Jiri - photographer
© Greenpeace/Gavin Newman
Czech Republic/United Kingdom
I've been living in London for the past 12 years, and have been a photographer for the last 14, starting in Bangladesh during a two-year tenure as a development worker. This is my first ship tour, although I've worked on various Greenpeace campaigns and issues in the UK and Europe since 2004. Over the years, my assignments have taken me several times around the world, focusing on people, industrial and environmental issues and the way these interact with each other. In this day and age when you can beam a picture around the internet within minutes, people easily get saturated and cynical about the things they see.
Going to the Southern Oceans and to document whaling - one of the most cruel, inhumane and brutal ways how humans kill other mammals - is something that needs to be shown to the public until it is finally stopped. I've always been for respecting traditional ways of life and accepting things I do not agree with for the sake of diversity and tolerance, but industrial whaling is neither a tradition nor is there a need for it in Japan. I hope that my pictures will in a small way contribute to end whaling there.
Although I've never been at sea for longer than two weeks, I cannot really tell what I will miss the most. Perhaps the old cliché - sex, drugs and rock'n roll? Perhaps a bed that does not move when you're trying to sleep? I shall tell you more once I've been at sea for a month or so. However, I can tell you what I love the most - being away from it all - a sense of freedom and at the same time how small we are which you never get on dry land as you are never exposed to the elements in the same way. It taught me respect for the forces of nature.
To see more of my work, visit my website at www.jirirezac.com - I shall also be sporadically writing about this trip on my blog which you will find on my site.
Courage!
Jiri
Comments
Jiri,
Hello I am Stacey and am wondering if you know where the Japan ship is? I have been logging in everyday and watching and reading waiting on information. Please let us know what is going on. Thank you for everything you and the crew is doing.
Posted by: Stacey![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://weblog.greenpeace.org/whales/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 23, 2007 12:41 AM
how can i go with your team
all you make is very well
take care
maybe an answer
jocelyne
Posted by: jocelyne | November 23, 2007 5:53 PM
Hello,
The weather looks better and went on your site and love the pictures. Be careful and keep us updated please...Stacey
Posted by: Stacey | November 24, 2007 6:06 AM
Hiya Jiri,
Great too see you are still about shooting the action. Antarctica is sweet eye candy for the lens..
Best of luck and following seas to you Bro.
P.S. Regina is an amazing boat driver who will get you in seriously close to the action..
Posted by: Mikey | December 12, 2007 12:24 AM
Absolutely gorgeous! Your photos are nothing to scoff at either. ;)
Truly, thank you, for being on board for such a mission. You are documenting history, herstory, whalestory....
The efforts have restored my faith in humanity, and I needed that. I am a lover, a dreamer, a seer, and a believer in peace. A doer is becoming increasingly harder. So again, thank you for the inspiration, which I am sure is being given to you from such an experience, and passed to those of here on dry, and warm, land.
-Cassandra
cassandrarenee@gmail.com
Posted by: Cassandra Williams | January 3, 2008 2:20 PM
Nazdar Jiri!
Prajeme ti vela stastia. Skoda ze sme sa nestretli v Aucklande, nevedel som ze je tam niekto z rodnej hrudy :D
Posted by: Polko | January 3, 2008 10:22 PM
Breathtaking photos by you in the slide show in Irene's blog! The pic of the 2 humpbacks with Esperanza in the background is just amazing, should be a Greenpeace emblem from now on. World class shots, keep up the great work.
Posted by: Eric | January 8, 2008 12:37 PM
Hi folks,
just want to say a quick thanks for all the encouraging emails & comments on and off this blog - it is nice to hear, especially when so far away from everything and confined to a ship for 3+ months. But I also want to say a big big thank you to all on board who have made this trip happen - starting with the boat drivers, the cooks and probably ending with the captain, and everybody else inbetween. There would have been no pictures to show if it wasn't for their hard work and input, which - most of the time - we don't see.
If any of you wish to see more, please visit my online archive at http://archive.jirirezac.com and view the 'Oceans' and 'Esperanza' groups.
Cheers, Jiri
Posted by: Jiri | January 29, 2008 9:41 AM