(1888PressRelease)
November 22, 2008 - The children from a local village on the tropical island of Vanuatu, enjoyed the recently black and white photographic exhibition, 'Black Islands Custom and Conflict', displayed in the Cultural Center, Port Vila, in the South Pacific.
The world renowned Ben Bohane, an Australian photo-journalist, shot the photos which are images of custom and conflict throughout the region of South East Asia and the South Pacific. Ben has been adding to his collection since 1989.
Ben has been an eye-witness to nearly all major conflicts in the areas of East Timor, Bougainville, PNG, Solomon Islands, Moluccu, West Papua, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia. Ben saw these events as being a Blue Moon Opportunity, (an opportunity that comes your way once in a lifetime).
Ben has had the privilege to stay for extended lengths of time, living with a wide range of tribal, custom, cult and rebel groups. He was able to travel with Guadalcanal guerrillas, as well as photographing the opposing side, Malaita Eagle Force. Ben was the only person to secure and record an interview of the Guadalcanal warlord, Harold Keke, prior to his surrender to troops from Australia.
Ben's independent record of the conflicts in the South Pacific, has given him the right be the proud owner of the world's biggest archive, of contemporary photographs. His highly emotive but sensitive photographs have been exhibited world wide. Many collectors are proud to also be private owners of Ben's photographs.
Ben, now living in Port Vila, continues to center his work in the South Pacific region. He has had exhibitions in Holland and Cambodia, Australia and Washington. His photographs have also appeared in a large range of magazines such as the Guardian, (UK), Newsweek, Geo in France, Aera (Japan), Pacific magazine (Hawaii), besides being displayed in many Australian publications. Ben has also created documentaries which have been viewed on the ABC, BBC, SBS Australia and ARD, Germany, as well as NHK, Japan. Ben also regularly produces work on Pacific issues as an ABC Foreign Correspondent.
In Vanuatu, where education is not free and 25% of the young generation never go to school, it is tremendous to see the children interested in Ben’s work.
You can find out more about Ben's work, by contacting the cultural centre pima ( @ ) vanuatu dot com dot vu or look up their website http://culturepacific dot org dot
About the author:
Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys and her husband are founding directors of YouMe Support Foundation, (http://youmesupport.org). A child trust fund providing grants for high school education for children who will never see the inside of a high school classroom without outside assistance. You can check it out at Win A Resort, (http://winareosrt.com.)
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