Four Floors In Bielany (Viewbook Video)

A Chechen Diary (Day 1)

Bielany Hotel is a Refugee centre in Warsaw housing mostly refugees from Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.
There are 368 Rooms and Four floors,
There are about 100 family groups sharing up to three rooms per family.
The other rooms are occupied by single men, living together in up to groups of ten people. There are is also one Armenian family and one man in an isolated room because he is H.I.V positive. I have been told there are also a few Russian families pretending to be Chechen.
Some families have been living in these rooms for up to five years awaiting refugee status with the oppertunity to work in Poland or leave for another country which may accept them.
I visted first in January 2009 with a Photojournalist friend from the Sputnik group and a Warsaw based Journalist,and used a 35mm film camera and a 120 6x6 Yashica Med format camera.
This time i used a translator who spoke Russian, Polish and English and visited in July 2009, this time i used a digitial camera (which i ahted) and my 35mm film camera again.
I cropped everything down to 6x6 or letterbox to keep with my ideals and style for the work. I took notes from the families and individuals i inteviwed,often had tea and lunch with them and spent about one-two hours with each of them. Often i spent 4-5 hrs at the centre arriving from 10 am because the residents hardly ever woke up early.I talked to the director when i arrived (who came across surprisingly as an instituionalised racist?)...so in all i visted the Hotel seven days. Its a hard place and the children and residents drain you, harrowing stories,brave people,frustration and apathy.
I take and promise, i give them copies of my work at the end but they all need something 'solid!' what do i give them back?..will i return can i?...i need to find someone to publish the work to at least do these tortured people some justice by my work, what a waste if the work is never seen or continued, (if i can get funding) the project feeds me, but it has still left a bitter and ethicial taint in my mouth.

A Chechen Diary

After reading the amazing book 'Open Wound' by Stanley Greene i have decided (and i hope not to pretensiously) in homage to Greene;i will post some slivers of my Contact sheets and notes from the days and notes i took while visiting the 'Bielany Refugee Camp' in Poland this month for my Unit 1:1 Project for the online course in Doc Photography and Photojournalism at LCC.
I am hoping that after feedback from Course leaders for the work i will be able to develop the work further and with advice approach Magazines and UK newspapers with the idea of publishing the work.
This project i hope will form part of my final project for the course.
Any feedback and advice with useful critic welcome:

Poems & Inspiration

Lost 2009

Who am I?

who eats birds,

who washes his face in

the Cholera of Days

Ghost, 1983

I felt soft fingers at my throat
It seemed someone was strangling me

The lips were hard as they were sweet
It seemed someone was kissing me

My vital bones about to crack
I gaped into another's eyes

I saw it was a face I knew
A face as sweet as it was grim

It did not smile it did not break
Its eyes were wide and white its skin

I did not breathe I did not weep
I raised my hand and touched its cheek

Update: The Excelsior :http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery/Excelsior-Days/G0000BwkfQqYj9vk

Lightstalkers

I have updated my lightstalkers page with extra gallaries.
I hardly ever recieve any feedback on lightstalkers or replies to my posts etc, i feel it is very U.S.A dominated.
This will serve as a temp website until have the time and money to produce a better on than my old clickpic site.

http://www.lightstalkers.org/kirkellingham

News

Be more positive!!!

1) I have a group exhibition at the Queens Park Arts Centre in Aylesbury Bucks from the 29th of June until the 6th of July.
It will be an display of my two students on the basic photojournalism and documentary photography course i ran in March 2009.

2) I will have my work "all about her" published in a book with criticial essays on the them the : Pursuit of Happiness.
There will also be an exhibition in London this Autumn, location to be confirmed

3) Ive applied for a group funded project for a Belarus Youth Magazine, i will hear the results by the end of June.

4) I have applied for the Royal Photographic Societies MA Bursary and forwarded the Teacher accreditation from John or Paul to be returned

I will post more news on these subjects when i have them.