James Morgan
James Morgan is a professional writer and award winning fine art documentary photographer. He is currently traveling the world completing commissioned assignments and working on personal projects. So far this year James has worked in Siberia, Mongolia, Japan, Indonesia, China, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Ecuador. His client list includes: The Sunday Times (South Africa), Der Spiegel (Germany), Esther Benjamin Trust (UK), G3 Magazine (UK), Coda Techno (Japan), Foto8 (UK), Dalmatia Creative (UK/US), Baikal Club (Siberia), Camera Obscura (Romania), The UB Post (Mongolia), as well as various NGOs and magazines throughout asia and europe. James merges a fine art aesthetic with a rigorously ethnographic methodology, stressing intimacy with his subject matter and working out of compassion, respect and understanding for the people and issues that he photographs. Central to James' work is a belief in the power of atmosphere as a key factor in narrative, favouring the use of evocative imagery and audio recordings over more traditional linear approaches to story telling. James secretly harbours all sorts of far-fetched and ridiculous plans to revolutionise photojournalism by lifting documentary photography out of the pages of magazines and getting stories to the people who need to hear them through internet, street installations and live performances. James is actively looking for talented musicians, dancers, animators, visual artists, poets etc. to collaborate in very large and intricate performances that work towards this.
In pictures: The Kazakh eagle hunters of Bayan Olgii
THE Kazakh Eagle Hunters of Bayan Olgii live in the mountains of far western Mongolia. Having fled Kazakhstan two hundred years ago as the soviet empire advanced, these diaspora Kazakhs have been able to hold onto traditional kazakh practices much more successfully than those they left behind in Kazakhstan. In fact, when the soviet empire…>
Singaraja, Bali 16/03/2010
(Music Recommendation: The Field/Over the Ice) It’s Hari Nyepi today in Bali. The first day of the Balinese-Hindu calendar and there’s a 24-hour curfew from sunrise this morning until first light tomorrow, the streets are empty and anyone caught outside their house could face a ‘no bribe’ jail sentence. Last night there were big…>
Kerobokan, Bali, March 2, 2010
(Film Recommendation: Latcho Drom/Tony Gatlif) I’m back in Bali now, it’s been too rushed to write for the last week or so. I’ve been feeling a bit ill the last few days, there’s a lot of Dengue going around at the moment. Johnny’s girlfriend just got out of hospital with all sorts of horror stories…>
Papua Diving, Raja Ampat, February 21, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Manitoba/Dundas, Ontario) We’re at Papua diving today, another eco ‘resort’, to meet with Max Ammer who is very much the pioneer of eco tourism in the region. The story for both the guardian and destination is really about the crossover of ‘sustainable tourism’, local culture and conservation efforts. Max came here initially to…>
Misool Eco Resort, Raja Ampat, February 20, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Steve Reich/Music for 18 Musicians) We’ve spent the last week at Misool eco resort in the south of the Raja Ampat region, Misool is the main hook for the story, it’s a 5 star eco resort built entirely from driftwood. The resort only has eight rooms and is run by a really sound…>
Kep Wayag, Raja Ampat, February 11, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Singing Statues/Off the Axis) This morning we stopped in at the village of Saweo, just three hours south of Kep Wayag, to meet the village elder and record him telling some folk tales in his dying language Kawe. Johnny is hoping to get back here to compile an anthology of the local mythology…>
Chindana Pearl Farm, Raja Ampat, February 10, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Colleen/Everyone Alive Wants Answers) We did leave the next morning. I woke up to the sounds of the engine starting and I rubbed sleep out of my eyes as we pulled out into the ocean. The wind had picked up again the night before and it had got quite cold sleeping on deck,…>
Doum Island, West Papua, February 10, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Lukid/Wake Up) When I woke up this morning we were still in dock and most of the crew had disappeared, apparently the generator was broken. The generator was eventually fixed, but by then the wind had picked up too much and the captain said we would have to wait another day. We are…>
Sorong, West Papua, February 9, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Susumu Yokota/Azukiiro No Kaori). The boat didn’t leave today either. We’ve been in ‘so wrong’ three days now. I left Johnny doing some work in the hotel and went to join a teacher friend we’d made, Mitha, at her school. Initially I was supposed to teach English but I ended up getting swarmed…>
Sorong, West Papua, February 8, 2010
Sorong, or ‘so wrong’ is a dusty frontier town awkwardly jammed between the edge of the jungle and the end of the world, from here we’re linking up with Conservation International to take one of their boats out to the northern most island of Raja Ampat, Kep Wayag. The conservation international boat was supposed to…>
In pictures: The Kazakh eagle hunters of Bayan Olgii
THE Kazakh Eagle Hunters of Bayan Olgii live in the mountains of far western Mongolia. Having fled Kazakhstan two hundred years ago as the soviet empire advanced, these diaspora Kazakhs have been able to hold onto traditional kazakh practices much more successfully than those they left behind in Kazakhstan. In fact, when the soviet empire…>
Singaraja, Bali 16/03/2010
(Music Recommendation: The Field/Over the Ice) It’s Hari Nyepi today in Bali. The first day of the Balinese-Hindu calendar and there’s a 24-hour curfew from sunrise this morning until first light tomorrow, the streets are empty and anyone caught outside their house could face a ‘no bribe’ jail sentence. Last night there were big…>
Kerobokan, Bali, March 2, 2010
(Film Recommendation: Latcho Drom/Tony Gatlif) I’m back in Bali now, it’s been too rushed to write for the last week or so. I’ve been feeling a bit ill the last few days, there’s a lot of Dengue going around at the moment. Johnny’s girlfriend just got out of hospital with all sorts of horror stories…>
Misool Eco Resort, Raja Ampat, February 20, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Steve Reich/Music for 18 Musicians) We’ve spent the last week at Misool eco resort in the south of the Raja Ampat region, Misool is the main hook for the story, it’s a 5 star eco resort built entirely from driftwood. The resort only has eight rooms and is run by a really sound…>
Kep Wayag, Raja Ampat, February 11, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Singing Statues/Off the Axis) This morning we stopped in at the village of Saweo, just three hours south of Kep Wayag, to meet the village elder and record him telling some folk tales in his dying language Kawe. Johnny is hoping to get back here to compile an anthology of the local mythology…>
Chindana Pearl Farm, Raja Ampat, February 10, 2010
(Music Recommendation: Colleen/Everyone Alive Wants Answers) We did leave the next morning. I woke up to the sounds of the engine starting and I rubbed sleep out of my eyes as we pulled out into the ocean. The wind had picked up again the night before and it had got quite cold sleeping on deck,…>
