Rich-Joseph Facun: Darshana Ganga

суббота, 31 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


There are a couple of images captioned "moksha" on Rich-Joseph Facun's Darashana Ganga gallery that are certainly disturbing, but the remainder of his gallery show us Varanasi and its streets at its grittiest, and being one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, it is a gritty city. This is a work in progress, and I suspect that more images will be forthcoming.

For centuries, Hindus have sought "moksha", the release from the cycle of life, death and reincarnation by dying in Varanasi or having their remains cremated on the ghats alongside the Ganges. Hindus from across India and beyond, often choose to live out their last days in this 5,000 year-old city.

Rich-Joseph Facun is a photographer based in Abu Dhabi, who specializes in documentary projects dealing with personal Independence, pursuit of dreams and the discovery of self-identity. He studied photography at the School for Visual Communication at Ohio University.

He documented the life of a Navajo family in 2001; a project that gained him a Pictures of The Year award. He was also named as one of PDN's 30 New and Emerging Photographers amongst other numerous awards. His work has been published by various publications ranging from The New York Tines to FADER magazine.

Amongst Facun's many galleries, I particularly liked Merchants of Main Street, a collection of very nicely toned photographed of stores from all over the USA.

WSJ Photo Journal: Pushkar Mela

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Photo © Kevin Frayer/Associated Press-All Rights Reserved

The WSJ Photo Journal with a photograph by Kevin Frayer has reminded me that the Pushkar fair (or mela) is taking place from October 30 to November 2 this year. It is one of the world's largest camel fairs, and is held in the quaint town of Pushkar. At that time, hotel rooms and other accommodations are available at a hefty premium, especially at the venerable but ideally located Pushkar Palace.

While it's famed for its camels, the fair is also a marketplace for livestock including the reputed Marawri horses. It has recently become a magnet for tourists, both local and foreign, with tour agencies setting up itineraries centered around the fair itself as the main attraction. Photo trips also abound, since the camel traders, the sand dunes of the Thar Desert and the setting sun prove irresistible to photographers hoping to capture the Rajasthani essence.

Although a one-time-must-see event, the Pushkar mela itself has become a tourist event rather than a genuine tribal camel trading occasion. The actual trading itself takes place days before the start of the event, and by the time tourists arrive, most of the trades have been competed, and only the stragglers are left.

You can read my take on Pushkar fair in an early (and acerbic) post on this blog under the title "Reheated Itineraries".

Coming Soon: Bhutan Galleries!

пятница, 30 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved


Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I'll be soon posting two galleries of some of my work made during my Bhutan Photo~Expedition a few weeks ago.

One is a multimedia photo gallery of Monks' Debates at the Kharchhu Sangha in Bumthang (which has already been seen by subscribers to my newsletter), while the other will showcase some of the dancers at the Jambhey Lakhang tsechu in Chamkar.

So watch this blog!

My Work: Bhutan Monks, A Cat & TV

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Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

This photograph (click it for a larger version) was made at the Wangdichoeling Palace in Jakar, Bhutan. Built in 1857, it served as the principal summer residence of the first and second kings of Bhutan; Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck (1862-1926) and Jigme Wangchuk 1905-1952). Virtually dilapidated, it is now occupied by monks and novices who use some of its rooms.

It's within a stone's throw from the Bumthang Amankora Resort, whose daily rate for a single suite is $1300!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

This photograph (click it for a larger version) captured two novices clandestinely watching a Bollywood movie at the Chimi Lakhang. The temple is dedicated to Lama Drukpa Kuenley, who is colloquially referred to as the Divine Madman, and is popularly considered to be a temple of fertility.

Footnote: I'm immensely gratified to have been mentioned in Lou Jones' excellent Marketing Travel Photography: Portfolio and Identity on Photo.net.

Under the paragraph titled Editorial Portfolio, Lou writes:

"Take a look at Magnum’s David Allen Harvey online magazine. He has some of the best talent working in the genre represented on his web site. Tewfic El-Sawy’s thetravelphotographer.blogspot.com has a unique vision with his site."

April Maciborka: India

четверг, 29 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


Every now and then I stumble on a website that, to my mind, reaffirms the essence of what a travel photographer is, or should be, all about. So I hope you will agree that April Maciborka is one of those who carry that particular torch.

Her style, as evidenced by her various portfolios, matches my own visual philosophy: "travel photography meets photojournalism". Other travel photographers showcase lovely photographs of posed and smiling people...but that's not what this style is about.

The range of April Maciborka's work is certainly impressive. She seems to hail from Toronto but traveled and lived in South and Southeast Asia (as well As Africa) during the past four years, after graduating from Sheridan College with a degree in Photography. Her photographs have been published by American Photo Magazine, PhotoLife and PDN (where I first saw her work).

Take your time in exploring her many galleries and portfolios...it will take you quite a while. But if you prefer the type of travel photography in which ethnic minorities smile stiffly for the camera against the background of a perfect blue sky, you may want to look elsewhere.

Mariela Furrer: Timket, Ethiopia

среда, 28 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


I'm often asked to lead a photo-expedition to Ethiopia and I always demur, citing the infrastructural difficulties (mostly in the South) of setting up such a trip, and the concomitant high costs. However, as can be seen in Mariella Furrer's Timket gallery, Ethiopia is one of the most visually and culturally magnetic countries in the world. These images bring back the emotions I felt when hearing the beautiful chants at dawn during the Timket festivities.

Mariella Furrer is a photographer and photojournalist who has lived in Africa her whole life. She attended the Documentary Photography & Photojournalism Program at the International Center of Photography in NYC, and has since been working as a freelance photojournalist based between Kenya and South Africa.

Mariella has been awarded grants from the 3P Foundation, France and the Hasseleblad Foundation, Sweden. She has received an Honorable Mention from UNICEF Photo of the Year 2005 and has been nominated for the Santa Fe Prize for Photography 2006.

Timket is the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of Epiphany, and is celebrated on January 19 or 20.

For my own photographs of Northern Ethiopia, including those of my few days in Lalibela during Timket, drop by Footsteps in North Abyssinia.

Canon 7D: Shadow Image?

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Photographers seem to have discovered a flaw in the new Canon EOS 7D, which results in a shadow of the preceding frame showing up in the following image when the continuous shooting mode is chosen.

The flaw was confirmed by Canon in Japan and elsewhere. Canon announced that it "is currently investigating and analyzing the cause of this phenomenon, and we are planning to release a firmware update to address this issue."

Canon USA actually has this on its website:

In images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame may be visible. This phenomenon is not noticeable in an image with optimal exposure. The phenomenon may become more noticeable if a retouching process such as level compensation is applied to emphasize the image.

This just reaffirms the wisdom of never buying the first edition of any camera (or computer, for that matter). Waiting for the bugs to be discovered by the impulsive (or impatient) buyers always pays off for those of us who prefer to wait.

It should be said though, that as far as I've read so far, no one has been able to replicate this flaw in the cameras supplied for testing.

Update (November 5): Corrective Firmware from Canon is now here.

NYT: Ariana Lindquist: Heshun (China)

вторник, 27 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Ariana Lindquist/NY Times. All Rights Reserved

The New York Times featured a short slideshow of Ariana Lindquist's photographs of Heshun, in Yunnan province, China. With beautiful scenery and abundant cultural traditions, Heshun is one of China's earliest border trade town, and is a perennial favorite of film directors, photographers, and painters.

Heshun is located on China's southern border in Tengchong County, and was once famous for its wealthy merchants who traded with India, Burma and the interior of China itself. Its location on the tea caravans route made it also an important hub for the tea trade.

During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, caravans arrived to Heshun ply their trade. They would bring silk, jewelery, books and Western commodities to exchange for jade.

I am tempted by articles like these to set up a photo expedition to Yunnan province...perhaps in 2011?

The Frame: Chhath Festival

понедельник, 26 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Dar Yasin/AP. All Rights Reserved

The Frame, the photography blog of The Sacramento Bee, is one the main three large sized picture blogs, along with the Boston Globe's The Big Picture and the Wall Street Journal's Photo Journal.

It brings us 19 photographs of the Chhath festival where Indian Hindu devotees offers prayers to the sun. The festival is also known as Surya Pooja (or prayers to the sun) is observed in the eastern part of India 8 days after Diwali, the festival of lights. The festival in celebrated in the regions including but not exclusive to the northeast region of India, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi as well as Mumbai.

Traditionally, Chhath festival devotees fast and offer water, milk and fruits to the sun god at dawn and dusk.

I'm glad to see that my friend Yasin Dar's(a Kashmiri photographer with AP) was amongst those published by The Frame.

Field Report: B&H & Adorama

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Well, I succumbed to the "bigger is better" axiom and decided to add a 16gb SanDisk Compact Flash card to my inventory.

In arriving to this decision, I was guided by two facts: the first is that the images files from Canon 5D Mark II are monstrously large and that, although my 8gb CF cards are quite adequate, I filled them up a number of times in the midst of a photo shoot. The second reason is that SanDisk was offering interesting rebates on its cards, which meant $20 off the 16gb baby I got.

After spending an hour browsing at B&H, and touching-feeling-playing with the newly released Canon 7D (it feels solid, well balanced and its 8 fps sounds really good to my ears...but we'll see about the image quality), I was told that the SanDisk Extreme III Compact Flash Card were sold out. B&H was a madhouse this Sunday...presumably all from the traffic generated by Photo Plus Expo that took place the past few days.

So my next stop was Adorama where I did find the product I needed. While the delivery system at Adorama is far from being as sophisticated as B&H's, the card and its rebate sheet were readily available. The traffic was also very impressive at Adorama, with long lines at their cashiers.

Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak: India

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Photo © Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak-All Rights Reserved

The face on Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak's website's cover is haunting...I can't tell if she's smiling or not. Have a look, and then explore his galleries which include photographs of East and West Africa, Maghreb countries, the Middle East and India, among others.

Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak is from Pozanan in Poland, and his photographs were published in CNN Traveler, National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, Newsweek, Globtroter, FAO, Lonely Planet and many more international and national publications.

He also won a couple of prestigious awards to include the National Geographic Competitions in 2006 and 2007.

I haven't yet had the chance of exploring every single gallery as Swiatoslaw has been photographing virtually everywhere, but the one that captured my attention was his work in India. As you can see from the featured photograph, he's not shy in showing the unusual. His style and processing of some of his photographs remind me of Zackary Canepari's work.

POV: Antiquities & Colonialism

воскресенье, 25 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

© Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters. Courtesy The New York Times

Antiquities and its politics are hardly topics that stay for long on my radar screen, but this time it involves Egypt, my birth country so I'll take a stab at the recent news which involves the bust of Nefertiti, currently displayed in a Berlin museum. What does this have to do with travel photography, you ask? Not much...but I need this off my chest.

A New York Times' article (written by Michael Kimmelman) on this issue starts as follows:

"As thousands lined up to catch a glimpse of Nefertiti at the newly reopened Neues Museum here, another skirmish erupted in the culture wars. Egypt’s chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, announced that his country wanted its queen handed back forthwith, unless Germany could prove that the 3,500-year-old bust of Akhenaten’s wife wasn’t spirited illegally out of Egypt nearly a century ago."

The article goes to great lengths to describe this request as being a riposte to the recent political snub suffered by Egypt when its candidate for the UNESCO head position wasn't successful. It seems that a group of intellectuals (led by a triumvirate of Jewish writers or polemicists in Europe, as well as French and Germans) argued that the Egyptian candidate had expressed anti-Semitic comments in the past.

I don't disagree with that possibility, but so what? Egypt is well within its rights to demand the return of every item of its patrimony. The German museum generates a considerable amount of money from displaying what is Egypt's most famous Pharaoh queen (well, almost as famous as Cleopatra). Does Egypt see a dime from this revenue?

The article also informs us that over the years Egypt has requested for Nefertiti to be returned, but Germans point out that Ludwig Borchardt, who discovered the bust at in 1912, had Egyptian approval to take it to Berlin.

And 1912 is the problem. At that time, Egypt was ruled by Abbas II (one of the vestiges of the ruling Albanian house of Mehmet Ali) who, when showing a few weak signs of nationalism, was neutered (I hope only figuratively) by Lord Cromer. In 1914, Britain declared Egypt its protectorate and deposed of Abbas. Under these circumstances, an "Egyptian" approval is highly dubious, and Borchardt may have exploited a bureaucracy made malleable by the presence of various colonial powers, which at that time, had special privileges in Egypt. A similar case involved the Axum Obelisk which was plundered from Ethiopia by Italy, and was returned in 2005.

If Mr Kimmelman wanted to tie a more plausible news event to this request, he should consider the implications of the recent murder of Marwa al-Sherbini, a pregnant Egyptian pharmacist who was stabbed 18 times by an Islamphobe German man in a Dresden courthouse, and the flaccid response of the German media and its police to this hate crime. This was interpreted in the Muslim world as evidence of a deep-seated Islamophobia in Germany...so I'm sure that Germany is not on Egypt's most favored nations' list at this point of time.

Setting aside hypocritical politics and the residual ills of colonialism, there's no question in my mind that countries' patrimonies such as the bust of Nefertiti, the Elgin Marbles, the Ishtar Gate and a plethora of other lesser-known artifacts should be returned to their rightful owners.

Haven't the erstwhile colonial powers plundered enough?

It's off my chest now...sort of.

Books: Claudia Wiens: Burma

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Claudia Wiens was based in Cairo, and is now in Istanbul working as a freelance photographer, and is represented by Getty Images. She has now published a book of her photographs of Burma and titled "Of Dung-Beetle Messengers And Infamous Crickets" which, although I haven't seen yet, does provide Claudia's interesting visual narrative of this lovely country and its people. Have a good look at the section involving Nats.

I'm glad that Claudia chose this blurry image for her book's cover since, as regular readers of this blog know, I'm enormously partial to motion blurred images myself. Good choice, Claudia! For further images of Burma and other galleries, visit Claudia's website.

I met Claudia at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW) in Mexico City, where she worked on a project involving female Lucha Libre wrestlers.

A previous post of Claudia Wiens on TTP is here.

Zhou Mi: Where The Ganges Flows...

суббота, 24 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


Here's a black & white photo essay Where The Ganges Flows... by Zhou Mi, documenting his traveling down the Ganges from its source in Gangotri to Kolkata, passing through Rishikesh, Haridwar and Varanasi.

It brought to mind the classic book Slowly Down the Ganges by Eric Newby, which may have been the photographer's inspiration.

Zhou Mi was born in Wuxi, Jiang-Su, China and worked as an engineer in his country before gaining a M.A. Communication Arts from the New York Institute of Technology. He then worked for Young & Rubicam Inc./ K& L Advertising before being a freelance photographer in San Francisco.

An eclectic photographer, Zhou Mi's galleries are mostly black & white and range from documenting lost and found objects on San Francisco's beaches to Burning Man festival in Nevada, passing through a photo essay titled Wu Yong in Kangding, Sichuan.

Bhutan Photo Expedition: Just Because

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Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy/All Rights Reserved

I found this photograph amongst the thousands I made during the Tamshing Lakhang tsechu during my photo expedition Land of the Druk Yul. It appeals to me just because there's a human story unfolding here...unfortunately, I was whisked away to another spot before I could find out whether this was a monk greeting his wife and child, or whether he was the uncle, brother or just a friend. All I know is that this beautiful woman and her child had been waiting outside the lakhang for a while until he emerged, smiling broadly at them.

This is totally unrelated to this photograph, but I just read a hilarious post on David duChemin's blog...it has references to intestinal mutiny, a threatened body cavity search, a brief rant about how Kathmandu was maggoty with tourists, and an apt description of annoying European and American tourists.

I encountered a lot of those characters as well in Bhutan. The issue with Bhutan itineraries is that no matter how hard one tries, you'll invariably meet the same annoying tourists over and over again...either at one of the festivals or worse, at the same hotels. It's quite simple to identify the various nationalities...if they're really loud and look freshly showered in the mornings, they're usually Americans...if they hijack the only plate of butter from the buffet (and I have to walk up to their table and retrieve it), they're usually French...and as my friend Gavin Gough pointed out, they're British if one steps on their toes, and they're the ones who apologize.

The wisdom one acquires from traveling is just breathtaking, isn't it?

Adriana Zehbrauskas: Daily Life Mexico

пятница, 23 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


Photograph © Adriana Zehbrauskas/All Rights Reserved

Adriana Zehbrauskas is a Brazilian photographer/photojournalist, currently living in Mexico City. She received her degree in Journalism in 1989 and then moved to Paris where she studied Linguistics and Phonetics at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. Adriana worked as a staff photographer for Folha de Sao Paulo for 11 years, traveling extensively throughout the country and abroad, covering a variety of subjects. She also worked as James Nachtwey’s assistant in Brazil and New York, and studied with Mary Ellen Mark in Mexico and with Susan Meiselas in Colombia.

She's a frequent contributor to the New York Times, and her work appeared in Newsweek, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Paris Match, Le Figaro Magazine, Elle U.S.A, Architectural Record, Time for Kids, The International Herald Tribune and La Nación, among others.

I had the privilege of meeting Adriana during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City. Knowing the quality of her work, and despite having to teach my own multimedia classes, I was sorely tempted to play hookey and attend hers as a student...maybe the second Foundry Workshop will provide another opportunity to do so. I also had the pleasure of visiting her lovely home for lunch with a group of photographers, and can personally vouch for her gracious hospitality.

While I emphasize with Adriana's Faith portfolio, I was also struck by her images of her Daily Life in Mexico; the above photograph of a street musician in Oaxaca just clinched it for me. An immensely talented photographer, with an enormous capacity to share her talents with others.

TOP's Canon G10 Review

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The Online Photographer blog has a recent review of the Canon G10 by Edward Taylor, which is interesting on many levels. I'm in the market for what the article/post calls a DMD (Decisive Moment Digital) camera...in other words, a small camera that is easily portable and that can deliver a near-DSLR quality image, and one that I can use for whenever I get a street photography whimsy attack.

The dilemma will arise when I buy the Canon 5D II. I'll then have my trusted 1d Mark II as back-up when I travel, so where does that leave the G10, if indeed I get it? Is that what they call a Solomonic decision?

The G10 is attractive, not only because of its price, but because it's small (although larger than its predecessor, the G9), is solid, starts up fairly quickly, it has a wider 28mm to 140mm (equivalent) lens, it shoots RAW and the image quality is reported to be good.

I'm tired of reading highly technical gibberish-laden reviews that are seemingly written for rocket scientists...and chancing on such a meat & potatoes kind of review is a breath of fresh air. It tells me what I need to know...I may not agree with all of it, but at least I understand what I read.

Update: I now have the G10. Here are my first impressions. (Link)

Robert Caplin: Cuban Life

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© 2009 Robert Caplin-All Rights Reserved

I came across Robert Caplin's work through a recent interview published in The New York Times' Frugal Traveler. Moving from this interview to his website, I immediately saw that much of his work was typically that of a quintessential travel photographer.

Caplin started out in Athens, Ohio, with a Nikon N50 film camera, but subsequently moved over to Canon, currently crams his expensive gear into a cheap bag and is enamored of one of the least sophisticated cameras on the market today: the iPhone.

He is also a full-time freelance editorial, corporate and portrait photographer based in New York City, and works regularly with The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News, and has also been published in the National Geographic.

It's been a while that this blog hasn't seen work from Cuba, and Caplin's lovely work on Cuban Life fills this gap. Drop by and it will transport you to the streets of Havana. If only there was an audio track of Cuban Son!!!

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Beta

четверг, 22 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


Adobe just announced its Lightroom 3 as a public beta version, which means anyone with an Internet connection can download it and start putting it to the test. You do not need to own (or have tried) a previous version of Lightroom. The version of Lightroom 3 beta software available for download is offered in English only. You can download the beta and use it until the product expires on April 30, 2010.

By the way, those who are on a Mac PowerPC are out of luck. Lightroom 3 Beta will not download on your machines.

Notable new features are:

* Brand new performance architecture.
* State-of-the-art noise reduction.
* Watermarking tool
* Portable sharable slideshows with audio, which allows us to save and export slideshows as videos.
* Film grain simulation tool

I'm interested in two of these features; the grain simulator and the sharable slideshows with audio. However, the latter does not seem to allow any adjustment (or sync'ing) individual frames to the audio....so it has a long way before it can be used for semi-serious multimedia. I'm sure the reviews will start flowing in soon.

Magnum: In Silence: Susan Meiselas

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© 2009 Susan Meiselas/Magnum-All Rights Reserved

In Silence is the beautiful and powerful work (a combination of still photography and video) by Susan Meiselas as featured by Magnum In Motion which deals with the tens of thousands of Indian women and girls who die during pregnancy, while in childbirth, and in the weeks after giving birth, despite the Indian government's programs guaranteeing free obstetric health care.

Each year half a million women around the world die in childbirth. Twenty percent of those deaths are in India, and most are preventable with access to proper healthcare. Both photographer Meiselas and reporter Dumeetha Luthra traveled to India for Human Rights Watch to retrace the steps of one woman who dies after giving birth to a son.

I watched this feature a couple of times, saddened by the combination of red tape, ignorance, indifference, by the overwhelmed doctors and staff, and by the undercurrent of corruption at the Indian clinics...all of which indirectly and directly cause this high level of mortality.

Bhutan Photo Expedition: Le "Chimping"

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Photograph © Gavin Gough/All Rights Reserved

Here's a Soundslides candid behind the scenes look at the going-ons during the Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition. All photographs are courtesy and copyright of Gavin Gough (those of him are obviously not...unless they were self-taken).

As can be seen from the above photo capture, we were singularly adept at the art of chimping during the Thangbi Mani tsechu.

Book: Monumental India

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As is my habit when I'm in London, I dropped by the High Street Kensington branch of Waterstones to browse its offerings of travel photography books. In the middle of a wobbly table, there was a large brick-colored sleeve enveloping The Monumental India Book by photographer Amit Pasricha, with an introduction by William Dalrymple...an Indiaphile and a damn good writer as well. Glancing at the price tag, and finding it to be a rather steep GBP 100 (at today's exchange that'll be about $165), I drew a sharp breath and flipped its pages...really savoring what I viewed.

The handsome book contains breathtaking panoramic views of India, its regal monuments and religious sites. It's obvious that Amit was given unfettered access to many hidden treasures. According to the Times of London, the photographer used "cutting-edge technology that enables a panoramic vista of up to 360 degrees, shot in several sections, to be encompassed within a two-dimensional picture – an impossibility with the naked eye."

An online preview of the book can seen here (LINK) Recommended.

Also, and courtesy of the TimesOnline, a set of ten photographs can be seen here (LINK)

My Work: Debate At The Sangha

среда, 21 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Just a short post today to share the above image (still undecided as to the placement of the title) from a project I'm currently working on.

Debate At The Sangha will be a gallery of photographs made during two of the weekly debates at the Kharchhu monastery in Chamkar (Bhutan). I've also recorded the animated debates as they were occurring, along with the traditional hand-clapping and the sound of the prayer beads, so it'll probably end as a multimedia essay.

Bhutan: Land of Druk Yul Expedition

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Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy/All Rights Reserved

Here's one of the many images I made at the Tamshing Lakhang during the Tamshingphala festival in Bumthang, Bhutan. This was one of the festivals or tsechus on my Land of Druk Yul photo expedition's itinerary. It is of a young monk practicing with a conch shell before one of the festival's dances. The conch is used in Tibetan Buddhism to call together religious assemblies, and during rituals is used both as a musical instrument and as a container for holy water.

Tamshing is the original home of sacred dances that are celebrated at traditional Tsechus (festivals) throughout Bhutan, and is the most important Nyingmapa temple in Bhutan. The temple and monastery are remarkable for their direct connection to the Bhutanese saint Pema Lingpa.

The 37th Frame

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Pete Marovich, a photojournalist based in Harrisonburg, Virginia has started The 37th Frame a few weeks ago. The site seeks to bring to its readers the best of photojournalism and photography on the internet, by searching web sites of newspapers, magazines and independent photographers around the world, and posting links to the work.

Marovich states that his objective is to create a central place where photographers and fans of great photography can find exceptional photographs and essays. Having visited The 37th Frame (what a cool name!) a few times already, I look forward to many return visits in the months to come.

My thanks to Cathy Scholl for bringing it to my attention.

Another Me Project

вторник, 20 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


Photograph © Achinto Bhadra

The Terre des hommes Foundation (Lausanne, Switzerland) conceived the Another Me project in which the documentary photographer Achinto Bhadra and counselor Harleen Walia guided 126 girls and women through a healing journey of psychological transformation. Achinto’s portraits record trafficking survivors’ imaginative visions of themselves as human, animistic and divine beings of power, love, revenge and freedom.

The girls and women in the photographs, from 8 to 25 years old, are survivors of trafficking, rape or abandonment, or are the children of sex workers. They have been in the care of Sanlaap, a non-governmental organization based in Kolkata, India. The photography sessions were conducted at Sanlaap’s Sneha Girls Shelter.

The project's photographer is Achinto Bhadra, who studied photography at Chitra Bani, Kolkata and at the London College of Printing. He's a recipient of the Charles Wallace Scholarship. As an independent documentary photographer, he has spent years photographing the urban poor and marginalized children and women for national and international development agencies.

DenverPost.com: Sukkot

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Photograph AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh-All Rights Reserved

The Denver Post is another of the newspapers adopting large format images for its Captured Photo Blog of photo galleries, multimedia and video. While many of its features are of Colorado, it also offers international coverage such as the festival of Sukkot, which occurs during the latter two weeks of October in 2008. This Jewish festival commemorates the 40 years of wandering in the desert after the exodus of Jews from Egypt some 3200 years ago.

Browsing the photographs on the Sukkot feature, I stopped at the above image, which I initially thought to be of a Muslim imam, but is of a member of the Jewish Samaritan community. According to tradition, the Samaritans are descendants of Jews who were not deported when the Assyrians conquered Israel in the 8th century B.C. Click on the image to see it in a larger size.

The rest of the photographs are on the Denver Post's Captured

New! EOS-1D Mark IV

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Canon has just announced the EOS-1D Mark IV, a 16.1 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) camera body, and the successor to the Canon EOS-1D Mark III. It is the first Canon APS-H format DSLR to feature HD video recording at 1080p resolution.

I've been waiting for a worthy successor to my beloved Canon 1D-Mark II and this may just be the one, effectively doubling the megapixel count but more significantly for my style of photographing, the 10 frames per second makes my heart sing.

Some of its features are:

* 27.9mm x 18.6mm; 16.1 effective megapixels APS-H CMOS sensor
* Dual DIGIC 4 image processors
* New autofocus module (45 AF points with 39 cross-type AF points)
* Integrated sensor cleaning system
* 1.3x crop factor
* 100–12800 ISO speed equivalent (expandable to 50, and to 102400)
* Magnesium Alloy weather sealed body
* Live preview mode
* 10 frames per second continuous shooting
* Dimensions (WxHxD): 156 × 156.6 × 89.9 mm

The suggested retail price is estimated to be $4,999.

For fuller details, go to DPReview.com.

The question is whether the new Canon 1D-Mark IV is worth the $3,300 price premium over the recently released Canon 7D, whose specifications are nothing to sneeze at.

As a reminder, the 7D has a new 18-megapixel APS-C sensor with a 1.6x crop factor, and is equipped with dual DIGIC 4 chips to speed processing of large 14-bit files, as well as to handle the shutter's 8-frame-per-second top speed. It retails for $1,699.

The proof will be in the pudding as they say, and the quality of the images will determine that issue. Rob Galbraith DPI refers to the 7D and the new Mark IV as such:

The EOS-1D Mark IV is meant to be a better-specified camera than the 7D in most respects, and ought to be, given the much higher price tag on the camera being unveiled today. That said, the 7D incorporates several features that didn't make it into the EOS-1D Mark IV, features that would be equally useful in Canon's latest news and sports camera.

These include the 7D's combo mode switch and start/button, Q button for quick access to key camera settings, unparalleled control customization options, an electronic level and revised 63-zone meter.

POV: WTF! This Is My Photo Shoot!

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Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I don't know if it's the bottled water in Bhutan, the crisp Himalayan air, the scent of the pine trees or the excitement of the festivals...but some tourists lose their sense of civility when faced with opportunities to photograph. And I mean tourists, not serious and experienced photographers.

Having arrived at the Chimi Lakhang monastery in Bumthang, I was glad to find two young novices lighting candle lamps, and asked them to pose in a certain way to take advantage of the light coming through the rather grimy window. It took quite a while to have them just right where I wanted, but as I was giving hand signals for minor adjustments in the novices' stance, a bunch of European tourists had entered the room. Without a glance at my direction, or asking for permission, or even a smile of acknowledgment, out came a motley collection of cameras, ranging from DSLRs to compacts, and a paparazzi frenzy ensued with hundreds of flashes bathing the room in an ethereal light.

Naturally, there was nothing for me to do but to hold my breath and wait for them to leave, which they did taking their own sweet time. Seeing there were more tourists about to enter the room, I rushed to the door and locked it...ignoring their loud protestations. Although I managed to photograph the novices as I intended, the mood had evaporated, and the light had changed.

During the festival preparations at the Thangbi Mani Lakhang, the courtyard was suddenly filled with a group of elderly Japanese tourists with heavy DSLRs hanging from their necks, who eagerly photographed everything in sight. They were so excited that they intruded on many of my friends' photography. You lifted your camera to photograph a smiling Bhutanese youngster, and one of the Japanese tourists would be literally shoving you to take his or her turn at photographing the same subject. It got so bad that one of them shoved his lens hard unto the back of Carlos Amores' head.

It was then that I had a "conversation" with the guide working for the Japanese tourists, and carefully explained what would happen if that rowdy and thuggish behavior didn't stop. He tried to make light of the situation, so I had to repeat my 'advice', using shorter and better chosen words. Within 10 minutes, the Japanese were nowhere to be seen.

We had many more instances of rude and uncivil behavior, but these were generally from tourists who were not serious photographers. Photographers realize how difficult it is to photograph in similar circumstances, and are usually very sensitive to each others' space. In my experience, the worst offenders are the French and German tourists, and the Japanese (but only when in the safety of a group).

Alia Refaat: Vedic School

понедельник, 19 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Alia Refaat-All Rights Reserved

I'm pleased to feature an audio slideshow by photographer Alia Refaat showcasing her work at a Vedic school in Thrissur, Kerala. The photographs and audio were made during my Theyyams of Malabar Photo Expedition at an ancient Vedic 'gurukul' (or training/boarding school (very similar to the Buddhist monasteries for novitiates), where we were treated to a demonstration of this way of teaching the sacred Vedic scriptures.

Alia's Soundslides audio slideshow Vedic School is here, and you'll see she successfully applied the various multimedia techniques such as the flipbook to convey the sense of movement to her stills. A nicely done photo essay....lovely and atmospheric photography by a talented photographer.

As mentioned in earlier posts on this blog, Alia (aka "Coucla") Refaat is a commercial photographer from Cairo, Egypt.She studied Mass Communications, and trained at Spéos Paris in commercial, portrait and studio photography. It was Alia's inaugural travel photography expedition, and her resulting photographs were featured in a series of solo exhibitions in Cairo, where she also appeared a number of times on televised interviews.

Alia's main website is here, and previous posts on her work are here.

Verdict: Bhutan Land of the Druk Yul

воскресенье, 18 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


Photograph Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

After almost 3 weeks of not posting, getting back in the "groove" is not as easy as I thought it would be, but what better way to restart this blog's activity than by writing on the results of my photo expedition in the Land of the Druk Yul.

All of the festivals we photographed at were regional (or less), since I make it a point not to bother with the large tsechus in Thimpu or Paro. Incidentally, I heard the Thimpu festival was held outside of its traditional venue in the dzong's courtyard because of the number of the tour groups....so these large well-known (and well publicized by travel & tour companies) festivals are never destinations for my photo expeditions and never will be.

The local or regional festivals (tsechus) offered us an enormous amount of photo opportunities, as I made sure we were in the very heart of the activities as well as behind the scenes to capture the best there is in such events. Mostly through the hard work by our fixers and guides, and occasionally by serendipity, we ended the expedition with an hefty amount of photo inventory that will certainly occupy us for many months to come. Especially notable was our first day at the Tamshingphala festival, when the light was incredible due to the earlier thunderstorm. The photographs made in the lakhang's inner courtyard are just luminous.

Some members of another photo tour saw us photographing in the Tamshing monastery's inner courtyard, and joined us. Out of professional courtesy, I decided not to mention that what they were shooting so gleefully was actually a private photo shoot that we had pre-arranged, and made some donations to make it happen. In reality, the organizer of this photo tour should've thought of that, and arranged it...but he didn't.

On the downside, I noticed a number of souvenir vendors displaying their wares to tourists on the path to Tiger's Nest, and outside of a number of monasteries visited by tour groups. Nothing's really wrong in that since people need to make a living...but it was disconcerting to see them in areas where there was none just 2 years ago. There's absolutely no hassle involved, nor any touting...the Bhutanese are too polite for that...but it's a new phenomenon.

As is usually the case with travel in Bhutan during the high season, there's no firm guarantee as to whether we would end up in the hotels on our itinerary. We largely did however. However, the quality of accommodations vary from one hotel to the other...and we experienced tiny rooms (in realtor's parlance also known as "charmingly rustic") with wood-burning stoves, to enormous suites with all modern amenities. I was told that clients of large tour operators such as Mountain Sobek had the same hotel experience to the one we had. In fact, there was one such group in our hotel in Wangdue, so being part of a tour group set up by a large international travel company is no guarantee for uniform accommodations.

In Jakar (Bumthang) we were asked by our originally chosen hotel to share, by doubling up, our rooms, and I refused. So our guide Sonam, assisted by Ugyen and Norbu, found us alternative accommodations at the just-opened beautiful Peling hotel in Tamshing. Not only was this hotel a few minutes away from the scheduled festival, but it was the nicest hotel experience we've had in Bhutan. Despite teething problems (frequent power outages) during its soft opening, the staff of the Peling hotel were incredibly nice, accommodating and helpful. The owner of the Peling hotel is said to be one of the queens of Bhutan, and the hotel will eventually be a prime choice for many travelers to the area.

Finally, the group's synergy and chemistry was notably good on this photo expedition. The tribute for such an amicable and agreeable environment goes to the participants who were extremely supportive of one another. Much credit is deserved by our local support team of Sonam, Ugyen, Norbu and Dawa, who all performed their duties as guides, fixers, comfort blankets, picnic organizers etc. perfectly well. Our travel agents Samdrup of Jachung Travel in San Francisco, and Pema of Adventure Travel Bhutan in Thimpu, also kept a daily watch over our progress. Arranging for a support staff of 4 to our 11 members is a testament to the quality of these two travel companies.

I'm not shy of blowing my own horn when it comes to my expeditions, and I can justifiably tout the logistics and conduct of the Land of Druk Yul photo-expedition as having exceeded even my own high expectations. We consistently "scooped" other competing photo tours during the festivals, and stayed in accommodations where much more expensive tours also stayed...we were at festivals earlier than the rest of most groups, and this allowed us to pick our favored positions, make contacts amongst the festivals' clergy, and thus photograph behind the scenes.

The above photograph is of the dancers during the Tamshingphala tsechu who traditionally take the role of jokers...essentially warming up the crowd before the ritualistic dancing starts. if interested in the details, click on it for a larger version.

I'll be working on many more of my photographs made during the festivals, and as I also managed to record beautiful ambient sound, I'll eventually upload a multimedia feature.

"Toothpick" Photo Expeditions

пятница, 16 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Tewfic "Toothpick" El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

One (or possibly two) of the sharp wits on the Bhutan Photo-Expedition decided to rename (or name) it as in the above photograph. In Bhutan, each tour group has to have a paper nameplate on dining tables, and these are carefully and dutifully written by the tour guide.

Unhappy with the formality and simplicity of the rather boring "Tewfic's Group", one of my group's participants thought that Tewfic rhymed awfully well with toothpick, and added it to the nameplate...along with a real wooden one.

Haven't I said that this group included some comedians?

Notwithstanding the musicality of Toothpick's Photo Tours, I think I'll keep using The Travel Photographer's Photo Expeditions after all.

Note: As I will be away this weekend, I'm adding another group photo to this post.



From left: Tewfic "Toothpick" El-Sawy, Jenny Jozwiak, Kim McClellan, Nuray Jemil, Graham Ware, Kayla Keenan, Carlos Amores and Dan Bannister.

Rafaela Persson: Afghan Women

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Rafaela Persson graduated from the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism program at the International Center of Photography in New York in 2008. She holds an MA in sociology with studies in human rights, international migration and ethnic relations from university of Lund, Sweden.

Her photographs were exhibited in Copenhagen, the International Center of Photography in New York, the Pingyao Festival in China, and are featured in the ICIMOD traveling exhibition: Nepal 2008, Germany, Switzerland, US and Japan in 2009. Her work was published in The New York Times, Sydasien, People Sweden, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan and the Canadian Film Board.

Rafaela was recently chosen to participate in the Asia-Europe Emerging Photographers Forum 2009 in Kuala Lumpur.

Have a look at Rafaela's work with drug-addicted women in Afghanistan. The Afghan women say they have taken to drugs as a way to comfort themselves and their children when they go hungry or cold.

Book: 100 New York Photographers

четверг, 15 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.


As previously announced on TTP, I am chuffed in being featured in Cynthia Dantzig's new book: 100 New York Photographers, which is a 442-page review of contemporary New York photographers and their diverse and divergent images.

So here I am in the august company of well-known photographers such as Annie Liebovitz, Jay Maisel, Amy Arbus, Hugh Bell, Arnold Crane, Bruce Davidson, Carrie Mae Weems, Elliott Erwitt, Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyerowitz, Mary Ellen Mark, Pete Turner and others (including Jenny Jozwiak, who joined my Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo-Expedition).

Four of my photographs were chosen. One from the Omo Valley, two from Bhutan and one from Lake Inle in Burma.





This handsome book is available from major bookstores such as B&N and Amazon. Despite the considerable technological advances in displaying photographs on the web, the thrill of seeing one's work the old fashioned way...on a printed page...is still something else!

My Work: Tsechu Drummer In Bhutan

среда, 14 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Here's what is largely a grab shot of a Bhutanese tsechu drummer on his way to join the rest of the musical group that accompanies the traditional dancers in Tamshingphala Lakhang in Bumthang.

I've been to Bhutan 4 times so far to photograph during the tsechus season, and I can only recall one overcast day. The bright sunshine and the resultant shadows make it very difficult to photograph these festivals; this difficulty is compounded by the need to isolate the dancers from the background crowds which requires photographers to become either contortionists, or use long glass at a very shallow aperture.

Having noticed this fellow because of his green satin tunic and demeanor, I grabbed a shot (this is the only one) of him as he walked across the courtyard of the monastery where the dancers would shortly whirl and twirl, carrying his ancient leather drum.

Zackary Canepari: Kathputli

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As my many posts on TTP show, one of my favorite photographers is Zackary Canepari who has recently shown off his talent with Kathputli Is My Home on 100Eyes, an excellent photo e-magazine published and edited by Andy Levin.

Kathputli Colony slum in North Delhi is an illegal settlement or shantytown, which is both home and a mecca for the thousands of itinerant and non-itinerant magicians, acrobats, jugglers, musicians, dancers and puppeteers who perform in the vast Indian sub-continent. Whether performing in the marble lobbies of top hotels or in the back streets of impoverished slums and villages, the nearly all of the 1,500-3,000 families in the colony are professional performing artists, and consider Kathputli thier home.

Canepari's talents are obvious in the feature. His super-saturated medium squarish format photographs frame his subjects perfectly, and bring out the captured moment of the expression.

I've visited Kathputli a few years ago (and posted about it here), and intend to re-visit it this coming January. Kathputli Is My Home will serve as my inspiration.

My thanks to Graham Ware for reminding me of this feature.

Bhutan: Pow (Shamanism)

вторник, 13 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

My recent field reports on the Bhutan photo-expedition generated much interest as to our shaman (known as "pow" in Bhutan) photo shoot, and since it will take me quite a while to edit my photographs, here's one of the images while he pow performed his exorcism.

In Bhutan, traditional households will frequently call on the healing powers of a pow when a member of the family falls sick or is suspected of being inhabited by evil spirits. I was told that in this case a young boy had been taken to the local hospital because of his lack of appetite, but the doctors couldn't find anything wrong. His parents then decided to call on the traditional healer to rid him of what they perceived were evil spirits.

The event was held in the front room of the modest house, and most of the family's neighbors and friends attended the preparatory ritual, and the exorcism itself. The ritual involved trances, various implements (such as a drum and small leafy branch), along with incantations.

Tyler Hicks: Kandahar

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The New York Times features Tyler Hicks' photography on its LENS blog with a gallery titled Under The Radar In Kandahar.

While I've seen much better from Tyler Hicks, these black & white photographs are nevertheless gritty and raw, and certainly worth a look. More interesting to me is the article which accompanies these images, in which Mr. Hicks speaks (or writes) of the dangers he faces during his assignment in Afghanistan.

It doesn’t matter where you are in the city — there’s always a possibility that you’re moments away from being killed,” said Mr. Hicks, 40, who has been working in Afghanistan for The New York Times since 2001. “So you shave off risk anywhere you can. It’s that bad.

I found it also remarkable that he admits often photographing from the relative safety of his car, driven by his local driver. I wouldn't have guess it from viewing these photographs. He also works early in the morning when there are fewer people on the street, dressed in traditional clothing.

Bhutan Photo Expedition: The Verdict

понедельник, 12 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

(Gangtey Goempa). Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

On completion of every photo expedition I undertake, I publish a verdict on what worked and what didn't. I'm probably the only travel photographer and photo expedition leader who does that so publicly, but it's a transparency ritual in which I believe very strongly. It's designed to assist those who intend to visit (in this case) Bhutan, and provides an insight at how and what my photo expeditions are all about.

Bhutan: The Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition was designed to provide its 8 participants with photo opportunities during the early fall festivals, or tsechus, which required us to travel from Paro to the west to the Bumthang region, its central heartland over a time frame of about 15 days.

Festivals: We attended and photographed a number of these festivals. Here I have to stress that I designed the itinerary of the photo expedition to include local and regional festivals only, bypassing the largest tsechu in Thimpu, which is held in a stadium-like area. The smaller tsechus offered us an enormous amount of photo opportunities, as I made sure we were in the very heart of the activities as well as behind the scenes.

The Wangdue tsechu was spectacular as always, and we were perfectly placed to photograph the dancers and performers coming out of their dressing areas. We also photographed them in these areas. I also consider the smaller Tamshingphala festival in Bumthang to be the most accessible in terms of photographing behind the scenes, and it has virtually no restrictions on what and where we could photograph.

While the Gangtey Goempa (temple) was on our itinerary, it was pure serendipity that our visit coincided with its annual consecration. This involved hundreds pilgrims streaming into the courtyard, seeking to be blessed by the presiding young lama. One of the rituals performed by the lama was breathing into small jars proffered by some of the pilgrims, who then sealed these jars to preserve the breaths.

Due to a mix-up in the Buddhist calendar (even Druk Air magazine got it wrong!), the Thangbi Mani tsechu actually took place a day later than we expected. This error confused many travel agents who had set their itineraries accordingly. We nevertheless managed to attend about an hour, after I delayed our departure from Jakar for a while. Here again, just like last year, we photographed the dancers' preparations and had total access to whatever we wanted to photograph. However, we missed the main dances of the Thangbi Mani tsechu due this Buddhist calendar anomaly, and because our itinerary called for us to depart the area on that very day.

Monasteries: Many monasteries were included on the itinerary I set for this photo expedition. Some of them involved uphill treks such as the obligatory Taktshang Goenpa in Paro (strenuous), the Thimpu Tango Goenpa founded by Lama Gyalwa Lhanangpa (strenuous), the Chimi Lakhang (easy) and the Ugyencholing palace (strenuous). Apart for brilliant landscapes, the latter trek is not worth it.

Other: We attended and photographed various other events; some of which were serendipitous and others planned.

1. Buddhist monks debates. We spent many hours photographing (photo-journalist style) two Buddhist monks' debates at the Kharchhu monastery in Chamkar. Apart from us, there was no other visitors and we had unfettered access to photograph the debates that are held in Sanskrit, and are accompanied by hand-clapping to punctuate the points made. None of us had seen such debates before, and we were thrilled to crouch and stoop to capture the action as it unfolded. Around 300 monks meet in the Kharchhu monastery's main courtyard and heatedly debate philosophical issues of the Buddhist tradition.

2. The Sacred Thread ceremony. By pure chance, we attended a funerary ritual at the Ura monastery. It appears that a prominent judge in the Ura valley region had died, and funerary rites were being held at the ancient monastery and goempa, as we arrived. Having secured the permission from the head monk of the temple, we trooped in the main chamber along with around 30 monks, who started chanting. The ritual was the first of its kind that I've witnessed in Bhutan. It involved monks stretching a sacred string from the altar where the holy statutes are kept to the seat of the head monk. This string is designed to facilitate the transmission of the deceased soul to the heavens.

We were told that we were the first photographers to document this ritual, but I take this with a grain of salt.

3. The pow (or traditional exorcist). In the general area of Thimpu, we had arranged to photograph during a traditional exorcism held in a farmhouse. The pow was called in to exorcise evil spirits out of a child and a middle-aged woman, and we were within a few yards from where that happened. Trances, shaking and incense-burning were all part of the traditional exorcism. Here again, we were told by the on-lookers than they had never seen non-Bhutanese attending such ceremonies.

Photography Gear: I used all of my lenses except for the 17-40mm on this photo-expedition. I used my 24mm 1.4L quite a bit, especially during the exorcism and other interior shoots, whether in monasteries or dancers' changing rooms. I used my flash sparingly, and only during the Wangdue tsechu as fill flash on the pirouetting dancers.

One of my favorite photo shoots was at the Jambhey Lakhang where I was able to spend a few unhurried hours photographing the pilgrims circumbulating the temple.

Hotels:
It was gratifying and a testament to the efficiency of our land agent Adventure Travel Bhutan that we were never bumped from our hotel rooms. We were never asked to share our rooms, nor were we split over two or more hotels. Our guide Ugen, and Norbu our driver, always had their rooms as well.

Group Synergy: Similar to the cast of a successful sitcom, the 8 photographers' disparate personalities meshed well and created a truly enjoyable and, on many occasions, a hilarious environment especially during the long bus rides, and at meal times. Invariably, there were some moments of friction during photo shoots when one photographer intruded on another's line of vision...but these were quickly diffused or resolved. There's no question that this was one of the best groups I've led over the past 10 years.

Favorite Non-Photographic Event: I bet if I conducted a poll amongst the 8 photographers, our favorite moment was when the staff at the Kingaling Hotel invited us to a disco evening at its premises. Kingley Yangden (the manager) and her all-female staff of Tsering, Lekden and Kumari taught some of us traditional Bhutanese dancing to the tunes of local hip-hop.

Conclusion: Except for missing out on the full Thangbi Mani festival due to this Buddhist calendar mix-up, and for Druk Air's cancellation of our outward flight for 24 hours due to thunderstorms (but putting us up at no expense), the photo-expedition exceeded our expectations. Our travel agents Samdrup of Jachung Travel in San Francisco, and Pema (along with Sonam) of Adventure Travel Bhutan in Thimpu, closely monitored our progress and made available everything we asked for at a moment's notice. Naturally, special thanks are due to Ugen, our fixer-guide, and to Norbu, a knowledgeable and careful driver, who were our baby-sitters for more than 15 days.

Bottom Line: I returned with about 180gb of raw (unedited) images.

Hakka Dwellings: Ryan Pyle

воскресенье, 11 октября 2009 г. 0 коммент.

Photo © Ryan Pyle/GlobalPost-All Rights Reserved

The GlobalPost website features Ryan Pyle's Chinese Hakka Houses, which are also known as Hakka Tulou "apartments" in Yongding county, Fujian province. These structures are indigenous to the Hakka minority group and other people in the mountainous areas in southwestern Fujian.

In 2008, UNESCO granted the Tulou dwellings World Heritage Status, and cited these structures as "exceptional examples of a building tradition and function exemplifying a particular type of communal living and defensive organization."

Having seen these buildings in Ryan's slideshow, these are typically large enclosed buildings, rectangular or circular in configuration, between three and five stories high, housing up to 80 families. Unfortunately, the slideshow feature doesn't include many interior shots of the apartments or of their occupants themselves.

Ryan Pyle obtained a degree in International Politics from the University of Toronto, moved to China permanently in 2002 and began taking freelance assignments in 2003. He became a regular contributor to The New York Times covering China, where he documented issues such as rural health care, illegal land seizures, bird flu and environmental degradation. He also has published magazine work, such as the Sunday Times Magazine, Der Spiegel, Fortune, TIME, Outside, Forbes and Newsweek.

 
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