Joel Schalit

Burqa and Child

This photo has been kicking around since August. Shot in Torino, I finally used it on Tuesday, in Behind the Veil, for Souciant. A short piece combining four photos with commentary, I’ve had little time to write these past four weeks, as editorial responsibilities have gotten the better of me.

We’re taking a two week break starting next Thursday. I’ll be driving us back to Berlin, from Torino, across Switzerland, and up north, through Germany. I’m already planning the next essays for the book I’ve been unable to write this past month. I’m really looking forward to regrouping.

The nice thing is, of course, that whenever I’m not writing (if one can really say it’s actually possible) there’s always time to take new photographs. After three years of work, I’ve got just about enough pictures for a coffee table-style photo book. I’ll play with an outline for it early next year.

Going Underground

Palestine-referencing cartoon. #7 subway train, Berlin.

Medinat Berlin

The Arafat clocks are priceless. Palestinian souvenir shop, Neukölln.

Branding Statelessness (Reference Version)

Throughout the three years I’ve been back in Europe, I’ve made a point of documenting visual signs of the refugee crisis, by photographing pro-migrant street art, tagging and graffiti. In today’s edition of Souciant, I reprise my Randomizer role, with four shots taken in Belgium, France and Italy. Included is an explanation of my personal connection to the subject matter.

See Branding Statelessness. The piece begins with this photo, which I took in Brussels, in late September. It was scrawled on a wall not far from my friend Arthur’s apartment, in Matongé. I like these kinds of pieces. They’re a nice way of combining op-ed and travel writing with photojournalism. In between composing longer analytical pieces, they help me  generate new ideas.

Berlin on War

Just before I took this photo, an elderly man exited a building two doors down. He had a bugle in his hand. Slowly, he began to play an old German military song I recognized, from an old record I own, of music from the Third Reich. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Neither could a nearby pedestrian, who put down two big bags full of groceries, and took in the impromptu nostalgia revue. We made eye contact, and nodded our heads in acknowledgement. Two minutes later, the musician concluded his performance, and went back inside.

Eros or Agape?

Anti-cuts protestor. London, March 26th. This, and several other pictures I took at the demo, are featured in Solidarity All Around, by Charlie Bertsch. I used another photo I took at the same event for Joe Lockard’s Common Protests.

Nationalist Chic

Torino is my favorite city in Italy. Its liberalism plays no small role in what I like about it. Unfortunately, it also boasts the largest number of Nazi Swastikas I’ve ever seen. I assume it’s targeted because the city has such a large migrant community. For example, according to an article in La Stampa last Friday, Torino has the largest Moroccan community of any municipality in the country.

This unsettling photograph was taken in the San Salvario neighborhood last summer. This, as well as more recent photos I’ve taken, were featured in today’s Randomizer column, in Souciant. An anonymously-authored series, when a feature was postponed, I put this piece together this morning. The layout could be better (our platform still needs work) but the photos speak for themselves.

Negations

The indignados meme, remixed. Anarchist flyer, Porta Palazzo. Torino, November 25th.

Targeted Advertising

Pro-pluralism advert, Berlin. November, 2010.

Migrant advocacy adhesive, Torino. August, 2011.

Everywhere But There

Germany is a challenging place for all minorities. On multiculturalism and its proponents, in today’s Berlin. Yours truly, in Tuesday’s Souciant.

Addendum: Check out Wednesday’s thread about the article on Reddit. The commenter turns out to be an immigrant to Germany, most likely Greek.