I did a short interview with Jonathan Cherry from MULL IT OVER. I enjoyed his thoughtful and poignant questions.

JC: What is it that has drawn you to Uganda?

DW: I wanted to leave the United States and experience how much of the world lives each day. I wanted to learn about myself and the world through photography.

Read the rest of my interview with Jonathan Cherry.

Sewing Machines, Alebtong, Uganda, 2009

Featured on Flak Photo.

Title: Peter, 2009

Description: In January and February 2009 I spent 2 months in the small village of Alebtong, Uganda. Peter is one of only a few elderly leaders because most were abducted and brutally killed by the Lord’s Resistance Army for not offering support to fight the Ugandan Army. Absence of elderly persons amongst the communities has adversely affected their culture and development.

Size: 9.6×12″ image on 11×14″ paper

Media: Archival pigment print

Edition Size: 20

Price: $100

To Benefit: A River Blue, a school in northern Uganda providing psychosocial counseling and intense vocational training in topics like tailoring, agriculture, and arts to vulnerable youth, formerly of internally-displaced persons camps. For more information: www.ariverblue.org

David’s Pledge: 100% of print sales. $2000 total if the edition sells out.

Click here to purchase a limited edition print of Peter and support A River Blue.

Check out Zoom Magazine’s website.

About the magazine:

“Together with a group of friends I decided to create a magazine dedicated to all people who are not stopping in their efforts to make our lives fuller and better. It is dedicated to thoughts and  creations of man’s imagination that encourage us to turn to that which is exceptional and luxurious.  We believe that surrounding ourselves with beauty serves good life and therefore we always look for that beauty in people, places and objects. finelife.pl is a magazine which is created based on the outstanding pictures and comments of the extraordinary people. We want to narrate a story about luxury of a beautiful life, taking inspiration from meetings, talks and recommendations from specialists and authorities of different fields” — Lidia Popiel

In 2009 I spent 2 months in northern Uganda photographing and teaching photography workshops for A River Blue, a school providing psychosocial counseling and intense vocational training in topics like tailoring, agriculture, and arts to vulnerable youth. Upon returning, I spent about 3 months on and off editing the work. When I was at a place where I was relatively satisfied, I applied for the 2009 Conscientios Competition and was selected as 1 of 3 winners.

Shortly thereafter I was approached by my gallery about exhibiting the work for the spring of 2010. We set a date for the exhibition and I began printing. One day I was talking to my friend and photographer Alan Winslow about raising funds and he suggested applying for the Strategic Opportunity Stipends (SOS) offered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).

From NYFA’s website, The SOS are “designed to help individual artists of all disciplines take advantage of unique opportunities that will significantly benefit their work or career development. Literary, media, visual, music and performing artists may request support ranging from $100 to $600 for specific, forthcoming opportunities that are distinct from work in progress.” Note: SOS is only available to New York State artists excluding residents of the five boroughs of New York City.

Each county in New York State is associated with a specific art council, and I received my SOS through the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts (UCCCA). With these funds I was able to lessen the cost of printing the exhibition and traveling to New York for the opening reception. Thank you NYFA for supporting this opportunity.

Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts website.

New York Foundation for the Arts website.

Also, the exhibition has been extended to April 14th so please stop in, see the work, and learn about A River Blue.

An excerpt from an interview I recently did with Academy A:

“It’s important to focus and acknowledge both the positive and negative. As a culture we seem to focus on negativity so much these days. Is this because of the American media or because of ourselves? I’m not sure there is one definitive answer. All we can do is continue to express the atrocities occurring in Africa while always presenting the fact that positive events happen each waking moment of every day.”

Read the rest of my interview with Academy A here. Thanks again, Jeff.

Moon and Grass, Alebtong, Uganda, 2009

Thanks, award-winning photographer David Turnley, for taking this photograph at the talk.

There’s less than two weeks left to see Uganda: A River Blue at AnastasiaPhoto. Stop by and pick up an exhibition catalogue for $10.

Also, stop by the gallery and pick up an exhibition catalogue ($10 donation at the gallery) if you have not already.

Unable to stop by? Make a donation here ($10 + $5 s&h), send me the receipt (david@davidwrightphoto.com), and I’ll send you a copy.

Don’t wait! The exhibition catalogue is an edition of 200 and we’re almost sold out. A few spreads:

Thanks Karen for taking these pictures of the Uganda: A River Blue exhibiton opening.