Woman and Child, Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan. September 2006. ©Candace Feit.
Candace Feit has been a photojournalist for just about two years now, but from the assurance and power of her pictures, you’d swear she was a 15-year veteran. You can see for yourself by checking out her first exhibition, opening tomorrow evening at KMOCA, the Kingston Museum of Contemporary Art, in Kingston, New York. If you can’t get there immediately, however, we’ve put together this Portfolio of ten of her striking images from the show.
The 31-year-old Feit, who is candace on Fotolog, has always taken photographs, but took it up seriously again in 2004, after posting here since June 2002—one of the very earliest members.
Of those days, she says, “I would definitely say that Fotolog and the community there served as a huge inspiration—just seeing everyone taking photos seriously yet not being too precious about it really made sense to me.” Feit had been living in New York for five years, working first at the LEGO toy company, and then venturing out on her own, pursuing a longtime dream of making films. After several months as a PA and an Assistant Editor, however, she realized still photography was a more insistent desire. Her Fotolog photos in 2004, from New York and elsewhere, show a beautiful instinct for catching a mood, and letting details tell the story. In them you can see strong hints of the brilliance to come.
man on sidewalk, ball game, landscape and houses, pink light and smoke
It came quickly. In early 2005, Feit’s partner received a job posting in Dakar, Senegal. “I had always wanted to be able to work full-time on my photography,” she says, “and that gave me the opportunity. I’d always been interested in Africa, so it was an incredibly lucky thing.” She immediately started shooting on the streets of Dakar, posting a bit to Fotolog when she could, but becoming much more interested in developing a career as a photojournalist. She spent most of that first year working for free, meeting with contacts, and basically hustling to get more and more assignments. And she got ‘em. Working as a freelancer and distributing work primarily through World Picture News, and occasionally with Zuma Press, Feit has already covered the conflict in Darfur, the young democracy in Togo, post-civil war Liberia, and the food of Ghana. Photos from these trips have appeared in The New York Times, Le Monde, Le Figaro, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and Time magazine, among others. The jobs have allowed her to be able to make longer, personal travels through Africa, and to cover it financially. Candace has arrived.
Feit’s first published image. Caption reads: Deadly Censorship Feb. 17, 2005 - Lome, Togo - A relative places her hand on the head of Jean Dadzie, a 35-year-old man who was killed by Togo government forces at an antigovernment rally. Togo has a long history of political unrest and is repeatedly criticized by the world community for its human-rights record. Picture (c) CANDACE FEIT/ZUMA Press
And it’s so easy to see why. While her equipment is not unique—digital Nikons (D70, 100, and now 200) a Leica M7, and an old Hasselblad for personal work—her compositions and attention to detail make for fresh and truly moving documents. A glance at her Portfolio tells the story: A smiling woman in a brilliant blue headscarf riding a donkey in a sandstorm; two quietly waiting girls glimpsed through the tarp wall of a health clinic; a squinting albino boy, looking curious and vulnerable. If Feit’s first steps as a photojournalist are this strong, we have a lot of wonderful images to look forward to.
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12 Responses to “Into Africa”
cate @ 2007-01-06 10:47:33 AM says:
the coco! that portfolio is stuning. i wish i could make the show. congrats candace! and thank you a.long for the profile….i have always wondered about the woman behind the heart-stopping pictures.
denisse @ 2007-01-16 11:27:02 PM says:
o0la qe rarita pik
wueno no importa
ahi me agregan y firman my flog
sweet_candy_deni
Drimus @ 2007-01-17 03:11:21 AM says:
la verdad me apena mucho la pobreza que hay por todo el mundo
si cada uno de nosotros pusieramos un granito de arena esto mejoraria!
yo por mi parte ya lo hago!
jaz @ 2007-01-19 11:12:48 AM says:
ojala esto se pueda arreglar.. la verdad es que esta en nuestras manos y no hacemos nada.
si nos lo proponemos unquesea podiamos ayudar un poco
cate @ 2007-01-19 06:02:11 PM says:
ojala q este problema se pueda solucionar xq es una lastima…
Mones @ 2007-01-23 05:18:34 PM says:
Mi correo ; jimi_regan@hotmail.com
Gracias.
Monica @ 2007-01-24 02:27:13 AM says:
gracias por mostrar una relidad, de la que no nos podemos olvidar..un abrazo!
x3x4x5x6 @ 2007-01-24 03:30:29 PM says:
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pablo @ 2007-01-29 07:44:19 PM says:
if you can upload more pictures of this cain i’ll be very happy. very good flog. pablo
oli @ 2007-02-02 03:43:16 AM says:
oli :D
se @ 2007-02-03 01:27:58 PM says:
la verdad esta re mal que halle gente pobre en el mundo
Luciano @ 2008-03-28 12:12:54 AM says:
No chains around my feet but i’m not free
Imagine
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
just… imagine!
one love, one heart!