AFGHANISTAN - MORTAR VOTERS

We’ve been struggling to keep up with the myriad tales of corruption and violence that’ve been emerging from Afghanistan in the lead up to the August 20^th elections. The idea that the men running for power in the country are the same men involved in major human rights violations, serious drug trafficking, and widespread intimidation is obviously nuts but it’s nothing new for the people of Afghanistan...or really a lot of governments at this point.

NEW YORK - MAINE DELAY OUTTAKES

Probably you're not going to a private home with its own flotilla and teepee sweat where you can run around in your skivvies and shoot cannons and guns with a 60-something hallucinogens "guide" who was very likely Jack London in a past life (the math works out), but hopefully you're heading off somewhere where the internet doesn't exist over this long weekend. We are--nope not telling you where--so we'll see you back on Tuesday. 

AUSTRALIA – KARRON BRIDGES SHOOTS THE REBELS

Karron Bridges is a photographer from Western Australia who grew up in the era of manual photography and working hard for a good shot. She’s been capturing images on film for longer than most of us have been alive and, in the quest for interesting subjects, has found herself in all kinds of weird and awkward situations. Karron has spent many years documenting Australian outlaw bikie gangs, and her body of work is a totally fascinating glimpse into their secret world. She’s also photographed prostitutes, neo-Nazis and the Aborigines she spent a harrowing year living with in the Northern Territory. Karron’s life has not been boring.

JAPAN - THE ENCOURAGING SHRINE

 

Japan is the place where ridiculous things are easily accepted by everyone. For instance, this ancient penis-worship shrine built out of grave stones. No one knows exactly when it was made, but it clearly came before 1364 since there was a book written about it in that year. We do, however, know it was made "for couples hoping to have the healthy children," which is a great thing to support with our tax money.

A FIST IN THE FACE OF OSLO - I AM YOUR GRANDMA AND YOU WILL LOVE IT

Hey, remember that trip to Oslo I keep on talking about? (Here, here, here.) It was fucking great so you're going to hear more. Let's go through some images, just like how your grandma did the first time she went back to the mother country and took a shitload of snapshots of nothing and hijacked entire dinner one night showing you pictures from different angles of the statue in front of the hotel she stayed in. 

BELGIUM - PEOPLE, NO PEOPLE, TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE, BUT THEN NOT

Caroline Sachs began photography to journey outside herself as young woman from Brazil. How many people admit something like that? She's studied in London, New York City, and is now back in São Paulo shooting theater stills and formulating plans to publish a book.

BELGIUM - PAUL HERBST, MAYBE RUSSIAN BEARS, AND A HALF-DEAD CAT

Paul Herbst does more than photographing his friends--his imagery is something of a scavenger hunt of trees, human hair, and smoke. After some persuasion I got Paul to chat with me, and I started talking about bears walking around in Moscow. He told me about his parents' half-dead cat who has magical powers, his desire to photograph the US, and doing nothing in the meantime (which is highly doubtful). He just published the first issue of his zine, My Shit Is Gold, and is now in the process of doing the second. And he doesn't even own a digital camera.

BUENOS AIRES - A WALK IN THE PARK WITH COCA SARLI

Coca Sarli, a former actress from Argentina who was born in 1935, began her career as a model and was crowned Miss Argentina in 1955. After starring in tons of films, among those the first Argentine film with a total nude scene, she has managed to slip into every generation´s jerking image-stock. Recently some alcohol brand had the idea of installing 1,882 body figures of her (which maybe stands for the average number of wanks each Argentine has dedicated to her?), in a park in the wealthiest neighborhood of Buenos Aires as a payback for all the inspiration she's provided. In what may have been an attempt to spot some obsessed male groupies and drag them away to her place, for which we definitely can´t blame her, Coca threw on a fur and gladly posed for some portraits with herself. 

MOMENTS LIKE THIS ISSUE EXTRA - RAVE ON

As a special treat, we have here some images left over from the article on Gavin Watson's new book, Raving '89. This was the bit of raving that happened before it got all smiley faces and glowsticks. We had a chat with a man called Gary Ellis, who was instrumental in setting up the raves that Gavin was attending in warehouses, fields and the homes of unfortunate kids in 1989. Gary Ellis was the business minded end of the rave scene, and also had a thing for really big mobile phones.

MEET THE NIERATKOS - DOG PEOPLE ARE WEIRD

My wife gave birth to our baby…and it was one of those hairy dog boys.

Kidding.  

But I am still half expecting the baby to be black. Those goddamn Verizon guys always waiting outside my house for their turn…