You may remember the stories I worked on about the lives of Germans of African descent.



I'm happy to let you know that The Root has published a story based on that work. Please have a look!

I’m excited to announce that an audio artwork I’ve created has been featured on Earlid! It’s an online gallery of evolving exhibits of sound art. I’m one of ten artists selected for their second Liminal Sounds exhibition and I hope you’ll take a listen.



Growing up I’d always listen to the radio as I fell asleep. Sometimes I’d tune into the local news channel; other times it would be classical music. But I always had something playing in the background. Today when I’m working on the computer I consistently have something playing in the background.

When I began work on The Europeans I brought an audio recorder with me. At first it was just to record the interviews I did for the articles I occasionally wrote but soon I began collecting ambient audio as well for no particular reason. As my project evolved I realized that I could use these words and sounds to, along with my photographs, help connect the viewer to a time and place they had never been. This piece you hear is a shorter version of an hour long audio installation I’ve created. I’m looking forward to exploring the nexus of imagery and sound more deeply as I complete this project.

It's strange when something you've been paying attention to for a long time suddenly becomes interesting to those around you.



But Europe's ongoing refugee crisis has become large enough that even though who don't want to are paying attention. I wrote about the closing of Europe's open door recently for the World Policy Blog and talked about it on the World Policy On Air podcast. I hope you take some time to read and listen.

For those of you who missed my three part series about the experiences of people of African descent in Germany and Poland that aired on KSFR’s Here and There with Dave Marash you’re in luck! You can now listen to all three programs.



Click here to listen to my report about West Germany.

Click here to listen to my report about East Germany.

Click here to listen to my report about Poland.

Each story is accompanied by a discussion with the legendary Dave Marash through which we dig deeper into the issues raised in each report. Thanks for listening!

Tonight the third and final radio documentary piece, this time focusing on the lives and experiences of people of African descent in Poland airs at 7:05pm Eastern time on ksfr.org.



"As a child there were some times that I just wanted to be white and normal… I just wanted to be and have all this problem go away just be accepted by the rest of the kids.” -Damian Abushe, Afro-Polish hacktavist.

You can find podcasts of the three part series here: http://hereandtherewithdavemarash.libsyn.com/

Part two of my three part radio documentary series airs on KSFR.org at 7:05pm Eastern Time on Here and There with Dave Marash. Today we’ll hear the stories of people of African descent who grew up under Communist Rule in East Germany. Unlike in West Germany, where the influence of American soldiers was widely felt, in East Germany it was the thousands of students brought from Africa to study that laid the basis for that nation’s Afro-German population.



“Sometimes I felt something without being aware of what it was exactly. I thought it depended on my color somehow but because it was a socialist or a kind of communist country and it was said that everybody is treated equal and there is no racism and there is no discrimination at all… It was more or less not allowed this kind of feelings. It was even problematic to talk to my mother about this,” Aminata Cisse Schleicher told me.

Today the first of these three documentaries airs of KSFR Santa Fe on Here and There, hosted by Dave Marash at 5:05 p.m. Mountain Time/7:05 p.m. Eastern Time and you'll be able to listen to the podcast of each show here. Following each of the documentaries Dave and I talk about what I found and expand upon the profound stories that each of my interview subjects shared. In total I interviewed over three dozen people for these reports and while many people's stories didn't make it to air I know I learned from everyone I spoke to and I thank them deeply.



Thomas Hurst for example spoke about the mental health impact of growing up biracial in Germany had on him.

"I believe there is some post traumatic stress syndrome as a part of growing up in Germany. You never know if you can go through the day without any racism. I really believe I do have some mental problems a part of racism."



Fashion designer Tanja Herring spoke about a multi-generational struggle for acceptance.

"I would say I'm nation-less. The Blacks don't really accept you because you're too light and the white people say 'no you're too dark for us'…. You always feel kind of lonely."

These are just a few of the stories you'll hear today. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

The events of the past few days may or may not be remembered as a turning point. The truth is no one knows how things will turn out. What we do know is that the Greek people have voted for a fairer settlement and that the ball is now in the court of Europe's leaders.



"Those who want to chase Greece out of the Eurozone today will end up on the trash heap of history. If the Chancellor wants to secure her place in the history books, just like [Helmut] Kohl did during reunification, then she must forge a solution to the Greek question, including a debt conference where we can start with a clean slate." said Thomas Piketty.

What Europe has been able to create over the last sixty years is nothing short of amazing. But that creation is very easy to destroy. Now is not the time to look for someone to blame. Rather Europe must pull back from the brink and remember that it is both more than the some of its parts and stronger together than it is apart.

Buncrana, Ireland

Last weekend we took to the streets of Buncrana and Letterkenny here in Ireland for two street photography workshops I taught.



It was a wonderful opportunity to share my perspectives on this artform. We survived some showers and had a grand time.



And special thanks to Kodak Alaris who donated film which was provided to the lucky and smart participants who still shoot film!

Buncrana, Ireland

We had a great discussion on Saturday about the future of Europe and Ireland's place it in.



I'm grateful to MEP Marian Harkin and Artlink’s Declan Sheehan and Damian Dowds, editor of the Inishowen Independent who moderated the discussion.


For me this discussion was an important opportunity to use art as a starting point for an important conversation. We attracted many people who otherwise would not have come to the gallery which is a wonderful thing.

You can listen to the discussion here.

Buncrana, Ireland

If you happen to be in Donegal this month come up to Fort Dunree and see my latest exhibition which is on view through the end of May.



We're also having a panel discussion about the future of Europe and Ireland's place in it on Saturday May 9th.


So I hope you can make it to see the show or to our discussion!

What are photographs, what are portraits but a kind of time travel machine?



Through the image we can stare across time and space and be transported, however fleetingly, to a place and time we have never been. Yet through the image we do have at least a sense of having been there.

A portrait is many things but as one photographer once told me "every photograph is a self portrait."



This project has always been about people first and foremost. Through my images and especially my portraits, I try to connect the viewer to the subject so that they may understand something about the lives these people are leading and how the river of history runs through their experiences.



So what does this say about me? Well I leave that for you to decide...

Last year was a busy one and not all of that involved photography.



I donated a kidney and had my first public art installation among other things.



I think this past year has put many things in perspective for me, not least of which is how much photography is really about other things. It's about reading and research but it's also about living and being. I'm a lot less concerned about the number of rolls of film I shoot than I ever have been.

I know most of you couldn’t make it to Switzerland to see my multimedia installation And They Called Themselves The Europeans. So I created a short video to give you a sense of what it was like.