The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) presents a conversation with human rights and visual imaging photographer Stephen Ferry author of La Batea.

La Batea is the fruit of a six-year collaboration between photographer Stephen Ferry and his sister, the anthropologist Elizabeth Emma Ferry, La Batea book looks closely at small-scale gold mining in Colombia. The title refers to the wooden pan used in traditional mining since Pre- Columbian times. La Batea documents the struggles of gold mining communities in Colombia to defend their way of life against armed criminal organizations and multinational corporations seeking their gold. Colombia reflects the situation of local communities worldwide who face violent repression for opposing large-scale mining projects in their territories.

Co-sponsored by NYU Tisch’s Institute of Emerging Media Department of Photography & Imaging, and NYU PorColombia.

This event is free and open to the public. ID required for entry.

About Stephen Ferry

Since the late 1980s, Stephen Ferry has traveled to dozens of countries, covering social and political change, human rights, and the environment, on assignment for publications such as National Geographic, GEO, TIME and the New York Times. A fluent Spanish speaker, Stephen has developed an understanding of Latin America from over twenty years of covering the region. Stephen’s first book, I Am Rich Potosí: The Mountain that Eats Men (Monacelli Press,1999), documents the lives of the Quechua miners of Potosí, Bolivia. His second book Violentology: A Manual of the Colombian Conflict (Umbrage, 2012) has become a referential work for the study of Colombian history, armed conflict and human rights.
Stephen has won honors from the World Press Photo, Picture of the Year, and Best of Photojournalism contests. He has also received grants from the National Geographic Expeditions Council, the Fund for Investigative Journalism, the Alicia Patterson Foundation, the Howard Chapnick Fund, the Knight International Press Fellowship, the Getty Images Grant for Good, Open Society Foundations and the Magnum Foundation. www.stephenferry.com

About Elizabeth Emma Ferry
Professor of Anthropology at Brandeis University. She has a B.A. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. She specializes in the anthropology of mining, global commodities, and value. She is the author of Not Ours Alone: Patrimony, Value, and Collectivity in Contemporary Mexico (Columbia, 2005) and Minerals, Collecting, and Value across the U.S.-Mexican Border (Indiana, 2013) and numerous articles in academic journals and edited volumes. In 2010, she was honored to receive the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer ’69 and Joseph Neubauer Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring from Brandeis University. www.elizabeth-ferry.com