12-09+2009 Paris Manga

Paris Manga, a big trade fair for everything related to Japanese youth culture. But just observing the visitors was the most fun.

01-08-2009 Slum Surfing

Click on the image for a Soundslide presentation.

Eleven year old Joaquin from the extremely poor area of Alto Peru in Lima has learned to surf on the nearby Pacific Ocean. Two local surfers have set up an organisation to teach poor children to surf. They say Joachin is a talented surfer and If he keeps training hard, this sport may be an escape from poverty for him.
They try to teach their students other values too, like respect for the environment and education. They try to offer them an alternative to hanging around in the streets, joining gangs and using and dealing drugs.

(Music: 3 Deseos, by: Masilva, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Masilva/53601506820)

31-07-09 Lima

One of the dreariest areas of Lima, near the main garbage dump of the city.

27-07-2009 Peru

The Yanacocha mine is the biggest gold mine in Latin America. It covers several mountaintops in the Andes near the city Cajamarca in the north of the country.

28-04-2009 Cafoa

Vakaga state in the north east of the Central African Republic only has a few schools with stone buildings. Most students go to class in cane huts with thatch roofs. The French NGO Triangle is trying to build 20 new school buildings this year in the state. Problem is that in the rainy season that lasts from May to Oct. most roads in the area are impassable which will seriously hamper the construction efforts.

27-04-2009 Boura

French blue helmets patrolling the weekly market of Boura, the biggest market in the north eastern region of the Central African Republic. The borders with Chad and Sudan are not far away.

26-04-09 Birao

The catholic church of Birao still shows the signs of heavy fighting in 2006 when rebels took the town. The FACA, the national army quickly responded with the aid of the French army and retook control of the town. The French still have a base here, though now under the flag of the UN peace troops. On sunday morning many of the French soldiers come to mass here.

25-04-2009

Sam Ouandja, a refugee camp of Darfuri refugees in the east of the Central African Republic. Internally displaced people in Central Africa mostly flee into the bush, where they have to fend for themselves.

24-04-2009 Oubangui river

After a hair raising roller coaster flight trying to avoid a huge thunderstorm we ended up flying at an altitude of 200m, under the storm, following the Oubangui river back to the capital Bangui of the Central African Republic. So I didn't make it to Birao today. Hopefully tomorrow. I only took out my camera after we left the storm, so a peaceful view of a village from low altitude.

23-04-2009 Bangui

Malnutrition is a serious problem in the Central African Republic. The infant mortality rate at 176 per 1000 is amongst the highest in the world.

21-04-2009 Poumbaindi

The Central African Bush phone.

19-04-2009 Paoua

Part 2 in the series 'Yummy sources of protein': "Les Grillots" Fried in some oil they're said to be delicious.

19-04-2009 The future of Paoua

Members of a self defense group in Paoua.
Due to the extreme shortage of police in the Central African Republic, neighborhoods organize their own security. These groups of young men patrol the streets; they settle disputes and prevent petty theft. Some groups outside Paoua are known to clash with rebels regularly.

16-04-2009 Paoua

Humanitarian observers in the North west of the Central African Republic that cycle for hours through the bush to contact internally displaced people that have fled the violence.

12-04-2009 Central African Republic

A group of children catch flying termites that leave their underground home at the start of the rainy season. They eat them directly, or collect them to be used in dinner. It's a precious source of protein in this extremely poor region of Africa.

11-04-2009 Central African Republic

A school building in Patcho in the Centre of the Central African Republic was used by rebels as a headquarters. Now that the rebels have got a firm grip over the area the population has returned, the school is used again. The students have to look at the graffiti, the rebels left, because there's no money to repaint the building.

10-03-2009 The Sulphur miners of Ijen

In the crater of the Ijen volcano in Eastern Java (Indonesia) approximately 300 men collect Sulphur that is deposited around a volcanic vent. The red liquid sulphur turns bright yellow when it hardens. the men chop off thick slices. They fill their baskets up to more than 80 kilos. They first have to climb 300m up from the crater floor before descending the mountain to the small factory nearby.

Chernobyl 05-02-2009

On a very rare occasion: myself in a picture. The location is surreal: reactor nr. 4 of the nuclear plant of Chernobyl. This is the reactor that exploded in 1986 and caused the worst ecological disaster in human history.
(Photo by: Aleksander Prugar)

Mukachevo Railway station Early 04-02-2009

Waiting for the train to Kiev.

Ukrainian TV (03-02-09)

Afghan refugee children watch Ukrainian TV.

Hidden Soviet Treasure (02-02-2009)

The Ukrainian railway station on the border with Hungary is a great example of Soviet architecture. Unfortunately it doesn't see much action these days.

Amusement park for men

On a muddy field near the East German village Schoenfelde a dozen of tanks disturb the pastoral silence. A bunch of former East German army officers have set up a ‘tank driving school’. It started as a hobby, but by now, they are open around the year. For 136 Euros anyone can drive a tank through the mud. An ideal amusement park for men! Forty percent of the visitors are women though.

Paris Strange places

In 'Le Musée de Contrefaçon', (the museum of counterfeits) you can find an extensive collection of counterfeited goods that were seized by the French police and customs. The collection ranges from imitation Dior and Louis Vuitton bags and barbie dolls to copied rearview mirrors for Peugeots.

New Series: Demographic warfare

How Israel uses its people as a tactical weapon

© 2008 Text and photos: Ronald de Hommel

The Israeli settlement policies in the occupied territories are infamous throughout the world. But that Israel uses the same techniques on its own territory is less known. Even amongst the people it concerns: its own population.

The Galilee, in Northern Israel has always been a predominantly Muslim part of the country. In recent years many new Jewish settlements have sprung up. The idea is to increase the number of Jews in the region. The settlements are strategically positioned in between Arab villages to prevent them from growing towards each other. One of those Jewish communities is Shimshit a pleasant sleep city of 500 young middleclass families. Together with neighbouring Bet Zarzir, an Arab village it's a perfect example of the subtle demographic warfare of Israel.

"The only contact we have with our neighbours is that they steal our bikes and cars," tells Anne vom Stein. "Just kidding", she adds with a cynical grin. "But," she continues with a serious voice, "that is the general mood here towards Muslims in the region."

12-11-2008

Financial Consultant at SNS Securities in Amsterdam

October 04, 2008

For the Parisian cultural night, Nuit Blanche, the Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda designed a light installation in front of the Tour Montparnasse, the highest building in Paris. The work of art consisted of a square of ultra powerfull projectors ponting upwards to form a massive beam of light.

23-09-2008 Demonstration in Paris

I recently moved to Paris. A good reason to start again with my weblog. Yesterday I bumped into what the French are famous for: a demonstration. They say, there are several demonstrations a day in the French capital. I won't be covering them all. But once in a while...
This was a protest of employees of "La Poste" against plans to privatize the French postal services. The demonstrators in front of one of the main post offices clearly didn't want to be recognised...

12 march 2008, Lodz, Poland

A man walking on the square of Manufaktura, the new cultural and commercial heart of Lodz.

15 march 2008, Warsaw, Poland

Painting easter eggs

14-03-08 Warsaw, Poland

Drinking coffee