24 September 2009

Alberta Tarsands - story update

A major update to the Alberta Oilsands story is now online.

I revisited the tarsands during an assignment in July 2009 and have updated the story with fresh pictures and a wider scope of the story. Full edits are available in the archive sets underneath the slideshow. View the Canada Oilsands story.

17 September 2009

Oyster dredging

Yes, it does get glamorous sometimes. Welcome to the annual Oyster Dredge Match in West Mersea, Essex; or rather, off the coast of Essex, obviously. Oysters live in the water, and that's where it's at when it comes to harvesting these slippery delicacies.

For good measure, I went twice: once to shoot the smacks sailing during the dredge match, which is the way business has been done traditionally over here. It is proper seamanship navigating these fast sailing boats up and down a one-mile stretch of ground while dredging the bottom for oysters. In the modern world, things are done by diesel engine and hydraulic power on modern dredge boats, similar to small trawlers and fishing boats. Anyway, here's the pictures.


Oyster Dredging - Images by Jiri Rezac

7 September 2009

Return to Sender

Picture the young man's misfortune: he's worked very hard, achieved some of the best academic results and has climbed that greasy pole of corporate banking with determination. Straight out of management school, he gets hired by Lehman Brothers who relocate him to London. Trainee position, first step on the career ladder. Two months into his job, the bank collapses in the world's largest bankruptcy case, sending shockwaves through the financial world.

Ashish Kumar, young and determined, has not given up. He has had little luck since his former employer vanished in a puff of smoke, yet every day he commutes into the city to his hired workspace, sends job applications out, keeps in touch with former colleagues and hopes for his chance. For our photo shoot, he even agrees to step into a cardboard box, a symbol of the bank's collapse last year. Wearing a fine suit, perfectly groomed, Kumar squats in the box and patiently endures my comments and flashlights. The result is good, on several counts: a week after the article's publication, he receives a job offer from Barclays Bank.