Paul de Luna
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An ancient place and a people caught between the p An ancient place and a people caught between the push and pull of the powerful nations surrounding and claiming them. 

Image 1 - Saddam’s now-derelict prison near Dohuk, once a harrowing place of torture of death to countless Kurds. 

2 - the mountain town of Rawanduz, near the Iranian border. 

Image 3 - the old town of Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan 

All photos March 2019

#documentary #iraq #kurdistan
Fragile Arctic dandelions enjoy a few brief, thawe Fragile Arctic dandelions enjoy a few brief, thawed moments of life before hibernating once again under a blanket of mud or ice 

#Arctic #nature #35mm
A few memories from a 2015 trip through Myanmar (B A few memories from a 2015 trip through Myanmar (Burma), my favorite country for travel so far - primarily for the gentle and peaceful nature of the people. For an entire month, I didn’t hear one shout, a voice raised in anger, or witness any type of violence; verbal, physical, or emotional  or otherwise. A manner of life unknown to us where violence is our daily foundation. But every heaven has its cracks and a dark current running underneath - first in the treatment of the still stateless Rohingya minority, and second in the military coup currently rocking the country. 

Image 1 - a tribal boy poses in his remote village, nestled deep in the Rakhine jungle, a two-day motor canoe journey from the nearest ‘town’ and now shut off from the outside world by the military junta. 

Image 2 - Bagan pagoda 

Image 3 - Tea-Tribe village hidden amongst the remote hills of Shan State. Also now closed to the outside world by the military junta. 

Image 4 - Traditional fisherman on Inle Lake. Overfished and over-polluted, this ancient way of fishing is no longer productive.

Image 5 - Balloons over Bagan

Image 6 - Trash litters the village estuaries of Inle Lake. Cheap, processed food and its lingering plastic wrappers has also found its way here. 

#travelphotography #documentaryphotography #myanmar #burma
A few memories from a 2015 trip through Myanmar (B A few memories from a 2015 trip through Myanmar (Burma), my favorite country for travel so far - primarily for the gentle and peaceful nature of the people. For an entire month, I didn’t hear one shout, a voice raised in anger, or witness any type of violence; verbal, physical, or emotional  or otherwise. A manner of life unknown to us where violence is our daily foundation. But every heaven has its cracks and a dark current running underneath - first in the treatment of the still stateless Rohingya minority, and second in the military coup currently rocking the country. 

Image 1 - fisherman’s boat, Inle Lake

Image 2 - a Shan hill-tribe tea farmer relaxes after a hard day’s work deep in a northern ‘disputed’ zone, where control alternates between the military junta and local rebels. Theoretically a ‘closed’ zone, a mountainous dawn to dusk hike with local villagers will get you in. 

Image 3 - Monks in training line up for their pre-dawn meal handouts from local villagers. Inle Lake

Image 4 - a heavenly sunrise over the savage, unrestored jungle ruins of Mrauk U in the now off-limits region of the western Rakhine State, primarily due to military repression against the Rohingya ethnic minority. 

Image 5 - unrestored ruins of Mrauk U’s pagodas litter the region’s hills by the thousands. 

All photos January 2015

#documentaryphotography #travel #myanmar #burma #travelphotography
A few memories from a 2015 trip through Myanmar (B A few memories from a 2015 trip through Myanmar (Burma), my favorite country for travel so far - primarily for the gentle and peaceful nature of the people. For an entire month, I didn’t hear one shout, a voice raised in anger, or witness any type of violence; verbal, physical, or emotional  or otherwise. A manner of life unknown to us where violence is our daily foundation. But every heaven has its cracks and a dark current running underneath - first in the treatment of the still stateless Rohingya minority, and second in the military coup currently rocking the country. 

Image 1 - Shwe Dagon Pagoda, Yangon

Image 2 - young girl on the Yangon Circular Railway

Image 3 - Downtown Yangon

Image 4 - Monks at Bagan

Image 5 - mid-travel while hitchhiking through a no-tourist zone

All images January 2015

#travel #documentaryphotography #burma #myanmar #travelphotography #asia
Whale bones and abandoned fishing huts. Everything Whale bones and abandoned fishing huts. Everything here exists suspended on the narrow, blurred bridge linking the circle of life and death; a place where the two overlap and it’s hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. 

Barrow, Alaska
August 2019

#documentaryphotography #arctic #climatechange #circleoflife #35mm
A Caribou skeleton emerges as snow and ice disappe A Caribou skeleton emerges as snow and ice disappear from the thawing Arctic landscape. 

#documentaryphotography #climatechange #Arctic #35mm
This once perennially frozen town, perched on the This once perennially frozen town, perched on the northernmost point of the United States, is simultaneously melting into the thawing permafrost and nibbled by the rising sea, leaving it drowning in a sea of mud where once was ice and snow. 

#Barrow #arctic #alaska #climatechange #documentary
Three sisters outside their unofficial, unnamed re Three sisters outside their unofficial, unnamed refugee encampment near the Syrian border of Iraqi Kurdistan 
March, 2019

#documentaryphotography #photojournalism #socialdocumentary #filmphotography
‘Fareen’ recounts the story of her ISIS captur ‘Fareen’ recounts the story of her ISIS capture and enslavement while recovering in the relative safety of her tent in the Esyan Refugee Camp for Yazidi Kurds.
March, 2019
Iraqi Kurdistan near the Syrian border

“We had a nice house; my husband, his parents and our two children.  A nice life.
My husband was in Shingal when they came. We heard the sounds of mortars and were terrified.  People who had guns went to fight against ISIS to protect the town. 
ISIS surrounded us and took us to a farm…they put women and children in one room, men and boys in another, and the last room was for ISIS. ISIS took our phones, jewelry, cars, and the beautiful girls. They covered the men’s eyes and drove them away in a truck. They took us to their homes as slaves to work for their wives, and raped me whenever they wanted. Four times I was bought and sold. 
ISIS took me to the market...my captor demanded me to uncover my head...and if a buyer raised their hand I and my children would become his property. Each Yazidi captive had a different price, depending on her age and beauty.  An ISIS prince raised his finger and bought me and my children. He said he will gift me and my children to his friend and that I have to serve them because his wife is pregnant. The wife treated me in a very bad way…she locked my children in a room and beat them in front of my eyes. Her husband raped me and sold me to another militant, who sold me to a smuggler.  My father finally was able to borrow $30,000 for the ransom to buy me and my children back.
My husband and his parents are still captive.  I live alone in the camp. My daughter is 6 now.  She has headaches and remembers things, my son fights with her and is aggressive. There is no hope of returning home.
ISIS beheaded our husbands and fathers, raped women and girls, burnt young girls alive who refused to change their religion, recruited our children and...brainwashed them to kill Yazidis.  All children are innocent but we are scared of the consequences in the future.
I don’t know what became of my town. The people are all scattered. Many are are killed, or captive…my children deserve a better future.”

#documentaryphotography #war
Portrait of Solomon, Iñupiat Native American, in Portrait of Solomon, Iñupiat Native American, in his town of Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska on what is now a typical August summer day in this melting town. 

#documentary #documentaryphotography #portrait #travel #climatechange
Remnants of a Bowhead whale carcass slowly sink in Remnants of a Bowhead whale carcass slowly sink into the black sand of desolate Point Barrow, Alaska, picked over by Polar Bears and seagulls until nothing but bone, sinew, and baleen remains. 

August 2019
6x7 Film, Mamiya 7ii

#documentaryphotography #film #mediumformat #6x7 #blackandwhite
Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021 Each camp has its Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021

Each camp has its own particular heavy silence; whispers of ghosts pleading ‘do not forget me’ in the soft rustle of leaves, in solitary footsteps on frigid concrete floors, in the desperate faces which stare imploringly from stark black and white portraits taken shortly before being forced to leave this earth. The lingering trauma invades your bones and suddenly you find yourself seized by the profound grief of millions of souls (my ancestors, no less) lamenting at once, compounded by the full comprehension of the terrible depths of human hate and evil. 

Have visited five camps so far, the most recent being Stutthof (Sztutowo) near Gdansk, Poland in 2019. The following images are from this visit. 

Image 1: Entrance to Stutthof. 2019

Image 2: Guard tower and barbed wire. Stutthof, 2019

Image 3: Gallows for public execution. Stutthof, 2019

Image 4: Gas Chamber bearing scratches of human nails dug into the cement walls.  Stutthof, 2019

Image 5: Empty canister of Zyklon B, the cyanide-based pesticide used for mass murder in the gas chambers. Stutthof, 2019

Image 6: Ashes and bone fragments of cremated humans. Crematorium room, Stutthof, 2019

#holocaustremembranceday #holocaust #concentrationcamp #stutthofconcentrationcamp #auschwitz #neverforget
Life in the time of Covid Soho, NYC November 2020 Life in the time of Covid
Soho, NYC
November 2020

#35mm #streetphotography #covid_19
Rebag Fall 2020 campaign 🎥 🎥 Shot for @reb Rebag Fall 2020 campaign 🎥 🎥 

Shot for @rebagofficial w/ @aqua & #artdirection @jordanatobi 

#advertising #commercialwork #director & #cinematography #rebag #handbags
Rockaway Beach, August 2020 @black_surfing_rockawa Rockaway Beach, August 2020
@black_surfing_rockaway paddle out 

#35mm #documentaryphotography #blacklivesmatter
Rainy day raw portraits with @bayakolarikova Nove Rainy day raw portraits with @bayakolarikova 
November, 2020

#nomakeup #nofilter #natural
Raw portraits with @bayakolarikova November, 2020 Raw portraits with @bayakolarikova 
November, 2020

#nomakeup #nofilter #natural
Life in the time of Covid Williamsburg, Brooklyn Life in the time of Covid

Williamsburg, Brooklyn 
November 2020

#120film #documentaryphotography #newyorkcity
Life in the time of Covid Williamsburg, Brooklyn Life in the time of Covid

Williamsburg, Brooklyn 
July, 2020

#35mm #NYC #covid_19
Washington Square Park, NYC November 8th, 2020 #3 Washington Square Park, NYC
November 8th, 2020

#35mm
Deliveryman and jewelry shop window Soho, New Yo Deliveryman and jewelry shop window
 
Soho, New York City 
November 4, 2020

#35mm #filmphotography #blackandwhite
Brooklyn, NYC November 7, 2020 Image 1 - crowd ga Brooklyn, NYC
November 7, 2020

Image 1 - crowd gathers on the sidewalk outside a local bar to watch Biden’s speech 

Image 2 - a lone woman and posters in McCarren Park

Image 3 - Spontaneous celebrations of dance in the streets
New York City November 8, 2020 I, and many others New York City
November 8, 2020

I, and many others, experienced a brand new emotion yesterday. A combination of euphoria, jubilee, relief, joy, and grief. Watching it pour out in manifestations of love and togetherness in the streets around me clouded my viewfinder at times with a few tears. For my part, I can’t figure out why anyone would want to exclude another from the grand circus that is life, and maybe I never will. All I know is that today, here, and now, this city is more alive and vibrant than ever. It was the most beautiful of days.

#NYC #NewYork #election2020
Rebag Watches & Jewelry launch Fall 2020 models @ Rebag Watches & Jewelry launch Fall 2020

models @angelique.laurin & @katya_pylova 
styling @elise_sandvik 
hmu @veronikarobova 
photo @paul_deluna 
x @rebagofficial 

#advertising #jewelry #watches #campaign #photography #beauty
Rebag Watches & Jewelry launch Fall 2020 model @a Rebag Watches & Jewelry launch Fall 2020

model @angelique.laurin 
styling @elise_sandvik 
hmu @veronikarobova 
photo @paul_deluna 
x @rebagofficial 

#advertising #jewelry #watches #campaign #photography #beauty
Rockaway Beach, New York August 2020 #13blocksfor Rockaway Beach, New York
August 2020

#13blocksforbreonna #breonnataylor #surf #rockawaybeach #blm #surfing #blacksurfingassociation #35mm #nikonos #documentaryphotography 
@black_surfing_rockaway
Roosevelt Field Mall, two days before the March lo Roosevelt Field Mall, two days before the March lockdown. Everyone knew it was coming and many drove or caught flights out of town the weekend prior, hoping to outrun the inevitable. A few shops remained opened, staffed by phantoms unsure what to do when not even ghosts wandered the silent, vacant halls. 

March 2020
New York

#documentary #journalism #covid #lockdown #35mm #film #portra400 #nyc #mall #contax
Socializing in the time of Covid Williamsburg, B Socializing in the time of Covid 

Williamsburg, Brooklyn 
May 2020

#35mm #film #blackandwhite #brooklyn #newyork #documentaryphotography #corona #covid_19 #contax
Identity in the time of Covid Williamsburg, Brook Identity in the time of Covid

Williamsburg, Brooklyn 
September 11, 2020

#35mm #film #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #reportage #brooklyn #nyc #contax #kodaktrix400
Before sunrise Southhold, New York September 202 Before sunrise 

Southhold, New York
September 2020

#35mm #film #blackandwhite #nature #filmisnotdead #contax
Life in the time of Covid Time Square, New York A Life in the time of Covid

Time Square, New York
August 2020

#film #120film #mediumformat #6x7 #mamiya7 #newyork #timessquare #documentary #documentaryphotography #covid19 #coronavirus #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography
Life in the time of Covid Time Square, New York A Life in the time of Covid

Time Square, New York
August 2020

#film #120film #mediumformat #6x7 #mamiya7 #newyork #timessquare #documentary #documentaryphotography #covid19 #coronavirus #blackandwhite
Rockaway Beach, New York August 22, 2020 #13block Rockaway Beach, New York
August 22, 2020

#13blocksforbreonna #surf #rockawaybeach #blm #surfing #blacksurfingassociation #35mm #nikonos 
@black_surfing_rockaway
Scientists search the Utqiagvik seashore for ice, Scientists search the Utqiagvik seashore for ice, finding none. Muddy walls and piles of sandbags strain to delay the inevitable rising sea from swallowing the town. 

Select photos on display now at @massmoca through 2020 as part of @blanedestcroix installation #HowToMoveALandcape

“Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) is the northernmost community in America and the largest town on Alaska’s North Slope.
Situated at the junction of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the city is 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle and has been home to the Iñupiat people for more than 1,500 years.
Much of the city’s infrastructure is built on permafrost- soil, gravel, and sand, bound together by ice. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that more than 3 feet of Utqiagvik’s coastline is lost to permafrost-melt and erosion every year.”

#climatechange  #utqiagvik #arctic #nature #documentary #documentaryphotography #fineart #film #35mm #contac #blackandwhite #howtomovealandscape
Abandoned Iñupiat fisherman’s hut at America’ Abandoned Iñupiat fisherman’s hut at America’s northernmost edge. A way of life disappears along with the ice. 

Select photos on display now at @massmoca through 2020 as part of @blanedestcroix installation #HowToMoveALandcape

“Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) is the northernmost community in America and the largest town on Alaska’s North Slope.
Situated at the junction of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the city is 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle and has been home to the Iñupiat people for more than 1,500 years.
Much of the city’s infrastructure is built on permafrost- soil, gravel, and sand, bound together by ice. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that more than 3 feet of Utqiagvik’s coastline is lost to permafrost-melt and erosion every year.”

#climatechange  #utqiagvik #arctic #nature #documentary #documentaryphotography #fineart #mediumformat #film #6x7 #mamiya7 #blackandwhite #howtomovealandscape
On display now at @massmoca through 2020... Melti On display now at @massmoca through 2020...

Melting permafrost turns the town into a swamp. Mud sucks the boots off my feet with every step. Everything sinks. 

“Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) is the northernmost community in America and the largest town on Alaska’s North Slope.
Situated at the junction of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the city is 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle and has been home to the Iñupiat people for more than 1,500 years.
Much of the city’s infrastructure is built on permafrost- soil, gravel, and sand, bound together by ice. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that more than 3 feet of Utqiagvik’s coastline is lost to permafrost-melt and erosion every year.”

From @blanedestcroix installation at @massmoca #HowToMoveALandcape

#climatechange  #utqiagvik #arctic #nature #documentary #35mm #film #blackandwhite #howtomovealandscape @blanedestcroix
On display now at @massmoca through 2020... Some On display now at @massmoca through 2020...

Some of my drone work featured in the film ‘How To Move a Landscape’, directed by @tgerber63 @marketroadfilms accompanying the artist @blanedestcroix in preparation for his eponymous installation at @massmoca 

“Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) is the northernmost community in America and the largest town on Alaska’s North Slope.
Situated at the junction of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the city is 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle and has been home to the Iñupiat people for more than 1,500 years.
Much of the city’s infrastructure is built on permafrost- soil, gravel, and sand, bound together by ice. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that more than 3 feet of Utqiagvik’s coastline is lost to permafrost-melt and erosion every year.”

#cinematography #drone #droneoftheday #filmmaking #massmoca #massmocamuseum #howtomovealandcape #exhibition #climatechange  #utqiagvik #arctic #nature #documentary
On display now at @massmoca through 2020... The a On display now at @massmoca through 2020...

The artist @blanedestcroix wades through the stormy Arctic sea as it reclaims the fast-melting permafrost of Utqiagvik, Alaska, in preparation for his installation How To Move a Landscape @massmoca 

#film #mediumformat #massmoca #massmocamuseum #howtomovealandcape #exhibition #climatechange #6x7 #blackandwhite #documentaryphotography #utqiagvik #arctic #nature
Brooklyn, New York June 2020 #documentaryphotogra Brooklyn, New York
June 2020

#documentaryphotography #covid19 #blm #newyork #35mm #film
Life in the time of Covid Williamsburg, Brooklyn J Life in the time of Covid
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
June, 2020

#35mm #film #blackandwhite #coronavirus #brooklyn #williamsburg #newyork
City Hall, New York July 2020 #protest #newyork # City Hall, New York
July 2020

#protest #newyork #nyc #120film #film #documentary #cityhall #mediumformat #mamiya7 #bw
Tourism in the time of Covid World Trade Center, Tourism in the time of Covid

World Trade Center, NYC
June 2020

#nyc #covid #wtc #oculus #coronavirus #film #35mm #analogfilm #blackandwhite #newyork
City Hall, New York July 2020 #protest #blm #newy City Hall, New York
July 2020

#protest #blm #newyork #nyc #35mm #film #documentary #cityhall
July 4, 2020 Brooklyn, New York #july4th #blm #35 July 4, 2020
Brooklyn, New York

#july4th #blm #35mm #newyork #brooklyn #film #america
Soho, NYC June 2020 #covid19 #coronavirus #quaran Soho, NYC
June 2020

#covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #blm #blacklivesmatter #120film #newyork #newyorkcity #film
Soho, NYC June 2020 #covid19 #coronavirus #quaran Soho, NYC
June 2020

#covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #blm #blacklivesmatter #120film #newyork #newyorkcity #film
Soho, NYC June 2020 Mural by @steveespopowers # Soho, NYC
June 2020

Mural by @steveespopowers 

#covid19 #coronavirus #quarantine #blm #blacklivesmatter #120film #newyork #newyorkcity
Black Lives Matter New York, June 2020 #blm #blac Black Lives Matter
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #newyork #protest #120film
An essential worker attempts to find a moment of p An essential worker attempts to find a moment of peace sandwiched between looming images of irrelative Mrs. Americas, a watchful police van, and shops advertising a world he may never access. Gazing offscreen, he’s possibly dreaming of a different future. Or maybe steeling himself to the one he’s been assigned, fully aware that in his America, freedom is just an illusion. 
Times Square
May 2020

#blacklivesmatter #blm #essentialworkers #newyorkcity #timessquare #120film
Black Lives Matter Soho, New York, June 2020 #blm Black Lives Matter
Soho, New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #newyork #protest #120film
Black Lives Matter New York, June 2020 #blm #blac Black Lives Matter
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest #newyork #nyc #35mm #nurses
Skate for Black Lives Matter New York, June 2020 Skate for Black Lives Matter
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest #newyork #nyc #35mm #skate #skateboard
Black Lives Matter New York, June 2020 #blm #blac Black Lives Matter
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest #newyork #nyc #35mm
Black Lives Matter New York, June 2020 #blm #blac Black Lives Matter
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest #newyork #nyc #covid19 #35mm
BLM New York, June 2020 #blm #blacklivesmatter #p BLM
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest #newyork #newyork #brooklyn #brooklynbridge
Health Care Workers for BLM New York, June 2020 # Health Care Workers for BLM
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest #newyork #nurses
Protest New York, June 2020 #blm #blacklivesmatt Protest 
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest #newyork
Protest New York, June 2020 #blm #blacklivesmatt Protest 
New York, June 2020

#blm #blacklivesmatter #protest
Protest New York, June 2020 #blm #protest #blackl Protest
New York, June 2020

#blm #protest #blacklivesmatter #saytheirnames #documentary #film #35mm #blackandwhitephotography #newyork
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