lomographicsociety:

The Street as School: The Photography of Alice Smeets

“Ghetto” is at once a delicate and strong word. To mention it is to walk around eggshells, to conjure up images—rightly or wrongly, depending on who we are talking to—of ramshackle houses and rough-and-tumble conditions. For those who haven’t been in one or had the serious occasion to think about it, “ghetto” will be a confounding term.

UNICEF-awarded photographer Alice Smeets knew enough about the misconceptions; she grew up far from where she could actually see one. But this did not stop her from trying to understand poverty. At 19, she flew to Haiti, miles away (in culture as in distance) from her hometown of Belgium. Here she learned that poverty is not to be romanticized. It is complex and structural. And yet a caveat: Even in poverty some people strive to live the most dignified way they know how. Some of them can even create art out of rubble.

Smeets has been doing documentary projects in Haiti for seven years before creating the 2014 series Ghetto Tarot, a found-art spin on photojournalism. Together with Atis Rezistans, she reimagined Pamela Colman Smith’s tarot cards from the early 1900s. Instead of shooting in lush environments, Smeets chose areas of Port-au-Prince where the occult cards can excite contradictions and similarities. 

Early this month, she talked to Lomography about the distinctive project and the years leading up to it.

To support Ghetto Tarot, visit Alice Smeets’ page on Indiegogo. Photos in this article are published with the artist’s permission.

itsdoctorj:

Sometimes i am Bob, sometimes i am Linda.

micdotcom:

Comic Con’s Latino neighbors were fed up with being left out — so they created Chicano-Con 

After years of simply playing host to the fast-growing comic convention, residents of San Diego’s historically Latino neighborhood Barrio Logan decided it was time to come up with heroes of their own.

David Favela, a San Diego native and lifelong comic fan, told reporters that he’s never actually been to the festival. One reason? The prices, which can reach $220 for adults. “For many of us out there, it’s very hard to get in. And it’s pretty expensive if you want to take the family.“ So Favela helped launch Chicano-Con to celebrate his neighborhood and heritage.

the-gasoline-station:

Ferguson: One Year Later

Adrees Latif revisits the sites where he documented the social unrest in the months following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown one year ago.

Pictures: Adrees Latif / Reuters

Source: NBC News

_{Vintage Valentines: Universal Horror Valentine stickers by Norman Saunders, 1966 (via)}

bangthecurlyone:

One Direction Docomo ad at Umeda Station in Osaka, Japan