Monday, July 5, 2010

Andrew McConnell


The Chefferie IDP site, home to some 4,000 people, in the town of
Kitchanga, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2007.
Photographs © Andrew McConnell.

I am not sure just where I came across a link to Andrew McConnell's web page, but I am fortunate to have done so. I have been making periodic, brief visits for a couple of weeks now and have become increasingly impressed by McConnell's work. His Congo project depicts the complexity of the situation by resisting the conventional pressure of documentary to focus solely on individuals among the populations of displaced persons and by incorporating images of the various military groups involved in the ongoing violence. What McConnell offers is a vision of a lethal political and military landscape. In this respect the Congo project is typical of his other work - subtle, insightful, compelling. This is extremely powerful work.