Nina Berman

Nina Berman is a documentary photographer, filmmaker, journalist and educator.  Her work explores American politics, militarism, environmental issues and post violence trauma.  She is the author of Purple Hearts – Back from Iraq, (Trolley, 2004) portraits and interviews with wounded American veterans, Homeland, (Trolley, 2008) an examination of the militarization of American life post September 11, and An autobiography of Miss Wish (Kehrer, 2017) a story told with a survivor of sexual violence which was shortlisted for both the Aperture and Arles book prizes. Additional fellowships, awards and grants include: the New York Foundation for the Arts, the World Press Photo Foundation, Pictures of the Year International, the Open Society Foundation, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and the Aftermath Project. She started her photographic career in 1988 as an independent photographer working on assignment for the world’s major magazines including Time, Newsweek, Life, the New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, German Geo, and the Sunday Times Magazine. She covered a range of issues, from women under siege during war in Bosnia and Afghanistan, to domestic issues of criminal justice, reproductive rights, and political process. Her work has been exhibited at more than 100 international venues from the Whitney Museum Biennial to the concrete security walls at the Za'atari refugee camp.  Public collections include the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Museum of the City of New York, the Harvard Art Museums and the Bibliothèque nationale de France among others. She has participated in workshops around the world for young photographers and writes frequently on photojournalism for the Columbia Journalism Review.  She is a Professor of Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she directs the photojournalism/documentary photography program.

CV

Education
 University of Chicago, B.A., 1982
 Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, M.S. 1985

Grants, fellowships, awards

   2021 MIT-Knight Foundation Fellowship in Science Journalism  
   2021 New York City Arts Grant
   2020 Humanities War and Peace Initiative, Columbia University
   2020/2019 Data, Media and Society/Columbia University
   2019 Deutsche Börse Foundation Photography Prize (long list)
   2018 Aperture/Paris Photo Book/Text Award, shortlist
   2018 Recontres d'Arles Book Award shortlist
   2018 Prix Pictet nomination
   2018 PDN Annual Book Award
   2017 Susan E. Tifft fellow in Documentary and Journalism
   2016 Lange Taylor Prize Finalist
   2016 Aftermath Project Grant recipient
   2015 Prix Pictet nomination
   2014 Blue Mountain Center focused residency
   2014 Society of Professional Journalists/ Northern California
   2014 The Josephine Herrick Project Annual Photographer Award
   2013 Prix Pictet nomination
   2012 Prix Pictet nomination
   2012 Puffin Foundation Grant
   2010 Whitney Museum of American Art Residency
   2009 Hasselblad Masters Award
   2009 PDN Annual Book Award
   2007 World Press Photo Foundation Award
   2007 Pictures of the Year Award
   2006 New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship
   2005 World Press Photo Foundation
   2005 Open Society Institute Documentary Grant
   2005 Days Japan International Photo Award
   2000 Communication Arts
   1999 Pictures of the Year
   1998 Emma Award
   1998 Pictures of the Year
   1997 Pictures of the Year Award
   1993 Pictures of the Year Award
   1987 Livingston Award, finalist

Monographs

An autobiography of Miss Wish, Kehrer Verlag, 2017
Homeland, Trolley, 2008
Purple Hearts - Back from Iraq, Trolley, 2004
 
Public and Private Collections

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, USA
Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA), Luxembourg  
Harvard Art Museums, USA
Incite Project, UK
Library of Congress, USA
Liege-Musée des Beaux-Arts, Belgium
Musée de la Photographie, Belgium
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA
Museum of the City of New York, USA
Open Society Foundation, USA
Portland Art Museum, USA  
Side Gallery, UK
Smithsonian National Museum of American History, USA
Weatherspoon Art Museum, USA
Zimmerli Art Museum, USA

Exhibitions

2023
Museum of the City of New York, "This is New York," NYC
University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum,  "Poor People's Art: A (Short) Visual History of Poverty in the US," Tampa, FL
2022
 FotoMuseum den Haag, "Parents" The Hague, The Netherlands
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Imagine a World Without Photojournalism," Santa Fe, NM
 Bronx Documentary Center, "Storming of the Capitol," Bronx, NY, USA
 Bibliothèque nationale de France, "15 ans de l'agence NOOR," Paris, France
2021
 Harvard Art Museums, "Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography Since 1970," Cambridge, USA
 Southeast Museum of Photography "Conversations in Conflict Photography," Daytona Beach, FL, USA
 Musée de la Photographie, "NOOR/Pulse," Charleroi, Belgium
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Present Tense," Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
2020
 RIT City Arts Space, "Beyond Addiction/Reframing Recovery," Rochester, NY
 Melkweg Gallery, "J'existe," Amsterdam, The Netherlands
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Life on Earth," Santa Fe, NM
2019
 Image Singulières,  An autobiography of Miss Wish,"  Sete, France (solo)
 New York University Gallatin Gallery,  "Conversations on Conflict Photography," New York, USA
 University of Michigan,"Whose Streets, Our Streets," Ann Arbor, USA
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Living in History," Santa Fe, USA
 Parsons School of Design, "Beyond Addiction, Reframing Recovery,"  New York City, USA
 UC Berkeley Art Museum,  "The Goodman Photography Collection,"  Berkeley, USA
 Military Museums: Founders Gallery,  "Walled Off: The Politics of Containment,"  Calgary, Canada
2018
 Gallery Nova,  "An autobiography of Miss Wish, " Zagreb, Croatia (Solo)
 Museum of Broken Windows,  New York City, USA
 Museum of Natural History,  "Everyday Climate Change", Verona, Italy
 Harris Gallery RIT, "Whose Streets? Our Streets!",  Rochester, NY
 Cinema Galeries, "Unframed," Brussels, Belgium
 Athens Photo Festival, "Personal Notebooks"  Benaki Museum,  Athens, Greece
 Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, "Unloaded," Carlisle, PA, USA
 UGM/Maribor Art Gallery, "Vigilance, Struggle, Price: Through Her Eyes," Maribor, Slovenia
2017
 Mirbach Palace, "American Power and Myth 2002-2017, Bratislava, Slovakia (Solo)
 Centro Internazionale di fotografia, "Women photograph Women, " Palermo, Sicily
 Zimmerli Art Museum, "Partisan Views and Public Opinion, " New Brunswick, NJ, USA
 Czech Photo Center, “NOOR by NOOR, “ Prague, Czech Republic
 Prix Bayeux Calvados, "NOOR Forgotton Conflicts/Tomorrow's Conflicts, " Bayeux, France
 F³ Freiraum für Fotografie, "NOOR by NOOR", Berlin, Germany
 Photoville: Charlottesville and Beyond, Brooklyn, NY, USA
 NYU Tisch School of the Arts, “Reimagining A Safe Space, “NYC, USA
 Nathan Cummings Foundation, “Reimagining A Safe Space, “NY, USA
 Krakow Month of Photo: "The War From Here,", Krakow, Poland
 Paraty em Foco, "Resist by NOOR", Paraty, Brazil
 Minneapolis College of Art and Design, "Unloaded," Minneapolis, USA
 Institute of Contemporary Art, "Unloaded", Portland, ME, USAMarcia Wood Gallery, "Unloaded", Atlanta,  GA,
 Eyes on Main Street, Wilson, North Carolina, USA
 Museum of Yugoslav History, "Lessons of '91" Belgrade, Serbia
 Brandts Musuem, "In War and Peace", Odense, Denmark
 Bronx Documentary Center, "Whose Streets? Our Streets!" The Bronx, NY, USA
 University of Kentucky, Bolivar Art Gallery, "Unloaded," Lexington, KY, US              
2016
 Chavonnes Battery Museum, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality, " Capetown, South Africa
 Indiana Museum of Contemporary Art, Unloaded, Indianapolis, IN, USA
 Organ Vida, Lessons of 91, Zagreb, Croatia
 Station Independent, "WE:AMEricans," New York City, USA
 Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, "Marcellus Shale Documentary Project: An Expanded View," Pittsburgh, USA
 Head On Photo Festival, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality", Sydney, Australia
 Eyes on Main Street, Wilson, NC, USA
 Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, "Unloaded", Grand Rapids, MI, USA
 Gage Gallery, Roosevelt University, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality", Chicago, IL, USA
 Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, "Unloaded," Ithaca, NY, USA            
2015
 Hamburg Triennal of Photography, "NOOR Za'atari project," Hamburg, Germany
 Pingyao International Photo Festival, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality, Pingyao, China
 Institute Francais, "EveryDay Climate Change," Milan, Italy
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "The Long Road: From Selma To Ferguson," Santa Fe, NM, USA
 Fotografia Europea 2015, "NOOR Diary of a Changing Planet,' Reggio Emilia, Italy
 Philadelphia Photographic Arts Center, "Marcellus Shale Documentary Project," Philadelphia, PA, USA
 Space, "Unloaded", Pittsburgh, PA, USA
 Smackmellon, "Respond," Brooklyn, NY, USA
 United Nations, "Za'atari", New York City, USA      
2014
 Musee de Beaux Arts, “Putain de Guerre”, Charleroi, Belgium
 Manchester Art Gallery, The Sensory War, Manchester, UK
 Portland Art Museum: Blue Sky at 40, Portland, Oregon, USA
 Palmer Art Museum: Marcellus Shale Doc Project, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
 Photoville 2014, Za'atari, Brooklyn, New York, USA
 Art Works Projects: Slavery Uncovered, Chicago, Illinois, USA
 Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk, The Critical Camera, Cottbus, Germany
 Francis Marion University, Purple Hearts,Florence, South Carolina, USA
 Allegheny College, Marcellus Shale Doc Project, Meadville, PA, USA
 Brooklyn Museum, "War/Photography, Brooklyn, NY, USA
 Youngstown State University, "Marcellus Shale," Youngstown, USA
2013
 Photoville, "Fractured: the Shale Play", Brooklyn, NY, USA (Solo)
 Brooklyn Museum, "War/Photography, Brooklyn, NY, USA
 Zacheta National Gallery of Art, "In God We Trust," Warsaw, Poland
 Athens Photo Fesitval, "Purple Hearts video", Athens, Greece
 Noorderlicht Photo Festival, "Hedge", Groningen, The Netherlands
 Corcoran Gallery, "War/Photography", Washington D.C. USA
 Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, "Marcellus Shale," Ithaca, NY, USA
 La Maison de la Photographie Robert Doisneau+, "Solutions by NOOR," Gentilly, France
 Center for Photography, "Marcellus Shale," Woodstock, USA
 Weatherspoon Art Museum, "Kids are All Right," Greensboro, USA
 Look 3 Photo Festival, "Fracking" Charlottesville, USA
 Annenberg Space for Photography, "War/Photography," Los Angeles, USA
 Red Line Gallery, "The Reality of Fiction," Denver, USA
 Galerie Cerami, "Under the Bridge," Charleroi, Belgium
 Sylvia Wald + Po Kim Gallery, "War is for the Living," New York, USA
 Sol Mednick Gallery, "Marcellus Shale," Philadelphia, USA
2012
 Bronx Documentary Center, "Gardens", The Bronx, USA (Solo)
 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) "War/Photography", Houston, USA
 John Michael Kohler Arts Center "The Kids are All Right," Sheboygan, USA
 Kunstverein-Tiergarten "The Critical Camera", Berlin, Germany
 Honolulu Museum of Art, "Courage and Strength," Honolulu, USA
 Pittsburgh Filmmakers, "Marcellus Shale, " PIttsuburgh, USA
 Portland Art Museum, "Flesh and Bones," Portland, USA
 Howard Greenberg Gallery, "New York in Color," NYC, USA
 Ray 2012, "Obama Train," Frankfurt, Germany
 Weatherspoon Art Museum, "Photography as Art and Document," Greensboro, USA
 South Street Seaport Museum, "Occupy Wall Street," NYC, USA
 Fovea Gallery, "Occupy," Beacon, USA
 Getty Gallery, "Solutions", London, UK
 Helsinki Biennial, "Urban and City:" Helsinki, Finland
2011
 Royal Society of Medicine, "Purple Hearts" London, UK (Solo)
 Dublin Contemporary, "Homeland/Marine Wedding", Dublin, Ireland (Solo)
 Halle 14, “Changes”, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Weimar, Germany
 GEMAK, "Generation 9-11", The Hague, The Netherlands
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Big Picture," Santa Fe, USA
 Montserrat College of Art, "For the Record", Beverly, USA
 Silver Eye Center for Photography, "HomeFrontLine, Pittsburgh, USA
 Noorderlicht " Metropolis", Groningen, The Netherlands
 German American Center, Stuttgart, Germany
 Canadian War Museum, "War and Medicine," Ottawa, Canada
  Ikono, "Noor" Brussels, Belgium
 10b, "Consequences by NOOR," Rome, Italy
 10b, "Solutions by NOOR," Rome, Italy
 Galerie Cerami, "Under the Bridge," Charlero, Belgium          
2010
 Whitney Museum of American Art, "Biennial 2010," New York, NY
 Melkweg Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Solo)
 Bernstein Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Princeton University, USA (Solo)
 Biennale d'Art contemporain, d'Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
 Milano Triennale, "Disquieting Images," Milan, Italy,
 IUFM Confluences, "US Today After," Lyon, France
 Gallery ID, "Hedge" Miami, Florida
 Bieler Fototage, "Homeland", Bienne, Switzerland
 ARos Aarhus Kunstmuseum, "I Love You," Aarhus, Denmark
 Alternatilla, "Consequences by NOOR," Majorca, Spain
 IPPNW World Congress, "Purple Hearts," Basel, Switzerland
 Rembrandt Square, "Consequences by NOOR," Amsterdam
2009
 Side Gallery, "Homeland/Marine Wedding", New Castle, England,
 War  Ltd, "Purple Hearts", Dubrovnik, Croatia,
 Gage Gallery, Roosevelt University, "Homeland", Chicago Illinois
 Media Alliance, "Homeland, Purple Hearts," Troy, NY,
 New Orleans Museum of Art, "The Art of Caring," New Orleans, LA
 Houston Center for Photography, "Unite and Untie," Houston, Texas
 Dask Gallery, "Consequences by NOOR," Copenhagen, Denmark
 Powerhouse Arena, "Its Darkest Places: War Illuminated", Brooklyn, NY
 Galerie Cerami, “No Comment”, Charleroi, Beligum
 Noorderlicht, "Human Conditions," Groningen, The Netherlands
 FotoPub, "Homeland," Novo Mesto, Slovenia
 Kunstraum Potsdam, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding", Potsdam, Germany
 ArteFoto 2009, "Homeland," Ancona, Italy
 Deutsches Hygiene Museum, ”War and Medicine", Dresden, Germany            
 2008
  Cicero Gallery, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding," Berlin, Germany (Solo)
  Photokina, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding," Cologne, Germany (Solo)
  Jen Bekman Gallery, " Homeland", New York City (Solo)
  Elon University, "Purple Hearts," Elon, North Carolina, USA (Solo)
  Wellcome Collection, "War and Medicine," London, England
  Stephen Cohen Gallery, "Images of War," Los Angeles, California
  Pingyao International Photo Festival, Pingyao, China
  Bumbershoot, "Power of One," Seattle, Washington
  Benham Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
  Fovea Editions, "Frontlines", Beacon, New York
  Portland Art Museum, "New on the Wall," Portland, Oregon
  Massachusetts College of Art, "War Stories," Boston, USA
  Jen Bekman, "Ne Plus Ultra", New York City    
 2007
  Jen Bekman Gallery, "Purple Hearts," New York City, (Solo)
  Alice Austen House Museum, "Purple Hearts," Staten Island, NY (Solo)
  Musee de l'Art Wallon "Icare", Liege, Belgium
  Mark Di Suvero Peace Tower, Chicago, Illinois
  World Press Photo Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan, France
  Boca Raton Museum of Art, "Thy Brother's Keeper" Boca Raton, USA
  Nathan Cummings Foundation, "The Big Picture," New York City
  Green Door Studio, "Purple Hearts," Burlington, Vermont
  Columbia School of Social Work, "Purple Hearts," New York City
  Suny Potsdam, Crumb Library, Potsdam, New York
  Galerie Cerami, "Purple Hearts," Charleroi, Belgium
 2006
  University of Maryland, "Purple Hearts," Baltimore, Maryland (Solo)
  Trolley Gallery, "Purple Hearts," London, England (Solo)
  Chicago Cultural Center, "Humans Being: Disability in Contemporary Art, " Chicago, Il
  Spool Mfg - "Overload:" Johnson City, New York
  Flint Institute of Arts, "The Human Condition", Flint, Michigan
  Open Society Institute, "Moving Walls," Washington D.C.
  University of Hawaii, "Purple Hearts," Hilo, Hawaii
2005 
  Galerie Cerami, "Purple Hearts," Charleroi, Belgium, (Solo)
  National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, "Purple Hearts," Chicago, Illinois, USA (Solo)
  Deutsche American Institute, "Purple Hearts," Heidelberg, Germany, (Solo)
  World Press Photo Foundation, Amsterdam, 2005
  Smack Mellon Gallery, "War," Brooklyn, New York
  Provisions Library, "War", Washington D.C,
  Open Society Institute, "Moving Walls," New York City
  Foto&Photo, "Purple Hearts" Cesano Maderno, Italy
  Blue Sky Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Portland, Oregon
 2004 - 1991
  Gladstone Building, "Purple Hearts," Oakland, California
  Redux Gallery, "Purple Hearts," New York City (2004)
  Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan, France
  Musee de L'Elysee "New York after New York", Lausanne, Switzerland
  Palazzo Isimbardi, "9-11", Milan, Italy
  Museum of the City of New York, "New York Now 2000"
  Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan, France, 1997
  United Nations, "Faces of Sorrow", New York City
  Henry Street Settlement, "On the Edge." New York City 1991

Catalogues/Book Contributions

• What We See, White Lion Publishing, 2023 
• La Région Humanine, ed Gilles Verneret and Michel Poivert, Éditions Loco, 2021
• Picturing Resistance, Melanie Light and Ken Light, Ten Speed Press, 2020
• Extraction:Art on the Edge of the Abyss, ed: Samuel Pelts, The Codex Foundation, 2020
• A World History of Photography, Naomi Rosenblaum, 5th edition, 2019
• Everyday Climate Change, (Silvana Editoriale, 2018) edited Dario Cimorelli
• War Is Only Half The Story,  ed Sara Terry, Dewi Lewis, 2018
• Subjective/Objective: A Century of Social Photography,  Ed Donna Gustafson and Andres Mario Zervigon, University of Chicago Press, 2017
• In/Visible War: The Culture of War in Twenty-First Century America, Rutgers University Press, 2017
• Re-imagining A Safe Space, Deborah Willis and Melissa Harris, Nathan Cummings Foundation/NYU Tisch, 2017
• Whose Streets? Our Streets!, Meg Handler, Tamar Carroll, Mike Kamber, Bronx Documentary Center, 2017
• Unloaded,Susanne Slavick, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, 2015
• 1% Privilege in a Time of Global Inequality, Myles Little, Hatje Cantz, 2015
• Blue Sky, The Oregon Center for Photographic Arts at 40, Julia Dolan, Portland Art Museum, 2014
• Trolleyology, Gigi Giannuzzi/Hannah Watson, Trolley, London, 2013
• Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from Iraq, Mike Kamber, University of Texas, 2013
• War/Photography:Images of Armed Conflict and its Aftermath, Anne Wilkes Tucker, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2012
• Marcellus Shale Documentary Project, Laura Domencic, Pittsburgh, 2012
• Bosnia 1992 – 1995, Jon Jones, Gary Knight, Sarajevo, 2012
• Making History, RAY Fotografieprojekte, Frankfurt, 2012
• Photographs Not Taken, Will Steacy, Daylight Books, 2012
• Disquieting Images, Germano Celant /Melissa Harris, Skira, Milan, 2011
• Whitney Biennial 2010 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2010
• US Today After, Gilles Verneret, Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2010
• A History of Women Photographers, Naomi Rosenblum, Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, 2010
• The Pursuit of Happiness,Stitching Fotografie, Noorderlicht, 2009
• War Stories, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, 2008
• Humans Being: Disability in Contemporary Art, Chicago Cultural Center, and Chicago, 2006
• Crimes of War, Roy Gutman, David Rieff, Norton, USA, 1999       

Visiting Artist Lecture Venues

  Annenberg Space for Photography   
   Baruch College
   Bronx Documentary Center
   Carter Center
   Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University
   Colby College
   Colgate University
   Columbia University
   Dart Center
   DOK Festival, Norway
   Drexel University
   Empire State College
   Francis Marion University
   George Washington University
   International Center of Photography
   Indiana University
   Institute for Public Knowledge, NYU
   Humanity House, The Hague
   John Jay College
   Kharkiv Karazin University
   Kutztown University
   Lisbon Consortium, Portugal
   Massachusetts College of Art
   Montserrat College of Art
   New York Academy of Medicine
   New York Film Academy
   New School
   New York University
   Northern Virginia Community College
   Palmer Art Museum - Penn State
   Pratt Institute
   Princeton University
   Rochester Institute of Technology
   Roosevelt University
   Rutgers University
   School of Visual Arts
   Scottish Parliament
   Susquehanna University
   University of California, Berkeley
   University of California, Santa Barbara
   University of Michigan
   University of North Carolina, Greensboro
   University of Southern California, Annenberg
   University of South Wales,  Cardiff
   Weatherspoon Art Museum
   Whitney Museum of American Art
   Yale University
   Zimmerli Art Museum

Teaching

  2012-  Present - Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, NYC, Professor
  2019 - Women Photograph Mentor
  2019 - NOOR Master Class- Sofia,  Bulgaria
  2018 -NOOR Master Class - Warsaw, Poland
  2011 -Al-Liquindoi and Contemporary Image Collection - Visual storytelling workshop - Cairo, Egypt    
  2011 - Framing the Future/NOOR - Cairo, Egypt
  2010 -Whitney Museum of American Art: Veterans Eye: Collaborative Program Brooklyn VA hospital PTSD clinic
  2010 -Whitney Museum of American Art: Artist in Residence Youth Insights
  2010- NOOR Master Class - St. Petersburg, Russia
  1999, 2004 – 2009  International Center of Photography (ICP) Documentary/Photojournalism Seminar     
 

Juries

 2023 Aftermath Project Grant
 2022 Victor K. McElheny Award 
 2021 Women Photograph Grants
 2021 Lipman Center's Initiative on Reporting on Race and Criminal Justice Fellows
 2019 W. Eugene Smith, Student Award
 2019 United Photo Industries, The Fence
 2018 Catchlight Award
 2017 Slovak Press Photo Jury Chair
 2017 FotoEvidence Book Award
 2017 Documenting Detroit Fellows
 2014 Terry O'Neil Photography Award
 2013 Terry O'Neill Photography Award
 2012 Aftermath Project Grant
 2011 World Press Photo Foundation
 2011 Hasselblad Masters
 2006 Pictures of the Year International     

                  

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