The Laughter and Forgetting (L.A.F.) Project documents life on the road to democracy in the former Soviet state of Georgia by bringing together the work of many photographers, both Georgian and international. Through exhibits and an online Photoblog, photographers will be able to document life and address issues in Georgian society, creating a global community while bringing these concerns to the attention of the rest of the world.
The first theme of L.A.F. in Georgia is centered around the Internally Displaced People (IDPs); approximately 240,000 IDPs remain in the country whose population is only 4.5 million.
"L.A.F.'s goal is to bring much needed attention to the IDPs in Georgia," writes Sarah Martin, the Director of Communications for the L.A.F. Project, "who are still very much in need of attention as they struggle with inadequate housing, poor educational standards, sparse access to health care and a lack of socio-economic integration back into the community. We believe that bringing several photographers' work together for the exhibition will give a broader view of the crisis."
The L.A.F. Project is currently looking for photographers who have documented the IDPs in Georgia since the conflict in 2008. The work will initially be shown in the form of a short video at the Tbilisi Photo Fest in May 2011. The deadline to submit work for inclusion in the video is April 1, 2011. The L.A.F. Project will continue to accept submissions throughout the summer for the Photoblog and exhibits in Georgia and at Prague's Forum 2000 Human Rights Conference. For more information on how to submit, contact Sarah Martin at sarahalycemartin@yahoo.com.
