DOK17: Students in photojournalism present visual stories from China

elisabe on 23. June 2017

AJ Gani´s exhibition in Tøihuset, Old Town, Fredrikstad.

During this year’s DOK17 the graduating students in photojournalism launched their book and exhibition “Meanwhile” consisting of visual stories from China. Several HiOA photojournalism alumnis were present both as participant in the festivals seminar program and as exhibiting photographers. Farzana Hossen, visual artist from Bangladesh and former participants in the HiOA´s photojournalism bachelors course, international reporting, showed her project “Only Because They are Women” on Bangladeshi victims of acid attacks in an open-air exhibition outside the Cultural House in the Old Town. Close by in Tøihuset the Bangladeshi photographer AJ Ghani displayed his project “Statless Untouchable” about the Dalits cast in Nepal post 2015 earthquake. Yan Cong from China exhibiting her work “The price of happiness” Commercially arranged marriage between Chinese men and Cambodian women is not uncommon in a village called Huanggang in south China. Both projects supported by the Fritt Ord-foundation student grant.

The DOK-festival in Fredrikstad, Norway, is the Norwegian national festival for documentary photography and photojournalism. The festival is an event that gathers professionals, students, lecturers and general public mainly from Scandinavia. During the two week long festival-period 8 – 10 open air Exhibitions are on display throughout the city centre and in Fredrikstad´s Old Town. In addition to exhibitions in pop-up-galleries and the exhibition hall Hydrogenfabrikken. During the weekend 150 – 200 participants gathered to  join seminars and lectures with international recognized photojournalists and visual storytellers in the House of Literature. This year’s line-up consisted of Damon Winter (the New York Times), Peter van Agtmael (Magnum Photos), Jonas Bendiksen (Magnum Photos), Luisa Dörr (VII), Joakim Eskildsen, Glenna Gordon, Espen Rasmussen and Warren Richardsson (Worl Press Photo winner 2016). The festival is organized by the DOK-foundation and hosted by Pressefotografenes klubb Norge (NPPA Norway). The HiOA faculty member Jon Petter Evensen is head of the DOK-festival organizing committee. Read more.

Human rights on the agenda

elisabe on 5. May 2017

Elsebeth Frey and Solveig Steien presented the Rig at an international conference in Oslo last year.

This year they will investigate the situation in Afghanistan, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Poland, Tunisia and USA.

70 students in seven groups will make articles, interviews, pictures, videos and audios about the media freedom in one of the countries.

Their stories will be published on the school´s webpage – Journalen – during the third week.

The multimedia Rig about press freedom around the world has been organized eight times. It was called one of the best European pedagogical teaching models for Transmedia Journalism by Integrated Journalism in Europe (IJIE) in 2015 http://learning.euromain.net/

Iran: Climate Change and Peace Journalism

elisabe on 16. March 2017

Leader of JMIC, Elisabeth Eide, and the Afghan delegation.

In end February/early March, Dagny Stuedahl and Elisabeth Eide visited partner institution Faculty of Communication Sciences and Media Studies at Islamic Azad University (IAU) in Teheran. A workshop was held on Media and Climate Change – and on Peace Journalism, with colleagues from Afghanistan. The attendance was good and the discussion lively and creative, demonstrating that media pay too little attention to climate change perils – and to peaceful solutions to conflict.

JMIC’s representatives also visited the newspaper belonging to the IAU, and ISNA (Iranian Students News Agency), and were received by Prof. Hamid Mirzadeh, President of the whole university, which has more than 1.5 million students, at home and abroad.

From the left: Dean Seyed Vahid Aqili, Dagny Stuedahl, Director Haid Mirzadeh, Elisabeth Eide og Terje Skaufjord (accompanying partner).

Master candidates graduate in Norhed project

elisabe on 2. December 2016

The first master candidates of the Norhed project “RUIICAY-HIOA Intercultural Communication Linkage” graduate this fall. The project is a university network collaboration aiming to increase institutional capacities on autonomous intercultural communication in education and research. The students learn how to address the challenges of indigenous people in Latin America from an intercultural or journalistic perspective, and how journalism and media can facilitate respectful dialogue between people and cultures.

The courses of the program circulate between Ecuador, Colombia, and Nicaragua, and the 21 master candidates represent all three countries.

Read more about this in HiOA’s newspaper Khrono (in Norwegian only).

Prizes to Norwegian students of photojournalism

elisabe on 14. November 2016

Foto: Mads Høbye

Cicilie S. Andersen has won an Award of Excellence in the category Individual Multimedia Story or Essay – Standalone in the competition College Photographer of the year with a video about Maya – who is in China to do Kung Fu. See the film 

Cicilie was part of last year’s class of photojournalist students doing their final reportage work in China. Two other students also received awards in this competition for students of photography. See the winners list 

Christian Breidlid received a Bronze for his Multimedia Project – Small Team or Individual about Gaute who has worked as a prostitute since he was 12 years old. See the film

Anders Melchior received a Bronze for his Large Group Multimedia Project about Bruce Gold – the ultimate surf hippie. See the film

JMIC congratulates!