24H apres

Jack is now back in his box. Excellent series (at least Season 1) although some turnabouts are a little bit... too much. By chance, I don't have any other series to watch and can now restart reading books. Unfortunately, the situation might change in a few weeks... So if you have any recommendations for a new series, just let me know (Don't say Dallas, I'm not sure I want to stay 20 years in Darfur, in front of my laptop).

Swiss politic

La Suisse va voter dimanche pour l'extension des accords bilatéraux (Suisse - UE) aux 2 nouveaux membres, la Roumanie et la Bulgarie. Selon les derniers sondages, un peu moins de la moitié de la population Suisse est contre cette extension, majoritairement par crainte de voir débarquer une horde d'étrangers ne rêvant que de violer nos femmes, tuer nos enfants, piquer nos jobs, mettre notre économie à terre et piétiner nos traditions. Bizarrement, ce sont toujours les mêmes arguments lorsque l'on doit voter sur un sujet en rapport avec l'étranger. Et toujours ainsi bizarrement, la Hongrie et la Bulgarie, semblent tellement intéressé par le paradis Suisse, que cette votation ne fait la une d'aucune chaîne de télévision ou de journal là-bas. Une fois de plus, l'UDC (un parti suisse très sympathique qui dit défendre la Suisse contre tous ces vampires d'étrangers), utilise les peurs les plus primaires pour chercher à faire basculer le scrutin. Et une fois de plus, une partie de la population semble avoir oublié son cerveau et sa logique dans la voiture. Mais tout cela n'est pas grave. L'important, c'est que la Suisse puisse exporter sa technologie et son savoir faire à l'étranger, mettre à l'abri et faire fructifier l'argent de ces mêmes étrangers (c'est bizarre, je les croyais tous pauvres et bavant sur la Suisse) et faire venir un maximum de touristes (étrangers, toujours eux) pour leur montrer à quel point notre Suisse est belle, propre et accueillante.
Pendant ce temps, je prends des photos dans un camps de déplacés internes ("réfugiés" venant du même pays) et j'écoute les aventures fantastiques de Mohamed, qui vient de marcher pendant 2 semaines pour fuir son village (ex-village, aussi appelé village Level 1) et dont la femme est morte il y a 12 jours, sa soeur il y a 7 (lorsqu'ils se sont fait attaquer en chemin) et qui doit désormais s'occuper d'une demi-douzaine d'enfants. Devant son nouveau palace (un arbre et 3 sacs plastiques), j'ai une vingtaine d'enfants qui jouent avec moi et veulent que je les prenne en photo. Je suis sûr qu'ils ont entendu parler des votations de dimanche.

Meme joueur joue encore!

I almost forgot to speak with you about a new game I discovered here.

Level 1
You take a village, in the middle of nowhere and you bomb it by airplane.
Then, you send some nice guys (that you provide with weapons) to kill, rape and burn the village.
Once you have about 2 millions people having fled their village and living mostly in refugee camps, you can go to Level 2.

Level 2
You send the same nice guys to kill the men and to rape/beat the women collecting wood outside the camps.
You keep bombing the camps and the water points.

Level 3
You announce some ceasefires and diplomatic discussion and then you return to play, trying to finish the Level 1 and 2 even faster than before.

Level 4
You announce that you've never played to this game (Some of your friends yes, but not you. Or just once, to try, not for years).

La vie est belle ...

The following takes place between 8am and 7pm

I just went to an IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp to cover an event and to take some pictures for me. I am exhausted but very happy.
To work as a photographer is not just about taking pictures. It's also to speak with the persons, to convince them your project worths it, to make clear that you are not a journalist and your are not going to steal any confidential information/report, to organize everything and to make them feel comfortable in front of the camera. It's challenging, difficult but very interesting.

But sometimes... you even don't have to speak...


Meanwhile... I would love to tell you that the situation in Darfur is getting better, that the bombings stopped and that the number of refugees is decreasing. Unfortunately, this is not (clearly not) the case. More than ever, the Darfurian population needs help and the UN is giving his best to bring assistance and peace in Darfur/Sudan. It maybe sounds idealistic but it is the case right now.
Jack, how much time do you need to help us to solve this situation?

Souvenirs Australiens

While Federer was fighting to win his 14th Grand Slam tournament, I was moving to my new guesthouse. I'm gonna share a room with a friend, won't be woken up at 05H45, won't have to wear a gas mask before going to the restrooms (or even to take my shower) and will, Inch'allah, even be able to cook (I love chinese noodles but...).



And as it is not far away from my office, I can go there on foot (Mom, stop freaking out) and it's also an advantage in the case of an evacuation (Mom!!!).
The situation here is getting better and I hope I'll soon have the right to take pictures outside (I have 2-3 nice projects in mind). But meanwhile, because I finally was free yesterday, I finished Californication. It's excellent, especially the first 8 episodes. 9-10 are quite weak and 11-12 are ok. Maybe it's time to give a chance to Jack now.

To summarize: I want to go out and to take pictures!!!!

Title to sell

I was a little bored with "I have to save the world baby!" and therefore, I let Jack in his box and I followed of one of my closest friend's advice (actually, I should say now, one of my ex-closest friend) and started the series Californication.
3 episodes later, I'm still in my bed and struggling to go to work. Yes, in this beautiful place called "In the middle of nowhere", weekends do not exist. A few shot to take and to process and I can return to California. My dear (ex) friend, I hate you ;-)! Vade retro, Satanas!



P.S: Weekend in Darfur is theoretically on Friday and Saturday.

Je veux je veux je veux!!!!

Today I'm bored. Curfew from 19H00 till 07H00, stuck inside the compound during the day and again and again the same food. I think it's time to be childish.
I want:
- An iPhone
- My new camera (I've been waiting for it for more than 2 months now).
- Nice food (e.g. some sushis or tapas from Sevilla).
- A room were my roomate wouldn't switch on the light at 05H45 every morning (I wake up at 7H).
- A volleyball or badminton field.
- Some poker mates.
and a big hug (No Mom... I'm not talking to you :-) )

P.S: Meanwhile, rebels and soldiers of the Government of Sudan are fighting and the number of refugees is increasing. Yep... No comment