Another month has just flashed by since the last post but as always a lot has been happening behind the scenes. I’ve been updating my portfolio books, the website which will hopefully be re-launched in a week or so and arranging two upcoming exhibitions, details of which are posted here. I’ve also been researching my next assignment to Belfast and trying to understand the complex current and historical situation there. It should be an interesting trip which starts in a months time.

As for now, the first exhibition to open is in Perth at the excellent Moore’s Contemporary Gallery in Fremantle this Friday. Curated by Amnesty International in Australia, Journey Towards Hope looks at the reality of life for refugees and asylum seekers, a hot topic of debate over here which became a major campaign issue during the recent election. I’ll be showing my work from the Sudanese refugee camps in Eastern Chad and giving a talk about the situation there. The Fringe Shutter Collective will also be displaying images as well as images from students with refugee backgrounds from the Edmund Rice Centre. It should be a great evening with lots to see so please feel free to come along this Friday 27th from 7pm if your in the area.

The exhibition runs until 5 September.

On the same theme, Amnesty International in Sydney will also be hosting an exhibition called Journey to Freedom at Carriageworks in Redfern, Sydney opening Wednesday 1st September so again, if your in the area please pop by. The Chad story will be shown alongside three other great photographers. The exhibition showcases photos of Iraqi refugees in Iran by Ed Giles and East Timorese refugees in Australia by Alanta Colley along with images from Africa by Hamish Gregory.

The aim of the exhibition is to humanise the plight of the refugees as well as displaying positive images of settled refugee families. I’ll be there on the opening night on Wednesday 1st along with Ed so if your around it would be great to meet up. This will be my first time in Sydney which I’m really looking forward to so if you know any cool bars and fancy a beer please let me know..!!

If you’d like further information about either of the exhibitions just send me an email or leave a comment on this blog. Thanks.

The great thing about updating your website and portfolio is that it’s a great excuse to look back over all your old images and sometimes discover new ones. It’s also a great excuse for a bit of reminiscing and covering Yasser Arafat’s funeral in Ramallah in 2004 is without doubt one of my favourite assignments. When I started at my newspaper I actually said to my then picture editor that I had no holidays booked but should Arafat die I will going to the funeral no matter what.

A few years later he was good to his word and after a phone call at 8.30am informing me Arafat had died I was on the next plane out of Jersey at 10am. First stop was London, Zurich then onto Tel Aviv arriving at 5.30am the next morning and straight down to the Israeli GPO where the whose who of photojournalism where all looking equally tired and anxious to get to Ramallah. Nobody knew exactly what was happening but the latest rumour was the funeral was to be held later that afternoon. I teamed up with other photographers who I’d met on the plane and had worked with in Afghanistan just a few weeks before. Hiring a Palestinian taxi at an exorbitant rate we wound our way around the back roads, trying to avoid the many Israeli roadblocks. What should have been a straight 15 drive turned into a 90 minute circus. Eventually reaching the Qalandiya checkpoint then a long walk into Ramallah and the Muqata, Arafat’s home for years where he had been held under siege before he fell ill and left for Paris.

The atmosphere was actually quite festive and more of a celebration of life than a state in mourning. As we got closer and the arrival time getting nearer the tension in the air was palpable and increasing by the minute. Thousands of Palestinians from all over the West Bank wanted to get as close as possible and started scaling the walls of the compound and clinging onto any object with a view. When the two Egyptian Air Force helicopters finally appeared, almost at once everyone started whistling and cheering. With dust being blown everywhere from the downwash and the pushing and shoving in the heat it became electric. There where hundreds of armed men from all the militias and PA who started firing pistols, Ak47’s and all sorts of weaponry into the air adding to the deafening noise. Bullet casing flew and burnt people as they dropped down their shirts. A number of people fell off the top of high buildings and died as the crowds shoved forward for their first view of Arafat’s coffin.

If things were crazy before, the moment the coffin was brought out all hell let loose. Soldiers lost control of the crowd despite firing into the air and what was to be a dignified occasion attended by the great and the good of Palestine ended up being a funeral for the people as thousands of men and woman surged forward to the coffin. You couldn’t walk in the crush, you more like swam with the crowd, trying to get pictures but finding it difficult to even raise your arms.

As the coffin eventually found is way to the final resting place the generally good natured crowd turned into a bit of an embarrassing scrum around the grave. Mourners and photographers jostled for position trying to see into the grave which some people very nearly fell into. Not journalism’s most dignified moment but everyone, photogs and mourners just wanted that picture of Arafat’s final resting place.

As the sun started to set the crowd started slowing dispersing and we made our way back to Jerusalem to file and get some well deserved beers in. All in all a crazy but amazing day and one of the many days why I love being a photojournalist. Looking at the news that night on TV it looked even more chaotic than actually being there which is generally the case anyway but it was a real privilege to witness a great moment in Middle Eastern history.

Anyway, enough waffling on, below are some of the images I took that day. I decided to show them in mono as the light was very harsh and I just think it suits this story anyway….

The 4th Annual Masters of Color Photography Awards were announced just over a week ago and I’m very happy that one of my images has been nominated again in the Professional Photojournalism section. Last year a picture from Afghanistan was nominated and this year an image from the Mongolia story has been recognised.

Munkhbat and Altangeret (both 15) have lived in this manhole together for over three years under the streets of Ulaanbaatar, the coldest capital city in the world. Spending time with them I witnessed what a tough, lonely and violent existence they have to endure in temperatures reaching -40c. They were forced into this situation by divorced and deceased parents but they still hope and strive for a better future. For me this image encapsulates the extremely difficult conditions these boys live in whilst life continues around them, oblivious and indifferent to their plight.”

Finally back in Perth after a very busy 6 weeks away working on 3 assignments in Palestine, Cyprus and Liberia which was exhausting but amazing. My project in Cyprus was cut short by a week after Cafod asked me to go to Liberia for a job at the last minute so I hope to return soon to complete this.  I’ll be posting some images from Liberia in the next few days.

These images from Cyprus continue the theme of my long term project about Borders and Barriers around the world that separates communities. The main focus of the story is the divided capital of Nicosia where the so called ‘Green Line’ or ‘Buffer Zone’ was drawn in 1974 during the height of hostilities. In some sections the buffer zone between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots is only a few meters wide. Greek and Turkish troops agreed to pull back from these inflammatory positions in 1989 and the zone is patrolled by UN Peacekeepers who have been in Cyprus since 1964, making it one of their longest running missions.

Nicosia is quite a surreal place. It has a look and feel of any other thriving Mediterranean city and via a number of checkpoints it’s easy for Greeks, Turks and tourist alike to cross over to either side. Running through the centre however is the Buffer Zone, a no mans land where homes and shops have been left abandoned and decaying since 1974. If you approach the dividing line on either side you’re likely to come across armed Greek or Turkish soldiers in bunkers and lookout posts. Dead end streets lined with concrete filled painted oil barrels with signs strictly prohibiting photography mark the border. It has a look and feel of a nation at war but the line has been peaceful for years. Walk just 10 meters back from the line and you can be sipping a beer in a neon clad café just like any other tourist spot in the world.

I was very lucky to get access there as very few people are allowed to enter and even UN troops aren’t permitted to take pictures. This eerie, derelict, bullet ridden strip of former shops and homes is a fascinating place. I hope to return to finish off the project by interviewing people who had to flee either side of the green line during the war.

A UN peacekeeping soldier patrols the narrowest section of the UN controlled Buffer Zone or the Green Line in the divided city of Nicosia on the island of Cyprus. Since 1974, abandoned shop fronts and houses just metres apart have became the front line between the Greek-Cypriot southern region and the Turkish-Cypriot northern region. Soldiers have now pulled back from these positions to help relieve the tension between both sides. Highly restricted and inaccessible to all but UN personnel, the decaying buildings have remained untouched and left to ruin for over three decades.

Cement filled oil barrels block off streets to the buffer zone from the Greek side.

Brick walls with viewing ports mostly form the barrier on the Turkish side.

Sand bags fill windows of a building on the front line on the Greek side of the buffer zone. The bullet holes reveal the intensity of the fighting that took place in this area.

With no one allowed into the buffer zone except UN peacekeepers the buildings have fallen into disrepair and nature allowed to take over.

UN installed barriers have to be clearly marked. Any changes to how the buffer zone is demarcated is hotly contested by both sides

Many people living in the area fled during the fighting and have never returned to their homes. Personal possessions still remain in a virtual time warp from 1974.

Ageing clothes, bottles, furniture and personal possessions from the 1970's still remain in many of the homes

Access to the buffer zone is strictly prohibited. Both Greek and Turkish troops either side of the zone keep watch and UN peacekeepers patrol the centre.

The Buffer Zone from the Greek side marked by painted oil barrels and observation posts.

Whilst industrial businesses operate close to the line few people live within the immediate area. Abandoned and war damaged houses are found all along the Greek side of the zone.

UN watch towers can be seen all along the buffer zone but since a decrease in hostilities not all are manned these days.

A street with shops and apartments suddenly comes to a stop by the buffer zone wall on the Turkish side.

A customer in the northern Turkish part of Cyprus enjoys a beer just meters from the buffer zone with the Ledra Street crossing seen behind. Since 2003 it has been possible for both Greeks and Turks to cross the buffer zone at designated crossing points and visit either side of the Island. Tourists can pass through after showing their passports. Either side of the buffer zone life and commerce continues as normal adding a surreal atmosphere to the place.

The buffer zone extends over 180km across the Island and whilst only a few meters apart in Nicosia it can be a few kilometers wide in other parts. Nicosia International airport was a scene of heavy fighting and was declared a United Nations Protected Area in 1974. It has remained unused since then and is now home to roosts of pigeons.

The departure lounge covered in pigeon droppings. With a thriving tourist industry the airport was modern for its time before closing during fighting in 1974.

Passport control booths remain unused since 1974.

UN peacekeepers from Slovakia maintain watch in the southern sector of the buffer zone. Whilst there is no physical barrier in this section entry is strictly prohibited without prior permission.

UN peacekeepers patrol the buffer zone in the southern sector. Farmers are allowed onto the land with prior permission. There are over 10,000 people allowed to live and work within the zone. Many tourists and hunters enter the zone illegally, mostly by mistake.

A UN peacekeeper looks out over the buffer zone towards the northern Turkish side of the Cyprus.

Just arrived back in Jordan from  assignment in Israel and Palestine. This is the first part of a long term project about physical borders and barriers around the world that separate communities due to conflict, illegal immigration or territorial issues.

I’ll be processing and editing when I’m back in Perth so below is just a quick view of what I’ve been working on. I’ll be writing a more comprehensive report and publish a fuller story in a few weeks. I’m off to Cyprus in a few days to continue the story there so will post again when I hopefully start shooting pictures on phase two of the project.

A Palestinian woman walks past a mural of the late Yasser Arafat painted on the separation wall at the Qalandiya checkpoint near the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The separation wall which works its way into the centre of Bethlehem.

After queuing up since 4am Palestinians clamber to get into the checkpoint at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem to get through to work in Jerusalem.

A schoolboy gets lost in the crowd as people try and push through the checkpoint in Qalandiya. The wall separated many children from their homes and schools and they now have to spend hours each day going through the daunting checkpoint procedure to get to school.

As the checkpoint is finally opened at 6am, Palestinian workers surge forward, crushing everyone within the cage at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem.

A Palestinian worker sits exhausted on a bus waiting to take him to work in Jerusalem after queueing up at Rachel's Tomb checkpoint in Bethlehem for over 3 hours from 4am.

The separation wall between Palestine and Israel in Ar Ram near Ramallah looking into the Jerusalem region of Atarot.

A farmer waits for the agricultural gate at Attil to be opened by IDF soldiers.

IDF soldiers open North Gate, an agricultural access gate on the separation barrier in the village of Jayyus. The gate is opened 3 times a day for about 30 minutes each to give farmers access to their land they have been separated from.

IDF soldiers open North Gate, an agricultural access gate on the separation barrier in the village of Jayyus. The gate is opened 3 times a day for about 30 minutes to give farmers access to their land they have been separated from. They are effectively trapped their until the soldiers turn up again to open the gate and let them back to their village.

IDF soldiers close the Attil agricultural gate in the separation barrier near the West bank town of Tulkarm. Many of the farmers have lost the majority of their land to the barrier and have to apply for permits to cross the barrier to work. Permits are often refused for no reason resulting in wasted crops and income difficulties for the farmers.

Teenagers play by the separation barrier walling off Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem.

Protesters make their way to the separation barrier in Nil'in.

Protesters throw stones over the separation wall at Israeli soldiers who reply with volleys of tear gas and live fire during the regular Friday protest in the village of Nil'in to demonstrate against land confiscation and the separation wall running through their land.

Residents and protesters try and escape clouds of tear gas fired by IDF soldiers in the village of Nil'in whilst demonstrating against land confiscation and the separation barrier.

The separation wall between Palestine and Israel in Abu Dis near Jerusalem.

The separation wall winds its way around Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem.

Thousands of workers from the Qalqiliya area arrive before 4am to pass through the checkpoint to go to work in Israel.

An Israeli check point at Qalqiliya. Thousands of workers from the area arrive at the checkpoint before 4am to pass through the checkpoint to go to work in Israel.

An Israeli check point at Qalqiliya. Thousands of workers from the area arrive at the checkpoint before 4am to pass through the checkpoint to go to work in Israel.

Palestinian taxis, buses and cars queue up at Qalandiya checkpoint to get through to Jerusalem to work. This process can take hours with no guarantee they will be allowed through.

The separation wall and Israeli watchtower in a residential area of the West Bank town of Dahiyat near Ramallah.

A protester flies the Palestinian flag at the start of the regular protest n the village of Nil'in to demonstrate against land confiscation and the separation wall.