Gun Culture

Lately guns have been part of the headlines on the other side of the pond. With the recent shooting in Aurora, Colorado and just a few days ago Oak Creek, Wisconsin hitting the British News Channels. I don't know enough about the gun laws in America to be able to argue whether the laws need rethinking or not and that's not what this post about. It is however got me thinking about the projects and documentary films I have looked at over the years. Two that stand out for me as defining the gun culture in America are Zed Nelson Gun Nation and Michael Moore Bowling For Columbine. Zed Nelsons project doesn't delve into the stereotypes expected from documentary essays on guns and gun culture in the States, there is no gang-banger flaunting his stash of weapons, no white supremacist in camouflage in a field doing combat training or a lost teen bullied and influenced by violent video games. Instead Zed Nelson looks at the commercial side of fire arms, the NRA and the law abiding citizens that own a range of weapons. The series delves into how something that is seen as a symbol of freedom is also something that is out of control with around 28,000 people losing their lives to fire arms a year[1] The essay makes you sit back and try and understand Americas fascination with such a deadly item. Michael Moores award winning documentary Bowling For Columbine on the other hand questions the need for fire arms and why people can get their hands on them with ease. In one scene Mr Moore walks into a bank and acquires a rifle for just setting up a bank account with said bank. The film came about when Columbine High School, the teachers and students fell victim to a shooting spree and massacre by two of its very own students on April 20th 1999. Both projects are worth having a look over if you haven't all ready as they will broaden your mind on gun culture in the States and bring you away from the stereotypes we are used to seeing and hearing about.

[1] http://www.americanfirearms.org/images/Chart__big.gif 

Armadillo

I have been watching a lot of documentaries films as of late, partly due to the fact I wouldn't mind venturing down the route of becoming a documentary film maker as well as the a photographer. I also have been watching a fair few documentaries on the war in Afghanistan, such as Restrepo which I have talked a little about already, Armadillo was the next one on my list to watch, and I finally got round to watching it today. 

The feature-length follows the men of Guard Hussars Regiment of the Danish Army, on their first mission in Helmand Province, at the Forward Operating Base Armadillo. Instead of showing the day to day chores of the soldiers, it shows the psychological effect on the soldiers after certain events throughout their six month stay in Afghanistan, each having their own reaction and ways of coping with these events. As mentioned before the men of the Guard Hussars are Danish and I think this makes the documentary even more interesting as people relate the war in Afghanistan to America and British armed forces and it is nice to see the war from another countries point of view.

Once again the trailer is available by clicking on the image below.

Restrepo

I finally got round to watching Restrepo by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington. The documentary follows the men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team of the U.S Army and their stay at Out Post Restrepo in the Korengal Valley, showing how the platoon cope with the day to day life in Afghanistan, and in one of the most dangerous areas for the U.S Military to be based. For me this feature-length was a great insight into military life on the front-line, the way the documentary is filmed immerses the audience into the combat, hard labour and chores of the solders, making the viewer feel as if they have been with the men from the start, seeing their blood, sweat and tears, which I think makes this an award winning documentary film. 

The image below has a link to the Restrepo website where there is more information on the film, the solders involved and an extensive selection of interviews to watch over, while you wait for your DVD to arrive in the post.

Dissertation Note #1

So now that I am into my final year I have to do my dissertation, it has been very difficult to think of a strong question that I want to ask, research and write about. I didn't want to go for something that was too easy for me to write about, as that would not teach me much about what I am interested in. I am still in the developing stage of my research but here are some photographers I have been looking at, they are not 100% going to be in my final piece but it shows the sort of work I am going to be looking at for the dissertation.


Each image is linked to the website I found them on, some of them have more of the photographers work or an article about the photographer.

Kevin Frayer

Balazs Gardi

Simon Norfolk

Luc Delahaye