Taken between 1994 and 2002, Bruce Haley's photographs reflect the
complexity of land and life in the former Soviet Bloc. Decaying
industrial sites and toxic landscapes, rich farmland and traditional
villages: his images capture the joys and challenges facing these newly
independent nations, as they struggle to leave behind the legacy of
Communism for an unknown future.
Bruce 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 coverage of Burma's bloody ethnic civil war.
This self-taught photographer with a military and police background
began his career in 1988, covering Afghanistan's mujahideen resistance
to Soviet occupation; shortly thereafter the legendary Howard Chapnick
accepted Haley into Black Star, one of the industry's premiere photo
agencies. With a primary focus upon war and its aftermath, Haley
photographed areas of conflict in Asia, Africa, Europe and the former
Soviet Union. His images (from Burma) of a grisly execution by stabbing
shocked the world and engendered much controversy and discussion. He was
nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the Baltimore Sun in 1992, for helping
to break the story of the famine in Somalia. Over the course of 20+
years in the field, Haley has expanded his subject matter well beyond
the battlefield; working across multiple camera formats, he has explored
topics as diverse as the Bolivian altiplano, Eastern Europe's persecuted
Roma (Gypsies), the decaying infrastructure of Soviet-era industry, and
the timber and extractive industries in the American West.
Haley's photographs have appeared in books, magazines and newspapers
worldwide, as well as in corporate publications and on CD, video and DVD
covers; his clients include Time, Life, U.S. News and World Report, The
London Sunday Times Magazine, Stern, Paris Match, GEO, Aperture,
Esquire, Georgia-Pacific and the Chevron Corporation. Numerous magazines
and newspapers have profiled Haley and his work, among them American
PHOTO, (French) PHOTO, B&W, and UTNE Reader. His limited-edition
portfolio, entitled 13 Million Tons of Pig Iron, was #1 on the
Photo-Eye Bestseller List. In addition to publications, Haley's
exhibition prints have been shown in museums and galleries all over the
world.
