2 minute commercial for Luang Prabang, Laos
A two minute commercial made for the Ministry of Information and Culture in Luang Prabang, Laos. The small UNESCO protected heritage town is shown through the eyes of a young visiting couple and the timeless memories they take with them.
We worked with a small team of people as the budget was tiny and received great help from the local community.
Paul Bloxham took it upon him to be the creative director while I produced and directed. We had great help from Michael Bishop who created the soundtrack.
Special thanks to Ben at Tigertrail, Yaxengli, Nou and Ka from @ My Library. Thanks to Madame Lamphoun for letting us use the rooms in Satri House. And a big thank you to all the people working for the tourist department in Luang Prabang, in particular Mr Kamtan.
And my incredible appreciation to Aurelie and Flo, our stars in the film!
Directed by Adri Berger
Creative Direction by Paul Bloxham info@paulbloxhamdesign.com
Produced by Adri Berger and Paul Bloxham Photography by Rob van Gelder and Adri Berger
Edited by Adri Berger
Soundtrack by Michael Bishop www.michaelbishopmusic.com
Our talent: Aurelie and Florian.
THANK YOU! Special thanks to: Mr Kamtan at the Provincial Tourist Department. Tigertrail and Ben, Yaxengli, Nou, Ka, Touy, Youa and Carol @ My Library
Black and White Spider Awards Honors Photographer
Awards Nominee; Fine Art - Nude - Sport
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS HONORS PHOTOGRAPHER
ADRI BERGER FROM THE NETHERLANDS
LONDON June 12, 2012- Photographer Adri Berger of the Netherlands was presented with the 7th Annual Black and White Spider Awards Nomimee in the categories of FINE ART, NUDE and SPORT at the prestigious Nomination & Winners PhotoShow. The live online ceremony webcast Saturday, June 9, 2012 was attended by photography fans in 72 countries who logged on to see the climax of the industry’s most important event for black and white photography.
The awards international Jury included captains of the industry from National Geographic, Fratelli Alinari, Heffel Fine Art to the Tate in London who honored Spider Fellows with 180 coveted title awards and 875 nominees in 14 categories.
“It is an incredible achievement to be selected among the best from the 8,223 entries we received this year,” said Basil O’Brien, the awards Creative Director. ADRI’s images titled “Near Death,” and “Pulchritudo” are exceptional images entered in the FINE ART category, represents black and white photography at its finest, and we’re pleased to present him with the title of Nominee.
BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS is the leading international award honoring excellence in black and white photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the best professional and amateur photographers worldwide and honors the finest images with the highest achievements in black and white photography.
AFCP
The (US) Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation
The (US) Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has supported many projects in Laos over the last ten years and to celebrate this milestone the US embassy in Vientiane decided to create an exhibition showing the variety of projects they’ve supported.
We were asked to get involved and we worked closely together with Pam DeVolder to create a beautiful show in the National Museum in Luang Prabang, Northern Laos. Paul Bloxham, a designer I have worked with on several projects, worked on the design for the panels and also created the layout for the show; www.paulbloxhamdesign.com
Below some of the panels and the layout in the museum. The show was moved to Vientiane and during the US Secretary of State’s visit to Laos, Mrs Hilary Clinton managed a quick visit to see part of the show. Both Paul and I received great feedback for the quality of the work produced. My thanks to Pam DeVolder for trusting us with this work and her great help in keeping the process moving. The panels were printed in Bangkok by Bloom Pro Lab and thanks to Mark Ogaslert for his quality outputs.
The show was then moved to Vientiane for the visit of US Secratary of Sate Mrs. Hilary Clinton.
Secretary of State Mrs Hilary Clinton in Vientiane admiring the AFCP display.
I organised the historical archive of photography done by colleagues and added photography shown below to help the visual style further. We arranged the large format printing in Bangkok and this was shipped via the US Embassy to Laos. The 34 panels arrived in perfect shape and we set about to set up the show with borrowed artefacts from one of the temples to illustrate works that had been supported through the AFCP projects. One small museum that receives regular support for projects they undertake is the Traditional Arts & Ethnology Centre. You can visit the website here: http://www.taeclaos.org/
The show was a great success, opened by Ambassador Karen B. Stewart and attracted a lot of attention from visitors around the world.
The (US) Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation communicate their projects from around the world in their annual report. The most recent publication incorporated some of the projects supported by the US Embassy in Vientiane for projects in Laos. We were lucky to get the front and back covers as well as beautiful spread inside the publication.
Luang Prabang
Usually my walks around the small town of Luang Prabang are limited to the interior sections of the town so it was fun to re-visit one of the small villages across the Mekong by ferry boat.
The small village follows the Mekong and has some nice temples and by climbing the steps of Chomphet one is rewarded with a cool view over the main town on the other side rich with architecture, fun shopping and great food. The place has nook and cranny written all over it as there are lots of details to discover in the back alleys and on its buildings.
But lets stay on this side for a moment an area I explore also for half day workshops. Some good samples of old Lao houses mixed with a more modern approach to housing and my guess is that in 15 years this village will look very different. It shows economic growth. The wooden houses that still remain were built according to local beliefs and the houses were planned in such a way that the beams along roofs were parallel to the river and diving the house into a upper and lower part. For the interior orientation is based on the sleeping body and the direction is of great importance. Also often there are different entrances for the living and the dead. Spirits are believed to move in a straight line and so bodies had to be moved in same direction and placed parallel to the horizontal beams of the house but in the lower part.
The small temples are full of murals and Buddha statues with some being quite unique. One mural has Chinese looking warriors outside apparently to protect the temple against bad spirits. A nice few hours for this walk if one keeps up the pace!
VOICES from LAOS
A film made for CESVI, an Italian NGO working around the world and in this case on a food security program in Phonexay district in Northern Laos.
Solidarity and Justice
Cesvi operates worldwide to support the most vulnerable populations in promoting human rights and achieving their ambitions, for sustainable development. It also believes that the recognition of human rights contributes to the wellbeing of everyone on the planet, a shared home to be safeguarded.
CLAY SCHOOL in BAN NA LUANG, Northern Laos
World Volunteer, as the name suggest, brings people from all over the world to areas where help is needed. In this film we show the volunteers in action building a school using clay in the northern parts of Laos.
Prix de la Photographie Paris Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 17, 2011 Prix de la Photographie Paris Competition Announces its 2011 Winners
Adri Berger received several awards in the 2011 Prix de la Photographie Paris competition, which received over 4000 entries from around the world. Adri Berger received Silver, Bronze and an Honourable Mention in the Press, Travel & Environmental categories for the entry entitled “Portraits, Northern Laos “, “POV POB’, and for “Clearing the Fields”.
Please check these links for the content:
Silver:
https://px3.fr/winners/px3/2011/2182/
Bronze:
https://px3.fr/winners/px3/2011/2183/
Honourable Mention:
https://px3.fr/winners/hm/2011/1-24249-11/
About PX3:
The 2011 Prix de la Photography Paris (Px3) competition is a photography competition that invites emerging and professional photographers to submit their work for juried consideration. The winners in each of the categories – Advertising, Book, Fine Art, Nature, Portraiture, and Press – have been invited to exhibit their work at Espace DUPON in Paris during the month of July. Now in its fifth year, Px3 strives to promote the appreciation of photography, to discover emerging talent, and to introduce photographers from around the world to the artistic community of Paris. Winning photographs from this competition are also published in the high-quality, full-color Px3 Annual Book.
Winner Contact:
Adri Berger
hello@adriberger.net
Silver in the Portrait Catagory
Bronze in the Travel Catagory
Honourable Mention in Environmental Catagory
