Claire Martin (Australia): Selections from The Downtown East Side and Slab City
Inge Morath Award Winner, 2010
Editor’s note: In 2010, in recognition of exceptional quality of submissions received, two applicants were selected as winners of the Inge Morath Award. Lurdes Basolí’s winning project was featured in IM Magazine in September 2010.
Project Description:
Both my previous works “The Downtown East Side” and “Slab City” have explored communities of people living in desperate conditions in prosperous, stable countries. The Downtown East Side is located in Vancouver, Canada. The ten block radius is home to a host of social problems including extreme poverty, an AIDS rate estimated at over 30% and the leading cause of death is overdose. Slab City is a squatters community located in the Colorado Desert in California. Residents of this community live in some of the worst conditions in the USA with no access to electricity, sewage, water or waste disposal. Mental illness, addiction and poor coping strategies are the common factors that brought these people to their respective communities. I was drawn to document these communities because the same issues have played a role in my own life. … read more
So amazing and impresive portraits !
Saludos,
Didier Petre
Superb. Revelationary.informative and hauntingly beautiful. The humanity shines through the desperate circumstances. The poverty in so called civilised societies is all the more shocking. I applaud you for showing the horrors with such skill and compassion. Thank you. Rick
Hard stuff; pretty provocative.
How some people await their death…
Great work! Very impressing and authentic.
Strange to think that such stunning and thought provoking portraits can be produced from such intense poverty. A true talent.
What an amazing subject! Those issues are so rarely documented. Interresting, and sad, and true. Bravo!
Amazing strange portraits, thank you Claire Martin !
Claire Martin has a strong voice and unity in this project. I couldn’t take out one single picture from the whole. You have to take everything at once.
Formally powerful, surprisingly change from monochrome to color, all working arround the concept: a solid story.
I wonder how long took the research and how deep Claire had to go to get that kind of intimacy.
Congratulations!
From Argentina, Sebastian
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you did open the door! tks