Bruce Haley

January 4-27, 2001

Critically acclaimed photographer Bruce Haley presents a riveting and honest look at the people, cultures and landscapes affected by communism and war. In Post-Communist Photographs 1994 – 2000 Haley presents a broad, expressive view of daily life in five war-torn and formerly Soviet-controlled regions through compelling black and white photographs.

Haley visited Nagorno, Karabakh during a cease-fire and his images reflect people mourning their dead and trying to restore a slight sense of normalcy to their lives. Images of pilgrimage routes, cemeteries, castles and abandoned factories throughout Slovakia and Hungary re-create the landscape of these regions for the viewer. Haley spent time in rural areas of Transylvania and Maramures in Romania, and in another series captured the spirit of the Roma (Gypsies), whose persecution rate has increased substantially since the fall of Communism. What the Soviet system did to the environment and its people is truly catastrophic, and Haley’s panoramic industrial landscapes of Azerbaijan, reflect has some of the most polluted locations and most poisoned people on the planet.

Haley is the recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal, one of the most prestigious photography awards in the world. Haley received this honor for his 1990 coverage of Burma’s bloody ethnic civil war.

This self-taught photographer with a military and police background began his career by covering Afghanistan’s mujahideen resistance to Soviet occupation, followed by stints in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The legendary Howard Chapnick accepted Haley into Black Star, one of the world’s most respected photo agencies, after viewing this work. From 1988 to 1994, Haley photographed areas of conflict in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the Baltimore Sun in 1992, for helping to break the story of the famine in Somalia. Since the birth of his son in 1995, however, Haley has eased away from the battlefield, exploring subjects as diverse as the Bolivian altiplano, Eastern Europe’s persecuted Roma (Gypsies), and the decaying infrastructure of Soviet-era industry.

Haley’s photographs have appeared in books, magazines and newspapers worldwide; a list of his clients would include Time, Life, U.S. News and World Report, The London Sunday Times Magazine, Stern, GEO and Aperture. American and French PHOTO magazines have featured three articles about Haley. His exhibition prints have hung worldwide, under the auspices of such disparate entities as the Ansel Adams Gallery, Photo Americas, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and the United Nations.

From January 4 – 27, Blue Sky Gallery, 1231 NW Hoyt, presents photographs by Bruce Haley of Siletz, Oregon. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, January 4, from 6 – 9 pm. Blue Sky is open from Noon – 5 pm Tuesday through Saturday and is free of charge to the public. For further information call (503) 225-0210. Bruce Haley will also lecture on Thursday, January 11th.