Workshop in Geneva today and the "Fête de l'Escalade"

 "Workshop in Geneva today & the "Fête de l'Escalade" ", Geneva December 9th 2012

Today was a fun day in a sort of photography way. I ran a worksop for a great group in Geneva at the Hotel Royal which ended on a high as it was the  "Fête de l'Escalade" tonight! The follow up workshop will take place in a couple of months- same place!

Winter

So, winter has definitely arrived in Lausanne.

And this is from last night where plenty of people struggled with their cars. 

Nestlé Health Science & Chi-Med

Nestlé Health Science, a fully owned subsidiary of Nestlé, and the pharmaceutical and healthcare group Chi-Med, have agreed to form a 50/50 joint venture to be named Nutrition Science Partners Limited (NSP).

Christian Hogg Executive Director and the CEO of Chi-Med with Luis Cantarell, 
President and CEO of Nestlé Health Science at Nestlé Head Office in Vevey, Switzerland.

Paris Photo 2012

Every year, in the middle of November, Paris hosts the biggest photography sales Expo in the world, Paris Photo. This year, like last year, it was at the Grand Palais near Champs Elysées. lots of great work amongst the 150 or so galleries and publisher!

Paris Photo 2012

 Xmas marked on Champs Elysées

Travel book & rain, waiting for the Louvre to open

Paris, rain and yellow umbrella

The jewish quarter

Printer at the jewish quarter

#workshop #storytelling #photojournalism #documentary #exhibition #nikon #d4 #reportage #education #photography #d810 #sb910 #paris #parisphoto #france 

Net' Leman, Cleaning Lake Geneva September 2012

The organisation Net'Leman did their "cleaning of the lake" project this September which means they gather families, children and anyone else wanting to to their bit to help keeping a clean Lake Geneva. I got the chance to join them in Bellevue, an area of Geneva. These people did a great job!

UPDATE (April 2016): Join Net'Leman in may for the next "Cleaning of the lake" 21/22 May

Father helping son

Divers came to help as volunteers

Volunteering kids came from the local community

Plenty of TV's were found...

Boats from local boating clubs helped out.

Not sure who lost a mattress...!

#reportage #photography #photojournalism #nikon #documentary #horses #earthday #switzerland #netleman

Bosnia Student trip October 2012

Webster University in Geneva has been involved with Bosnia and specifically Srebrenica over the past few years. This year we brought 16 students from different departments to come and see and learn about the genocide that took place in July 1995.

Hasan Nuhanovic explains how he worked as a translator for the Dutch UN forces and lost his father and brother during the genocide.

This woman lost her son, shown in her photograph, during the genocide.

Students visited the ICMP, body identification centre in Tuzla.

The ICMP, body identification centre in Tuzla. Some new bodies had just been found.

Debo photographing.

Students visiting the primary school in Potocari.

It was election weekend while we visited.

The city Zoo in Bamako, Mali, supported by the Aga Khan Development Network

Bamako is a busy city with a population of almost 2 million. The political situation is difficult. 

Biker in Bamako

But just outside of the downtown area, you have the Mali national park which is like an oasis in the city. People come to relax, to picnic, to do sports and, soon, they will be able to visit the newly fixed up zoo as well.

I spent a few days in Bamako and photographed what is an amazing zoo.. This city zoo was run down and falling apart. The animals lived in poor conditions. The AKDN has funded a full redevelopment of the zoo as well as of the surrounding city park. The zoo has got top standards and looks after the animals in the best possible way. It also offers a great educational function for the population in this region.

This young boy shows off the insects he has found.

Mali national zoo

There is a 3 year old elephant at the zoo. Unfortunately she had a tough start to her life but is now getting the best attention and care he can in this zoo, given the circumstances. 

The elephant and staff clearly had a great bond

#mali #zoo #agakhan #africa #photography #nikon #d810#documentary #photojournalism #reportage #d4 #akdn #webster #nikonpro #elephant #bamako #fotograf #webster

foto 8 exhibition over

It has been a great couple of weeks with the story of the men who survived the genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995 exhibited at the foto 8 gallery in London.

Thanks to everybody who came by as well as for the round table discussion the following day of the opening. Mary Robert (Richmond University) and Neven Andjelic (Regents College) sat on the panel with me and I thought we had a great discussion on the topic.

The story got reviewed and listed in Time Out, in the Amateur Photographer Magazine in the UK and an interview was published on the foto.no site, a Norwegian photo website. It also got written about in Sandefjords Blad newspaper and at the website of Bosnian women in Sweden. Here it got translated into Swedish as well as Bosniak!

The feedback has been overwhelming and there are some great magazines and newspapers that are wanting to publish this story, watch this space for more news later.

This project is by no means a finished project and I continue to work with Clare Cook on it. We will add posts to our blog Talking Bosnia with new entries being posted shortly.

Again, thanks to Webster University Geneva for supporting this project. 

foto8/Host exhibition August & September

This month is exciting, on August 29th is the opening of my exhibition at the foto8/ Host gallery in London... The home of photojournalism! Here is the text from the invite: foto8/Host press release.

"The Long Road is a collaborative project between researcher and writer Clare Cook and photographer Kristian Skeie, whose images take us on the journey of the annual peace walk, a symbolic act of remembrance and dedication. The project pieces together the mosaic of life after genocide by looking at the struggle of the women of Srebrenica for justice and the new generation, born after the war, embarking on their own journey, which begins in an irreconciled community in which peace and prosperity seem a long way off".

Many thanks to Webster University Geneva for generous support to this project.

Some impressions from this years Mars Mira.

I am in Srebrenica for this years Mars Mira or Peace March to mark the 17th anniversary of the Genocide that took place in 1995. I am posting her some pictures from the last few days.. Please have a look on on our blog Talking Bosnia and later this summer at the foto eight Gallery & magazine

Advija Krdzic burying her father

Coffins arriving from Sarajevo

Presentation at one of the historical lessons at Liplje

Walkers relaxing after about 35km at Liplje

Water truck arriving at camp site

Just arrived after one day of walking

#bosnia #srebrenica #genocide #storytelling #marsmira #humanrights #photojournalism #documentary #potocari #july11 #20years #nikon #d4 #reportage #marsmira #lifeaftergenocide #neveragain

Mars Mira 2012/ Peace March

The 11th of July marks the anniversary of the genocide that took place in Srebrenica in 1995. More then 8000 men and boys were killed in less then a week... Mars Mira or the Peace March, is a march that goes between Nezuk, near the city of Tuzla and Potocari, outside of Srebrenica. It is about 110km long. This is the reversal of the walk where some men and boys walked for survivals in 1995. On the final day, on July 11th, there is the ceremony at the memorial center in Potocari where the bodies that have been identified during the last year is buried. I will be covering this event, as I did last year. Have a look at out "talking Bosnia" blog for ongoing info....

Half way, day 2

After 42 km of walking..still two days to go.

Young kids taking part in the Peace March

Burial of the dead

#bosnia #srebrenica #genocide #storytelling #marsmira #humanrights #photojournalism #documentary #potocari

Ghent, Belgium

I was in Ghent, Belgium last weekend and did a workshop with some great friends. No better way to explore the former cultural capitol of Europe...

50 cent!

Sunday at 10 am

Graffiti Street

A Marked

Ice Cream

Srebrenica June 2012

Next month is July. Last year I took part in the Mars mira- the 110 km Peace March between Tuzla and Srebrenica that marks the anniversary of the Genocide that took place in 1995. On July 11th there will be the burying of the dead at  the Potocari memorial ground after lots of people would have done the long peace march. I shall be there to cover the event and will be meeting many of the people involved. This is a moving and deeply emotional time. Last week I went to visit some of the people involved, including Hasan Hasanovic who survived July 1995 and Advija Krdzic who had her own father identified at the Body Identification Center in Tuzla and will burry him in Potocari this July 11th.

Hasan Hasanovic

Advija Krdzic

A dog in Srebrenica

Appellate Body welcomes new member

Mr Shotaro Oshima from Japan was retiring while Mr Seung Wha Chang of the Republic of Korea was sworn-in on 13 June 2012 as a member of the Appellate Body at the WTO. It was a great event to photograph, as always!

Mr Oshima gives his farewell speech and praises the new member, Mr Chang,
of the Appellate Body at the World Trade Organization.

Ratko Mladic in court

BBC's John Simpson: Mladic had reputation for being 'ruthlessly efficient". Those words says it all. Finally former General Mladic faces court. Over the last two years I have been going to Srebrenica and tried to somehow understand a little bit of how life is there 16 or 17 years after the worst genocide in post 2nd world war Europe. Above is an image of a participant of the peace march that takes place every year honoring the 8000 men and boys who were efficiently killed in July 1995. Later on this summer I will have an exhibition in London at the Host gallery- the home of photo reportage. The opening will be on August 29th and it will be on until September 16th. More info to come...

Nestlé Health and Sciences

In January, NHS invited to a global conference in Vevey Switzerland. It gave me an opportunity to photograph a group of a 100 people as well as photograph in a magnificent dinner room at the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne. Speakers at the conference were Luis Cantarell, President and CEO at Nestlé Health and Sciences, Patrick Aebischer, the President of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and André Borschberg businessman and pilot. He is a co-founder of the Solar Impulse project. 

All 100 Participants of the first ever NHS Conference January 2012

 André Borschberg, Co founder of the Solar Impulse Project

Patrick Aebischer President of EPFL in Lausanne

Luis Cantarell, President and CEO of NHS

Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne