| Inlägg: | This is the Hasselblad Foundation chat site for those wishing to ask questions to the 2008 Hasselblad Award Winner. The winner will be available to chat on March 6 between 3:00 and 3:45 p.m. Central European Time (CET), corresponding to 9:00 and 9:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the USA. Please feel free to submit your questions at any time in advance. To make this chat as efficient as possible we ask you kindly to keep your questions short. Please note the following: The Hasselblad Foundation will announce the 2008 award winner with an online video at www.hasselbladfoundation.org on March 6 at 2:00 p.m. CET (08:00 a.m. EST). A press release and press pictures will be published on the website at the same time as the video is broadcast, i.e. on March 6 at 2:00 p.m. CET (08:00 a.m. EST). |
| Inlägg: | Graciela Iturbide, the 2008 Hasselblad Award Winner will soon be here to answer your questions. Questions must be in English! To make this chat as efficient as possible we ask you kindly to keep your questions short. | moderator |
| Inlägg: | Graciela Iturbide is here now to answer your questions. | moderator |
| Fråga: | What does the Hasselblad award mean to you? | Kallem |
| Svar: | For me its a pleasure and an honor to recieve this prize so important in the world. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Your views on photography today - interesting directions? | Kallem |
| Svar: | In general everything that surprise me in life its good to photograph in this moment I am working in Sardinia and Mexico in different aspects. | award winner |
| Fråga: | What other Hasselblad award winners are you familiar with? | Kallem |
| Svar: | Manuel Álvarez Bravo my teacher had it, Sebastiao Salgado and Josef Koudelka. I am familiar with almost all and for me its an honor to be with them. | award winner |
| Fråga: | What camera do you prefear? | Sven |
| Svar: | In the beginning I used Hasselblad two time stolen from me and then I started to use Laica and now I work 6x6 with Mamiya | award winner |
| Fråga: | Do you have any exhibitions going on right now? | Kaj |
| Svar: | I have several exhibitions comming up. One in 2009 in Madrid. By now I have a Major Exhibitin in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Will your receipt of this very prestigeous prize have any impact on Mexican or other Latin American Photography or Photographers? Status/ World recognition? Working conditions? Profitability? | MAJA-DUKE LAB |
| Svar: | I´m so happy to get this prize been Latin American and recognizing greatest photographers in Latin America. | award winner |
| Fråga: | What do you like to do when not taking photos. | Sven |
| Svar: | I like to work with my archives and keep working on my own projects in my studio in Mexico City. Preparing books etc., etc... | award winner |
| Fråga: | Congratulation Graciela! Bravo and Salgado got the award already. Is there any other Latin - American photographer that you would suggest? | Casasola |
| Svar: | Of course I would suggest Miguel Río Branco brazilian photographer. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Dear Graciela, why did you chose photography as your way to express yourself artistically. | Casasola |
| Svar: | I wanted to be writter. I studied cinematography and I met Álvarez Bravo and for me wan an honer to be close to him and I discovered the importance of the image. Now I feel very happy since it´s a way to discover the world through my camera. | award winner |
| Fråga: | How would you best describe your work and why do you think the foundation picked you for the 2008 award? | Wienberg |
| Svar: | I really don´t know how to describe it and as I mention before it´s an honor and let me keep working. | award winner |
| Fråga: | What do you think is the power of photography? Why is photography so strong? | Claudia |
| Svar: | Photography for me its very subjective and it´s a way for me as I mentioned before to discover the culture of different countries. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Have you published any books in English? | Kaj |
| Svar: | Several books of my work have been published in English. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Did you know about the Hasselblad Award before you received it yourself? | Kaj |
| Svar: | Of course I knew it´s one of the most important prizes and Álvarez Bravo my teacher was one of the first photographers to received it. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Do you have any other photographers that are inspirations to you? If so, which? | Kallem |
| Svar: | Josef Koudelka it´s been an inspiration for me and some others as Robert Frank and Daido Moriyama. | award winner |
| Fråga: | What do you feel when you make photos? | NaÏf |
| Svar: | While I´m photographing and I am able to be surprise with life would be passion and I´ll be very happy. | award winner |
| Fråga: | When did you diceided to become a professional photographer? | Inger |
| Svar: | When I was the Cinematography School in 1969 as I mentioned before I met A. Bravo I started to work as his assistant and I decided to quit cinematography and became a professional photographer. A. Bravo was a great example for my work. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Graciela - we havent seen so much of your work in the UK for a while. I hope the Award will help change that. Are there any plans for future exhibitions in the UK? | David Chandler |
| Svar: | By now I don´t have any plan to exhibit there but I´d love to have an exhibition there. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Congratulations! What do you think this prize will meen to you as a photographer in your future work? | Elsa T |
| Svar: | It´s an oportunity to keep working and travel around the world. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Hi from where do you get your insperation? | Eva |
| Svar: | Not only of the greatest photographers but literature, music and general culture. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Birds have been an important motif for you, as they were for the Surrealists, is there any connection there? What do they signify for you? | David Chandler |
| Svar: | I have a selfportrait in the serie called "Eyes to fly with" and it´s been represented with birds in my eyes. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Congratulation Graciela! The death is a topic present in some your pictures, why? | Paula |
| Svar: | In Mexico, we have the culture to celebrate death and this is an influence in my work and my personal lost of my daughter Claudia make me be interested in this topic. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Do you prefer to work in b/w for your own work. If so why? | Casasola |
| Svar: | I work in black and white and I´ve been working with color sometimes but until know I prefer black and white. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Felicidades maestra!!! Qué significa este premio para México? Es decir, antes se habia premiado ya a don Manuel Alvarez Bravo, qué pasó en la fotografía en nuestro país desde entonces hasta ahora que usted ha sido galardonada? | La Jornada |
| Svar: | México es un país con una gran tradición fotográfica y para todos los fotógrafos mexicanos ha sido enriquecedor toda esta historia respecto a la imágen. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Would you please tell me the story of one of your best pictures, like "Angel Woman"? | Paul Banks |
| Svar: | In 1979 in Sonora desert in Mexico I worked with the Seris. I had the chance to take this picture and I related with the culture of the Seris. The woman with a traditional custom and how are close to the American Culture. | award winner |
| Fråga: | What will you do with the price money? | Eva |
| Svar: | I want to travel to keep taking pictures. | award winner |
| Fråga: | You said you initially wanted to be a writer, and that literature is an important source of inspiration. Which writers do you most admire and why? | David Chandler |
| Svar: | I admire different trends of literature. In the case of Mexico, I admire Juan Rulfo who wrote Pedro Páramo. He is a writer not only well known in Mexico but worldwide. I like to read Mircia Eliade in her books of history of religions her travel books and I love literature of traveler writers. | award winner |
| Fråga: | ¿Este premio te considera como una las creadoras de la cultura fotográfica, qué piensas al respecto? | Paula |
| Svar: | Sinceramente no lo sé. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Are you familiar with some scandinavian photographers | Casasola |
| Svar: | One of the photographers that I admire the most is Christer Stromholm and Anders Peterson. I belive the scandinavian photography is very valuable. | award winner |
| Fråga: | I believe you have been producing more abstract images lately, could you say anything about how you feel your aproach to photography has changed through time? | Paul Banks |
| Svar: | The life of a photographer it´s changing according the diferent vission and emotions. By now I feel very happy to discover any other ways of seing the world. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Realmente ha logrado captar a la muerte en sus imágenes? | La Jornada |
| Svar: | Sí. En un cementerio de Dolores Hidalgo fotografiando a los angelitos "niños muertos" encontré en el medio del camino a la muerte. Un hombre mitad calavera mitad hombre y ahí decidí dejar por un rato este tema. Sentí que la muerte me dijo basta. | award winner |
| Fråga: | En estos momentos se exhibe "Ojos para volar" en el CI, ¿es una coincidencia o ya se creía que ústed podía ganar este premio? | Paula |
| Svar: | Es totalmente una coincidencia que se presente este libro pues esta exposición tiene 2 dos meses en el Centro de la Imagen. La fecha de presentación del libro ya estaba programada y casualmente coincide con el nacimiento del Sr. Hasselblad así que si ha sido una coincidencia. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Congratulation to the prize! If you had to choose three pictures to present you (photographs you personaly like the most!) Curios of your choice!! | clayone |
| Svar: | Angel Woman one of my first photographs. Any of my selfportraits and maybe any picture of the serie of the birds. | award winner |
| Inlägg: | This chat with Graciela Iturbide will be closing in 10 minutes. Please submit your last questions now. | moderator |
| Fråga: | Muchas felicidades por el premio, es lo menos que te mereces. | piqui |
| Svar: | Gracias por tu llamada y esperemos poder trabajar mucho. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Have you ever been to Sweden? | Lars |
| Svar: | I been several times in Sweden, visiting Stromholm. I had the pleasure to meet him and been in his house. I love Sweden. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Can you recommend any good schools,education. | Inger |
| Svar: | Here in Mexico in the Centro de la Imagen there is a very important education program but I would recommend to visit Oaxaca where you can visit the Centro Fotográfico Álvarez Bravo with a high level photographic program. | award winner |
| Fråga: | ¿Habrá alguna ceremonia en México, por parte de la embajada de Suecia, para celebrar este reconocimiento? | Paula |
| Svar: | Hoy mismo en la embajada de Suecia habrá un cocktail para anunciar este evento y este premio. | award winner |
| Fråga: | Cuál es la imagen más reciente que ha captado, digamos ayer?? (No digo la última porque espero tarde mucho, mucho en llegar | La Jornada |
| Svar: | Mis últimas fotografías están hechas en Cerdeña, una isla que me encanta y en esta impresiones estoy trabajando. | award winner |
| Inlägg: | We are now closing the chat with Graciela Iturbide. Unfortunately the time did not allow her to answer all the questions. Thank you very much Graciela and thanks to all of you for being with us. | moderator |
| Fråga: | Dear Graciela, What moment in your career would you describe as your breakethrough as a photographer? | Malin |
| Svar: | Since I took my camera it´s been for me very important as I always say to describe the world culture through my camera. I´m always surprise with I can capture as a photogrpaher. For me photography its a major part of my life. | award winner |