Brian Storm drops you into one of a dozen tropic outbacks to describe the personal hells inhabited by peoples displaced, violated and otherwise forgotten. His storytelling. His brand of storytelling is straight. It is simple. It is unrelenting in its sensitive yet graphic nature. Were it to be rated by a movie standards board, much of it would be rated X, if not NC-17.
While he works with some of the biggest names in media publishing: National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post, to name a few, it’s the story that still matters. Surrounded by students in NYC, a burrough away from his modest offices, he tells them straight: “What did you see? What did you notice in the story: technology or the story? What did you see?”
It’s meant to cut through the noise, glitz and hype. The student responds with earnestness. Yes. The story.
Most of the work shown is simple single, still, brilliant images. They show people ravaged by people. Another story shows elephants ravaged by people, poachers looking for quick money at any cost. It is Ken Burns with an edge: http://mediastorm.org/0016.htm is "Ivory Wars, Last Stand in Zakouma" done by J. Michael Fay & Michael Nichols. The story of the 1994 genocide where Rwandan women were subjected to "massive sexual violence" by Hutu militia is equally painful, equally repulsive. "Intended Consequences" by Jonathan Torgovnik deals with the relationship between the Rwandan women and the children born from their sexual atrocities during a time few wish to revisit. It is heartbreaking and a beautiful story. It is at: http://mediastorm.org/0024.htm
By coincidence a PC grad, Kevin German, just swung by class yesterday. He shared his work in Vietnam and China with students. He also went with members of his cooperative to meet with Brian Storm. He said Storm is a rare specimen: a multimedia evangalist who wishes he had competition. He refered to the recent loss of The Rocky and its "200 plus liberated journalists."
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