::: The Travel Photographer :::

The Frame: The Magh Mela

2012-02-02T05:52:00.002-05:00

The Sacramento Bee's The Frame brings us more than 30 large sized photographs of the Magh Mela.

The Magh Mela is one of the greatest annual religious pilgrimages for Hindus. In Hindu mythology, the Magh Mela's origin is said to be the beginning of the universe. It's held every year on the banks of Triveni Sangam (the confluence of the three great rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati) in Allahabad (UP).

The holy pilgrimage and festival is organized every year during the Hindu month of Magh (mid January - mid February), and is a smaller version of Kumbh Mela.

One of the photographs featured by The Frame is of the pontoon bridges that allow the pilgrims to cross to the area of the Sangam, and it reminds me (so very vividly) of my pre-dawn walks on these very same bridges during the Maha Kumbh Mela of 2001. I can still feel the sensation of being in the midst of a moving "caterpillar" of thousands of people. It was an indescribable thrill of being in such an environment with a multitude of opportunities to photograph the spectacular characters who attend such religious gatherings, that I described as "ascetics, mendicants, mystics, beggars and charlatans".

Stop a moment in sympathy at the photograph in The Frame's series in which a woman weeping as she searches for her son in the massive crowd gathering of the Magh Mela. I witnessed such scenes in 2001, and they're heart-rending. However, I was told that the majority of lost children are reunited with their families.

The Gizmon iCA For iPhone

2012-02-02T05:46:00.001-05:00

From the sublime (yesterday's post) to the (almost) ridiculous, but I just couldn't resist this!!!

An iPhone case made to look like a vintage camera...almost a Leica look-alike, and since I own an iPhone and an M9, this could make a delightful Xmas present...well, if whoever is interested in it can wait for another 11 months. The Gizmon website even has its logo that's a red dot a la Leica!!!

To be honest, this is not a totally zany idea. iPhone photography is growing by leaps and bounds, and this case would convert it to the feel of a real point and shoot.

The case is made of polycarbonate, comes in three colors ; white, black and orange. It sports an optical viewfinder, holes for straps and a functional shutter button that connects to the iPhone's volume buttons.

It costs $65, and is available via Gizmon's website.

New! First Images From The Fujifilm X-Pro1

2012-01-31T19:13:00.002-05:00

It does appear the new Fujifilm X-Pro1 will prove to be a tough competitor, not only to the Leica M9 (as I thought it would), but also prove to be a decent alternative to DSLRs. Two Australian photographer who've had the opportunity to test it have extremely positive things to say about it. Take a look at the Vimeo movie above.

The eminent PetaPixel website featured a link to the first images from the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 on the websites of Australian photographers Christian Fletcher and Michael Coyne.

I really can't wait to test it myself!!!

Sharon Johnson-Tennant: Diffusion & Magical Mystery Tour

2012-01-31T05:30:00.001-05:00

di·aph·a·nous/dīˈafənəs/

Adjective: Light, delicate, and translucent.

Here are a number of photographs by Sharon Johnson-Tennant, a multi-faceted award winning photographer in Los Angeles and a participant in my 2010 Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition.

These photographs are part of a larger number she sent me in connection with her forthcoming exhibition named DIFFUSION; a compilation of 9 years of Sharon's work from travel all over the world. She describes the photographs in this exhibition as "images that seem to have stopped in time, things in plain sight but not always seen" such as the two top ones made in Ladakh, a remote area of India. Apart from India, her travels have taken her to Malaysia, Burma, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and the Philippines.

The exhibition's opening night is March 3, 2012 (7-10 pm) at the Robert Berman Gallery, in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. The exhibition will continue until March 31st.

As for the lower photographs, they're part of Sharon's larger body of work (still in progress) which she calls Magical Mystery Tour. Those were recently made in Morocco at twilight. That time of day in terms of light, coupled with the natural reticence of Moroccans to being photographed pushed Sharon to alter her techniques to meet these challenges.

On my blog, I frequently describe photographs as powerful, emotive, and/or well composed. For Sharon's new photographs, I happily add diaphanous and ethereal to all these adjectives.

For further eamples of Sharon's talents, visit her new website...you'll see the versatility of her work.

My Work: Kushti In Kolkata

2012-01-30T05:25:00.001-05:00

During my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop, I chanced upon a group of traditional wrestlers near the Armenian Ghat on the Hooghly river. These were Kushti wrestlers, about to practice their sport in a small area, which was being carefully prepared for their bouts.

While I had known of Kushti being practiced in Delhi and Varanasi, I hadn't heard of it in Kolkata and after watching these wrestlers for a while, I concluded that it was different here. In contrast with the ground being moist (as in Delhi), the wrestling area (known as an akhara) here was dry, was swept with young tree branches then covered with bits of leaves, which I believe were from neighboring neem trees (which have medicinal properties).

Kushti is India's traditional wrestling, and is an ancient form of wrestling. It was held in great importance in Indian societies, but its popularity has dwindled over the years, although there are concerted efforts to revive it. Kushti practitioners face grueling daily training, a strict diet and celibacy.

The Armenian Ghat is probably the most interesting of all of Kolkata's ghats. It was built by a merchant of Armenian origin in 1724. Armenians dominated has spice in gem traders in ancient Kolkata. The Kolkata station and Ticket Reservation Room of Eastern Railways was situated in the Armenian Ghat from 1854-1874.

For those who're interested in tech stuff, I used a Leica M9 with an Elmarit 28mm 2.8.

POV: Lost In Translation?

2012-01-29T05:21:00.006-05:00

Photo © AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen- Courtesy DenverPost.com

I've seen quite a few errors in the captions of photographs recently, but this one is probably the most misleading. The photograph appeared in the Pictures of the Week on the Denver Post Plog.

Underneath the photograph is a caption that reads "Eman Mohammed, 7, holds a placard that reads in Arabic, "our army is over our head, and the parliament belongs to the ousted," during a protest in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. The parliament elected in Egypt's first legislative vote after Hosni Mubarak's ouster nearly a year ago held its inaugural session on Monday, with Islamists dominating the 498-seat chamber that will oversee the drafting of a new constitution."

This is incorrect, and is at a 180 degrees divergence from what is on the placard. The correct translation of the Arabic words on the placard is "Our Army is over our head (ie a colloquialism for being held in great esteem)...The Council belongs (or follows) the ousted (for the ousted Mubarak)."

The Council referred to on the placard is not the Parliament, but is the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. This is totally divergent from what the caption incorrectly states. The child is presumably one of the protestors who took part in a demonstration against the military council, not against the civilian Parliament.

I always wondered whether in such a case, would the error be that of the photographer (in this case, an Arabic speaker) or someone else?

Josef Tornick: The Hebrides

2012-01-28T05:44:00.003-05:00

"I am deeply happy to have found my place, camera in hand, in this world."

I normally do not feature much at all of European subjects, however Josef Tornick's beautiful black & white photographs of the Outer Hebrides and of the Aran Islands (a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland and a group of islands on the west coast of Ireland respectively) are so well composed, that I thought I'd redress this failing.

Josef describes himself as project-oriented humanist documentary photographer. After years of deep inward study and reflection, he tells is of an effortless flow of images from his camera, reflecting a long sought integration.

Having followed my blog's posts relating to the new Fujifilm cameras, Josef tells me he just bought a Fujifilm FinePix X100 and is amazed by its image quality, which he thinks is much better than his former Panasonic G1.

POV: 5th Anniversary...Yes, 5th!!!

2012-01-27T05:35:00.017-05:00

I always write a post at this time of year to observe the annual anniversary/birthday of The Travel Photographer's blog. I've started the blog five years ago (in London actually, and probably only because I was stuck at home as it was raining) and since then, it attracted an astonishing number of readers and visitors.

On the poster above, I haven't added my 5400 followers on Lightbox, an Android app (and soon to be on iPhone too as well).

Over two million unique visitors! Two million!!!

It established itself as a blog to read amongst a certain segment of the photography industry, and earned me the attention of many photographers (pros, semi-pros and non pros), photo retailers and industry experts. Yes, it's time-consuming (much less so now because it's well known, and requests from photographers find their way to my inbox on a weekly basis), but I still have enough self discipline to attend to it on a daily basis (well, 99% of the time).

And one of the most pleasant thrills I experience is being accosted in public and asked if I was "The Travel Photographer"...and this happens not infrequently, especially in New York City. If I may say so, adopting the brand name "The Travel Photographer" is one of the best ideas I've had in years. A self-pat on the back for thinking of it. A lesson to the younger photographers: brand yourself!!!

Onwards towards the 6th year.

As they say in my country of birth...Insha' Allah!

Mark Carey: Viet Nam In Black & White

2012-01-26T05:22:00.006-05:00

"My photographic heart lies in documentary, showing things as they really are, not as someone has contrived them to be..."

Here's a photographer who shares my own photographic credo.

Mark Carey is a London-based documentary photographer, and who tells us he never had an interest in photographing posed or set-up shots, whether for his wedding photography or during his travels. I suggest you view his wedding portfolio, and see this documentary/photojournalism style applied to the weddings he covered.

His travel portfolio consists of three main galleries; Rajasthan, Varanasi and Viet Nam, which I think has extremely well composed black & white (one or two are in color) street photographs. I don't know if Mark shoots from the hip, but the subjects in many of the photographs appear to be oblivious of his presence....street photography at its best.

It's been too long since my last visit to Viet Nam, and I am starting to lay out plans for a photo expedition/workshop at some point to take place in this wonderful country.

A highly recommended viewing stop for all those interested in Viet Nam and solid street photography! Great travel photography does not need to be in color!

A Year Ago...Egypt

2012-01-25T05:48:00.022-05:00

In remembrance of those who fell in Tahrir and elsewhere. The Egyptian revolution started a year ago today, and is still ongoing.

And to the naysayers, neo-cons and the rest of the mindless individuals who prefer Arab dictatorships, and see democracy (as imperfect as it may be) taking its first steps in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East as an existentialist threat, go screw yourselves.

And to those who are optimistic, here are, via Foreign Policy Magazine, the young Egyptians who will eventually succeed in achieving what they started.

The Year Of The Dragon: Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2012-01-24T05:53:00.004-05:00

Photo © Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images-Courtesy Al Jazeera

Ethnic Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese across Asia are ringing in the Year of the Dragon with fireworks, festivals and family reunions. Legend has it that Chinese people descended from a dragon, and it's believed the powerful creature is auspicious. The tradition dictates that those born in Dragon years tend to be brave, innovative and highly driven, regularly making it to the top of their profession. In China, the holiday is known as 春节, the Spring Festival, and kicks off 15 days of celebration.

Al Jazeera's In Pictures, The Atlantic's In Focus, The Boston Globe's The Big Picture and the Los Angeles Time's Framework featured photo galleries of the celebrations all over the world.

Photo © Rungroj Yongrit/EPA-Courtesy LAT

I wish all the very best to my friends and readers in Asia and elsewhere who celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

In New York City's Chinatown, a Lunar New Year parade is scheduled for January 29 on Canal Street South from 11:30 to 4 pm. I bet many photographers will be there!!

POV: Fujifilm X-Pro 1 & Leica M9

2012-01-23T05:10:00.055-05:00

One of my most popular blog posts is the recent FujiFilm X-Pro1: Is It A Threat To Leica? in which I thought that it might well be, depending on the X-Pro 1's image quality (of course) and price point. It attracted a large number of emails...some agreeing with me, and others disagreeing.

About two weeks into the announcement, a large number of websites have expressed first look opinions and reviews of the X-Pro 1, and the consensus seems to be that Fujifilm is indeed putting the Leica M9 in its crosshairs with this new camera. Some even say that with the M9 based on the classic rangefinder model, the X-Pro 1 (although not a rangefinder as such) is the future...a reincarnation of that classic model. After all, it's an all-new camera system, with a brand new mount and lenses.

Another clue into Fujifilm's strategic thinking is its announcement it will make available a Leica M-mount adapter for the X-Pro 1, trying to peel off consumers away from the legendary classic but providing photographers the option to use the excellent Leica lenses as well as Voigtlander and Zeiss glass. How many times have I heard from established photographers that they'd love to have an M9, but it was too expensive? Lots.

I recently read in PDN that the lens system for the X-Pro 1 will initially consist of a 18mm f/2, 35mm f/1.4 and a 60mm f/2.4, with more coming down the road such as a 14mm super wide, a 18-72mm f/4 IS zoom, a 23mm f/2, a 28mm f/2.8 pancake design, a 12-24mm f/4 and a 70-200mm f/4 IS zoom.

Quite a broad range of lenses to suit every photography type! Wedding, street and documentary.

On the negative side, I also read in a number of hands-on reviews (of the pre-production models) that its auto-focus will not be as responsive as we'd like it to be. Another thing, the actual retail price has appeared in the UK, and seems to be £1350 (the equivalent of about $2000 including VAT of 20%, or $1600 net pre tax).

Will this Fujifilm newcomer pressure Leica to come up with a mirrorless model of its own? Perhaps. We have all seen countless companies fall by the wayside because they couldn't (or wouldn't) grab the moment...because of managerial inertia, bad luck or arrogance...or all of those.

I am not "dissing" Leica by any means. I own one and I'm very pleased with it despite its shortcomings (and my own), but I have no second thoughts the X-Pro 1 will nibble into the rangefinder market. How much of a nibble remains to be seen.

POV: An Evolution

2012-01-22T06:09:00.002-05:00

It's a curious thing evolution. Not the kind of evolution that most Republican Presidential candidates unintelligently profess (or pretend to) not to believe in, but our own visual evolution...our visual maturation.

Last night, I was going through my photographs from the week I spent attending the Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap and, whilst I hadn't any plans to seriously photograph there, I nevertheless did manage to grab a few hundred of shots. I had no specific storyline or photo shoots in mind, played the tourist and just photographed whatever took my fancy.

I left my Canon 5D Mark II in my hotel room, and only used my M9 fitted with an Elmarit 28mm f2.8 during that week wherever I went, and it was liberating -but also challenging to some degree- to be using a rangefinder with only one lens.

Looking at my photographs, I isolated the four you see above this post that I believe illustrate the visual maturation I've been through since I started photography in earnest some 12 years ago. The top two are the shots I used to prefer almost exclusively during the first few years of my photographic trajectory...simple, uncomplicated, candid, pure travel photography....those I call perhaps undeservedly the "lazy" shots. Although these are made with a rangefinder and a wide-angle lens, I used to make similar photographs using a 70-200 lens, staying at some distance from my subjects. I no longer do this, especially with the gear I now prefer to use. That being said, this type of photography is currently my least favored. It's a milestone in my visual maturation.

The one of the caretaker monk at Wat Bo is a chiaroscuro portrait; the kind I like when making a simple "one-subject" photograph. It takes a little more planning and setting up, and is obviously much more dramatic than the "plain-vanilla" top two.

The bottom image is the type of photography that appeals to me the most at this stage. It's far from being a great photograph, but comparatively is more complex. It's not as multi-layered as a street photograph, and is just of dance performers dressing up for tourists at Angkor Wat...but is much more interesting than the above three; at least to my eyes.

A few years ago, when I definitely moved to digital photography, I decided -for space reasons- to cull my slides, and must've thrown out thousands of what -to my eyes then- were crappy shots. I only kept the "good" ones which are largely similar to the top two photographs...simple and uncomplicated. Who knows? Perhaps I threw a few slides that would have now been "keepers".

It's why I no longer trash any of my image files....unless they're really bad, really really blurry or beyond any fix. With digital files, physical space (as in filing cabinets or whatever) is no longer an issue, so all images are saved and archived....one day, they may be keepers after all!!

Gul Chotrani: Leica Talk

2012-01-21T05:02:00.013-05:00

Gul Chotrani was just featured in an interview on The Leica Camera Blog, following his return from his July 2011 journey to Ethiopia's Omo Valley.

I met him when he joined my In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition™ in 2011, and it was during it that he photographed using his M9, S2 and a Nikon D3.

Gul worked as an analyst/economist and later in investment banking in the UK, then spent several years in academia, teaching economics and finance in Singapore and South East Asia. He subsequently served as a consultant/advisor in trade, finance and development issues, and also participated in technical cooperation programs with several less developed countries in Asia, on behalf of the Singapore government, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

"When I’m on a serious photography trip, my total gear consists of three bodies (Leica M9, S2 and Nikon D3X) with perhaps two lenses for each, all meant to complement each other."

He echoes many Leica owners when admitting that using its cameras in the beginning was frustrating, and that he almost gave up on it. However, realizing the superlative optics of the Leica M lenses, and presumably the resultant image quality, is what kept him hooked to the Leica brand.

Interesting thoughts (a second installment of the interview is due to appear soon on the Leica blog) by an enthusiastic and unabashed Leica aficionado, which may influence some photographers to jump in the Leica universe.

For further photographs by Gul, drop by his website.

Russia By Rail via NPR

2012-01-20T05:30:00.003-05:00

Photo © David Gilkey- Courtesy NPR

I rarely post on Russia!

On the map that shows where The Travel Photographer blog readership comes from, every continent is dotted with thousands of dots of where the daily hits originate...the least (after sub Saharan Africa) dotted area is Russia. So perhaps this post will redress the situation.

"Six thousand miles. Seven time zones. And endless cups of hot tea."

National Public Radio's David Greene along with producer Laura Krantz and photographer David Gilkey boarded the Trans-Siberian Railway in Moscow and took two weeks to make their way to the Pacific Ocean port city of Vladivostok, and produced this impressive Russia By Rail series.

The NPR series tells us that it's one of the world's longest train trips, and passes through one of the world's largest forests and runs along the shoreline of the world's largest freshwater lake, Lake Baikal, which holds nearly 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

Interestingly, Gilkey says that their gear included all sorts of recorders, microphones, high-end digital cameras and an iPhone 4. It appears the iPhone was essential because it could be used more easily than regular cameras that are viewed with some suspicion by some Russians. Many of the images in the galleries were made with the iPhone.

Equally interestingly, Gilkey also used new instant film material for the classic Polaroid cameras; results of which can be viewed in the Freeze Frame section of the series. Very atmospheric old timey images.

Kolkata: Book In Progress

2012-01-18T05:23:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I featured a poll in which I asked my readers to choose which photograph I ought to use for my work-in-progress book on Kolkata.

Out of 270 votes, 78% (or 210) chose the wide-angled photograph of a rickshaw puller because it compositionally has more depth and is more "Kolkata" location-specific, while the close-up of another rickshaw puller was deemed more attractive...presumably because he's smiling.

I have listened to my readers, and have happily gone along with the results of the poll. However, I've made a few changes; I chose a different typography and location for the book's title, and decided that the portrait of the rickshaw puller would be horizontally flipped, and be the back cover of the book.

I am currently working (taking my time, I ought to admit) on the book, choosing from the tons of photographs I returned with from my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop. I am hoping that the book will be approximately 80 pages.

Kalachakra via The Big Picture

2012-01-17T05:00:00.002-05:00

Damn! Why haven't I been to Bodh Gaya?!!! Afer seeing these wonderful photographs of the Buddhist event in the northern state of Bihar as featured by The Big Picture, what else can I say?

Kalachakra is an ancient ritual that involves a series of prayers, meditations, dances, chants, vows and the construction of a large sand mandala - all with the aim to bring world peace. It refers to the philosophies and meditation practices contained within the Kalachakra Tantra and its many commentaries. Bodhgaya is one of the holy Buddhist pilgrimage sites where the Buddha manifested enlightenment.

In 2012, the event began on January 1 and lasted for ten days in the northern Indian state of Bihar. The present Dalai Lama has given over thirty Kalachakra initiations all over the world, and is the most prominent Kalachakra lineage holder alive today.

Anthony Pond: On Yangon's Wharf

2012-01-16T05:27:00.001-05:00

Here's an audio slideshow of black & white stills by Anthony Pond on the porters at Yangon's wharf. It's his first attempt to use SoundSlides and Audacity, and I am impressed.

Anthony Pond worked for more than two decades in the criminal courts in California as an attorney for the Public Defender’s Office. Now pursuing his passion for travel and photography, he traveled repeatedly to South East Asia and India, amongst other places, to capture life, the people and the culture.

His photography website has galleries of his work from Laos, Nepal, India, Burkina Faso, Mali, Cuba, Mexico and Cambodia, as well as others.

Anthony is joining me on my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™ this coming March, and I certainly look forward to be working with him during it.

Mitchell Kanashkevich: Orthodox Christmas In Lalibela

2012-01-15T05:07:00.004-05:00

"Lalibela is Ethiopia’s answer to Jerusalem."

Most of my readers will know who Mitchell Kanashkevich is; either because they read his blog as well, or because they're read some of my posts about his work.

He's currently in Northern Ethiopia, whizzing along its bumpy roads on a motorcycle (yes, he's hardcore in that way), and has attended the Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Lalibela, which he correctly describes as the Ethiopia's Jerusalem. During his stay there, he made gorgeous photographs which are on his blog.

Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. Unlike Aksum, the population of Lalibela is almost completely Ethiopian Orthodox Christian. The town is famous for its churches hewn out the rock, which are thought to have been built in the 12th and 13th centuries. All told, there are 13 churches, assembled in four groups. Orthodox Christianity became the established church of the Ethiopian Kingdom in the 4th century through the efforts of a Syrian Greek monk.

Reading through Mitchell's blog entry, I pause at his statement that tourists' behavior, such as giving out of money for photos, is leading some devotees to beg for money after being photographed. Having been in Lalibela and Northern Ethiopia in 2004, I was relieved then that this was not my experience...devotees, deacons and priests welcomed my photographing them with no demands. However, I am not surprised at all this has changed with all the influx of tourists who don't know any better...or don't care.

Like Mitchell, I refuse to hand out money for photographs...unless (and that's an important qualifier) I specifically ask the subject(s) I want to photograph to go somewhere else with me, and there set them up for a photo shoot. In this case, I consider these people as models whose time I've taken, and some modest monetary payment ought to be in order. Now, like Mitchell as well, I mostly photograph documentary-style, so this is the infrequent exception.

POV: The "Leica" Marketing Of The Fuji X100

2012-01-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

You'd think there's no world recession!

Fujifilm is emulating long standing Leica's marketing tactics by introducing the Black FujiFilm X100 Limited Edition which will be limited to only 10,000 cameras.

This slick and glistening dedicated website for the new X100 is designed to make us salivate at the prospect of spending $1700 for this "limited issue" model, which is a $500 premium over the regular model.

Leica is well known to make its products as desirable as possible...by giving these the allure of being limited or exclusive...and obviously charging for the privilege of owning one. The recent launching of the M9-P is a classic example of Leica's marketing tactics (or techniques, if you prefer).

While I consider a $500 premium excessive for what is essentially a paint-job, I leave it to its eventual the end users to decide whether it's worth it.

And here's a clincher thought: Fujifilm and Kodak were in the film-making business, and competitors. Why aren't we seeing Kodak digital cameras as exciting as those by Fujifilm?

The Oracles Of Kerala Photo Workshop: Preparations

2012-01-14T06:03:00.002-05:00

Well, the final touches on The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™ are being done, and with some of the participants having booked already their flights to India and even to Kochi (where the workshop actually starts), it won't be long before we meet on March 12th for its two weeks' duration.

I was advised by our agent in charge of logistics et al, that the dates of the two main festvals we were slated to document may have been changed a tad. These festivals are based on the Malayalam calendar, so this is not unexpected. If this is indeed the case, it means little in terms of the overall expedition/workshop, except that we will stay in one place a day longer, and a day less in another place.

The Thirunakkara Arattu festival and the Kottakal Pooram festival are the highlights of the expedition/workshop, however I have included photo shoots at a Kathakali academy, a Vedic school and hopefully during an obscure Sufi festival held at the Maulang Shah Auliya shrine, which we are still tracking.

In reality, this is one of the most enjoyable phase in setting up photo expeditions/workshops such as this. One needs to expect the unexpected, remain flexible and be able to change tack if need be.

As the Romans used to say...let the games begin!

Amy Helene Johansson: 88 1/2

2012-01-13T05:08:00.001-05:00

I'm extremely pleased to feature Amy Helene Johansson's evocative new work titled 88 1/2; a 5 minutes film which revolves around Jack O'Connell, an eccentric film director who lives in Manhattan and who recalls his days with the greats...Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Reminiscent of the fabulous New York Times' One In 8 Million series (which sadly have been discontinued), Amy's terrific short film has captured the very essence of this film director...she directed, filmed and produced it after spending 3 weeks with Jack in New York this past fall, and tells me she has much more material to work on.

Amy Helene Johansson studied film and theatre theory before earning a BA in fashion design. Witnessing the power of photography to tell the stories of people without voices, Amy ditched her pencil and paper and bought her first ever professional camera and embarked on a successful career as a photojournalist.

She was published in leading broadsheets and magazines in the UK and Sweden, including the Sunday Times UK, Dagens Nyheter, Sydsvenska Dagbladet, Amelia and Omvärlden. She also picked up first prize in Asian Geographic Magazine “Faces of Asia Award”, and won the “Foundry Emerging Photojournalist Award. Her work has taken her all over the world covering topics as wide-ranging as Burmese refugees to the Cabaret culture in Denmark. Her work has been displayed in solo and collaborative exhibitions in Bangladesh, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the UAE. She is currently exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

What's with these alum of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop??? Both Amy and Agata (yesterday's post) produced brilliant work!

Agata Pietron: War Songs (Part 1)

2012-01-12T05:17:00.001-05:00

Here's the powerful, technically well-made and intelligent multimedia work by the talented Agata Pietron. It's about teenagers who live in one of the most dangerous places in the world: in the two Kivus in East Democratic Republic of Congo, where war lasted for two decades. These young men and women experienced the influx of Rwandan refugees into their homeland of South and North Kivu, which caused political instability, genocide and eventually civil war.

These young people want to rebuild their lives by embracing hip-hop, rap and R&B as musicians, and take American monikers such as Dangerous, Young Boys, B2K, Kashmal, Lille Cent, Peace Life, Victory etc. They speak in French, but the audio slideshow is subtitled in English. Excellent pacing, top notch audio...enviable resolution.

Agata Pietron is an independent photographer and journalist, currently based in Warsaw. She graduated from Cultural Studies at University of Warsaw, studied at European Academy of Photography and Academy of Film and Television. Now she works mainly on social projects. Her works has been exhibited in Poland and abroad. Her clients (among others) are: Orange, Unicef, RR Donnelley, Sotis, Lego, Natura, Lyreco, Fundacja Pomocy Dzieciom Niepełnosprawnym, Fundacja Synapsis.

She's also an alum of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop...which she attended a number of times; last of which was in Buenos Aires. She worked in the DRC; covering many social issues that put her safety at risk on more than one occasion.

A real pro. What else can I say?

Fuji X Pro-1: Hands On Previews

2012-01-10T06:10:00.002-05:00

Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of a hands on review of the new Fuji X Pro-1.

Jelle Oostrom: Morocco

2012-01-10T05:33:00.001-05:00

Jelle Oostrom is a travel writer and photographer based in the Netherlands, and has interesting photo galleries of his journeys to Morocco, Andalucia, Thailand, Portugal, Italy and Indonesia.

In common with most photographer who travel to Morocco, Jelle's gallery of this country is predominantly of streetscapes, landscapes and, with a couple of exceptions, of people from a distance (as most Moroccans dislike being photographed for cultural reasons).

I especially liked Jelle's photographs of Chefchaouen; the well known "indigo blue" town close to Tangier and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Aside from Chefchaouen, the Morocco gallery of 45 photographs features Marrakech, Essaouira, Ouarzazate and possibly Fez.

Jelle also authors a Tumblr blog.

The Trams Of Kolkata

2012-01-09T05:42:00.003-05:00

On the penultimate day of the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop this past October, some of us rode one of the famous Kolkata trams on one of its routes. As far as I recall, we chose the Esplanade to Shyambazar route, which is about 5 kilometers. Kolkata is India's only city to have a tram network, which is operated by Calcutta Tramways Company.

These are slow-moving cars, battered from many years of hard service. There are 170 trams running on the streets of Kolkata on a daily basis. The cars are single-deck articulated cars and can carry 200 passengers. When we rode ours, it was off-peak and seats were readily available.

At the Shyambazar depot (end of the line), I photographed the conductors (who were amused by my presence) in their small restroom, while they were having tea and cigarettes. I explored the idle tram cars and photographed inside the cars. The engine was made in Japan by Fuji Electric. All my exploration and photographing was observed by one of the conductors seen in the photo above.

I haven't decided yet if I ought to produce a photo gallery of the Kolkata tram "project"...perhaps an audio slideshow since I managed to record some great audio of the traffic, the clang of the tram's bell, etc.

Taylor Weidman: Mustang

2012-01-08T06:12:00.003-05:00

"Mustang is arguably the best-preserved example of traditional Tibetan life left in the world."

And so says Taylor Weidman in the recently featured article on NPR's website.

The title of the article is Can Photos Save A Vanishing Culture? especially as the younger generation in this Kingdom is becoming increasingly disconnected from its traditions, because those who can afford to go to school leave for neighboring Kathmandu or India, and do not return.

I do not believe that photographs can save a vanishing culture, but if "save" means and is used in the context of preservation, then yes...they do. In the case of the Omo Valley tribes, as an example, the literal influx of tourists and their cameras has impacted the traditions of these proud people. I have seen (and featured) a number of photographs of Omo Valley tribes people wearing all sorts of headgear and dress that are not indigenous to their culture...and were more akin to avant garde fashion models, set up that way by over imaginative photographers. This type of photography is not 'saving' but exploiting.

Taylor Weidman is a photographer and founder of the Vanishing Cultures Project. He worked with a number of magazines and NGOs, and his photographs were exhibited in Geneva, Montreal and New York. Graduating with a Master's in Photojournalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communication at Syracuse University, he worked at The Christian Science Monitor, then completed a long-term photography project about the Tibetan Kingdom of Lo as a Fulbright Fellow in Nepal.

POV: Fuji X1-Pro1: Is It A Threat To Leica?

2012-01-06T05:20:00.018-05:00

The blogosphere is abuzz with the news that FujiFilm will be launching a new mirrorless camera soon, and its tech details were published in a French magazine as having a custom 16MP CMOS sensor, use Fujifilm’s EXR processor technology, feature a second-generation hybrid viewfinder, and will be available with 3 fast prime lenses (18mm f/2, 35mm f/1.4, and 60mm f/2.4). More details here.

"...the smart money ought to be on the new mirrorless cameras."

I certainly hope the rumors and the leaks are accurate, so we have more of the so-called “Micro Four-Thirds” and “EVIL” cameras such as the venerable Panasonic GF1 and the newer GX1. If the Fuji X1-Pro1 is indeed a reality, street photographers and others will be sorely tempted to buy it, certainly if its price point is reasonable. The French magazine article claims that its price in Europe (in Euros) will be equivalent to $1700 including a sweet 35mm f1.4. The remaining two lenses are said to be priced at the equivalent of $780 each. Since European prices are usually higher than those in the US, perhaps the street price here will be around $1400 (about the price of a Canon 7D body).

I am convinced the era of the bulky DSLRs will wane very soon, with the future belonging to theMicro Four-Thirds cameras, and certainly not for bulky cameras whose bodies were built for film transport, and have not changed since. Nikon and Canon can launch and hype their newest DSLRs until they're blue in the face, but the smart money ought to be on the new mirrorless cameras.

And that's why I will not be upgrading my Canon 5D Mark II nor my 7D. As for my question as whether the Fuji X1 being a threat to Leica...I think the answer might well be a qualified yes...and here's some more red meat for the naysayers... I still think Leica will come up with a mirrorless iteration at some point soon.

UPDATE: As Per Leica Rumors, It now appears that Fuji will release a Leica M-mount adapter for the X-Pro 1.

UPDATE 2 (January 8) Via Steve Huff: Amazon Taking Pre-Orders On The Fuji X1 Pro1 Lenses (but Not The Camera Yet)

UPDATE 3 (January 9) Via PDN: Official Press Release And Specs For The Fuji X1-Pro1

POV: Street Photography In Old Delhi

2012-01-05T05:11:00.002-05:00

Old Delhi is one of my favorite locations for street photography, and is a must stop for me when I'm in India for my photo expeditions/workshops.

I produced a short documentary audio slideshow on the Spice Porters of Khari Baoli of Old Delhi, but on my way through Chandni Chowk, I started photographing with my M9. While some of my photographs were made by shooting from the hip, most were not. Chandni Chowk, as any other market and public place in India, is a dream environment for street photography since it teems with living tableaus.

Notwithstanding, most photographers are bound to be noticed and stared at. Now, this is a problem because the essence of street photography, as told to me many years ago by Costa Manos, is that no one must see the photographer. In other words, if any subject in one's street picture is seen looking at the camera, the photographer has "failed" in capturing the moment. Perhaps extreme, and very difficult to achieve in India where people are alert, curious and have no problem at dropping what they're doing to stare at whatever and whoever interest them.

It takes a little more speed, sometimes stealth, and certainly patience to work around this. We all have our techniques, but I find that a lot patience and "fading in the background" works best. Eventually, the most curious loses interest and I have free rein in photographing as much as I care and need to.

Here are some examples of the street photography "obstacles" I faced during my latest trip in Chandni Chowk.

The top photograph is of someone I describe as "The Quizzical Guy". He saw me photographing, and just froze alongside some mannequins, and kept staring at me for a while...trying to figure out what I was doing. So I photographed him.

The middle photograph is of someone who's the exact opposite of The Quizzical Guy. He probably saw me photographing The Coco Seller, but didn't care and just walked through. If he didn't notice me, he's probably a rarity amongst the crowds of Chandni Chowk.

The bottom photograph is of the "Don't Photograph" fellow. The man had absolutely nothing to do with Khari Baoli, but thought he had authority of telling me not to photograph. I get this type of people quite often...and I tell them quite firmly they ought to move on and find something better to do. He must have been a retired police officer who missed his authority. He wagged his finger at me, and quickly left.

Brazil's ArcaPress Collective

2012-01-04T05:31:00.002-05:00

I usually don't mention photographers collective on this blog, but I found that ArcaPress (started in May of 2010) which highlights Brazilian culture and covering such areas as religion, indigenous people, economic issues, urban reality, environment and wildlife.

I was particularly drawn to Between Faith And Fever by Guy Veloso, and Maracatu by Celso Oliviera.

Maracatu is the name of performance genres found in northeastern Brazil and in its northeastern state of Ceará. Maracatu describes the music style that accompanies these performances. Maracatu has close ties to Afro-Brazilian religious ceremonies, and these performances are secular manifestations of these cults.

POV: iPhone's Google Translate As A Fixer?

2012-01-03T05:44:00.037-05:00

I recently jumped ship from Blackberry to iPhone, and was glad to see how its various photography apps such as Instagram and Hipstamatic were ice-breakers during my trip to Cambodia. Even elderly and normally reserved Buddhist monks were excited to choose the filters to apply on the pictures I took of them with the device.

A few days ago, I downloaded Google Translate, a free iPhone app, and realized it would very useful whilst photographing in a country where I needed an interpreter. I am not suggesting it'd replace a fixer or an interpreter, but it will certainly help out in situations where I am either on my own or when my fixer is unavailable or helping someone else.

For instance, if I'm in India and require assistance in asking permission from people to take their picture while my fixer is elsewhere, I'd rely on the app to provide me with a reasonable translation (both in writing and spoken). In the picture above, you'll see I typed "Can I take your picture?" which is translated as "Maiṁ apanī tasvīra lē sakatē haiṁ" in Hindi. The cool thing is that the app can also 'speak' the translation.

I don't know if this is the precise grammatical form (I'm sure my friends in India will eventually let me know), but I know the word tasvīra is to photograph...so I'm sure that I'd get across with that phrase much more easily than repeating "tasveer tikke?" like a parrot as I normally do.

I've tried the same phrase with the three languages I know well...French and Spanish (it's spot on), and with Arabic (it's very close). So I'm quite sure it'll do well in the available languages, especially if the phrases are simple...such as "Stand here"..."Relax"..."Be natural", "Where's the bathroom?", etc.

All I need to do before traveling to India (as an example) is to make a list of the common phrases I could need....enter these in Google Translate and save the translations. Whenever needed, I'll just need to access my translation history and voila!

No, it'll never replace a fixer or interpreter...but in a pinch, it'll be very helpful...and would be an added icebreaker.

I know...the picture of my iPhone above is crap. I'm too lazy to do a proper lighting set up.

POV: TIME's Lightbox 365 Photographs

2012-01-02T05:32:00.013-05:00

Photo © Amr Abdallah Dalsh/ (Reuters)

LightBox, the blog by TIME’s photo department, is one of my daily photography pilgrimage stops, and it ought to be yours as well. It has just compiled a 2011 yearbook, picking a photo for each day of the year.

Since I am always pleasantly surprised when I particularly like a photograph from various news sources and it subsequently wins an award of some sort, I will try my luck with the 365 photographs picked by the TIME photo editors. I have to say it was a tough call as the editors have done a really terrific job in choosing these photographs.

Nevertheless, out of these 365 photographs, I chose 5 that most appealed to me both from an aesthetic standpoint, and for the subject matter they cover.

My first choice is the November 22 photograph (shown above) of an Egyptian protester tossing a tear gas canister, which had been thrown by the riot police, during clashes near Tahrir Square in Cairo. The photograph is by Amr Abdallah Dalsh (Reuters). In my view, this photograph ought to garner many photojournalism awards.

My second choice is this magnificent image of September 9 by photographer Moises Saman of Libyan Eyadea Elspaie visiting the gravesite of his son, Tareq Elspaie, who was killed by Gaddafi loyalists in August. The sorrowful posture of this father, under a dramatic sky, is just a Biblical scene.

My third choice is the August 17 'penumbra' photograph by Abir Sultan-EPA of a Hasidic community member praying in a cave of an old Arab house in Lifta (Jerusalem), Israel. The man's stance in the darkness, and the shaft of light on the man's tallit or prayer shawl, may perhaps be interpreted in different ways, depending on one's political agenda. For me, its just a great picture.

My fourth choice is the October 19 photograph by Matt Dunham—AP of an Irish traveler in front of a burning barricade during evictions at the Dale Farm travelers site, near Basildon England, 30 miles east of London. This was a huge story in the United Kingdom, and being in London at the time, I recall that it was wall-to wall coverage of this rather localized issue. Here again, a very well composed Biblical scene. I also nod my head at the fact that the upper right hand corner was left untouched...even with what appears to be an electrical or telephone cable.

My fifth choice is the September 30 photograph of the OWS movement by Spencer Platt (Getty Images). The photograph is of a Wall Street protester from upstate New York, holding up a sign in New York City. I've seen many of the OWS photographs, and this one in particular resonated with me...perhaps because the protestor is masked by the poster? It was a faceless movement after all.

There they are...my five choices. Will any of these go on and win awards? We'll see.

A 2012 Welcome

2012-01-01T09:01:00.001-05:00

Rather than featuring a photograph of fireworks or of New York City's Times Square crowds, I thought this one of an Ahmedabad resident having his beard trimmed to welcome the new year is more interesting.

It's one of the photographs featured by The Guardian newspaper in it's How the world prepares for New Year's Eve - in pictures.

My very best wishes for a wonderful 2012 to this blog's readers, friends, followers and supporters.

POV: The Travel Photographer Looks Back At 2011

2011-12-30T05:57:00.003-05:00

I thought of ending 2011 with various "look-backs" and favorites that appeared on The Travel Photographer's blog.

1. Photo Expedition/Workshops:

I rate the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop as the most logistically challenging, but also most rewarding from a documentary standpoint, of my photo expeditions. As I've written in previous posts, the participants (most had no prior knowledge of multimedia) produced highly commendable audio-slideshows during the two weeks spent in Kolkata.

My comprehensive verdict and epilogue of the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop was published on October 28.

From the In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition™, I produced my favorite audio-slideshow and photo essay The Possessed of Mira Datar. It documents the pilgrims who flock daily in their hundreds to the shrine of a renowned Sufi saint in Gujarat.

2. Favorite Photo Essay By Photojournalist:

There's no question that it was the terrific photo essay in The New York Times titled Cairo Undone by Moises Saman. It made me recalibrate my earlier thoughts about photographing in Cairo.

3. Favorite New York Street Photography Event:

In the early days of November, I ventured to Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, and spent a few hours photographing the Occupy Wall Street movement. As I wrote in the blog post, I sympathize with most of the OWS positions. Some of the photographs I took are featured on The Leica File.

4. Favorite Photo Festivals:

I'm not a big photo festival goer, so I only attended two in 2011...but I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the biannual Delhi Photo Festival in October (regrettably for only one day), and attending the annual Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap. Both of these festivals were extremely well organized and the attendance was phenomenal!

5. Favorite Photojournalism Workshop:

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is my hands-down favorite. Not only because I'm one of the faculty members, but because it's really fantastic. The photographers in the faculty generously share their knowledge and time, its staff, administrators and local volunteers make it wonderful successes year after year, and simply said, the participating photographers "students" are the future...and it's personally rewarding to be part of this.

6. Favorite Short Vimeo Movies:

I loved Miehina, The Kyoto Geisha by Glen Milner. Extremely well produced, and instrumental in shaming me in not having visited Japan yet.

And I also loved A Dos Pasos Del Corazón: The Photographer Of Seville by Sergio Caro and Ernesto Villalba. A beautifully produced movie about an elderly wedding photographer.

7. Favorite Photographer "Americana" Category:

Carolyn Beller takes that one with her The Mississippi Delta photo essay, which I imagined viewing with a song by Howlin' Wolf or John Lee Hooker (as only two examples) blaring in the background.

8. (My Very Own) Favorite Prediction:

No one takes my prediction seriously (at least publicly) but I predict the advent of a mirror-less Leica...a $3500 Micro Four Thirds Leica. I know it's wishful thinking, but that's what my Nostradamus crystal ball tells me when I look in it.

And another of my silly predictions was that I'd never take pictures with an iPhone. Yes, I do now.

9. Favorite Love-Hate Relationship:

I have a love-hate relationship with my Leica M9...many photographers share this emotional dichotomy. I imagined it would not last as long, but it has. I love the M9's handling, heft and durability and abhor its shortcomings...and yes, it makes really great pictures when I know what to do.

And my Dumber Than Dumb moment of 2011 is when I exhausted myself polishing my Elmarit 28mm lens because the view through my just acquired M9's viewfinder was smudgy. The more I polished the more it got smudgier...of course, I was polishing the lens with my thumb squarely on the viewfinder window....a rangefinder newbie brain fart.

10. (My) Favorite Street Photograph:

It's really a subway photograph...but is of the trio of women on the F train, which I titled "The Sleepy, The Anxious And The Bored".

11. My Most Popular Blog Post:

The most popular post on The Travel Photographer during 2011 is a POV titled Is Shooting From The Hip Photography?. Many many thousands of views on that one. Wow!

12. My Favorite WTF? Rant:

It's the WTF?! Be A Sucker And Publicize A Book...For Free. The very best of my world famous acerbic rants.

13. Favorite Photographer "Travel" Category:

And here he is...Tim Allen is the The Travel Photographer's favorite travel photographer of 2011. Tim is is a English photographer with a hefty professional background, who has won prestigious awards. He has worked with indigenous communities throughout the world , most extensively in India and South East Asia.

No ambivalence. One of the best there is.

Enric Mestres Illamola: India

2011-12-29T05:38:00.002-05:00

Enric Mestres Illamola is a Catalan photographer specialized in portraits, wedding photography and is a photography teacher in various schools in Barcelona (Spain). He traveled to India no less than 6 times, mostly traveling as a tourist, and photographing portraits along his route. He uploaded a series of these portraits, as well as some street scenes, on YouTube.

Sandy Chandler: Videos & Book...Kolkata & Durga Puja

2011-12-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

Sandy Chandler has been busy the past few months. No, make that real busy.

She participated in my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™ in October, and having produced a highly commendable black & white audio-slideshow (at top) during the workshop, also returned home with a trove of images and audio tracks recorded live during the two weeks in Kolkata.

Back home, she produced a more light hearted view of the festival which views it from what she calls "Another Side of Durga Puja", and features its mixture of spirituality and commerce.

As she describes it, "the annual Durga Puja festival in Kolkata celebrates Durga, archetype of Great Goddess Mahadevi of the Hindu Pantheon. The festival sees huge, elaborately crafted sculptures installed in homes and public spaces all over the city. At the end of the festival, the idols are paraded through the streets accompanied by music and dancing and then immersed into the Ganges river."

Sandy is currently working towards her MA in Art & Religion at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (Graduate Theology Union) in Berkeley, and these slideshows are part of her projects for this degree.

Others would be resting on their laurels, but she also self-published an 80 pages book titled Durga Puja which can be bought from Blurb.

Sandy Chandler is an award-winning and passionate travel photographer. Her photography captures the souls and spirit of the land, its culture and people. Her previous photography books are Carnevale: The Fantasy of Venice and Calling the Soul:The Spirit of Bali Cremations.

Evgenia Arbugaeva: Following The Reindeer

2011-12-27T05:47:00.003-05:00

I think featuring Evgenia Arbugaeva's photo essay Following The Reindeer is timely in view of the season where the children in us perhaps long to see them in the sky being led by a jolly man dressed in red with a white beard...but these reindeers are real, and live in the Republic of Yakutia...not in the North Pole.

Yakutia is located in eastern Siberia and stretches to the Henrietta Islands in the far north and is framed by the Laptev and Eastern Siberian Seas of the Arctic Ocean. It's a region with considerable raw materials. It large reserves of oil, gas, coal, diamonds, gold, and silver. The majority of all Russian diamonds are mined there, accounting for almost a quarter of the world's diamond production.

Evgenia Arbugaeva is of Yakutia, and works as a freelance photographer between Russia and New York. She documented the reindeer herders/breeders of the region, who are the Even, the Evenk, the Yukagir, the Chukchi and the Dolgan.

Merry Xmas And Happy 2012!!!

2011-12-25T05:52:00.057-05:00

(Click To Enlarge)

I wish a merry Xmas, and happy holidays to all my friends, blog readers, Google and Twitter followers...as well as to some of the hardy photographers who joined, and keep rejoining, The Travel Photographer's Photo Expeditions/Workshops™:

Jim Hudson
Mary Kay Hudson
Jan Lammers
Li Lu Porter
Maria-Christina Dikeos
Felice Willat
Joyce Birkenstock
Ralph Childs
Torie Olsen
Alia Rifaat
Tony Smith
Cathy Scholl
Dan Bannister
Beverly Anderson-Sanchez
Rosemary Sheel
Charlotte Rush-Bailey
Sandra Chandler
Gul Chotrani
Terri Gold
Nuray Jemil
Jenny Jozwiak
Gavin Gough
Larry Larsen
Penni Webb
Laurie Snow-Hein
Pat Demartini
Betsy Gertz
Lee Ann Durkin
Bonny Willet
Wink Willet
Kongkrit Sukying
Ron Mayhew
Rose Schierl
Lynn Padwe
Graham Ware
Kayla Keenan
Bo Jugner
Chris Schaefer
Carlos Amores
Teerayut Chaisarn
Colleen Kerrigan
Sharon Johnson-Tennant
Kim McClellan
Kris Bailey
Zara Bowmar

I'm working on a couple of new destinations for the latter part of 2012 and early 2013...as usual, these will be announced via my newsletter and on this blog.

The Travel Photographer's On The Lightbox App

2011-12-24T05:05:00.004-05:00

I am pleased to have The Travel Photographer's blog featured on LIGHTBOX, the new and beautifully designed social photo app for Android. This blog, along with National Geographic, 500px, Fotopedia and a few others, is featured under Photography.

The idea behind LIGHTBOX's new photo journal feature is to provide a stream of updates others can follow, share, like and comment on....which TechCrunch describes as a lazy man's Tumblr.

Although my blog has only been recently featured the LIGHTBOX's lineup, The Travel Photographer has already garnered over 600 followers!!

The Ashaninka: Mike Goldwater

2011-12-23T05:42:00.002-05:00

In Focus, the photo blog of The Atlantic magazine, featured The Ashaninka, A Threatened Way of Life; photographs by Mike Goldwater. Be sure to view the photographs in the 1280px option if your monitor allows it.

The Ashaninka are an indigenous people living in the rain forests of Peru and in the State of Acre of Brazil, and are one of the largest indigenous groups in South America. Their number is estimated between 25,000 and 45,000.

Current threats are from oil companies, drug traffickers, colonists, illegal lumberers, illegal roads, conservation groups, missionary groups, and diseases. Roads are being built into the forest to extract mahogany and cedar trees for export to markets in the United States and Europe despite an international embargo. Religious missionary groups are intent on changing Ashaninka culture and belief systems, ignoring the impact on their long term survival.

Mike Goldwater is a photographer, who ran the Half Moon Gallery in London's East End from 1974 to 1980, and who created the magazine "Camerawork". He also co-founded photo agency 'Network Photographers' for photojournalism, documentary photography and corporate work. He traveled to over 70 countries and his images were published in major magazines around the world.

You may also wish to see Tatiana Cardeal's work on South American indigenous people.

Xavier Zimbardo: Holi!

2011-12-22T05:29:00.002-05:00

I first came across the work of Xavier Zimbardo a number of years ago when I bought his book India Holy Song, whose description on a book-selling website says that it included photographs made in "textile-dyeing factories of Rajasthan bursting with seemingly endless, undulating streams of saturated jewel-like fabrics in astonishing hues, from aquamarine to amethyst to the deepest ruby red". I mention this because I researched the location, and organized a photo shoot there on one of my early photo expeditions to Pushkar. It was quite a thrill to recognize some of Xavier's 'models' as workers in the factory!

This movie is exceptionally well made, and was a collaborative effort including many technicians. The explosions of color...the pink, the fuchsia, the neon-green and yellow powder accompanied by a pulsating soundtrack (which I believe was recorded live). The movie was made with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105mm f/4 L, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L, and is featured on Canon France Vimeo page.

It's incredibly difficult to photograph and video in such an environment, and I wish there was some indication as to how the photographer and his team managed to keep their cameras and lenses safe from the hurled powder. While the 5DMark II is claimed by Canon to be weather-proof, its innards could easily be affected by the fine powder.

Xavier Zimbardo is a French photographer currently based in Sarcelles, a Parisian suburb. His work was featured in several European and international photography publications such as Zoom, Camera International, and Photographers International. He's a recipient of several grants and prizes, including those from the Kodak Foundation and the French government, and has had solo exhibitions of his work at museums and galleries throughout France, as well as in Athens, Sicily, Milan, Odense, and Montreal. His work is on permanent display in several museums worldwide including Paris's Bibiliothèque Nationale and Maison Européenne de la Photographie.

National Geographic Photo Contest 2011

2011-12-21T05:38:00.003-05:00

Photo © Tsolmon Naidandorj-All Rights Reseved

Despite my antipathy for photography contests, I always keep an eye on two; TPOTY (The Travel Photographer Of The Year) and The National Geographic.

The winners of The National Geographic Photo Contest were announced this week, with the grand prize awarded to Shikhei Goh for his capture of a dragonfly riding out a rainstorm in Indonesia. As usual, National Geographic has featured winning photos from this year's contest on its website. The contest judges this year were National Geographic magazine photographers Tim Laman, Amy Toensing, and Peter Essick.

I had a look at the submissions and the results, and (although not a nature photographer) agree that the photograph of the dragonfly is worthy of a recognition, but I do not agree with judges' choices for the finalists of the People category.

Had I been a judge, I would have chosen the Kazakh Hunter by Tsolomon Naidandorj as one of the finalists in the People category. It's exotic, it's dynamic and it's powerful and well composed.

Winners of the National Geographic Photo Contest are also featured on In Focus, the photo blog of The Atlantic.

Mario Gerth: East African Faces

2011-12-20T05:50:00.002-05:00

Mario Gerth traveled to 65 countries on five continents and witnessed all kinds of civil upheavals. A German part-time banker and photojournalist, he has concentrated his recent work on Africa...and the slideshow above showcases Ethiopian tribes, some in color and others in stunning monochromes. I particularly like Chapter 3 of the slideshow which consists of gorgeous square format toned portraits...conversely, I thought the panning movement all through the slideshow was a little too much.

The tribes depicted in Gerth's photographs are sedentary pastoral people living in south west of Ethiopia, on the western bank of the Omo river. Unfortunately, the survival and way of life of the tribes of South Ethiopia are under threat by various projects planned for the area, especially a massive hydroelectric dam that affects the Lower Omo River.

In an earlier post, I had written various tribes of the Omo Valley are adept in soliciting money for images and how ready they were to pose without much guidance. But the question here is what came first...the tourists with their cameras giving out a handful of birrs or the demand for money from tourists for each snap.

The Afghan Box Camera Project

2011-12-19T05:28:00.005-05:00

Photo Courtesy The Afghan Box Camera

I was very glad to have stumbled on The Afghan Camera Box Project website a few days ago. For quite a while I had given up on posting anything to do with Afghanistan, since the photographs published in various media were either repetitive, unimaginative, stereotypical or plain silly....but this website touches on culture and photography.

The purpose of the Afghan Box Camera Project is to provide a record of the kamra-e-faoree (which in Dari and also in Arabic means 'instant camera') which as a living form of photography is on the brink of disappearing in Afghanistan. It's one of the last places where photographers continue to use a simple type of "instant camera" to make a living. The hand-made wooden camera is both camera and darkroom, and generations of Afghans have had their portraits taken with it, usually for identity photographs.

The project is the work of Lukas Birk and Sean Foley.

The railway station of the Cairo suburb where I grew up had a wooden camera photographer, and I recall (dimly, I admit) had a brisk business. I also came across a wooden camera photographer in Havana, Cuba who showed me how he developed the photograph he made of me.

Two of my friends, Divya Dugar and Frances Schwabenland have produced work on wooden cameras being used in Jaipur in Rajasthan, while Rodrigo Abd has produced Mayan Queens with a 19th century wooden camera of the indigenous women competing to become the National Indigenous Queen of Guatemala.

Poll: Which Cover Is Best?

2011-12-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

I am thinking of self-publishing a photo book on Kolkata, which will group photographs of the Durga Puja festivities, along with environmental portraits and street photography of this iconic Indian city. My first preference is for the photographs to be black & white, although I may decide for color once I have them all lined up.

I thought of asking for my readers to vote on which cover they prefer...the two suggestions above are just quick dummies. The final cover and typography will be better produced.

My thanks to all who take the time to vote.

Tascam DR-40 In Santa's Bag

2011-12-16T05:57:00.003-05:00

Having received Santa's approval, I walked into B&H the other day (by the way, it was packed...as in really crowded. The line for the cash payment option at the cashiers almost extended to its front door!) to explore my options for an upgrade in my field recorder.

I currently use the Marantz PMD620 which I've had for a couple of years. It has served me well, but has begun to show its age (or rather its use). The only issue I've had with it is its small screen, and when I need to change settings whilst in the field, I find difficult especially if my hands are slippery with sweat (as in Kolkata, for example).

Oh, all right...I admit it. The PMD620 is really perfectly fine but I wanted a Xmas gift. End of story.

So after deliberations, I sprang for the Tascam DR-40 Field Recorder, which features built-in condenser microphones that are adjustable depending what the sound source is. Ambient would require the microphones to be wide apart, while an interview from one source would benefit from the mics to be adjusted closer together.

The B&H sales guy suggested I also bought the power supply (it only comes with a mini USB cable and a 2gb SD card) but since I'll be using it outdoors, I wasn't interested. It's much cheaper than the Marantz PMD620, but is also larger. As I can't open the box until Xmas, I can't compare them side by side. I held the Tascam at B&H, and it's a handful...which is what I wanted. The Marantz felt a little flimsy. I suspect the sound quality won't differ much, despite the directional microphones...but I'll soon find out. I will still use the Marantz when I need to be discreet whilst recording...pretending that it's a iPod or something.

Incidentally, Tascam is a division of TEAC Corporation which, as most audiophiles know, is a huge name in the audio world. I recall having a TEAC high-end cassette recorder, along with a heavy-duty TEAC amplifier some years ago.

Paolo Patrizi: Ha Noi

2011-12-15T06:01:00.005-05:00

"a relic of the many lives of a magical city, steeped in beauty and seductive charm."

And that's part of Paolo Patrizi's statement opening his gallery of Ha Noi which is a mix of very attractive street and documentary photography. From the Ha Noi gallery, I especially liked the photograph above...the colors, and the blur of the nón lá hat; this can be nowhere else but Viet Nam.

I met Paolo Patrizi briefly at the Delhi Photo Festival, and subsequently in November during the Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap. He's a documentary photographer, currently living in Japan. He started his career in London working as an assistant to other photographers, and having done freelance assignments for British magazines and design groups, he started to develop individual projects of his own.

Paolo's work is featured in leading publications and is exhibited internationally. His photos have won several awards with the Association of Photographers of London, The John Kobal Portrait Award, The Lens Culture International Exposure Awards, The World Press Photo, The Sony World Photography Awards, The Anthropographia Award for Human Rights, The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. His photographs are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His work appeared in the Observer Magazine, Stern, Panorama, Corriere della Sera, GQ, Courrier Japon, Geo, XL Semanal, Przekroj, K-magazine, Handelsblatt, European Photography, Kaze no Tabibito, Vanity Fair, Sunday Times Magazine.

Pete Muller: TIME's Best Wires' Photographer

2011-12-14T05:44:00.001-05:00

It's no surprise to me that the editors of TIME magazine have chosen Pete Muller as the best photographer on the "wires".

Why do I say that? Well, let's go back to my post of Wednesday, 18 May 2011 in which I described his photography as terrific and excellent....and reminiscent of Jehad Nga's chiaroscuro style.

TIME magazine tells us that of the millions of photographs being sent through the news services (“the wires”) in 2011, the work of Associated Press freelancer Pete Muller, 29, stood out. It continues to say " His exceptional photographs—focused on Africa and particularly Sudan—take an individual approach to storytelling, one that combines a distinctive aesthetic with journalistic integrity."

Other wire photographers who were recognized by TIME are Finbarr O’Reilly, Kevin Frayer, David Guttenfelder’s, and Rodrigo Abd, as well as John Moore.

The Frame: The Virgin Of Guadalupe

2011-12-14T05:42:00.001-05:00

Did I realize that the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 14th Street (not far from where I live in New York City) would commemorate one of Mexico's most important religious holidays this past Monday? Of course not. I only find out stuff like that after the fact.

However, The Frame of The Sacramento Bee has featured 17 photographs of the celebration of this popular religious festival in Mexico City when millions make the pilgrimage to honor the dark-skinned virgin, said to have appeared to an Indian peasant on Dec. 12, 1531.

According to the captions accopmpanying the images, an estimated 5 million people from across Mexico arrived at the basilica Monday carrying large frames, wooden sculptures and ceramic statues of the virgin on their backs. The Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is recognized as a symbol of all Catholic Mexicans.

I chose to feature Anita Baca's photograph (above) showing a pilgrim who journeyed by foot from the state of Hidalgo, posing for a photo in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, while a fellow pilgrim stands by, not only for its colors but for its composition. Notice how the curve of the dark sombrero matches the curve of the icon.

Kolkata's The Cult of Durga

2011-12-12T05:42:00.011-05:00

My main project that came to be from the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™ which I led and organized is The Cult of Durga.

In contrast to my previous audio slideshows that on average are 3 minutes in length, The Cult of Durga is long...it's just over 5 minutes. I also broke a few of my own rules with it. Using the Ken Burns effect on a couple of occasions is one of the most obvious. I decided against a tighter edit, thinking that reducing the number of photographs would've eliminated some important components. So I left it as I produced it in Kolkata.

Durga Puja is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It's the most important religious and social event in Kolkata. It involves a series of rituals which start from the production of effigies, building of the pandals, offerings of flower and worship, and then finally immersion of the effigies in the Ganges.

The Durga Puja event is celebrated over no less than ten days, but it's the last four days – Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami – that are celebrated with considerable joy and fanfare when the ten armed goddess riding the lion and slaying evil is worshipped with immense zeal and devotion.

This documentary audio slideshow starts with the fashioning of the effigies of Durga which is supervised by certain rites and rules, which include that the clay used for these effigies must be collected from the banks of the Ganges. It then follows the transport of the effigies to the pandals and homes. I also photographed the dhakis, the traditional drummers who accompany the effigies to the pandals, then it was the "kala-bau" snan processions to the Ganges where banana plants are cleaned and draped in a cloth along with nine types of leaves, and on to the last day of the festival when the Durga effigies are brought back to the river for their final immersions symbolizing the goddess' return to her abode in the Himalayas.

And for those who are interested in that kind of stuff, I used a Leica M9, a 5D Mark II and a 7D. The audio was recorded with a Marantz PMD 620.

POV: Color or Monochrome?

2011-12-11T05:49:00.023-05:00

I've meaning to address this question for a while now, especially as I seem to have entered a monochromatic phase in my own photographic evolution. With a couple of exceptions, all the photo essays I produced over the past 18 months have been in black & white...those of Bali, the one of tango in Buenos Aires, and those of Gujarat...all black & white.

My most recent Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™ suggested this notion to its participants:

"Participants will merge their still photography and audio to create compelling narratives. While black & white photography may lend itself better in the context of this particular workshop, it is left to each participant to decide on whether to produce narratives in color or monochrome."

My reasoning behind this recommendation was straightforward. I insisted in having the participating photographers focus their photography purely on the documentary narrative rather than being seduced (and distracted) by the powerful colors of India, of Kolkata and of the Durga Puja in particular. I also wanted the participants to capture the rawness of what they photographed...not embellished by the bells and whistles of color.

In that, I succeeded. The participants' projects were all very well edited and produced, and were focused on the rituals of the event, with no splashes of color to divert the viewers' attention from the going-ons. Yes, the garlands of marigold were gray in their audio slideshows instead of brilliant yellow, the women's vermillion powder was also gray...but this didn't diminish the power of their visual narratives.

My own recent Khari Baoli: Old Delhi's Spice Bazaar audio slideshow was shot in color but produced in monochrome; a decision that was difficult to make because -as seen from the one of its still photographs (above) - the yellows of the turmeric burlap sacks, the purple of the porter's head cloth along with the various degrees of whites and grays of the scene, all make it much more seducing to the senses than its monochromatic version. So should I have opted for color instead?

No...because my intention in the audio slideshow was not to 'seduce' with colors but to do so with the grittiness and edginess of the monochrome...the same rationale I followed in suggesting monochrome during the Kolkata workshop.

Travel Photographer Of The Year (TPOTY) 2011

2011-12-10T05:47:00.003-05:00

The annual (and impatiently awaited) Travel Photographer Of The Year competition results have been announced, with Louis Montrose being awarded the coveted title.

Louis was born in London, but grew up in New York City, and lived in the San Diego area of southern California for many years. Formerly an Elizabethan scholar and professor at The University of California, he now pursues his calling as a photographer full time.

Amongst the talented other entrants, I noted that Sergey Anisimov, Timothy Allen, David Lazar, GMB Akash, Matjaz Krivic, Richard Murai, and Larry Louie are all recognized for their work.

The winning images from the Travel Photographer of the Year competition 2011 will be exhibited at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in London from 21st June to 19th August 2012.

A niggling thought about TPOTY: with a couple of exceptions, all the winners and runners-up (and judges) seem to be from Western countries. Having seen the quality of photographic work by Asian and Latin American photographers, I am surprised that none have won in a category. It may well be that TPOTY's 'reach' is limited to Europe and the USA and if so, I hope its founders will exert efforts to make it better known in Asia and South America to name but two continents.

Here's also a short movie of TPOTY's Exhibition Opening last year.

The Travel Photographer In Asian Geographic Passport

2011-12-09T05:43:00.001-05:00

"It is at these religious events that one connects with humanity at its basic denominator, and with the nobility of the human spirit."

That's a quote from a longer statement I made to accompany a handful of photographs published in the December issue of the Asian Geographic Passport which can be partially previewed here.

I am waiting for a hard copy of the issue to be mailed to me from the publishers, so that's all I can show at this time.

In any event, the religious rituals I submitted photographs of are the Theyyam rituals of Northern Kerala and of the Tsechus of Bhutan. The photographs are included in my Theyyam: Incarnate Deities and Tsechus!.

I am influenced by Sebastiao Salgado's philosophy which he described by saying: "if you take a picture of a human that does not make him noble, there is no reason to take this picture. That is my way of seeing things.". This is my way of seeing things as well...I find it impossible to photograph otherwise.

Jaime Ocampo-Rangel: Memory Of Colors

2011-12-08T06:00:00.009-05:00

"I dreamt of a rainbow built with the colours of men, tribes, cultures. The rainbow of a rare, diverse, precious, essential, yet fragile human nature. This Memory of colours, old as the wind, the sun and rain is a slow process. It is a story in progress that needs to be listened to, seen, protected and helped." -Jaime Ocampo-Rangel

And this, in a nutshell, is what Jaime Ocampo-Rangle's Memory of Colors is all about.

It's a terrific and phenomenal magnum opus from a Colombian photographer who sought to document the last authentic tribes, people and ethnic groups of the world that are threatened by globalisation. Jaime chose to complete the project by sailing around the world.

Forty ethnic groups have already been documented and another hundred identified, and those hundred will be visited, filmed and photographed to fulfill the ultimate goal of the project, which is to represent the real landscape of our multi-cultural earth.

Memory of Colors may keep you glued to your computer's monitor for a while, so if you have urgent stuff to do, you may want to watch the 5 minute trailer of the project, do the stuff you have to take care of, return and explore the website more fully at your leisure. If you're interested in travel photography, anthropology and ethnography, it's really worth it.

Finally, Memory of Colors was mentioned on The Luminous Landscape website, and it gives some details on the equipment used and background of the photographer.

POV: TTP Scarf: Missed Business Opportunity?

2011-12-07T05:30:00.002-05:00

While in Siem Reap, I dropped by the Old Market and stocked up on traditional Khmer scarves with the intention of having them embroidered with The Travel Photographer logo, and making a fortune selling them online.

While having lunch at The Soup Dragon, I showed the manager my The Travel Photographer's pouch that had that logo, and asked if he knew of a store that could duplicate it...and indeed he did! Scribbling the name and address of the place in Khmer on a scrap of paper, he said it wasn't too far from the restaurant, and that it was just opposite a secondary school which used it to embroider its tshirts etc. Perfect!

I hired a tuk-tuk driver (Chen, who was to remain as my driver for the duration of my stay) and we went looking for the embroidery shop. I expected to see a computer-driven embroidery machine, but all I saw was an electric sewing machine and a woman who assured me (through Chen) that she could duplicate the logo quite easily. I wrote it down in my best capitalized handwriting, gave her my old krama for a trial run and was told to return in 20 minutes. Perfect!

Spending these ensuing 20 minutes thinking of having all my stack of kramas embroidered with my logo, returning to the US and selling them online at a monumental profit, was very enjoyable. However, these dreams of untold riches came tumbling down when I was returned my old krama with the logo as you can see from the above photographs...the L in Travel was deemed superfluous by the semastress and I got The Trave Photographer instead.

The poor woman was mortified and tried to convince me she could fix the error...but I just laughed it off. Yes, my get-rich-quick scheme collapsed because of a dropped letter. The moral of the story is this: make sure your outsourcing contractor can write English.

That being said, the mistake on this scarf (especially as it has been worn for a number of years) could well make it very valuable. As an example, the mistakenly inverted Jenny stamp was auctioned for $1 million!

Brenden Allen: Mandalay To Mytikina

2011-12-07T05:20:00.002-05:00

Since Myanmar is all in the news, with Aung San Suu Kyi meeting with Hillary Clinton during her official trip to that country -- the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State in half a century -- which is described by some as a breakthrough moment in U.S.-Burma relations, I thought it timely to feature some fresh photographic work from Myanmar.

Brenden Allen's Mandalay To Mytikina is the result of 27 hours aboard a train (described as a 'rattler') from Central Burma to Kachin State in December 2011. Myitkyina is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (Burma), and is located 1,480 kilometers from Yangon, and 785 kilometers from Mandalay. Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma, and 700 kilometers north of Yangon.

Brenden is a photographer from Brisbane, Australia. From his sparse biography, it seems he can be found mostly in South East Asia, or moving around Burma and its borders. His galleries also include square format photographs (possibly Holga) of South West Bolivia.

Aditya Kapoor: As They Are

2011-12-06T05:48:00.001-05:00

I met Aditya Kapoor at the Delhi Photo Festival in October where he asked me astute questions regarding multimedia, and then at the Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap a few weeks ago.

I thought i'd feature his work titled As They Are which underscores the fact that only the unintelligent and unthinking resort to stereotyping others. Aditya had the opportunity to photograph Indian Muslims posing in sets decorated with plastic flowers, against backdrops of gaudy colors and life-size cut-outs of Bollywood stars as "partners". He also showed this work during a portfolio review in Siem Reap.

Based in Delhi, Aditya covers socio-political issues and undertakes reportage, portraiture and photo features for the likes of The Independent, Getty Images, Financial Times, Hindustan Times, Mint (WSJ), Aljazeera, Tehelka magazine, andOutlook. He also worked on commissioned assignments for Pepsi, Cartier, Ferrari, Ericsson, United Nations, CARE, Star News, The Indian Ministry of Tourism and The Common Wealth Games Federation.

The Travel Photographer's Best of 2011

2011-12-05T05:54:00.004-05:00

Most of the big picture blogs and news outlets such as The WSJ Photo Journal, Boston's Globe's The Big Picture, The Denver Post's PBlog and Reuters' Full Focus, amongst many others, will soon feature their version of the best photographs of 2011. So taking their lead, I am featuring what I liked best of my own photographs made during the past 12 months. I'm not saying these are the best photographically speaking of all my 2011 images, but I like them...and I suppose that counts for something. They are a mix of pure travel photography and documentary/reportage style.

The 20 or so images were made during my two 2011 Photo Expeditions/Workshops to Gujarat and Kolkata. I've added traditional Turkish music to provide the accompaniment to the slideshow.

I know...I ought to have chosen some Indian sitar music instead, but I couldn't find a track in my library that matched my mood today. My apologies to the purists.

Venice By FKY

2011-12-04T05:31:00.002-05:00

For a complete change of pace this Sunday, I feature a wonderful short movie on Venice produced by FKY, presumably a French videographer from Nantes.

What hooked me to watch this movie was the opening song by Charles Aznavour "Que C'est Triste Venise"...a romantic but sad song whose lyrics start:

Que c'est triste Venise,
Au temps des amours mortes,
Que c'est triste Venise,
Quand on ne s'aime plus.

Charles Aznavour is is an Armenian singer, songwriter, actor and a public activist. He's one of France's most popular and enduring singers, is known for a gravelly voice and is also one of the best-known singers in the world.

The camera used in the movie is the Canon 5D Mark II with Canon 50mm f/1.4, 100mm f/2.8L - 24-105mm f/4L and the 70-300mm f4-5.6L lenses with a Rode Videomic pro.

POV: Encore Angkor?

2011-12-03T06:04:00.001-05:00

As readers of this blog know, I recently traveled to Siem Reap in order to attend the Angkor Photo Festival where one of my photo essays The Possessed of Hazrat Mira Datar was featured on its opening night.

I was greatly impressed by the Angkor Photo Festival's evenings at the FCC, and by the quality of the curating. As I mentioned in previous posts, both Francoise Callier and Jean-Yves Navel were instrumental in making a success of the event, while tireless Camille Plante and Jessica Lim made it tick. However, this is not the main purpose of this POV post.

It's been the third time I'd been in Siem Reap and to the temples of Angkor, and I am chagrined that, while Siem Reap itself still has traces of a bohemian feel to it, despite the high number of tourists invading its bars and restaurants, its temples have lost their mystique due to exuberant commercialization.

For example, both the Angkor Wat and the Bayon temple in particular are overwhelmed by hordes of tourists. The tour buses disgorge Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese tourists by the thousands each day. This not only mars the aesthetic of these temples, but also has long term negative effects on the integrity of these historic monuments. The lay nuns all clad in white robes who could be found in some areas of Angkor Wat and the Bayon are now gone, replaced by men in Western shirts and trousers who sell incense sticks to tourists. To add insult to injury, there are now groups of students who dress up in apsara costumes, and who clumsily pose for pictures with tourists (see above picture). I assume these changes are approved and "endorsed" by the Siem Reap police and tourist authorities.

In my view, the Angkor Wat temple complex experience has deteriorated over the past 5 years. Both the influx of tourists and the need to maximize revenues from this world heritage site by the Cambodian authorities are the causes for this deterioration. If any of my readers haven't visited the Angkor Wat temple complex, I advise you to go as soon as possible and perhaps choose to do so when it's off-season (monsoon season may be an intelligent choice).

If and when you do, forgo the many established restaurants for dinner and try an area where there are lots of outdoor restaurants specializing in Khmer barbecue (BBQ Lover is one), and sample the grilled squid, giant prawns and fried morning glory. The area is opposite The Red Piano and is between Street 11 and Street 8. You won't regret it.

Ed Ou: The Egyptian Youth

2011-12-02T05:51:00.033-05:00

The news that "Islamists" seem to have won a majority in Egypt's first Parliament since the ouster of Mubarak is being reported by the US media in disquieting vocabulary, especially since it came at the expense of the liberal parties and youth activists who set off the revolution. Many secular Egyptians are expressing alarm and anxiety at the result of the initial round of Parliamentary elections, while others shrug off these results by predicting that the Muslim Brotherhood (as one of the factions described as Islamists) may well have a majority, but will either choose or be forced to exert its political clout in a moderate fashion.

Ed Ou has covered the momentous events in Egypt ever since the start of the revolution, and has recently featured his work in progress of The Egyptian Youth.

Ed is a Canadian photojournalist who has been working in the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Africa, and the Americas. He started his career as a teenager, covering the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and the fall of the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, Somalia. He worked for Reuters and the Associated Press, and was also an intern at the New York Times.

He is the recipient of a Global Vision Award from POYi, a 1st Place Contemporary Issues award from World Press Photo, and other recognition from the Overseas Press Club, Ian Parry Scholarship, Best of Photojournalism, PDN Photo Annual, UNICEF, among others. He has been selected for a Getty Images Editorial Grant, PDN 30 Under 30, and took part in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. He was recently awarded the City of Perpignan Young Reporter Award.

via PhotojournalismLinks

David Hagerman: The Ferry Boats of Istanbul

2011-12-01T02:04:00.003-05:00

David Hagerman attended The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul and produced an evocative audio slideshow titled The Ferry Boats of Istanbul, which he just published on his blog.

Yes, Istanbul is the city of Sultanahmet Camii, the Aya Sofya, the Kapalı Çarşı, but it's also the Bosphorus ferries that characterize it. These ferries provide vital links between different areas of that magnificent city, connecting the European and the Asian coastline. The first steam ferries appeared on the Bosphorus in 1837, were operated by private sector companies and currently carry approximately 61 million passengers yearly.

It is these that Dave decided to document. The audio slideshow with its glowing images and ambient sound will transport you in such ferries...the sound of the turnstiles, the sirens, the voices of the passengers, and even the clink of the spoon in tea glasses that are served on ferries...all ambient sound intelligently selected to provide a complete visual and aural experience of these Istanbuli fixtures.

David Hagerman is a photographer based in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, whose work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Asia, Saveur, Budget Travel, Travel & Leisure SEA, The Chicago Tribune, South China Morning Post, Time Out KL, and Lonely Planet guidebooks. His work is also featured on the very popular Eating Asia blog.

POV: Moises Saman And Cairo Undone

2011-11-29T05:11:00.003-05:00

How wrong I was! I always dismissed the idea of photographing street life in Cairo by saying that there was nothing to photograph there...not much color, no vibrancy....but that began to change after the January Revolution. Was it a subconscious rejection of the then-prevailing environment? Or simply because I was blase about photographing in my own backyard...albeit one that I left for more than 30 years? Was it both? Perhaps.

That admission being made, I have to clarify that I speak only of street life rather than particular cultural subject matters, such as documenting Sufi rituals such as those I photographed a few years ago.

What changed my mind is the brilliant photo essay in The New York Times titled Cairo Undone by Moises Saman. The photo essay (it's really a gallery as there's no storyline nor timeline) is of snapshots (I use this term very respectfully) of daily life in Cairo...the gritty, the edgy, the incomprehensible, the political and the anachronisms that dominate this teeming city.

I intended to post this as soon as I saw the photographs, but I was in Siem Reap and just couldn't find the time. I have viewed and re-viewed this work many times, and it revived in me a hunger to document facets of this city. Is it a nostalgic yearning? I doubt it...I don't think that way. It's similar to my documenting the Sufi rituals in various countries...that is nothing more than an intellectual and aesthetic pursuit.

It's the same for Cairo...nothing more nothing less. But time will tell.

Miguel Ángel Sánchez: Portraits Of Egyptians

2011-11-28T11:02:00.001-05:00

Since elections are going full steam ahead in Egypt, The New York Times' Lens blog has featured Portraits of Egyptians, a series of wonderful photographs by the talented Miguel Ángel Sánchez.

I absolutely love seeing photographic work of that nature...ethnographic to a large extent, and produced by borrowing the techniques of the Old Masters. Miguel Ángel Sánchez photographed 110 residents of Cairo in his studio; these included musicians, painters, politicians, writers, bloggers, shoeshiners, doormen, and the vendor of flowers above, which is absolutely my favorite amongst all of them. My least favorite is that of Zahi Hawass, the ex-Minister of Antiquities, not because of the image but because of the man himself. I don't know the man, but I developed an antipathy for his brash behavior and loudness in National Geographic television specials (as an example).

You will not find the photograph of the flower vendor on the Lens blog, but rather it's on Miguel Ángel Sánchez website. The flowers she's seen selling are jasmine, which are popular in Egypt for the powerful sweet smell. I believe the jasmine flowers sold on string strands are called "fol", and are popular in Egypt to deodorize one's car or to gift to one's sweetheart while strolling the city's gardens.

But back to the LENS blog...a comment was rather critical of the photographer for choosing to depict the Egyptians in Renaissance settings. I disagree. In choosing the lighting and poses similar to those we have seen so many times in museums and galleries the photographer creates acceptability for his subjects to the Western eye.

Siem Reap Journal: Issue #5

2011-11-27T02:48:00.000-05:00

Well, all good things have to come to an end. The Angkor Photo Festival's closing night included an intriguing photo talk by Roger Ballen, and the results of the 2011 Angkor Photo Workshops.

The award for the best photo story produced during the workshop was given to Carrie Lam*, a Singaporean photographer, for Cure...an ethereal collection of images. Her workshop tutor was Magnum photographer Antoine d'Agata.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Francoise Callier and Jean-Yves Navel, who overwhelmed me (and many others) with their cordiality, and gracious hospitality during every night of the Festival, as well as the hard work of both Camille Plante and Jessica Lim which made a success of this Festival.

So thank you very much for a great event!

*I didn't find a website for Carrie Lam.

Global Post: Egypt's Women Of Revolution

2011-11-26T23:30:00.000-05:00

While I'm here in Siem Reap, I am following the events in Cairo with mixed feelings...feelings of pride and anxiety. The outcome of the 'rebooted' Egyptian revolution is impossible to predict, but some pundits have describe the current events in Tahrir Square as Egyptians trying to reclaim their January 25 revolution from the military.

There are a number of recent photo essays from Tahrir Square, but I thought I'd feature the work of Global Post's Elizabeth D. Herman titled Egypt: Women of the Revolution.

This is a compelling gallery of 18 photographs along with captions that tell us the back stories of each photograph. Last month, Elizabeth Herman spoke to 13 Egyptian women about the media’s coverage of women’s involvement in the Egyptian revolution. Their roles were varied, as were their experiences and reactions to the revolution, with some having actively joined the movement and others forced to do so by circumstance. All have much to say about how it has affected their lives, and how their experiences are similar to — and different from —those of other Egyptian women.

As is customary whenever readers' comments on the news of the Egyptian revolution appear in The New York Times, Islamophobia and political agendas raise their ugly heads. Comments describing the Egyptian revolutionaries as 'savages', and others hoping that the upheaval would not harm Israel (presumably this being much more important than Egyptians having basic human rights) are sent to the newspaper and published without consideration.

And, of course...we have some of the US press indulging the American proclivity for inward introspection, narcissism, and insularity. Just take a look at TIME's cover for its US edition as compared to the rest of the world's.

Both hilarious and sad at the same time.

Siem Reap Journal:Issue #4

2011-11-25T06:13:00.003-05:00

The Angkor Photo Festival is continuing its momentum, with today's penultimate night including a slideshow of the 5 finalists and the result of the inaugural Reminders Project Asian Photographers Grant. One of my favorite photographers, Shiho Fukada, is one of these five.

Since it's Friday, I dropped by the Siem Reap solitary mosque to explore whether there's anything worthwhile to document. Each Muslim community in Cambodia has a hakem who leads the community and the mosque, an imam who leads the prayers, and a bilal (as in Bilal, the Prophet Muhammad's muezzin) who calls the faithful to the daily prayers.

I met a few of the community members, one of whom spoke a reasonably fluent Arabic. While some of the Cham go to study the Qur'an at Kelantan in Malaysia, he learned it in Phnom Penh.

The two children were running around in the mosque, and the boy in particular was a bundle of energy.

Siem Reap Journal: Issue #3

2011-11-22T06:19:00.000-05:00

I've got a few things to talk about in this post, so here goes:

The opening of the Angkor Photo Festival was covered in yesterday's The Phnom Post which marveled that the front lawn of the Foreign Correspondent Club was packed with photographers, photojournalists and guests.

I was happy that Rahman Roslan, a photojournalist from Malaysia, who told the story of Nur, a young Indonesian woman returning home after suffering five years of abuse as a domestic worker in Malaysia, was quoted to say that Angkor workshops hadn’t just improved his style, but had changed his entire life.

I was also thrilled that Francoise Callier, the festival program director and curator, was quoted as saying “I wanted to focus on young photographers for this show, although there are some more established shooters in there too, like Tewfic El-Sawy."

I have also used my new iPhone to snap (and snap is the exact word for it) pictures of whatever takes my visual fancy, and I must say I find this to be very gratifying and entertaining, especially when using Instagram and Hipstamatic filters. That being said, I found it very useful when photographing people here. I can show these images to whoever I snapped, and it's an instant icebreaker. The iPhone is not threatening....everybody recognizes it's a phone, and the young and old take delight in choosing which filter to apply to their portrait, and in flipping from one image to the other. At that point, they are ready to be photographed and photographed and re-photographed!

I'll be writing about this when I have more time.

Siem Reap Journal: Issue #2

2011-11-21T02:18:00.001-05:00

I recently switched over from Blackberry to the iPhone 4s just for it's camera capabilities, and where else to put it through its paces than in Siem Reap?

Here are a few of photographs made on the iPhone using Instagram and Hipstamatic filters of young monks at the old temples of Roluos, Preah Ko and Lolei.

And one of Angkor Wat itself and the reflecting pond.

Siem Reap Journal

2011-11-20T11:33:00.005-05:00

It was a good move to arrive early at the opening of the Angkor Photo Festival last night. Held at the Foreign Correspondents Club (known locally by its acronym FCC), it quickly filled up with almost 400 people to watch the projected slideshows of some 21 photographers. The slideshows included The Mercy Project/Inochi by James Whitlow Delano, Nishant Ratnakar's Fistful of Dreams, Nur by Rahman Roslan, Kauser Haider's A Hall Full of Cinema and my own The Possessed of Hazrat Mira Datar.

I introduced myself to Francoise Callier, the indefatigable energy behind the festival and its curator. I also met Jean-Yves Navel, the co-founder and director of the festival, as well as Camille Plante and Jessica Lin, both indispensable to the success of the festival for a number of years. The photo slideshows were all highly impressive, and the large audience was held in rapt attention.

Tonight saw the second installment of the slideshow program of about 13 photographers which included Whale Hunting In Lamalera by Ardiles Rante, Wendy Marijnissen's Dr Musarat, and ended with the lengthy Exodus by Sebastiao Salgado.

The photograph above is of one of the caretakers at Wat Bo, and has nothing to do with Angkor Photo Festival...but I thought it would be appropriate to feature it for a post on Siem Reap.

Another bit of information: I have yet to use my Canon 5D2. All I carried and used since my arrival in Siem Reap is the M9 and a couple of lenses.

In Focus: Bhutan

2011-11-19T06:10:00.002-05:00

In Focus, the photo blog of The Atlantic, is always a must-see for me. This week, it features the photographs of Adrees Latif, Paula Bronstein, Singye Wangchuk, Kevin Frayer and others of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

As most know, Bhutan is a small Himalayan country east of Nepal, nestled between China and India, with an estimated population of 700,000. It's one of my favored destination for my photo-expeditions, and for many good reasons. It's a gorgeous country, with incredible religious and cultural traditions that are both mesmerizing and extremely photogenic. Its people are some of the most gracious and hospitable I've ever met, and I've never been disappointed in the image inventory I return with from my trips there.

If viewing the photographs on the In Focus photo-blog whets your appetite from more imagery of Bhutan, you can visit some of my own galleries and audio slideshow.

These are The Dancing Monks of Bhutan, Buddha's Apprentices and Cham!...but be warned, you might well decide to book your flights to Bhutan soon afterward.

Siem Reap For The Angkor Photo Festival

2011-11-18T06:49:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to be in Siem Reap to attend the 7th Angkor Photo Festival. Posters of the event can be seen in many places of the town, as this one in Pub Street. I duly bought kramas (the traditional Cambodian scarf) and already have a tuk-tuk driver who claims he's the 'best' in Siem Reap. We'll see about that in due course.

More news on the festival will be posted soon. Its opening night is tomorrow evening, when my own work will be shown.

Ron Mayhew: Durga Puja

2011-11-17T05:51:00.003-05:00

Ron Mayhew is one of the participants in my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop, and also produced a wonderful documentary of the Durga Puja festival. Ron managed to complete his audio slideshow the quickest amongst the other group members...not that it was a race by any means, but it highlights his commitment.

He also uploaded the audio slideshow on his own blog. I recommend you watch it here as it's better quality/higher resolution than on Vimeo.

In his own words: "Durga Puja, the Hindu festival honoring the Goddess Durga in Calcutta, India, is a kaleidoscopic series of events spread over many days that tends to overwhelm ones senses with its sights and sounds. Thousands of idols of Durga and her entourage are created, worshiped, and ultimately immersed in the Ganges River. Millions of people celebrate what has been compared to Mardi Gas in New Orleans or Carnival in Rio."

Ron Mayhew has been a professional wood sculptor for over twenty years, and it’s this artistic background which has helped him achieve recognition regionally and internationally in photo competitions. He received Best of Show in the 2010 and 2011 Photo Expo sponsored by the Photo Arts Group of Charlotte County, Florida, recognized in a British Worldwide Photography contest for portrait & people, received a gold award for his image of African Eyes, a photo taken in a Tanzanian school, and was awarded a first place in the Art League of Fort Myers Art of Photography Show. He is a member of the NAPP, National Association of Photoshop Professionals and NPPA, National Press Photographers Association.

Book: Eric de Vries: STREET

2011-11-16T06:00:00.002-05:00

By the time this post is published, I should be flying to Siem Reap (via Abu Dhabi then Bangkok) arriving on the 17th November around midday. So it appears timely to introduce a photo book on Cambodia by Dutch photographer Eric de Vries. Perhaps he'll be attending the Angkor Photo Festival as well.

STREET is all about street photography. All pictures were taken during Eric's courses, private tours and workshops in 2011. The photographs are mostly in black and white except for the complete series 'Darkness of the White Building'. This is Eric's fifth book (220 pages, landscape) and is part one of the trilogy THE WORKS OF ERIC DE VRIES.

Eric de Vries lives and works in Cambodia, the country he’s been travelling to since 2000. He is currently working on two long-term projects called ‘Still Life in Khmer Style’ that covers landscapes, temple scenes and buddha statues and ‘Hello Darling’, which is about the girlbars in the towns of Cambodia.

Interestingly, Eric's website lists Hanuman Tourism Cambodia, which is affiliated to the hotel I am staying at in Siem Reap. It also organized some of my photo shoots when I led a photo expedition to Siem Reap in February 2006.

Kishor K. Sharma: The Rautes of Nepal

2011-11-15T10:22:00.000-05:00

Seeing this on my Facebook page made me break my traveling 'omerta'...it's a gallery titled Living In The Mist: The Last Nomads of Nepal by photographer Kishor Sharma.

According to an entry in Wikipedia, the Raute people are a nomadic ethnic group of Nepal. They are known especially for their hunting of langur and macaque monkeys for subsistence, and gather wild forest tubers, fruits, and greens on a regular basis, but do no farming. For grain, they trade handmade wooden bowls and boxes to local farmers. It's estimated that the Raute nomads do not exceed 200.

The Rautes emphasize that they wish to remain full-time foragers and have no wish to assimilate into the surrounding farming population.

Kishor K. Sharma, is a self-taught photographer/photojournalist based in Kathmandu. He completed his studies in Business, and joined the College of Journalism and Mass Communication in Kathmandu to pursue Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. He was invited to attend the 2010 Angkor Photography Workshop and took workshops with Antoine d'Ágata, Philip Blenkinshop and Munem Wasif, among others.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop 2012: Thailand!

2011-11-13T19:21:00.000-05:00

Eric Beecroft, the co-founder of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops, has just announced that it was ready to accept early registrations ($100 deposit, non refundable, and deducted from the total tuition amount) until January 15, 2012. Early registration guarantees a spot and precedence in the choice of instructor.

The 2012 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held in North Thailand from July 29- August 4, 2012.

For regional students (South Asia-- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet and South East Asia-Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Phillippines, Laos, Cambodia,Indonesia, Malaysia) the tuition is $475. For all others it is $975 US dollars. Payment is via Paypal.

So spread the word via social network sites, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

On The Way To The 7th Angkor Photo Festival

2011-11-13T05:47:00.002-05:00

I'll be traveling tomorrow to London for a brief stopover before flying off to Siem Reap via Abu Dhabi and Bangkok. I chose to fly Etihad, the Abu Dhabi airline, from London to Bangkok after hearing it offered an impressive flying experience in terms of comfort and service.

The festival itself is to take place in Siem Reap from November 19 to November 26, 2011. This well established event is the first photography festival held in Southeast Asia and for 2011, will exhibit the work of 110 photographers, out of whom 60 are from Asia.

The 2011 list of exhibiting photographers includes Andrew Biraj, Pep Bonet, Paula Bronstein, Marco Di Lauro, Tewfic El-Sawy, Siddharth Jain, Yuri Koryzev, Liz Loh-Taylor, Wendy Marijnissen, Erica McDonald, Palani Mohan, and many more.

On the subject of Cambodia and Siem Reap, I thought I'd re-mention To Cambodia With Love, a book published by Things Asian, illustrated with my photographs of Siem Reap.

It's described as "With its unique insights into dining, shopping, sightseeing, and culture, To Cambodia With Love is a one-of-a-kind guide for the passionate traveler."

It can be purchased from various online bookstores, and I believe the Siem Reap bookstores have it in stock.

I expect my posts might be irregular whilst traveling, but I'll try my best to update my readers with my gallivanting during the Angkor Photo Festival.

Kolkata Masala!

2011-11-12T05:21:00.008-05:00

I apologize.

I know I've overdone it with all these recent posts (my work and those of others) on Kolkata, but having returned with a few thousand images from my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™, I was bound to produce a number of slideshows...audio slideshows and still galleries. And since I'll be on my way in a few days to Siem Reap to attend the Angkor Photo Festival, I want to upload as many of my Kolkata work as possible before I travel. Of course, I still haven't rejigged my Durga Puja audio slideshow, but it will have to wait my return. So there's still that one for you to contend with.

The Kolkata Masala audio slideshow (this link is better quality than its Vimeo iteration) is a collection of color stills accompanied by the musical talent of a Baul singer. It's just a collection of pure and colorful travel photographs...so there's no linear sequencing or storytelling timeline.

There's no question that my favorite photograph is of the mendicants in front of a Jain temple, with one of them gesturing me to stop photographing. This, despite me having given her some biscuits that another charitable gentleman had given me for her. She wanted money, and only money.

Alice Smeets: Voodoo

2011-11-11T05:15:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd continue my posts on photographic essays that deal with religious syncretism and feature the compelling work by Alice Smeets on Haitian voodoo.

Every year, thousands of Haitian pilgrims converge into the basin of Saut D'Eau's sacred waterfall to pray. They throw their clothes into the cascading waterfall where the faithful believe the Virgin Mary (known as Erzulie in Haitian Voodoo), appeared in the 1800s.

Haitian Voodoo was created by African slaves who merged their ancestral religious traditions with Roman Catholic practices, allowing them to continue observing their ancient beliefs under the scrutiny of the French colonialists. Today, many move freely between the two beliefs...the very essence of syncretism.

Alice Smeets is a photographer based in Belgium. She's interested in documenting social and cultural issues, with a special focus on Haiti and modern witchcraft.

Her clients include Geo, The New York Times, Sunday Times magazine, Le Monde, Internazionale, Days Japan, PBS, De Morgen, Glamour Magazine, ZDF. She has worked for charities like the Kindermissionswerk and UNICEF.

via Erica McDonald's DevelopTube

Ruben Salvadori: Tales Of A Ritual

2011-11-10T05:15:00.007-05:00

Warning: Some Brief Scenes Are Graphic.

A village in the Southern Italian region of the Calabria region is the backdrop for an ancient ritual that is claimed to represent a people’s identity; an identity that struggles to keep its tradition unaltered through time.

"Tradition is the pump that pushes the blood of identity".

During the Holy Week prior the Easter celebrations, the village experiences an intense spiritual and practical preparation for a weekend ritual. The statue of the Virgin Mary is taken out from its shrine to take part in the ritual of Vattienti. These are flagellants who beat their legs with two pieces of cork, one of which has 13 fragments of glass in it, and represent the sufferings of Jesus, and who must endure the pain of religious mortification in the name of spiritual cleansing.

Ruben Salvadori is an Italian photographer, whose biography tells us that he's to graduate with dual majors for a BA in International Relations and Anthropology/Sociology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He uses photography as an academic aid for his anthropological research, and mixes his academic background with a visual documentary-style approach to gain in-depth, empirical research results through his images.

Further information on the Vattienti:

This sacred popular custom centres around two figures; the “Ecce Homo” and the “Vattiente”, barefoot and tied to one another with a rope about two and a half metres long. The first wraps a cloth around his hips and holds a cross made of wooden slats covered in red bandages, as a symbol of blood and martyrdom; the other wears a black shirt with black shorts and a crown of barbed thorns on his head. Once they are dressed, the “Vattienti” rub and slap their calves and thighs with the “rosa”, a cork disk soaked in a warm rosemary infusion, in order to make the blood rise to their capillaries. They then use the “cardo”, another cork disk with 13 glass shards embedded in it, to beat the reddened parts of their skin. Rivulets of blood run down their legs, while red wine is poured onto their wounds to disinfect them and prevent fast clotting. Once they have marked the door of their house and those of their friends and relatives, as a token of good luck, each Vattiente goes to meet the Madonna Addolorata. This is the final climax of the rite when the flagellation reaches its height and becomes even more agitated and dramatic. (From Tour Calabria).

The Rickshaw Wallahs of Kolkata

2011-11-08T05:39:00.002-05:00

Following my two weeks Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™, I have now completed two photo essays centering on the rickshaw pullers of that quintessential Indian megapolis. About half of the photographs were made using a Leica M9, while the rest with a Canon 5d Mark II. The audio was recorded with a Marantz 620PMD.

The first photo essay is an audio slideshow of about 30 black & white photographs of rickshaw pullers, supplemented by a soundtrack made up of Kolkata's traffic sounds, short narrative clips by the pullers themselves and live instrumental music played by Satyananda Das, a traditional Baul musician.

It can be seen either as a Vimeo movie (above) or as a regular SoundSlides multimedia, which is recommended because the quality of the photographs are much better, and are much larger.

The second photo essay is a gallery of still photographs... essentially the same as those in the multimedia products above, but the gallery is better suited for those who prefer to view them without any multimedia influence.

Documenting the rickshaw pullers was a secondary objective of the workshop, but was an important one. The government of Bengal had announced plans to completely ban the rickshaws, saying that the grueling work violates the pullers human rights, the argument was rejected by the rickshaw pullers with huge protests. Almost all of the pullers I spoke to were from the state of Bihar, one of India’s poorest states. Mohammed was one of those...an older man, a Muslim from Bihar with a dark bunion on his forehead from genuflecting five times a day. Past his prime, he said that he made about 400 rupees a day...the equivalent of $9 or so.

Having experienced first hand Kolkata's incredible 24-hour traffic jams, I believe those who claim that rickshaws are the only mode of transport who can circulate its narrow streets and alleys. The rickshaws carry business people, live poultry, school children, the sick to the hospitals, fruit to the markets, and even prostitutes. Without them, Kolkata could risk coming to a standstill, especially during the monsoon rains when roads can be impassable...and let's face it, Kolkata without the rickshaw pullers wouldn't be the same.

Many Kolkata intellectuals have said that while we can refuse on moral grounds to be carried by another human being, we have no right to take away their livelihood. There's also the hope that rickshaw pullers can be provided with an alternative employment.

New! Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GX1

2011-11-07T07:14:00.001-05:00

Panasonic has just announced the Lumix DMC-GX1, which features a 16MP sensor, a maximum ISO sensitivity setting of 12,800, a touchscreen interface and a newly-engineered AF system. The GX1 is also the first camera compatible with Panasonic's brand new high-resolution LVF2 viewfinder, which is sold separately. These features puts the GX1 among the best performers in the Micro Four Thirds market.

According to dpreview.com, "Panasonic has provided the long-awaited spiritual successor to the highly regarded Lumix DMC-GF1."

The GX1 is available in a black or silver body with MSRP starting at $699.99.

Now I wait for a Leica Micro Four-Thirds model. I know...it's improbable for technical reasons perhaps, but one can hope. In the meantime, I think that Panasonic has a winner with this model.

Javier Arcenillas: Kolkata Sleepers

2011-11-07T06:07:00.003-05:00

Javier Arcenillas is a Spanish freelance photographer and a psychologist at the Complutense University of Madrid. He describes himself as a humanist, and develops humanitarian essays.

I chose an unusual subject out of Javier's photo essays; one that I personally witnessed whilst in Kolkata a few weeks ago...and that is of Kolkata residents sleeping in the outdoors largely because of poverty, or because they are migrant workers with families living elsewhere. My hotel room window looked over a side street, and waking up at dawn everyday gave me the opportunity of seeing dozens of people sprawled over thin blankets, cardboard boxes and the like. These were rickshaw pullers, vendors of fruits, hawkers and itinerant workers. During the initial days of my hotel stay, I reflected upon the lives of these people, and how difficult their lives must be.

Javier's Sleepers is a photo essay that really strikes a chord with me.

Javier has won a number of international prizes, including The Arts Press Award, Kodak Young Photographer, European Social Fund Grant, Euro Press of Fujifilm, INJUVE, Foto Press Third Prize, Luis Valtueña of Médicos del Mundo, Journalism Doñana´s prize, Luis Ksado, Make History, UNICEF, World Photography of the Year, Fotoevidence, Finalist of the Leica Prize 2009 and Antropography 2010.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-06T05:00:00.007-05:00

More of my OWS photographs can be seen on The Leica File.

Yesterday morning was sunny in New York City, but it was cold in the canyons of Wall Street and its neighboring streets. And yet, Zuccotti Park was full to the brim with the currently residing protestors, sympathizers from all walks of life, gawkers and tourists...and naturally the members of the NYPD, whose main function it seemed (at least when I was there) was to tell the onlookers not to block the sidewalk.

The atmosphere in the Park was jovial and collegiate. Reasonably clean, with the protestors expressing very friendly vibes to the sympathizers and tourists alike. It was not unexpected that a few weirdos were in attendance, but they weren't getting much attention. Photographers were a dime a dozen...pros as well as non-pros. Television crews were ambling about, trying to get footage that hadn't been done before. Two ladies were busy knitting woolen things for the OWS protestors, while a long and orderly line snaked to the tables where fresh and appetizing food was being served.

At one end of the Park, a lively group of protestors were drumming eclipsing the valiant efforts of a saxophonist, whilst a man was typing some manifesto on -inexplicably- a manual typewriter. A few American flags were hoisted here and there...and vendors seemed to be doing a brisk sale of commemorative lapel pins.

I was gifted a small Hohner harmonica by a protestor who urged me to attend some demonstration later on. Whilst walking around the part, I was accosted by a photographer who asked me if I was The Travel Photographer! It was Charles Meacham, a photographer I featured a number of times on this blog. What a small world! Since he had been featured for his excellent work on the Sikhs, I had assumed he lived in India...but he's from NYC as well.

Like many other sentient individuals, I sympathize with most of the OWS positions...however I fear that all this remarkable civic energy would be better expended in Washington DC. This is where the responsibility for our difficulties lie.

PS. The mellowness that I witnessed may not have lasted long. The NY Times has this.

The Hajj via PlanetPic

2011-11-05T05:43:00.003-04:00

PlanetPic, the photography blog of Global Post, is the first of the main photo blogs to feature over two dozen photographs of the Hajj...and it appears it'll be updated as the religious pilgrimage progresses.

The Hajj (Arabic for pilgrimage) to Mecca, Saudi Arabia is the largest pilgrimage in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. More than 2.5 million Muslims are expected to perform the Hajj; a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God.

This year, the Hajj occurs from November 4th to the 9th. Although it's associated with the life of the Prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca itself is considered by Muslims to stretch back thou.sands of years to the time of Abraham.

One of the photographs shows a pilgrim shaving his head, and it struck me that the Hindus do the same during the Kumbh Melas, and during other religious rituals.

Syncretism? Perhaps...but the French saying of plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose seems to be appropriate.

Andrew Newey: Papua New Guinea

2011-11-04T05:16:00.003-04:00

Andrew Newey has been virtually everywhere. He is a documentary travel photographer based in England, and started travelling the world in his early 20′s, and went to college to study the craft, after which he went on a round the world trip to put the theory work into practice. He began his photographic career supplying landscape and travel imagery to the stock photography industry and now focuses on commissions, workshops and personal projects documenting traditional cultures around the world.

He was exhibited at the Royal Geographical Society in London for the 2010 Travellers’ Tales Festival. Some of his clients include Microsoft, Qantas, Bauer Media, Wanderlust, Thai Airways, The Sunday Times, Lonely Planet, P&O Cruises, Rough Guides, AA Media, Imagine Publishing, and Tesco.

Andrew has divided his website portfolio over three main galleries, and the images (although smaller in size than what I love to see) are extraordinarily colorful, and are unadulterated travel photographs. These range from Mongolia to the Mentawai Islands, from Laos to Nepal, from Morocco to Malaysia, from China to India, and from Tibet to Thailand.

Human Currents At The Rubin Museum

2011-11-03T05:47:00.017-04:00

Photo Courtesy The Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum of Art is featuring an exhibition of images of the 2001 Maha Kumbh Mela by Swiss photographer Hannes Schmid. The exhibit appears (according to the pictures, as I have yet to drop by the RMA) to be extraordinarily well installed. It's also an unusual set of photographs, as they're all closeups of crowds or groups of pilgrims...instead of the more exotic Nagas, sadhus, charlatans and mendicants that I vividly recall populated the Maha Kumbh Mela. I'm not sure what the intention of showing snapshots of crowds is, but it got Schmid an exhibit at the RMA....so perhaps I'm missing something here.

Human Currents is located in the RMA's Theater Level Gallery. Admission to the Theater Level Gallery is free of charge.

According to the RMA's press release, Schmid’s large C-print (ie Chromogenic color prints) photographs depict the enormous act of faith that was the Maha Kumbh Mela. The exhibit presents seven of these images, along with an accompanying video installation, that shows us the event's claustrophobic crowds, myriad colors, and frenetic energy of this greatest of Hindu pilgrimages.

“Driven by an enormous religious power, there was absolutely nothing that could have stopped these pilgrims from fulfilling their vows.” -Hannes Schmid

The Maha Kumbh Mela occurred from January to February 2001, when tens of millions of pilgrims converged in Allahabad, India for the festival, which was held only once every one hundred forty-four years. It was the largest gathering of human beings on earth, and saw devotees of all ages, castes, and classes from every corner of India.

I remember being in my hotel room in Allahabad readying myself to photograph the Maha Kumbh Mela, and quickly turning off the television set because it was showing the inauguration of George Bush as President of the United States. It seems it was only yesterday but it wasn't. While I had serious misgivings about his presidency, little did I know then it'd be as disastrous.

iPad Compact Flash & SD Card Readers

2011-11-03T05:40:00.002-04:00

Photojojo recently announced that it was selling iPad CF and SD Card Readers which are designed to quickly transfer images from a DSLR to an iPad. These readers are to be plugged in the iPad, causing its photo applications to open, allowing the image files to be uploaded.

There are some caveats...the maximum capacity for the CF and SD cards is 4 gigabyte. The adapter will not work with any cards over 4gb, however it will allow you to connect the DSLR to its USB port, and directly transfer your image files (no matter how large the card is).

Is this enough for me to buy an iPad? No, not yet...but it's getting close.

Tomas Munita: Egypt's Discontent

2011-11-02T06:48:00.001-04:00

Tomas Munita's photographs of Cairo are dark, saturated, brooding and shadowy. One of them shows a couple of policemen peering through the rear window of a bus parked near a mosque in a Cairo tourist area...and to my mind, an analogy of the current situation in Egypt. Shadowy powers, whether military or otherwise, incapable or unwilling to act.

The accompanying article by Neil MacFarquhar paints a bleak picture of a revolution that, after having taken the world by storm, has now stagnated...and is seemingly going nowhere.

Paralyzed by the weakness of a caretaker government that takes its marching orders from the shadowy military rulers known as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Egypt's economy is heading nowhere...and that's a charitable way of saying it. Stuck in an outdated autocratic mindset, the civilian and military authorities are both unwilling and incapable of instituting any meaningful societal and economical change.

The article quotes Emad Shahin,a professor at Notre Dame University as saying “Egyptians said they had a leaderless revolution, and they were so happy about it then. They are now paying a price for that.” In theory, perhaps that's true.

I watch the unfolding events in Egypt as most others do...with dismay and sadness. All I see for the time being for Egypt is what we witnessed in Myanmar. A subservient "civilian" government controlled by a shadowy military institution, or an outright military take-over of the government. As the fable goes, a wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf.

Egypt deserves an infinitely better future.

But back to photography. Compare Tomas Munita's photographs to Jehad Nga's work (mentioned earlier on this blog).

Khari Baoli: The Porters of Spice

2011-11-01T05:25:00.002-04:00

Khari Baoli is a street that runs from the Fatehpuri Mosque on Chandni Chowk to the western edge of the old city of Delhi, and is its wholesale spice market. Little has changed there for centuries. Enormous jute sacks of herbs and spices are brought to the wholesalers on long, narrow barrows or carried by porters. From ginger to chilies, from lentils and rice to jars of chutneys, pickles, nuts and tea...all kinds of spices and hers can be found here.

The market itself is on the south side of Khari Baoli, and was built by wealthy merchants in 1920s. It is now Asia’s largest wholesale spice market. It's an important and busy commercial district, and caters to the vast spice market of North India, including states of Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and even as far as Madhya Pradesh, making it perpetually crowded with traders, and shoppers.

However, my focus was on the porters who carry the loads of spices from and to the market. Mostly from Rajasthan and Bihar, they're extraordinarily tough and strong.

Khari Baoli: The Porters of Spice can either be seen on Vimeo (above) or as an audio-slideshow (much better quality).

Cheryl Dunn: 'Everybody Street'

2011-10-31T05:45:00.016-04:00

Cheryl Dunn is a photographer and the director of "Everybody Street", a feature documentary on well-known NYC street photographers. The documentary is of real stories of the men and women, who can be described as the foundation of the street photography movement and of the medium itself.

A short intro is being shown on Kickstarter by Cheryl in an effort to raise funds to film the studios and out onto the streets where the working techniques of these photographers will be seen as they unfold in the theater of New York City. "Everybody Street" is expected to provide considerable knowledge and insight into the art of photography and the City of New York.

This is an interesting project for street photographers, especially those who, like me (although I can hardly describe myself as a street photographer despite of my Leica File blog) are passionate in their photographing the streets of New York.

I do not know Cheryl Dunn nor her background, so this post should not be construed as an effort to encourage anyone to contribute to the Everybody Street project, but is merely to mention it on this blog because it's about a discipline that I like and that I'm interested in; street photography.

via the click

Tony Smith: Kolkata's Cult of Durga

2011-10-30T06:00:00.004-04:00

One of the first thing you'll find out about Tony Smith is that he's Welsh, and if it happens that Wales' rugby team is playing in the 2011 Rugby World Cup as it did during the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop, you'll be reminded of that fact a few more times.

His biography is certainly interesting, as he “ran away to sea” on a cargo ship to South America when he was 15 years old, then he eventually mellowed and pursued a career in hospitality management that took him to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Johannesburg, and London before settling down in Winchester (that's in England, not Wales).

Tony is an Associate member of the Royal Photographic Society, and he traveled to Nepal, Bhutan, India, France, China, Spain, Morocco the USA and Canada and the West Coast of Ireland. He has attended Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Gypsy events.

He worked quite hard during the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop to produce an audio slideshow on the festival, with his own narration. It's compelling, not only for his still imagery, but for his narrative skills which are enhanced by his precise enunciation. I gather he's still working to further improve it but it hasn't been finalized yet.

In the meantime, I suggest you view his blog entry on his experiences at the Durga Puja during the workshop, which also has a number of his photographs of the festival.

New! Panasonic Lumix GX1?

2011-10-30T05:06:00.002-04:00

As readers of this blog know, I'm a fan of Micro Four Thirds cameras, especially the Panasonic GF1 which I use a my 'walk-about' camera of choice. So my pulse ran a little faster when reading a post on the Gizmodo blog that featured leaked photographs of Panasonic Lumix's new Micro Four Thirds Lumix GX1 camera, which appeared on the Taiwan Mobile01 forum.

Panasonic signalled that it would split their Lumix GF line into consumer and professional models. The pro-oriented GX1 is rumored to have a 16MP sensor, ISO levels up to 12,800, a new image processing engine, a touchscreen display, an LVF2 electronic external viewfinder and will include the Lumix GX 14-42mm as its kit lens.

It's expected to be announced in a week or so.

I've said a few times already, so I'll be brief...but I believe the Micro Four Thirds cameras are the future of photography.

Chico Sanchez: Mexico & Saints

2011-10-29T05:06:00.002-04:00

I am pleased that Chico Sanchez (whose work has been featured on this blog many times) has now self-published a book of his wonderful photographs of Mexico. Chico's photographs of religion, faith and spirituality are published here in full color. It shares his journey through Mexico, a country of faith, mysticism and religiosity.

He has also announced another self-published book, Saints. In this book, Chico documents the celebrations and rituals honoring Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and all the Saints in Spain. The first part of the book features images from Andalusia, while the second is of images of the Way of Saint James pilgrimage in northern Spain.

Chico Sanchez is a Spanish photojournalist based in Mexico City since 2007, who worked in Venezuela for six years with Reuters, EFE, EPA and various newspapers.

PLANET Magazine: Global Travel Photo Contest

2011-10-29T05:00:00.001-04:00

PLANET Magazine has announced its 4th annual Global Travel Photo Contest, which is divided into two categories; General Travel and Portrait. Photographers are encouraged to submit traditional travel images, studies of the people and environs they encounter as they travel, and even explorations of their own local surroundings.

The contest runs from September 1 until October 31, 2011. All entries must be received by midnight on 10/31/2011. Photographers may submit multiple entries. There is a fee of $20 per entry to cover administering the contest.

The prizes range from round-the-world ticket (or $1500 cash), to liveBooks pre-designed website or $500 toward a custom designed website, to Canon G12s, to coffee table photography books as well as the opportunity for all top 10 finalists to have their image shown in a special gallery exhibit and opening event at New York City's Clic Gallery in Soho.

As I always suggest in my posts involving photo contests, make sure you read the terms and conditions very carefully to avoid any nasty surprises.

Kolkata's Cult of Durga: Verdict & Epilogue

2011-10-28T05:43:00.022-04:00

I wanted to write this post earlier, but I needed intervening time to be more objective and allow my thoughts to settle. Few if any photo workshops leaders take the trouble of publicly posting their verdict on their workshops...but I've always done that, and will continue to do so.

"Few if any photo workshops leaders take the trouble of publicly posting their verdict on their workshops...but I've always done that, and will continue to do so."

Planning the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop, I knew full well that setting a photographic trip and workshop in a congested urban center such as Kolkata would be fraught with difficulties, and I was right for two main reasons. The congestion, traffic and the crowds (especially during the Durga Puja week) in that quintessential Indian megapolis certainly exceeded my expectations, and occasionally took me by surprise with its severity. The prevailing weather was also a factor that I had to consider when planning the duration of the photo shoots, especially when leading a group of people unaccustomed to such high degrees of humidity and heat. For the first time in all my photo expeditions, I recommended to the group that drinking fluids with electrolytes was a necessity and not an option. It's very rare for me to schedule an off day during my workshops/expeditions, and yet I did on this one. Shooting all day for almost a full week in such humid and hot circumstances made me rethink our pace, and I was glad to see that a day of respite was welcomed by the group.

But let's start from the top. Despite my travel agent's assurances to the contrary, I was somewhat apprehensive about the Lytton Hotel where we stayed for the two weeks in Kolkata, having read some negative reviews on a travel forum. My reservations turned out to be unfounded. My experience (and largely, that of the remainder of the group) was satisfactory. Sure, there were some minor hiccups here and there, but the staff were generally professional (especially Beryl at the reception, and Nicholas in the restaurant) and helpful. The Lytton is on Sudder Street right in the heart of Kolkata, and we couldn't ask for a better location. Whenever we felt the absolute need for a luxurious and posh restaurant, we popped in the next door Oberoi Grand, where we grumbled about its prices.

"If I had the luxury of rescheduling the photo expedition/workshop, I would have started it two days earlier, and ended it three days earlier."

If I had the luxury of rescheduling the photo expedition/workshop, I would have started it two days earlier, and ended it three days earlier. It would have given us more time at the outset of the Durga Puja week to document the potters in Kumartuli more thoroughly, while they finalized their effigy making. As it happened, we only had a day and a half to document both the potters at work as well as the transporting of the effigies to the pandals, which didn't didn't give us space to photograph that particular chapter of the festival at a more relaxed pace.

Transportation was somewhat of a drag. Kolkata's traffic is notoriously bad, and while we had a van for a number of days during the festival itself, we relied on taxis for the rest of the time. Taxis were not difficult to find, but with no ac they were uncomfortable in Kolkata's heat. In retrospect, I should've jacked up the price of the workshop to cover the cost of the van, even if the seasonal price gouging seemed unreasonable in comparison.

That being said, I am gratified that my photo expedition/workshop was held during the appropriate week. I heard that another photographic workshop had mistimed the Durga Puja festivities by about a week, and its members arrived when it was winding down!

We had tremendous photo opportunities; some planned and many serendipitous. Being invited to a private home to witness and document the puja and rituals revolving around welcoming the effigy of Durga, and to another large home involving return of the effigy to the Ganges were serendipitous to a very large extent, and speak volumes to the hospitality of the Bengalis. On another occasion, leaving a cluster of Jain temples, I saw the perfect backdrop for a staged photo shoot, and quickly convinced a nearby rickshaw puller and a woman to spend half an hour as models.

"These slideshows were as good as those I see submitted by seasoned photojournalists!"

Along with Chhandak Pradhan, a freelance photojournalist in Kolkata who assisted us on the photo workshop, contact was made with a Baul singer (a Bengali wandering minstrel) who treated us to a private demonstration of this ancient skill, and allowed us to record his musical prowess.

There were big time misses as well. Kolkata's Chinatown (at least where we went) wasn't worth the time, nor were the tanneries. Photographing in the Kali temple is prohibited, and the authorities kept a keen eye on us all through our brief visit. That again wasn't worth the trouble. However, the whole area around the Kali temple teems with photographic opportunities. Another area that I found fascinating in the Muslim area of Chitore...also teeming with tremendous photographic opportunities.

I don't know any other photographic expedition/workshop whose members were such media stars. We were featured in The Hindustan Times, along with some of our quotes. I was also glad to be featured in The Indian Express where I explained the objectives of the workshop.

Finally, a photo expedition/workshop is as good as its participants. I was very pleased by the quality level of the final audio slideshows. I knew the participants were all accomplished photographers, but I underestimated their quickness in mastering the techniques of slideshow making and audio editing. Consequently, when I saw their multimedia work in progress, I was extremely gratified. These slideshows were as good as those I see submitted by seasoned photojournalists who attend my class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop.

Dilla Djalil Daniel: Myanmar

2011-10-27T05:30:00.001-04:00

Dilla Djalil-Daniel is a photographer currently living in Jakarta, and just returned from Myanmar where she photographed the country's remarkable people and its stunning scenery.

Although she travels around the world for her photography, especially in Asia and has a impressive portfolio that ought to be shown on her own personal website, Dilla has yet to have one. It's a shame really...but The Travel Photographer blog features her work as much as it can. Dilla is also an alum of the Istanbul and Buenos Aires Foundry Photojournalism Workshops. In Buenos Aires, she attended the class given by the incomparable Maggie Steber.

Most of her work is in black and white, which I think is courageous on her part especially when depicting countries as color-rich as Myanmar. The top photograph is of the famous Inle Lake fishermen, and is an obligatory scene for photographers visiting the region, however the lower two are different, in the sense that they are more photojournalistic in composition and vision. I particularly like the bottom candid scene of the Buddhist nuns.

Enrico Martino: Dia De Los Muertos

2011-10-26T05:15:00.002-04:00

Time flies, and it's this time of year...once again! Observed on November 1st and 2nd, the Dia de Los Muertos is around the corner. Family and friends gather to pray for loved ones who have died. It is celebrated in Mexico, where it's virtually considered a national holiday. Traditionally, private altars honoring the deceased are built using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the dead. Visiting cemeteries, crypts and graves is also a tradition during these two days.

A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (known as calavera), which celebrants represent in masks, called calacas. Also common are sugar skulls, inscribed with the name of the recipient on the forehead. Other special foods include pan de muerto (bread of the dead), a sweet egg bread made in many shapes, from plain rounds to skulls and rabbits often decorated with white frosting to look like twisted bones.

For those who are interested in documenting the Dia de los Muertos, photography workshops in Oaxaca are almost a tradition as well, and are plentiful.

Enrico Martino is an editorial, geographic and documentary photojournalist specialized in travel and cultural assignments. He's a contributor to Italian and international magazines, to include Meridiani, "D"-Repubblica, Epoca, Espresso, Panorama, Focus, Gente Viaggi, In Viaggio, Airone, Panorama Travel, Sette, Traveller, Tuttoturismo, Elle, Marie Claire, Merian, Spiegel, Die Zeit, Jeune Afrique, Altair, Rutas del Mundo.

Ethan Knight: Faith

2011-10-25T05:50:00.003-04:00

Ethan Knight is a documentary photographer and a film maker whose work focuses on the impact of war and poverty on marginalized societies. Currently based in Auckland, New Zealand, his work has been published by The New York Times, the National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal, Lonely Planet Images, Australian Geographic and New Zealand Geographic amongst other publications. He also worked with NGOs such as UNHCR, ICRC, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Ethan suggested I viewed his Northern Sri Lanka/Jaffna gallery of images, especially those of the Festival of Murugan, The Tamil god of war, but I went further and viewed his entire Faith Gallery in which he features about 34 monitor-sized images of photographs made in Jerusalem, in Sri Lanka and Kenya.

I thought his most powerful images in the Faith gallery were those of the Thaipusam religious festival, especially those of devotees rolling on the ground for 2 kilometers to the entrance of a temple, and self-inflicting wounds to their bodies in the hope of redemption.

After doing so, you may wish to recuperate from the graphic images by viewing Ethan's photographs of the New Zealand Fashion Week 2011.

Zara Bowmar: Kolkata's Pandal Mania

2011-10-24T05:14:00.003-04:00

Zara Bowmar is one of the participants in my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop, and produced a remarkably compelling documentary of the Durga Puja festival.

A native of New Zealand now living in Sydney, Australia, she is the founder of ZeeGlobe, an independent travel site featuring stories and photography, which highlights adventures in new places and cultures in off the beaten track locations or old favorites in new ways.

As featured in her audio slideshow (converted to an mp4 movie) above, Zara was one of the first participant to complete her project in Kolkata. You can view it in black & white above or in vivid color here.

A talented photographer who quickly grasped the photojournalism style in shooting and editing, Zara also provided me with a number of black & white photographs of the Durga Puja festivities. These are as follows:

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