prints, editing slides for magazines, and printing some of the best black and white photos of my career.

Eventually, I put together a portfolio and visited relief organizations. My first overseas job was non-paying, expenses only. The photos I got on my first assignment helped me travel extensively and do what I wanted to do. My photos have been used by the Associated Press as well as by many newspapers including the Christian Science Monitor. Also, My little cut-line lesson led to my writing feature-stories that have been published nationally.

This bio is in a nutshell, of course. I just wanted to let aspiring photographers know that photojournalism is a rewarding career and you don't need a science degree to enter. Do not expect to live in a mansion with your savings. Indeed, it can be a cruel world and photojournalists are not the best paid professionals.

People say I lucked out. I do not believe in luck when it comes to talent. To make it in this business you need a few simple things: determination and a lot of talent, talent that shines. You also need the guts to take your work to the best publishers out there. They don't care about your training, your resume' (although you will have to provide one), or even your work experience. Your portfolio will speak for you. Don't present it to anyone until you know your photos are the best they can be. Professional editors know a good thing when they see it. There is one thing that will keep you moving along in your career - ethics. A lot of photographers lack professional ethics (I said it was a cruel world). Stay true to yourself and your work and be honest in everything you do. Photographers are a dime a dozen. Good photojournalists who have established a good code of conduct and live by their ethics are rare.

Frazer Dryden

These images are from a story I did about the Afghan refugees in Pakistan during the spring of 2001. Over 80,000 Afghans lived at the Jalozai camp near Peshawar, Pakistan but they were refused official refugee status by the Pakistani government - essentially denying them proper assistance from the international community. Jalozai camp officially closed in 2002 and the majority of Afghans were moved to better facilities near the border with Afghanistan.

Today the plight of Afghan refugee remains the same - insecurity within Afghanistan makes it difficult for them to return and even though they are under pressure by the Pakistani government to leave.

More information about the refugees is at my website:
http://www.frazerdryden.com

Ima Garmendia

Devadasis, literally "dasi," slave, and "deva," of God, are young girls who, at an early age, are married off by their families to the goddess Yelamma. These girls can never marry, but dedicate their lives to being the incarnation of free and unlimited love, based on the Tantric principles, which regard sex as a mystic experience.

These young girls become prostitutes when they attain puberty and, after losing their virginity to a wealthy man or a priest, they enter brothels, working as sex workers until they are too old or too sick to keep up the work. Some of them become concubines to married men, but most of them wind up begging in temples and attending religious ceremonies where they are worshipped because of their connection to the goddess.

On a positive note, these girls, who hail from the lowest social group, the "untouchables," have more income generating opportunities and are able to be both independent and respected because of their religious connection. And they also uphold an ancient, if rapidly disappearing, tradition of song and dance.

But this religious practice has become a profitable way to fill the brothels of big cities and has lost most of its religious meaning, forcing girls into prostitution without allowing them to make life decisions for themselves.

Ima Garmendia started her career six years ago as a photographer for La Epoca, a Chilean newspaper, where she learnt from some of the best Latin American photographers. After that, she moved to Peru where she lived for three years working for the Associated Press and for the Sunday Magazine of La Republica newspaper. Since October 2001, she's been working as a frelancer for Spanish agency COVER, and for various magazines and newspapers in England and the United States covering India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other points in Asia. She's now based in Delhi, India.

Mi Zhou

In 1999, at a Native American tribe village of New Mexico, the sun was setting as people started their annual Sun Dance. When the yellow dust rose above their dancing feet, a rainbow colored cloud slowly materialized above us. That moment, I didn't take out my camera, because the shutter can not capture the dance of their spirit...

When I first stood before the majestic mountains of the Tibetan highland, I realized the vulnerability of human beings. Although we each possess our own world, as the most intelligent creatures of this earth, we are equal and are blessed with the common humanity. Diverse environments created diverse social groups, and various social groups formed this kaleidoscope world. To understand and to know others as I understand and know myself has become the eternal compass in all my travels. I believe that the gap between you and me can only be measured and filled by this understanding.

Mi Zhou was born in 1962 in Wuxi, Jiang-Su,China, and is currently based in New York where he works as an Art Director for Young & Rubicam Inc./ Kang & Lee Advertising