Incredible: The Vice Guide to Liberia

I've published one or two pictures with Vice over the course of roughly a decade - hardly even worth mentioning, really. I don't know Shane or Suroosh personally, and Gavin (who is no longer there) and I maybe shared a bump together in a John Street bathroom 7-9 years ago. To be honest, I never could relate to the magazine, but had many friends who worked there throughout the years. I always considered it an empty and ironic rag for an equally vapid and declining (ascending?) culture. I was under the impression many others felt the same way I had, although would never have admitted this aloud.

Vice then launched VBS.TV, and slowly their greater interests - maybe having grown with age along with my own, or maybe having been there the entire time and I was just blind to it - started to reveal themselves.
VBS.TV is the news media arm of the Vice empire, and it has a unique and unflinching perspective. I realize the magazine also embodied this "unique" perspective, but it always felt more in the realm of shock and stunt. It's quite possible that I'm fond of VBS.TV solely because it has a voice that can be heard, literally. Whether it be a narrator, a show host, or an interviewee, you get the sense that they are truly invested in building awareness, covering a wide array of topics and issues - maybe without the print versions gratuity.

The video posted below is from their new mini-doc series, The Vice Guide to Liberia. There are eight installments making up an incredible portrait of a war torn country. Astonishing piece of work. My congrats to VBS.



Go to VBS and watch the entire series.