Gisèle Wulfsohn Mentorship in Photography - update!

Since my last posting we have selected the first recipient of the Gisèle Wulfsohn Mentorship in Photography. Her name is Sydelle Willow Smith and she is originally from Cape Town.  The Mentorship Programme is managed by the Market Photo Workshop, and they announced the news here.

Sydelle's project is entitled 'Making Neighbourhood - Experiences of conviviality between African Nationals and local South Africans', and she describes her project as follows:

"Visually, immigrant stories in South Africa and in other parts of the world aremostly marked by daily experiences of discrimination and exclusion. I am investigating the other sideof the coin to understand the complexities of relationships formed across porous boundaries, negotiatedin the everyday. The xenophobic attacks of 2008 in South Africa revealed widespread localizedprejudices towards “foreign” Africans, sparked by a lack of resources and job insecurities that are stillprevalent today. Yet, it is important to focus on ways people live past these stereotypical prejudices. My anthropological training has informed my view of diasporic identities and the malleable nature ofculture and nationality...'Making Neighborhood' deals with convivial relationships between African nationals and SouthAfricans. I use the term conviviality to describe experiences of social inclusion and togetherness... The topic is complex, but an important one tobreak down and capture in the form of photographs."

Sydelle is tackling a critically important theme in South Africa - how we build a welcoming society in which people from different backgrounds and nataionalities can integrate effectively and with welcoming support to build their lives and make a contribution to building our new, peaceful democratic dispensation.  She will be producing a body of work over the coming year and we are looking forward to seeing how her project unfolds.

My intention is to sustain the Mentorship Programme for a number of years and to do this I am establishing a capital fund from which the annual costs can be met.  As part of this fundraising effort I have been running an online photographic auction through which I am selling prints donated by South African photographers who were part of Gisèle's professional and personal network.  You can view the prints that have been donated on my Facebook page.  Anyone who wishes to bid in this auction can contact me directly.  The auction closes on Friday 21st December.  

More details about Gisèle's life and the Mentorship Programme, as well as the auction, can be seen here in this Business Day article..

THE GISÈLE WULFSOHN MENTORSHIP IN PHOTOGRAPHY

The Gisèle Wulfsohn Mentorship is dedicated to the life and work of Gisèle Wulfsohn. To summarise her life in a few short paragraphs would be impossible. Gisèle was loved by many, including a wide and global network of friends and acquaintances. Professionally she was a photographer who was committed to making a difference in the world. Gisèle was diagnosed with Stage IIIB lung cancer in 2005. She characteristically turned her diagnosis into a project ‘Dear Diagnosis – Still Alive’, and never surrendered to the illness. Gisèle passed away on 27th December 2011.

The mentorship programme aims to sustain Gisèle’s commitment to social documentation, including her seminal contribution to ‘putting a face onto HIV’ in South Africa and the region. Her commitment to humanising the pandemic and to her profession generally was realised through her technical ability as a photographer coupled with her empathetic approach and warm connection to the people she worked with. The mentorship programme has been conceptualised and developed with the Market Photo Workshop and the Centre for the Study of AIDS – both organisations that Gisèle worked closely with over many years. Together with the family, these two organisations will oversee the whole programme and make decisions about its future.

The first programme will commence later in 2012. The programme will support a young photographer each year to produce a body of work in line with established criteria. Apart from financial support, the photographer will receive mentoring support from an established photographer and will have access to the resources and facilities of the Market Photo Workshop. It is anticipated that the work produced will be published and/or exhibited in due course. In addition to the material support provided, the young photographer will participate with others in regular forums as a mechanism for reflecting and learning about the work being undertaken, as well as exploring issues that arise and creating a body of learning that can be disseminated and carried through into subsequent years.

It is planned to capitalise the programme through Gisèle’s estate, and also to raise an equivalent sum through this appeal to Gisèle’s network of friends. We wish to mobilise sufficient resources to provide an investment that will support the programme in perpetuity. A Bursary account has been established with the family accountants into which donations can be made. Donations can be made until the end of December 2012. All donations will be acknowledged in publicity relating to the mentorship programme. Anyone wishing to obtain further details can email Mark Turpin at gismar@iafrica.com .

Gisele Wulfsohn, Rest In Peace

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/12/31/obituary-gisele-wulfsohn-indomitable-spirit