On the Other Side of the Mountains
In August 2010 we published a new publication by The Sochi Project, called: 'On the Other Side of the Mountains', about a 'utterly inconsequential village' in Karachay Cherkessia, Southern Russia. The publication is available on thesochiproject.org.
'On the Other Side of the Mountains' is about the small and inconsequential villlage Krasny Vostok. We, photopgrapher Rob Hornstra & Arnold van Bruggen passed by the village on our travels through the Caucasus. Actually, it was only the name of the village which attracted us. Krasny Vostok literally means The Red East. Actually there's not much more reason to portray the village. But the publication offers a beautiful portrait of Russian village life in the Northern Caucasus. It show how life is in a village partly without water and gas and where Moscow politics don't bother the locals too much. It tells about average lifes and the ambitions and dreams of those who live there.
'On the Other Side of the Mountains' reads through like a newspaper, but two publications fold out can be made into an exhibition 6 metres wide. This exhibition will travel through Europe from Autumn 2010 until Spring 2011 within the European Month of Photography.
'On the other Side of the Mountains' is available through www.thesochiproject.org.
25-8-10
Two Prospektor-projects nominated for Dutch Doc Awards 2010
'Dream City', a Prospektor project with photographer Anoek Steketee and 'The Sochi Project' with Rob Hornstra are nopminated for the Dutch Doc Awards 2010. De winners will be announced June 2nd in Utrecht.
Prospektor's video channel
While we're awaiting a new 3.0 multimedial website we selected some of our commissioned and non-commissioned video work on the VIMEO-website. Enjoy!
The Sochi Project in Rome & Rotterdam
2010 starts good for The Sochi Project by Arnold van Bruggen (Prospektor) & Rob Hornstra (Borotov). The Project will be on display in the Dutch Photography Museum in Rotterdam during the Quickscan #1 exhibition. And in Rome the Mandeep Gallery will show especially made posters by the Sochi Project in its gallery and throughout the city.
Premiere of documentary 'The Russian War' !
A documentary about the undigested war past of the Dutch island of Texel. The scenario for this documentary is developed during the IDFA Documentary Workshop 2005. The documentary will have its premiere on November 21st at the International Documentary Filmfestival in Amsterdam, IDFA.
1-11-09
The Sochi Project.org releases first book
By the end of 2009 The Sochi Project will release its first annual publication, entitled Sanatorium. The book will be printed in a circulation of 350 copies (all numbered) and will be only available to donors of The Sochi Project @ € 25,00 + p&p. Silver and Gold donors will receive a signed copy of Sanatorium for free.
Nieuwe reizen zomer 2009
Deze zomer heeft Prospektor reizen op het programma staan naar Turkmenistan, Irak, Texel en de Kaukasus.
Te Gast in - Iran
Zomer 2009 verschijnt de nieuwe uitgave van Te Gast In - Iran, een reisgids met verhalen van doorgewinterde Iran reizigers. (Samenstelling en redactie Eefje Blankevoort)
'Nobody tells me what to believe'
'Nobody tells me what to believe' is a 25-minute documentary about the Doopsgezinde (anabaptist) church in Amsterdam.
Revisiting The Netherlands of Jac. P. Thijsse
'Jac. P. Thijsse's Nederland opnieuw bekeken' (Revisiting The Netherlands of Jac. P. Thijsse) is a television series about the Dutch landscape with reference to the famous conservationist of natural beauty, Jac. P. Thijsse (1865-1945).
Dream Cities
From the Ferris wheel, you can see the whole of Duhok, a city in the north of Iraq. Below us, the cheerful lights of the amusement park twinkle and the countless families with ice creams, popcorn and cans of soft drink look like teeming ants. Laughing children run from attraction to attraction: a water slide, trampolines and an amusement arcade. Is this Iraq? No, you're in Dream City, a city with the happiest people in Iraq. The population consists of Kurds, Arabs - Shiites and Sunnis - and American soldiers. For many inhabitants, this city is a dream that contrasts sharply with their daily reality. That reality is war.
From Dreamcity. Iraq, summer 2006 (published in Vrij Nederland as text accompanying photos) by Anoek Steketee.
'Stiekem kan hier alles' nominated for M.J. Brusse Journalism Award
September 2007 Eefje Blankevoort's book on Iran 'Stiekem kan hier alles' ('In secret everything is possible here') was published.
Documentary Amsterdam-Kosovo
In September 2004 Prospektor filmed a disconcerting documentary about Kosovo. Five years after the international intervention.
Dream Land Kurdistan
In December 2006 De Groene Amsterdammer (a Dutch weekly magazine) and Knack (a Belgian magazine) published Prospektor-articles about the parts of Turkey, Iraq and Iran also known as Kurdistan. English translations are available hereunder.
Journeys through the Caucasus
Prospektor's Tomas Kaan & Arnold van Bruggen travelled through Abkhazia and Georgia to write about this frozen conflict. They were accompanied by the brilliant photographer Rob Hornstra.
Meanwhile in Europe
Prospektor filmed 'Ondertussen in Europa' (meanwhile in Europe), a tvmagazine-style report on the impact of the EU on different lives throughout Europe.
Stories about Iran
September 2007 Eefje Blankevoorts' book about Iran 'Stiekem kan hier alles - de twee gezichten van de islamitische republiek Iran' (In secret everything's possible here - the two-faced Islamic republic of Iran) has been published by Podium. The book sold out in almost two weeks. In October the second edition was announced.
The Dregs Of The Soviet Union
Abkhazia doesn't exist. Not a single government in the world recognises this breakaway republic of Georgia, a country smaller than the Netherlands with just 250,000 inhabitants. But this tiny region is more important than it first appears. This is where the Cold War still simmers and the fierce power struggle between Putin's reborn Russia and President Saakashvili's revolutionary Georgia is fought out. ‘We can't let Abkhazia go, just like you can't let go of your liver.'
The Blair Monkey Project
Soms maakt ook Prospektor spannende dingen mee. Wat wij hier doen bij een Rwandese schotelantenne en een horde apen blijft vooralsnog even geheim, maar de spannende homevideo, 90 graden op zijn kant, mogen we u niet onthouden.