Introducing the 2013 Moving Walls Photographers
By Amy Yenkin
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Kim Jeong-Ya (a pseudonym), 67, lives in China near the North Korean border and belongs to a handful of Chinese human rights activists who dedicate their lives to help both North Korean defectors and abducted South Koreans make a safe passage from North Korea to South Korea via mainland China. © Katharina Hesse -
Accused of crimes such as theft and robbery in Sierra Leone, none of these young men received legal assistance at their trials, nor have received any family visits. © Fernando Moleres -
A couple on the banks of the Yellow River. In 1997, 40 percent of the Yellow River’s waters were severely polluted, and it was so overexploited that it failed to reach the sea for 226 days a year, making the prospect of terminal dormancy a realistic possibility. Since then, however, the flow has been unbroken, but demand for water in northern China continues to grow faster than efficiency gains. Hejin, Shanxi, China. 2011. © Ian Teh/Panos/Agence VU’ -
Rabheen (left) and Miley Esbak visit their brother Ali’s grave on March 25, 2012, in the Green Mountain town of Shehat in eastern Libya. Ali was killed fighting on the frontline against Gaddafi’s forces in April 2011. Now the family hopes that Libya can seize the rights, dignity, and greatness that they say Ali, 17, was fighting for. © Yuri Kozyrev/NOOR -
Interrogations III, Ukraine. © Donald Weber/VII Network
2013 will mark a milestone for the Open Society Foundations’ Moving Walls exhibition. It will not only be our 20th exhibition since starting in 1998 but will be the inaugural exhibition at the Foundations’ new headquarters at the Argonaut building on 57th and Broadway in New York City. Moving Walls is a documentary photography exhibition produced by the Open Society Foundations that features in-depth explorations of human rights and social issues. These images provide human rights evidence, put faces onto a conflict, document the struggles and defiance of marginalized people, reframe how issues are discussed publicly, and provide opportunities for reflection and discussion. Since 1998, Moving Walls has featured over 150 photographers.
For the exhibition that will open in our new office, we received 300 proposals from 49 countries through an open call. The proposals were carefully reviewed by the Documentary Photography Project staff, an advisory committee of foundation staff, and the show’s longtime curators, Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas and Stuart Alexander, International Specialist at Christies. We recently completed selection and are pleased to announce that the following photographers have been chosen:
- Katharina Hesse, on North Korean refugees who crossed the border into China
- Fernando Moleres, on young men and boys imprisoned alongside adults and awaiting trial in Sierra Leone
- Yuri Kozyrev, on the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa and their aftermath
- Ian Teh, on the changing landscape of the Yellow River Basin in China
- Donald Weber, on police interrogations in Ukraine
In contrast to our current location, the new exhibition space will be located on the street level in a public conference space. That, combined with being more centrally located on 57th Street, gives us opportunities to engage with the public in a different way. The current office has been a great home to Moving Walls but I am excited for the new possibilities. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the opening of the exhibition.
Until March 2016, Amy Yenkin was the director of the Open Society Documentary Photography Project.
