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Volume XLIV
Number 31
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • August 6, 2014
See Metro, page 9
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
com muni tv sendee
Global Impact
phOtOgrt apher ^ lex Riedlinder tackles issues o f globalization relating to Africa and America. He has launched a h r n d m ^ g ° e f f o r ^ i a " r ^ o g o t o p r o d u ^ a K'™
photo-documentary on life in Nigeria, using scenes that he captured during a recent visit.
Portland photographer
visits Nigeria to
produce documentary
by D onovan
M. S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
Filtered through his eyes and lens, photographer Alex
Riedlinger wants to give people a piece of the vibrancy that
exists in the people of southwest Nigeria.
Titled Just Like That, Riedlinger’s photo-documentary
gives in stills, day-to-day life of Nigerians he shadowed as
they mused, danced, and performed religious rituals over a
month. Portland-raised, and the son of African immigrants,
Riedlinger has been shooting since childhood.
He recently launched a fundraising effort via Indiegogo
that would bring 60 images from his trip, to 200 paperback
books, and cover the printing of 15 large photos for a future
exhibition.
Riedlinger, 27, also focuses much of his work document­
ing the cultural practices and religion of people of African
descent. Important, he says, to adding alternative narratives
around black people in America. In fact, records show that
the region Alex visited is where many of the people shipped
into slavery in America had their roots.
This work, he says, holds importance for communities
even right here in Portland. “Honestly there’s parts of north
Portland that don’t seem that different from life in Africa,”
Riedlinger says.
In Nigeria, the seasoned photographer spent consider­
able amount of time following young priests o f an ancient
spirituality called Yoruba Ifa. The men were followers of Orisa
traditions that focus mostly on the worship of ancestors and
deities.
In the midst of keeping tradition, he found a struggle. He
observed that many of the youth in Africa are looking to the
1 'W estern W orld,’ ’ pop culture, hip-hop, and even President
Obama for social cues. In this, it is becoming increasingly
difficult for pre-colonial forms of tradition and worship to
survive.
Where kids would once learn to play traditional drums
continued
on page 4