IN BRIEF: Publishers avoid Afghan photos, Potter audiences 'goggled at,' more
Last Updated: Monday, May 31, 2004 | 4:49 PM ET
CBC Arts
A photographer who has spent 30 years capturing the landscape and people of Afghanistan says no one will publish his work because of controversy after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"I just had another major book agent give me the same old story," photographer Luke Powell told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. The American photographer lives part of the year in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
"Everyone loves it, but they are scared to publish it because no one wants to see how beautiful it really is."
Powell's book Afghan Gold includes work spanning from 1974 to 2003. He blames a general "hands-off" approach to stories about Afghanistan for the continued refusal to publish his work, which has been shown in 112 shows in galleries worldwide.
Powell was first attracted to Afghan culture in the 1970s. "No motor vehicles, no power lines. Everything was homemade and everyone was happy and no one was hungry. It was the most beautiful place," he said.
Even when the Taliban was in power, Powell was welcome to photograph the country. United States officials also invited him back in 2003.
Powell plans to return to photograph Afghanistan in the fall, but in the meantime, his photos are featured at his website.
LONDON - High-tech tactics used to prevent pirating of Potter film
Forget magic wands. Ushers at theatres showing the new Harry Potter film have been equipped with night-vision goggles to thwart would-be movie pirates.
British theatre chain Vue Cinemas said Monday that its staff would scan theatres during the entire two-and-a-half hour showings of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for anyone trying to record the film.
U.S. movie giant Warner Brothers distributed the goggles along with copies of the film. Anyone caught making an illegal recording will be reported to the police.
"It is an incredible response and makes you realize why the distributors are so keen to protect the film from pirates," said Jamie Graham, who manages a Vue theatre. "I have been working in the cinema industry for 10 years and I have never heard of anything like this before."
The film, the third instalment in the Harry Potter series, opened in England Monday. It will be followed by a North American release later this week.
AMSTERDAM - Opera based on Moby Dick premieres in Amsterdam
The premiere of a new opera based on Herman Melville's Moby Dick drew a full house and a standing ovation in Amsterdam Sunday.
Entitled Call Me Ishmael, the new English-language opera had a one-night performance at the city's music hall and will now go on tour to several European summer festivals, said composer Gary Goldschneider, who worked on the piece for nearly 20 years.
Lyrics were drawn from the novel and the music was influenced by American musical theatre and classic opera.
Nicholas Heath, the opera's British director, said he sought to bring out themes of religious agnosticism as "homage to Melville." He featured members of his own London-based company, Opera à la Carte, for the cast, which included baritone Benjamin Bevan as Ahab, tenor Elliot Goldie as first mate Starbuck and soprano Maureen Brathwaite as cabin boy Pip.
Goldschneider, who is also a concert pianist, is in discussion for a U.S. tour.
