Ben Bohane's - Black Islands - Spirit & War in Melanesia - Support the Book Project

Ben Bohane, friend and fellow photographer of the collective Degree South is running a emphas.is crowd funding campaign to raise funds for his book project Black Islands - Spirit & War in Melanesia. The book focuses on the reality of island life by documenting cultural events, conflict over land and resources as well as wars of independence.

 

Concentrated majorily in Melanesia, the book contains years of documentation,

Ben states of his work:

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"The photo book I am working on, titled The Black Islands – Spirit and War in Melanesia, is an attempt to highlight the forgotten struggles and belief systems of this remote region. The relationship between cult movements and guerilla armies is strong here and many of the images have a historical resonance, often the only record of conflict in some places and demonstrating how these spiritual movements are often the seed for conflict, as well as the source of reconciliation afterwards.

If we want a deeper understanding of island life we have to step into their 24/7 spirit world, full of ancestral spirits and charismatic prophets.

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We are now in the so-called Pacific Century and these islands have become hugely strategic again for the first time since World War Two, as a growing competition between the US and China for control of these islands is now well underway.

 With your support, I want to produce a book that reflects the soul of island life in the South Pacific, so their kastoms and way of life are better acknowledged in a new era of superpower contest."

A project well worth supporting, Ben has seven days left to raise funds and has already raised $6320 of his $15,000 goal. 

For more information on the project, follow the direct link here.