Alessandra Meniconzi: Hidden China

I've waxed lyrical many times about Alessandra Meniconzi's Hidden China book, and it was with great pleasure that I realized she recently updated (and enhanced) her website with absolutely magnificent photographs of minorities in China, structured along the same chapters in her book.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If there's one travel photography book you ought to have on China, this is the one. If this still doesn't convince you, I believe the imagery you'll find on her Hidden China website will. This is travel photography and ethno-photography at its best.

As background, Alessandra Meniconzi is a Swiss photographer fascinated by the lives and traditions of indigenous people in remote regions of the world. After many years of working in Asia, she traveled in Iceland and became interested in the Arctic. She is the sole photographer for the books Hidden China (2008), Mystic Iceland (2007), and The Silk Road (2004), and she is currently working on the new book about Tibet, Arctic and Himalaya.

Alessandra was featured here on TTP.

Alessandra Meniconzi: Hidden China & Artic

I previously posted on this blog on Alessandra Meniconzi's new book Hidden China, which has now been published, and is available at bookstores. The press release reads in part: "This illustrated book explores some of the most remote regions of China and brings to life a world far removed from the great metropolises, a world nearly forgotten, where the people continue to live their traditional lifestyles largely undisturbed."

Alessandra Meniconzi is a Swiss photographer fascinated by the lives and traditions of indigenous people in remote regions of the world. After many years of working in Asia, she traveled in Iceland and became interested in the Arctic. She is the sole photographer for the books Hidden China (2008), Mystic Iceland (2007), and The Silk Road (2004), and she is currently working on the new book about Tibet, Arctic and Himalaya.

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi-All Rights Reserved
Alessandra tells me she's preparing herself to travel shortly to the Arctic, traveling with an Inuit hunter...quite a departure from her past work in Asia. I am certain her photographs of this icy region will soon be published in an equally wonderful book.

Alessandra Meniconzi: Hidden China

I now have Alessandra Meniconzi's new book Hidden China, which I've enthusiastically perused all last week. As I previously posted, this book explores some of the most remote regions of China and brings to life a world far removed from the great metropolises, a world nearly forgotten, where the people continue to live their traditional lifestyles largely undisturbed.

If you are interested in minority ethnic and traditional cultures of Asia, this book ought to be on your bookshelves. It's available at all major bookstores, and on the on-line book retailers as well. You'll be glad you did.

Alessandra Meniconzi is a Swiss photographer fascinated by the lives and traditions of indigenous people in remote regions of the world. After many years of working in Asia, she traveled in Iceland and became interested in the Arctic. She is the sole photographer for the books Hidden China (2008), Mystic Iceland (2007), and The Silk Road (2004), and she is currently working on the new book about Tibet, Arctic and Himalaya.

Alessandra Meniconzi: Hidden China

I've written about Alessandra Meniconzi over a year ago, and consider her one of the best travel photographers I've come across. She's a travel photographer in a classic sense, and her work is pure travel photography with no ambivalence.

Her biography reveals that she was born in Lugano and studied graphic design. She specializes in Asian countries, and prefers the wilderness as well as documenting the daily lives of ethnic minorities. Her exploration of the peoples of the ancient trade routes required her to make several trips to Asia over a 10-year period to document the people and cultures of the "Silk Road", the 2,000-year-old trade route linking the Orient and the Occident.

Her new book "Hidden China" will be published in Fall 2008, and will be available from Amazon and other bookstores.

Alessandra's website features her superb landscapes and portraits of ethnic minorities. Here are her images of China. Her website would benefit from a facelift, but I guarantee you'll be spending a lot of time exploring her galleries.

Alessandra Meniconzi | Canon EOS R | Mongolia

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi | Source: Canon Europe

One of my very favorite travel photographers is Alessandra Meniconzi*, a Switzerland-based Canon Ambassador and a true globetrotter who preceded most of us to the remote corners of the world. I cam to know Alessandra's work through her wonderful book "Hidden China" which she graciously gifted me a few years ago.

"Never behave like the paparazzi, always be polite and respectful. 

The subject has their pride; they are not an object, but a person like you."

Her work has always been focused on the ancient heritage and customs of indigenous people, and she has recently spent a few years documenting the traditions of Mongolia's nomadic people, by establishing connections within their communities, particularly in the Altai Mountains in the far west, where Mongolia meets Kazakhstan. Her work has been published by Canon-Europe to advertise for the EOS R, and can be found here.

Supplementing her remarkable images, Alessandra also shares her shooting philosophy when she's out in the field. 

I found her approach, while not exclusive, to portraiture to be very practical and useful. She chooses to have her subjects posed against a black background in a dark room or, if not possible, she uses her own black fabric to hang behind the subjects as backgrounds. This enhances the Mongolian costumes, and brings out their colors.

* Alessandra's website is password protected.

Alessandra Meniconzi | Golden Mountains

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi-All Rights Reserved

I am pleased to feature the work of Alessandra Meniconzi, one of my favorite travel photographers, on the Berkutchi of Central Asia. She tells us that in Kazak language, Berkutchi, means “hunters with the falcon”. Hunting with eagles is a traditional form of falconry. With extreme patience and dedication the Kazakh have domesticated golden eagles, and their techniques were originally adopted by nomadic populations in Central Asia’s plateaus, and eventually spread to the rest of the world.

For those interested in linguistics, the Kazakh word for golden eagle is "bürkit", and the word for "hunter with eagles" is bürtkitshi.

There are only about 40 officially recognized eagle-hunters in Kazakhstan today, but a village named Nura is its epicenter because it has 14 of them. Kazakh interest in eagle-hunting has been growing since the republic became independent with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Hunting with eagles was discouraged in Soviet days, because it was considered an elite sport.

Alessandra Meniconzi is a documentary photographer whose work "centres on the ancient heritage, customs, spirituality and daily life of indigenous people". She prefers remote and rugged places, mountainous terrain and desert, and seeks people who manage to survive in such places, to discover and record their ancient way of life before they are changed by the modern era. Her photographs have been published widely in magazines, newspaper, calendars, postcards, as well as in four books: The Silk Road (2004), Mystic Iceland (2007), Hidden China (2008) and QTI -Alessandra Meniconzi, Il coraggio di esser paesaggio (2011)

Alessandra Meninconzi | Time For Holi!

Photo © Alessandra Meninconzi-All Rights Reserved

One of my favorite travel photographers is Alessandra Meninconzi who has recently uploaded her new work from India, which she titled It's Time For Holi. Her photographs were mostly made in Vrindavan, and its surrounding towns and villages, during the festival of Holi.

I remember Alessandra messaging me from Vrinadavan complaining that her new Canon Mark 3 was in danger of being permanently colored in pink. She is a Canon Professional, so I'm certain that Canon didn't mind. That said, by many recent accounts, in many areas Holi has devolved into a a color "slug fest" that goes beyond fun with colors, and is no longer a religious observance.

Alessandra's galleries range from the Arctic Siberia to Ethiopia, from Lapland to the Silk Road, and from Greenland to Tibet and the Himalayas. She worked extensively for more than a decade in the remote areas of Asia, documenting minority people and their traditional cultures. More recently, she focused on the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions that are threatened by climate change, development, and resource extraction.

Alessandra Meniconzi is a Swiss photographer fascinated by the lives and traditions of indigenous people in remote regions of the world.Her photographs have been published widely in magazines, as well as in four books: The Silk Road (2004), Mystic Iceland (2007), Hidden China (2008) and QTI -Alessandra Meniconzi, Il coraggio di esser paesaggio (2011). 

Alessandra Meniconzi: Nenets Of Arctic Siberia

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi_All Rights Reserved

“I prefer remote and rugged places, mountainous terrain and desert."

Yes, Alessandra Meniconzi prefers to travel to areas many other travel photographers wouldn't think of going because they're truly remote and inaccessible. An excellent photographer, she's also extremely versatile, and her updated website features new galleries that cover most of the globe's regions.

Alessandra's galleries range from the Arctic Siberia to Ethiopia, from Lapland to the Silk Road, and from Greenland to Tibet and the Himalayas. She worked extensively for more than a decade in the remote areas of Asia, documenting minority people and their traditional cultures. More recently, she focused on the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions that are threatened by climate change, development, and resource extraction.

I chose to feature her Nenets of The Arctic Siberia gallery, as it's one of her most recent work. The Nenets are an indigenous people in northern arctic Russia. According to the latest census in 2002, there are 41,302 Nenets in the Russian Federation. They have a shamanistic and animistic belief system which stresses respect for the land and its resources.

Her photographs have been published widely in magazines, as well as in books for which she was the sole photographer: The Silk Road (2004), Mystic Iceland (2007), Hidden China (2008) and QTI -Alessandra Meniconzi, Il coraggio di esser paesaggio (2011).

Justin Jin: 100Eyes Magazine

Justin Jin worked for more than than a decade as an independent photojournalist with leading magazines and newspapers, specializing in documenting people in hidden, harsh and sensitive situations, such as authoritarianism in Russia, exploitation in China or illegal immigration in Europe.

Based for the last four years in Moscow, Justin is doing reportage and
corporate assignments in Russia, China and beyond. While some of his projects are commissioned, others are self-initiated.

The beautifully produced 100Eyes Magazine features Justin Jin's edgy photo essay Made In China-Blues After Midnight which documents how workers in Chinese factories toil through the night scrubbing, spraying and tearing trousers to create the rugged look of blue jeans so favored by consumers all over the world.

Justin Jin's website is here.

Alessandra Meniconzi | The Cradle of Humanity

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi-All Rights Reserved

One of my favorite travel photographers is Alessandra Meninconzi who has recently uploaded her new work from Ethiopia, which she titled The Cradle of Humanity. Her photographs were mostly made in Lalibela, and its surrounding region.

Her gallery features Ethiopian Orthodox priests, deacons and scribes who visit or reside in Lalibela, one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, and a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. It's famous for its monolithic rock-cut churches. These religious clergy are required to have knowledge of Ge’ez, the ancient liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches.

Cradle of humanity as a title for Alessandra's gallery is a little confusing, since Ethiopia is generally known as the cradle of mankind, while the cradle of humankind is a World Heritage Site first named by UNESCO in 1999, not far from Johannesburg.

Alessandra's galleries range from the Arctic Siberia to Ethiopia, from Lapland to the Silk Road, and from Greenland to Tibet and the Himalayas. She worked extensively for more than a decade in the remote areas of Asia, documenting minority people and their traditional cultures. More recently, she focused on the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions that are threatened by climate change, development, and resource extraction.

Alessandra Meniconzi is a Swiss photographer fascinated by the lives and traditions of indigenous people in remote regions of the world.Her photographs have been published widely in magazines, as well as in four books: The Silk Road (2004), Mystic Iceland (2007), Hidden China (2008) and QTI -Alessandra Meniconzi, Il coraggio di esser paesaggio (2011).

I have blogged on many occasions about Alessandra's work, and I'm glad to see she's back in full form.

Apple's Chinese New Year's "Daughter"

Apple has marked the Chinese New Year* with its latest "Shot on iPhone" video, a short film recorded on the iPhone 11 Pro featuring three generations of Chinese women gathering together for the annual event. 

The short movie features the generational differences between a mother and daughter about the life that she and her child lead. It’s a film about pride, acceptance, and family. Theodore Melfi, the director of the film, is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker who received his nominations after co-writing, directing and producing Hidden Figures, a film about the role that black female mathematicians played during the space race. Hidden Figures received nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Lawrence Sher, the film’s cinematographer, is best known for this work on Garden State and The Hangover series. Most recently, he served as Director of Cinematography for Todd Phillip’s ‘Joker’ film which just won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for Joaquin Phoenix’s depiction of the villain at the Gloden Globe awards.

The film stars Zhou Xun, China’s leading actress, known for her performances in ‘The Equation of Love and Death’, ‘The Banquet’, and ‘Perhaps Love’. The last film earned her a Best Actress award in the Hong Kong Film Awards.

A behind the scenes trailer has also been featured on YouTube which demonstrates the versatility of the iPhone 11 as a film-making device...in the hands of an expert cinematographer and his crew.


*According to the Chinese zodiac, it'll be the year of the Rat. According to a folktale, the Jade Emperor decided that the order of the animals would be determined according to the order by which they arrived at his party by crossing a river. The rat cleverly convinced the ox to give him a ride. Just as the ox waded the river, it jumped off its back and was the first to arrive.

How Hwee Young | Mongolian Shamans

Photo © How Hwee Young-All Rights Reserved

Shamans are people (they can be of either gender) who are considered to have access to the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits. Shamans typically enter into trances during their ritual, and practice divination and healing.

My experience with a shaman was in Bhutan...not far from Paro, where he was holding a ritual to cleanse a child from evil spirits. The ritual took place in a very modest farmhouse...in its main room with the family and neighbors attending. The process involved the shaman to eventually "host" the spirit in his body whilst in a trance, then running out of the house to expel it. 

So I am glad to feature Mongolia Shaman Brothers; a photo essay by the talented How Wee Young. 

Mongolian shamanism is an all-encompassing system of belief that includes medicine, religion, a cult of nature, and a cult of ancestor worship. Male shamans in Mongolia are called boo (isn't that funny?), and they consider themselves to be an intermediaries between the visible world and the hidden world of spirits and gods.

In Mongolia, shamanism merged with local Buddhist traditions, and it’s often impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.

How Hwee Young is a staff photographer with the european pressphoto agency b.v. (epa) based in Beijing, China. Her career began in 2001 where she joined Singapore's leading newspaper The Straits Times as a photojournalist. Over the last ten years, her images have been published on front covers and featured in major newspapers and magazines including the NewYork Times, British Times, the International Herald Tribune, the LA Times, the Sydney Herald, the Telegraph, Time magazine, Der Spiegel, GEO Magazine, South China Morning Post, Bangkok Post, amongst others.

Mansi Midha: Kashmir

Photo © Mansi Midha-All Rights Reserved
First things first. I believe if Mansi hadn't been involved with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali this past month, it would never have succeeded as it did. She was the hidden (and frequently, visible too) energy behind all the arrangements, big and small, that are crucial to the viability of such a complex venture. Mansi's cajoling, threats and perseverance made the Foundry Workshop click, and she deserves ample recognition of this here.

Mansi also happens to be a damn good photographer. I chanced upon her as I was walking out of our small hotel on my way to Manali town, and saw her hard at work editing the beginnings of her project "Aditya" on her laptop; a poignant story of a disabled child and his struggling family.

However, for the purpose of this blog, I highlight Mansi's Srinagar, Kashmir project. Kashmir is a long term project for Mansi, and this is merely its start.

A graduate of the International Center of Photography in New York City, she also graduated with a BA in Communication Design. Currently based in New Delhi, Mansi's photographs have been exhibited in various venues in New York, India and China, and she was awarded a clutch of recognitions for her work.