POV: Photo Assignment RAW FILE

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Through Twitter, I've noticed a post by RAW FILE, Wired magazine's blog, which is starting a new series of posts called Assignment Wired, where the magazine will hand out photo assignments to its readers, and then eventually choose some submissions to publish and critique.

WIRED's expertise and interest is in reportage and photojournalism, and it expects its participating readers to get quotes, do some writing, do some research and take emotive photos.

"We want gritty, real and human stories. We want to throw you into new situations and give you a chance to sink or swim."

It actually just launched its first assignment, and it's to feature the corner store where the participating photographer buys his/her daily Coke, milk, doughnuts...whatever. It wants the story of this local corner store through photos and reporting. The assignment "sheet" lists the skills required for such a project, and there's a deadline of July 7th.

I think the experiment (as they call it) is a damn good idea! It will provide an impetus to budding photojournalists (and others) to go out there and actually work on a local project. As it says, it's hardly sexy or glamorous, but it's an interesting project that will teach basic photojournalism skills to those interested. I only wish they included audio recordings, and even expand it to short audio-slideshows...but perhaps that will come in time.

As always, comments from naysayers, cynics and skeptics have come in fast and furious....some accusing WIRED magazine of using this experiment to get work for free. To those, I say you don't have to participate...or participate and don't send in your material. Just take the time to learn something new...or refresh your skills, and if you do a good job, you might get a critique from the magazine. It will surely be worth it.

Theyyam: The Living Gods

Here's a trailer of The Living Gods, a film by Rupesh Tillu, which depicts the story of a father and a 6 year old son, and their hope to find new opportunities for the survival of a form of art. The young boy wants to become a Theyyam artist just like his father Rajesh, who performs a thousand year old ritual from Kerala, India.

"Theyyam is on the verge of extinction, since very few children are learning it."

Theyyam is a unique ritual which is performed only in Northern Kerala. After a complex preparatory ritual involving elaborate make-up and meditation, the performers are incarnated as deities, and dispense advice and counseling to the throngs of devotees who attend these rituals. It's a living cult of several thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs, and is observed by all the castes and classes in this region.

I have used the Theyyam tradition as the core focus of my Theyyam of Malabar photo~expedition in 2009, and I (and its participants) was rewarded with incredible proximity to these living deities, and their traditional religious practices. The resulting photographs are possibly some of the most colorful of religious rituals I've made so far.

The gallery Theyyam: Incarnate Deities is one of my favorites.

Mugur Vărzariu: Egypt Adrift

Photo © Mugur Vărzariu-All Rights Reserved

Mugur Vărzariu is a photojournalist based in Romania whom I met at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul. I discovered he started as a photographer less than four months ago before attending the workshop, and it seems he has been extremely busy since then.

He traveled to India, Syria, Libya as well as Cairo, where he documented facets of the Egyptian Revolution in a photo essay titled Egypt Adrift, which is perhaps an apt description of the current development. I hope he's wrong, but so far it does appear that the ideals and values of the youth of Tahrir may be tossed to the side by the current "transitory" authorities.

One of the photographs in his Egypt Adrift essay is of a red car, with hood open...presumably stalled and needing fixing. It made me laugh, since the graffiti on the left of the frame says "The Central Security Forces robbed this store" with an arrow pointing to the shuttered store. The Central Security was the much hated entity used in suppressing any dissent, and was used to brutalize those who didn't toe the ex-regime's line.

I wonder what Mugur, being from Romania which suffered greatly under Nicolae Ceaușescu, felt documenting the Egyptian Revolution, which has some parallels to his country's December 1989 overthrow of its own dictator.

The Leica File: The Show Stopper(s)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Walking on lower Fifth Avenue a few days ago with traveler, gastronome extraordinaire and photographer Mervyn Leong, I came across The Show Stoppers performing at the First Presbyterian Church. Naturally, we sped towards them, and started photographing like a pair of demented paparazzi.

The Show Stoppers is a group of senior citizens who perform in more than 35 shows at more than a dozen locations around New York City each year. The all-volunteer group/band, which ranges in age from 60-95, rehearses at least once a week, and aims at lifting the spirits of older people. Their performing helps not just the audience, but the participants’ health as well. These are wonderful people who are an inspiration to others half their age.

Their repertoire consists of golden oldies (as they're sometimes called)...a combination of Gershwin and Cole Porter tunes, among others. I had seen them performing in the West Village, and if I recall correctly, the same woman in the photograph has sung Dame Vera Lynn's famous World War Two song "We'll Meet Again". This song is a superb classic, and is guaranteed to send shivers down the spines of any Brit.

Only in New York!

(For larger versions, go to The Leica File blog)

Viviane Dalles: Kingdom of Mustang

Photo © Viviane Dalles-All Rights Reserved

This is the second time that work by the talented Viviane Dalles is featured on The Travel Photographer blog. Viviane quit her job at the archives of Magnum Agency in 2005, and booked a flight to Tamil Nadu in early 2005, following the devastating tsunami that affected the whole region.  Her clients include LeFigaro Magazine, Le Monde 2, La Tribune, Paris-Match, Internazionale, Le Figaro, Le Monde, The Guardian, among others and she's currently based in Sydney.

Not only is her work talented, but she also traveled and photographed in Mustang, the almost mythical former Kingdom of Lo and now part of Nepal, and has added its gallery to her website.

"Time rolls on, the sun which blurs into the horizon tells us to pick up the pace, otherwise the thick night will keep us prisoner in this immense and silent cage."-Viviane Dalles

Viviane's work in Mustang consists of 31 landscapes, documentary and portrait photography. There's precious little infrastructure in Mustang, and though foreign visitors have been allowed to the region since 1992, tourism to Upper Mustang, similar to Bhutan for example, is regulated.No more than 1000 tourists a year are granted permits.

Chico Sanchez: The Way Of St. James

Photo © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved

As readers of this blog probably know by now (on account of the many times I've featured his work), Chico Sanchez is a Spanish photojournalist based in Mexico City. He previously worked in Venezuela for six years with Reuters, EFE, EPA and various newspapers. He's currently a freelancer represented by Aurora Photos.

He recently documented his pilgrimage walk on The Way of St. James in an audio-slideshow. A mix of landscapes and travel photography, with ambient audio of steps, running water, interviews and narration. It's in Spanish but full sub-titles are included.

"I walked 290 kilometers in northern Spain for two weeks from Astorga to Santiago de Compostela. It's a pilgrimage, and one of the best experiences I've ever had." -Chico Sanchez

The Way of St. James or El Camino de Santiago, is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle James are buried. It existed for over a thousand years, and was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem.

For more information of The Way of St. James, Wikipedia has a informative write-up here.

POV: Remembered For A Single Image?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

A comment by Paolo Evangelista on one of our Facebook 'conversations' gave me reason to pause. He expressed his view that it would be terrible to be remembered for just a single photograph...a photograph that was so popular that, in the consciousness of the general public, it eclipsed all others made by the photographer.

I agree. It is one thing to be remembered for a photograph of a non staged event that influenced the alteration of the course of history, that changed a perception, a bias or a policy, etc...and quite another to be remembered for a photograph that was popularized either because of the beauty of its subject or because it was relentlessly marketed...or both.

I would much rather being remembered for a project, for a series of photographs or for a style than for a single photograph...no matter how good it was.

But that's me.

Oh, and the above photograph is of an orang asli, a member of the  "original people" or "first people" who live in Malaysia. Will I be remembered for this photograph? I hope not.

WTF?! Be A Sucker And Publicize A Book...For Free.

 

The pre-ordained order of my posts was upended!

It's been a while I haven't ranted, and I was a little worried I had lost my acerbity. But the gods of mean answered my prayers, and the provocation for ranting appeared in the form of an email...perhaps not as good as a live real event, but close enough.

And since nothing turns me on as much as an opportunity for a juicy rant, here's the story in some detail...

A few days ago, I got an email from a book publisher (its website claims it's the world’s leading publisher of books on visual arts) asking me to feature a just published book of images by a photographer, enclosing a bunch of pictures of the book, and some background material.

Now, I occasionally receive such requests from book publishers who inquire whether I'd like to receive a book, review it and then post comments. This time...nothing of the sort....no book to review, no freebie of any type...just do it because it would make the corporate publisher and photographer happy. Truth be told, I've seen the work of the photographer ad nauseam, and if I had been sent the book, it would end up being a door stop...or prop a rickety desk...if not worse.

That being said, I figured that it was perhaps an opportunity to make money....and with whatever paid, I'd sponsor a deserving photographer to attend the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. So I drafted a sweet short email that went like this...

"thank you for the email. i'd be glad to consider it against payment for ad space. you can choose either a post about the book, or a side bar advert. Let me know if you want me to send you my rates."

The response came in rather promptly, and it said that the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts didn't have any budget for advertising at the moment. 

Funny, huh? No, not funny at all. They ought to be ashamed of themselves....because they do and must have the budget. If not, they wouldn't be the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts.

For those who love analogies as I do, here's one that seems perfectly suited for the situation. I own a small modest building, and a large for profit conglomerate asks me to stick an enormous billboard for one of its products on the side of my building, and wants me to tell my tenants what a great product it is...and wants me to do it for free....and perhaps because they think I'm a sucker,  or because they believe they're entitled to exploit others, they won't pay for the privilege of using this space and for my time. An apt analogy, I think.

I should have suggested an alternative to the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts. In consideration of my hyping its book on my blog, it could market my own books, and peddle them on its own website and online stores. You see, it's because The Travel Photographer has no budget for advertising...just like you.

For all other buyers who are interested, my two books Bali: Island of Gods and Darshan can be found here. By the way, sales of these two books have exceeded my expectations (and were achieved without the support of the world’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts).

Arindam Mukherjee: Kolkata

Photo © Arindam Mukherjee-All Rights Reserved

Arindam Mukherjee is a freelance photojournalist based in Kolkata. Although he started his career as an advertising photographer, he was attracted to photojournalism and freelanced for The Times of India, and subsequently worked with Hong Kong-based EyePress photo agency. He's currently freelancing again, and is represented by Sipa Press. He gleans a number of awards, and his photographs were featured in Le Figaro, Stern, Der Spiegel, The Sunday Telegraph, Le Monde, Liberation, Le Point, De Volkskrant, Private, Forbes, Traveler Magazine (UK), Marie Claire and others.

"Kolkata stands personified with inherent contradictions and characteristic traits. For many, this is as good as love at first sight."

While Arindam's website features many galleries (most of which are of India), I chose his work in My City Kolkata, where he has lived all his life. This photographs in this particular gallery are of Kolkata's daily life...which only a native son can show.

In addition to Arinadam's website galleries. he also uses PhotoShelter for additional work, and has many worthwhile galleries including work of the Kathputli colony and the Honey Collectors of the Sunderbans.

I will pass on Arindam's Kolkata work to the participants of my forthcoming Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition.

POV: Upgrade To The New Leica M9-P For Just $0.25

The blogosphere lit up following the unveiling in Paris yesterday of the new Leica M9-P, which was described by various sources as having a "new look", as simple and clean, with no red dot nor any lettering on its front. The top plate of the M9-P now carries a Leica log0 in cursive script. The internals of the M9 and the M9-P are identical, though.

How much for this baby, you ask? Just $8000 or $1000 more than the "old" M9. A "bagatelle' as the French audience must have said. In the UK, it will cost you £5395 (the equivalent of $8700 at today's exchange rate, but that presumably includes VAT).

How many were sold in less than 24 hours? 1500. So $8000 x 1500 is $12,000,000. Not bad, heh?

Well, if you own a Leica M9 already, and you 'need' the M9-P but your bank account is sadly anorexic? Simple. You do what I do. You cover up the red dot and the M9 lettering with electrical tape (put a piece of paper underneath it to protect the lettering), and use a piece of protective film for a scratch-resistant back LCD.

Enjoy your new M9-P!

Craig Ferguson: Koa-A-Hi (Taiwan Drama)

Craig Ferguson is a freelance photographer in Taiwan who specializes in travel photography, cultural photography and environmental photography.

He recently produced an audio slideshow of the Taiwanese song drama known as Kao-A-Hi, which was one of the featured events at the Taipei City God festival.

Kao-A-Hi literally means "song-drama", and is the only form of Han traditional drama known to have originated in Taiwan. Taiwanese opera, like other forms of Chinese opera and theater around the world, often uses cross-dressed performers specifically women portraying male roles. The first recorded instance of opera being performed in Taiwan was in 1624. Interestingly, there is no script in Taiwanese opera, since actors in the past were illiterate.

Originally, traditional Taiwanese opera themes involved historical events, tales of gods and spirits, and stories of swordsmen and heroes. However romance stories, and love and hate themes, as well as comedic farces are currently more popular.

Leica M9-P (& Alex Majoli Tries It In Venice)

This is (to use cable news terminology) Breaking News out of Paris for Leica.

The Leica M9 now shares the limelight with its twin (well almost twin) the new Leica M9-P. Both share the exact same technical features, but differ is some details.

In terms of cosmetics, the new M9-P doesn't have the red Leica red dot on its front, but has an engraved logo on its top plate. This is something photographers who prefer the Leicas to remain unobtrusive will like. Not a big deal for me since I cover the red dot and Leica name with black tape on my M9.

The Leica M9-P also features an extremely scratch-resistant, almost unbreakable, sapphire crystal cover for its LCD monitor display. Leica claims it has antireflective coating on both sides which improves image reviewing.

The new model is available in the classical Leica silver chrome camera finish or in black paint, and vulcanite leathering cover.

Photo © ALex Majoli- Courtesy Leica

Leica has chosen Alex Majoli to shoot a feature in Venice with the new M9-P, of which the above picture is from.

Just Because...Les Autres Blogs

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I had non photography stuff on my mind yesterday....so my posting today will be to simply brag about my new other blogs.

I consider myself to be a sort of a purist with my documentary travel photography; no cropping, and minimal post-processing, so I thought I'd use The Travel Photographer on Tumbler blog as a space to let my post processing "creativity" shine. Naturally, the post-processing so far for the images on that blog is essentially done via an app called Flare App which, I explained in previous posts, is an easy way to achieve interesting results at the push of a button or two. It's even simpler than using LR Presets.

The above image of porters at the spice market in Old Delhi is an example of what I post on the Tumblr blog....so take a look and follow it if you like.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I also maintain The Leica File for my street photography in New York City. I am experimenting with the well-established techniques of street photography, which include shooting from the hip, amongst others. New Yorkers are the savviest people in many things, and they notice a photographer when they see one...some of them are so good that they recognize a Leica even if its logo is covered with black tape....so it's not that easy to shoot candid photographs in the big city. Don't be fooled by the "I'm engrossed in my own world" attitude or "I'm busy fiddling with my cell phone" posture...they possess antennas, receptors of some kind...that go active when a photographer is on the horizon.

The fellow in the above photograph was intently reading a Chinese menu stuck to the window, but somehow noticed me aiming my camera at him, and started to move away as I captured his startled expression.

In both these blogs, the size of the images is at least 1000 pixels wide.

Sara Galbiati: Lucha Libre In Mexico

Photo © Sara Galbiati-All Rights Reserved

Sara Galbiati is a freelance photographer based in Copenhagen, who graduated from the Danish School of Media & Journalism. She worked in various Danish national newspapers, and has accumulated awards in the Danish Picture of the Year, POYi, Canon Grant For Best Student Portfolio, the Danish FOTOKRAVLING, and was nominated for the Joop Swart Masterclass 2011.

I was drawn to Sara's Lucha Libre portfolio (actually there are two...one is a documentary style gallery, while the other is portraits of the wrestlers). Lucha Libre is a combination of sport, show-business and violence, and epitomizes the fight between good and evil....or between the good guys and bad guys in our current vernacular. The bouts are choreographed and winners are selected in advance.

Lucha Libre is extremely popular in Mexico, and has been a part of Mexican culture since the 1930’s. It's estimated to be the second most popular sport after soccer. According to Wikipedia, modern Lucha Libre require wrestlers to wear colorful masks designed in the likeness of animals, gods, ancient heroes, and other archetypes.

For an audio slideshow of Lucha Libre, Chico Sanchez has produced one here.

Alissa Everett: Pop Photo's Interview

Photo © Alissa Everett-Courtesy of PopPhoto

Alissa Everett is a documentary photographer and writer based in New York City. She covered the first 9 months of the Iraq war, and subsequently photographed and written stories throughout the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. She also co-founded a non-profit organization called Care Through Action aimed at helping victims of human rights abuses. Her clients include The Sunday Times, the Economist, NBC Dateline News, AP and others.

Alissa recently had an interview with PopPhoto magazine...which at first I thought was rather incongruous, since she was a photojournalist, and photojournalists don't usually appear on its pages, but then I read on and realized she had made travel photography (with presumably a documentary twist) on her return from the Middle East in 2005.

"The areas that tend to be more difficult to photograph are areas that are heavily touristed. People get this feeling of tourists coming and sticking cameras in peoples' faces without asking permission. That tends to make people more hesitant."

Alissa is right when she says that, and also right when she to wanting to make a connection with her subjects before making a photograph of them. It's a matter of respect, and engendering trust.

I have seen many photographers (certainly not as experienced and culturally-sensitive as Alissa) who make no effort in connecting with people...just gawk at them, and snap their pictures...and frequently give them money. Others seem unable to connect...and incapable of treating their intended subjects as persons, rather than objects.

From what I've seen of Alissa's work and from following her Tweets, I'm glad she decided to make travel photography her new focus.

Aaaargh! The Panasonic GF3 Is Pimped!

Photo Courtesy PetaPixel

I love my Panasonic GF1....I didn't like the Panasonic GF2, and I certainly don't like what the engineers at Panasonic came up with for the third iteration of the model. It seems the company is now leaving the "wannabe rangefinder" style and ergonomics that worked well with the GF1, and decided to get the GF3 as close as possible to the compact point and shoot segment as possible. Ridiculous.

That's how PetaPixel describes it: " In terms of differences (with the GF2), it has a faster processor that allows for faster autofocus times, weighs 15% less, is 17% smaller, and is also even more simple than the GF2 — it lacks a hot shoe and has a pop-up flash there instead."

Thanks, but no thanks. The Panasonic engineers and marketing people seemed to have aimed at a an interchangeable lens camera, but with simplistic and minimalistic controls. Why would consumers who like point and shoot cameras want interchangeable lenses...and pay upwards of $300 for each? It doesn't make sense.  Moreover, the GF3 has no hot shoe for an external flash or an external viewfinder. Another concession to the P+S consumers.

There are still stocks of the Panasonic GF1 around, and my guess is that they won't remain for long. The Fujifilm FinePix X100 looks great, but is expensive and has a fixed lens, and I am not sure if it's as as good as its reviews. Some of these reviews sound overly laudatory, and I sense it doesn't live to its hype. Time will tell.

In the meantime, I am glad I have the GF1...and the M9.

Tanguy Gilson: Christian Faith In India

Photo © Tanguy Gilson-All Rights Reserved

Tanguy Gilson tells me that he had thought of The Travel Photographer as being a great name for a blog...but he discovered he had been too late. It had been taken of course, but he started following it since then.

"While I sometimes disagree with some of your posts (usually about gear, rarely about rants), I still find that you have a point of view on travel photography today that is interesting and open-minded."

He is a Canadian & Belgian travel photographer and writer working in New York City, who spent his childhood running barefoot in Africa, before discovering skiing, anthropology and cinema at university in Canada. He started photographing his travels, and focused on stories on the Himalaya’s Buddhist culture, India and China’s religious minorities, as well as the growing Chinese inner-tourism.

His photo galleries are varied and include Buddhist monasteries, India's Christianity, Chinese tourism, Uyghurs, Nepal, Louisiana and NYC streets, among other work.

I found Tanguy's gallery Christian Faith In India very interesting, as I haven't seen much work on this topic before. According to Wikipedia, Christianity is India's third religion with approximately 24 million followers, or 2.3% of India's population. It is generally agreed upon that Christianity in India is almost as old as Christianity itself and spread in India even before it spread to many predominantly Christian nations.

Nacho Hernandez: Talking To God

Photo © Nacho Hernandez-All Rights Reserved

Nacho Hernandez is a Spanish freelance photographer currently based in Manila, Philippines. His forte is in documentary, editorial, travel photography and photography with a humanitarian focus, and has photographed on assignment for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and for magazines such as Courrier International and Asian Geographic. He has also worked on assignments for the World Bank and other NGOs.

A graduate from the Washington School of Photography, he studied with Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey, and has a degree in International Relations and Development.

I was drawn to Nacho's photo gallery titled Talking To God, in which he shares the degree of religiosity that permeates the Phillippines, where the majority of the population is Roman Catholic. It is estimated that over 80% of the almost 100 million Filipinos is Catholic, making it one of the largest catholic communities in the world.

Every Holy Week, some men from the city of San Fernando, in the Pampanga province, are crucified (and literally nailed) on Good Friday, while many of the local young men also wander around town flagellating themselves until their backs are raw and bleeding.

Not for the faint of heart, and extremely powerful.

Delhi Photo Festival: Submissions Details

Mentioned in an earlier post, Delhi Photo Festival is gearing itself up, and is now at the stage of inviting submissions. Further stages are being worked on as I write this, and include an enticing array of workshops, lectures, portfolio reviews, gallery walks and seminars.

Through Nazar Foundation, the festival is the brainchild of Prashant Panjiar and Dinesh Khanna, both well known photographers, and for mentoring young photographers and propagating photography.

I know I have many readers from India and elsewhere who will be interested in participating in such a venue, and I encourage them to review the submission requirements and send in their work.

I am excited to have been invited to the festival, and I'm scheduled to lead a 3-4 hour workshop on Multimedia For Photographers.

Aaron Joel Santos: Ha Giang (Vietnam)

Photo © Aaron Joel Santos-All Rights Reserved

Aaron Joel Santos is a freelance travel and documentary photographer based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He is represented by Wonderful Machine in the United States and by Invision Images in Europe and Japan. His clients include The Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, The Daily Telegraph and The Boston Globe. He is available for assignments across Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Most of Aaron's galleries are of projects in South East Asia, and include documentary travel, as well as commercial work such as photographs of hotels and resorts. I particularly liked his Ha Giang black & white gallery. Ha Giang is a province is in the northernmost part of the country, and it shares a long border with China's Yunnan province. It has many cultural festivals due to the presence of more than 20 ethnic minority groups.

Aaron also uses PhotoShelter to host his image archives, and you can see his collection of images of Laos, from the World Heritage town of Luang Prabang to the waters of Vang Vien and the capital of Vientiane.

The Travel Photographer Is On Tumblr!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

As I shared a few days ago, I had grabbed The Travel Photographer brand name in as many blogs and social sites that I could...and I've now decided to air some of my images which are on display on The Travel Photographer Tumblr blog.

As you'll see, I've used the theme known as Boston Polaroid, which allows the largest size of images I've seen on ready-made blog platforms. I've also uploaded on it photographs that received the Flare "treatment" which I've lauded its "fun" factor before. By the way, judging by the number of hits registered on that post, I ought to have received a Flare medal of honor.

I chose this particular Tumblr theme primarily because of its simplicity, but also because of the size of the images (1280 pixels on the longer side), which really is what I advocate all photographers to do. The larger the images posted on your website or blogs, the better received they'll be by photo editors/buyers.

When I wrote about the value(s) branding, I neglected to mention the value of having a centralized hub (is that a tautological term?) of a simple splash page that points visitors to your content from around the web. I like About.Me which is free, and acts as your business card...I add it as a signature to all my outgoing emails.

I have no direct or indirect relationship with either About.me or Flare beyond being a consumer of both products and liking them.

William Palank: Ethiopia

Photo © William Palank-All Rights Reserved

Just yesterday, I had an email conversation with Eric Beecroft on the merits of the Leica M9, and whether I viewed it as a reliable tool, despite its idiosyncrasies, for my travel photojournalism work, and if it could ever replace my Canon system. My view was that it would not replace the Canons, but it would supplement them. I used a tool analogy, and compared the Canon and Leica to pliers and pincers.

This conversation fit perfectly with the work of William Palank, and with his interesting interview on the Leica blog. As a bit of background, William Palank decided to change from a career of dentistry to that of a photographer, and started to document traditional cultures such as those of Ethiopia India and Burma.

"When using prime lenses on a digital rangefinder camera, you can’t cheat by shooting from across the street and zooming in."

Palank is complimentary of the Leica M-sytem because it allows him to get nearer to his subjects, and permits him to blend better in exotic locations. His Ethiopia images were made with a Leica M9 and a Summilux 50mm lens. More of his Ethiopia images are here.

I recommend reading the interview pretty attentively.  Palank's post-production appears to be fairly minimal. He tells us that he prefers to get the the exposure and lighting right before he clicks his shutter. In our age of Photoshop and Lightroom, this is unusual.

I have yet to test the M9 in my travels, but I am certain it will allow me to get even nearer to my subjects...and record more intimate portraits. I'm not too bashful in approaching my subjects, but the M9 will help in keeping a lower profile. Once again, the M9 will not supplant the Canon 5D2 and the Canon 7D, but will supplement them. I will share my experience and results.

Carl Valiquet: Blood & Incense

Carl Valiquet is a photographer and a movie-maker who lives in Montreal and Bali, and has produced Blood And Incense, a movie whose trailer shown here is a spectacular fusion of still photography with motion from video, and a remarkable back and forth segue from cock fighting to Balinese religious rituals.

In Bali, certain religious ceremonies require that blood be spilled to pacify the evil spirits, and cockfighting (known as Tajen) is a tradition that is mixed with such religious rituals. Cockfights are required at temple and purification ceremonies.

“In Bali, during certain ceremonies, blood must be spilt to pacify the bhutas, the evil spirits that live underground. A cockfighting arena is built next to the temple. The judge strikes a gong; the fighting starts."

Although Indonesia has legally banned cockfighting because of gambling, some temples in Bali still hold tajen or cockfighting bouts. The local police is loath to prevent such bouts since the prevailing belief is that these are protected by the deities of the temples. There are ancient texts proving that the cockfighting ritual has existed for centuries, so Balinese police can legitimately look the other way.

I have photographed a tajen, a cockfight, in Bali last August and produced Tajen, Bali Cockfights, an audio slideshow, which is also on Vimeo.

Via Steve Huff's Blog

POV: More On Shooting From The Hip

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

My recent Is Shooting From The Hip...Photography? post seems to have struck a chord with many of my regular readers, as well as with new ones. The post received one of the highest numbers of hits since The Travel Photographer blog came into existence in 2007.

In it, I was wondering if shooting from the hip was really photography. I included a photograph of a woman eating McDonald french fries in Times Square, and bemoaned the fact that I didn't use my eye to compose it, nor did I frame it in the viewfinder....it was a sort of "eyeless" photography.

I received a large number of emails, as well as some Twitter reactions, to my question. There seemed (unscientifically-speaking) to be an even split between those who enjoyed 'shooting from the hip' and those who didn't...but occasionally resorted to it in situations where bringing a camera to one's eye would be too intrusive.

One of the reactions to my airing of thoughts was from Scott Strazzante, the Chicago Tribune photojournalist whose excellent street photographs are on his Shooting From The Hip blog, who believes that "eyeless" photography is photography. I encourage you to read the post and follow Scott's blog...it's replete with lovely street candid photographs.

"Sort of like setting up a remote camera. You control the mechanics of the photography but don't really know what you are going to get." Scott Strazzante

I concede that successful 'shooting from the hip' or the "eyeless" photography as I called it, requires a bunch of fundamental ingredients. The first is that it requires the photographer who is using the technique to be singularly adept in framing the scene/action without a viewfinder...and the second is to enjoy the surprise, the experience and the low viewpoint....and the third is that doing otherwise would either spoil the "candor" of the moment or the scene.

The latter ingredient was certainly the primary motivator in the above photograph. The couple was clearly enjoying what was a private moment in the center of Times Square...he was perhaps proposing or perhaps they were professing undying love to each other...and raising my M9 to my eye would have spoiled the moment for them and for me.

This photograph was not cropped...but was straightened a little bit, as the horizontals were not...well, perfectly horizontal.

It's the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC today...and weather permitting, I'll walk to Fifth Avenue and see if shooting from the hip will be helpful.

Fotopedia & NatGeo Traveler: Dreams of Burma

Fotopedia, the publisher of popular apps for the iPhone and iPad, as well as the creator of a collaborative photographic encyclopedia, is working with National Geographic Traveler magazine to introduce a new, free app, “Dreams of Burma”, a spectacular digital exploration of the beauty of Burma.

“Dreams of Burma” is a visual journey packed with more than 1,000 stunning photographs, virtual excursions, trip-building capabilities, social tools for sharing photos, beautiful slideshows and wallpapers.

“If you have been to Burma, this app will transport you back there in an instant. And if you haven’t seen it yet, you may fall in love.” Jean Marie Hullot, CEO of Fotopedia.

I've downloaded the app, and I have started exploring it. I must say that the photography is gorgeous...work by photographers such as Bertrand Devimeux, Eric Lafforgue, Eric Daney, Jean-Marie Huliot, Giancarlo de Luca and many others grace the app that glides effortless and beautifully on the iPad screen.

I highly recommend it...it's free, it beautiful and it's informative. What's not to like?

If you seek more of images of Burma's people, drop by my own People of the Thanaka.

As a footnote: I have no relationship whatsoever with Fotopedia. It's just a gorgeous application.

Pierre Claquin's Photo Workshop In Bangladesh

Photo © Pierre Claquin-All Rights Reserved

Pierre Claquin's photo workshop is a unique opportunity for 7 photographers to visit and document various and different aspects of Bangladesh during the period of September 06 - September 19, 2011.

In the itinerary, photographers will explore the the mangrove forests and wildlife of the Sunderbans (a UNESCO heritage site), the busy life on the rivers, an old Hindu temple inside the deep forest of the Sunderbans, the Buddhist vestiges of Mainamati, the tribal life in Sreemongol and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the tea gardens, and the urban chaos of Dhaka and Chittagong. The occasional monsoon rains will provide a unique lightning and effects.

Pierre is no stranger (or a "parachuting" photographer) to Bangladesh. He's a photographer,  a medical epidemiologist and a public health doctor who worked and lived for more than 16 years in Bangladesh between 1972 and 2011. He devoted his professional life to Africa and South, South East and Central Asia. He had several photo exhibitions: "Borrowed faces" (Dhaka- October 2000; Chittagong Feb 2001); "The Eastern Gallery of the Berlin Wall" (Dhaka April 2001); "1972-2002: The changing faces of Shariakandi" (Dhaka and Shariakandi - April 2002); "Surviving Dreams: the struggling circus of Bangladesh" (Dhaka Chobi Mela II - November 2002). He also published a book of 120 black and white photographs on the circuses of Bangladesh.

I have immense respect for Pierre's abilities, and I am very glad to have met and worked with him at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul last summer.

All details for the Bangladesh Photographic Workshop are here.

Khalil Shah: The Sufi Singer

Photo © Khalil Shah-All Rights Reserved

I don't post much from Flickr unless it virtually hits me in the face...and this magnificent portrait of a Pakistani Sufi singer (or minstrel) by Khalil Shah did exactly that.

I was perusing Sobia Ali's article Voices of Pakistan in the Huffington Post, and one of the photographs included in the article was the one of this Sufi singer.

"...many so-called "non professional" photographers (some with little experience) can give well known photographers a run for their money."

There's no doubt in my mind that this portrait is as good, if not better, than those I've seen published so many times by well established photographers in the National Geographic or GEO, to name but two magazines. It also reinforces my long held opinion that many so-called "non professional" photographers (some with little experience) can give well known photographers a run for their money...and sometimes more. And let's not forget that many do not have the resources that the professionals have in terms of photographic tools, fixers and research assistance.

Khalil Shah is an art professional with experience in conventional and contemporary forms of art including web and graphic designing. He started photography in 2005 at a digital photography workshop at the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan.

Delhi Photo Festival: Nazar Foundation

The Nazar Foundation, in partnership with the India Habitat Centre, is organizing the Delhi Photo Festival on 15 to 28 October 2011.

The Delhi Photo Festival is a non-commercial venture, and entry will be free to ensure popular and wide-reaching participation. Through Nazar Foundation, the festival is the brainchild of Prashant Panjiar and Dinesh Khanna, both well known photographers, and for mentoring young photographers and propagating photography. Nazar Foundation was launched with the aim of institutionalizing what these two photographers are already been doing so on an informal basis.

The core attraction of the festival will be exhibitions of photography from India, Asia and other international work.

This promises to be quite an event, and will include workshops and seminars. I am excited to have been asked to teach an Introduction to Multimedia class on the afternoon-evening of October 15.

More details will be available in due course, and a schedule for submissions and the process will be announced soon.

The Dancer & Name Branding

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

As I've posted a few days ago, I've been fiddling with the trial version of Flare, an app that describes itself as "a fast, easy, and beautiful darkroom for your desktop".

With Flare, one can apply interesting photographic effects to photographs, and it comes with more than 20 presets. It's a matter of drag and drop...mere seconds to get the preset look one likes. The above photograph (click to enlarge) of a traditional dancer I made in Bali last year got a Flare preset treatment, which includes a grungy border.

In all candor, I am beginning to like Flare a lot. I also happen to be a fan of Lightroom's presets...and a fan of anything that reduces the time I spend in post processing images to a minimum. And if this 'anything' is simple enough for a 2 year old to master, it's a hit as far I'm concerned.

In any event, it's fun to be able to use applications such as Flare and others, accepting that these degrade the quality of the images.

But wait, didn't I title this post to include Name Branding? This is important...If you ask any marketer how to set yourself apart from the rest, they’ll all tell you to the same thing, establish and secure your brand.

"I now have a lock on The Travel Photographer as a brand name on most popular blogs...this includes my domain brand name, my Twitter account and my Facebook page."

Keep reading and you'll see what I mean. For a couple of more examples of my photographs fiddled about with the Flare app, drop by The Travel Photographer on Tumblr. Yes, I have various blog platforms such as Posterous, Wordpress and Tumblr with The Travel Photographer brand name....and here's some useful advice: if you have a brand name (your name can be a brand name), you ought to do the same. I now have a lock on The Travel Photographer as a brand name on most popular blogs...this includes my domain brand name, my Twitter account and my Facebook page...and I'm keeping an eye out for any new ones.

As a footnote: I have no relationship whatsoever with Flare. It's just a fun application.

POV: Is Shooting From The Hip...Photography?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

This is not really a POV...but more like vocalizing a bunch of thoughts.

Since I bought the M9 and a couple of lenses, I've been gradually learning the ropes, and getting more comfortable with the art of street photography by walking in some of my favorite areas of New York. Naturally, the technique of street photography differs from that of travel documentary photography that I'm used to...add to this that I am new to the Leica tools, and I have significant frustrating moments.

I've tried the zone focusing method as advocated by my friend Asim Rafiqui, and although it's far from perfect, it has freed me from having to focus manually,  waste time doing so and losing the shot. Don't think for a moment I'm not getting my share of blurry frames, I do...but not as many as before.

I am also experimenting with the shooting from the hip technique. Holding my M9 at waist level, I press the shutter without looking at the viewfinder. There are obvious advantages in doing so...candid scenes and a lower (a different) perspective, especially since I'm over 6' tall.

"...just visualizing in my mind's eye what it would look like...and it's also cropped. Yes, I never crop any of my travel documentary photographs...ever."

The above photograph (click it to enlarge) is one of the many results of shooting from the hip (or from the waist). To me, this photograph is a blasphemous event...for one thing, it is made without me looking through the viewfinder; just visualizing in my mind's eye what it would look like...and the second is that it's cropped. Yes, you can think of me what you will, but I never crop any of my travel documentary photographs....that would be sacrilegious.

For this image, I estimated the distance and positioned myself in the spot where I thought I'd get the composition I wanted...and just pressed the shutter at the proper time. Since I was using the Elmarit 28mm, I had extra space around the three main characters, so I, somewhat ashamedly, cropped it! Not by much...but it's still cropped.

The real nature of this post is to wonder out loud as to whether shooting from the hip is really photography. I didn't use my eye to compose the photograph, nor did I frame it in the viewfinder....it was a sort of "eyeless" photography. Others call it the easy way to candid street photography, and others describe it as "un-courageous". Is it photography? It must be...perhaps more like a hail Mary shot where the photographer hold the camera from above in crowded situations.

However the question I ask of myself is more personal. The question for me is whether I enjoyed making this photograph, irrespective of the result. And the answer is no....it felt as if I was shooting on full auto...having no control on the outcome.

Finally, if you like street photography, drop by Scott Strazzante's blog, Shooting From The Hip. He's really good.

PS. I should caption this photograph as "Yes, I've Eaten All Them Fries".

Adriana Zehbrauskas: Beyond Assignment

Beyond Assignment is a documentary produced by The Knight Center for International Media at the University of Miami, which explores the approach of three female photojournalists (Adriana Zehbrauskas, Gali Tibbon and Mariella Furrer. covering Mexico, Israel and South Africa.

From the documentary's website:

"Their three journeys dramatize the fervent curiosity and determination needed to perform difficult and often dangerous jobs as visual storytellers. BEYOND ASSIGNMENT examines the artistic and ethical responsibilities inherent in capturing vital subject matter and the subsequent emotional cost to journalists and their subjects."

The documentary's trailer starts with Adriana Zehbrauskas photographing adherents of La Santa Muerte in Mexico City. Adriana is planning to show the documentary at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires. I am look forward to see it, and I'm sure it'll be very well received.

Chico Sanchez: The Gastorenian Pipe

Chico Sanchez (who's a regular on The Travel Photographer's blog) has returned from Spain with a new audio-slideshow of the players and makers of the gastoreñian hornpipes. Most of you may be scratching your head as to what these are. I know I did...but after watching the The Gastorenian Pipe, you'll probably recognize it and its sound.

I did some research and learned that the gaita gastoreña is a type of hornpipe native to El Gastor, a region of Andalucia. The instrument consists of a reed, a wooden tube in its upper part, and a resonating bell of horn in its lower part. It's probably a dying tradition, and unless it's revived in some way, its practitioners and makers will eventually disappear.

Traditionally, the gaita gastoreña was played during the last months of the year only.

Matthew Goddard-Jones: Way of Sorrow

I don't know much about Matthew Goddard-Jones, except that he's from Perth, Australia and that he's a damn good photographer/photojournalist. And there are many reasons why I say that, but the one that especially worked for me is because he managed to capture a unique expression on a woman in NYC's Chinatown. You'll have to visit his Chinatown gallery to see it though, since this post is not about his street photography but about his recent photo essay on the Way of Sorrow...made during Holy Easter Week in Jerusalem.

The Way of Sorrow or The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, which is believed to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion.

Matthew's Way of Sorrow is well paced, and the audio soundtrack is sober and appropriate. You'll see some lovely images of Ethiopian pilgrims, shafts of light in churches as well as motion blurs (my favorites). You can also watch it on Vimeo instead.

Very nice slideshow.

The Leica File: The Xiàngqí Players

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

This Saturday, I walked over to Chinatown's Columbus Park, where literally hundreds of Chinese were spending their week end under the New York City bright sun. As is customary, the xiàngqí players were out in force...more so than usual, while traditional Chinese music and songs by two groups of performers wafted through the air.

I am not going to repeat most of what I wrote in earlier posts on Columbus Park, but the above photograph (click on it for a larger version) is one that I made from the hip. I was using the M9 with the Elmarit 28mm and standing within inches from the man on the right. He never heard the shutter, and yet the camera was almost level to his ear. I have others which are even closer than that, but this one has motion from the fellows on the left, who were getting animated during a particular move.

Shooting from the hip is a technique frequently used by street photographers, and wasn't really needed in this instance, except that I wanted to try it out in this particular setting. Had I stood there with my camera to my eye, would the players been as "natural" as they seem to be in this frame? At first, they probably wouldn't, but if I kept at it, they would've forgotten about me and gone about their game.

So is shooting from the hip photography as we know it?

Danny Ghitis: Kushti Wrestling

Photo © Danny Ghitis-All Rights Reserved

Danny Ghitis graduated in 2006 with a B.S. in Journalism, and interned at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and St.Petersburg Times newspapers. He received a Nikon Emerging Talent Award, was nominated for the UNICEF Photo of the Year competition for his group project with Celia Tobin titled "The Third Ward," and attended the Eddie Adams Workshop. He has been recognized by a number of associations, and granted a number of awards. He is a co-founder of the Pangea Photo Collective.

I featured Danny's Kushti Wrestling photo gallery, amongst the others on his website. Unfortunately, there's only about a dozen photographs in this gallery...which is a shame as they're luminous and perfectly composed, and more would have been more than welcome.

Kushti is India's traditional wrestling performed on clay mixed with ghee. It's an ancient form of wrestling, and was held in great importance in Indian societies. 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.

Flare: Photographic Effects App

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I am not a huge fan of the Instagram or Hipstamatic apps, although I see that a number of other photographers use them frequently when using their iPhones et al. If Asim Rafiqui, the quintessential Leica user, uses Instagram photos to illustrate his phenomenal The Idea of India project, there might be something to it.

Through a tweet on my Twitter page, I came to know Flare which describes itself as "a fast, easy, and beautiful darkroom for your desktop". So I decided to try it out and see what all the fuss was in these apps. I don't own an iPhone (I'm a BlackBerry kind of guy), so this seemed to be an alternative.

Downloading Flare (there's a 15 days trial period) I applied photographic effects to a couple of my photographs, as can be seen above in my Lou Reed Graffiti shot. It comes with more than 20 presets, which can also be edited by users. Flare also allows users to come up with their own presets. For those like me who are not joined at the hip to their Photoshop or Lightroom, Flare is a matter of drag and drop...mere seconds to get the preset look you like.

Ingenious, huh? And fun. The photograph above was originally shot using a M9.

And for more fun...how about this one of the porters at the Old Delhi spice alley? The Flare preset is called "Molga". Click on it for a larger size.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Fujifilm FinePix X100: Video Ad

As some of my readers know, I was initially interested in the Fujifilm FinePix X100 as street photography "machine", but lost interest when its price of $1200 was announced. I thought the price was too rich for my taste and because it was limited by a fixed lens, because I happily owned a Panasonic GF1 that I could use as a high end point & shoot, and because I subsequently bought a Leica M9....thus covering all my needs and more.

It's certainly a beautiful camera, and for those who are interested, Steve Huff has a real life review of the Fujifilm FinePix X100 here.

The above video ad has spread rather rapidly on the internet. It's in Japanese and has some eerie and weird scenes...some time lapse, some sexual content...some disturbing and others that are "photojournalistic" in style. It certainly is aimed at a Japanese audience.

For those who prefer more sedate eye candy, drop by the FinePix X100 Professional Photographer's compact digital camera's official website.

John Stanmeyer: Volcano Gods

Photo © John Stanmeyer-All Rights Reserved

No one connected to the world of photography and photojournalism is not familiar with John Stanmeyer's work and career. He's a photojournalist whose career is dedicated to international social and political issues, and is a co-founding member of VII Photo Agency. Working regularly for National Geographic Magazine, he was on contract with Time Magazine for over 10 years and had garnered countless awards.

John lived the Far East for over twelve years, documenting changes that affected the entire region. He has also focused on the plight of refugees from the Ugandan civil war, spent months chronicling the effects of the 2004 Tsunami and documented the mental healthcare crises in Asia. He also covered the conflict in South Sudan, Eastern European social change after the fall of Communism, as well as numerous visits to Haiti to record the social tragedies plaguing the island nation.He has documented the spread of HIV/AIDS through every country in Asia.

It was tough to choose what to feature of John's work because all his work is truly spectacular, but I decided on his Volcano Gods, which he shot for the National Geographic.

The photographs as displayed on his website are large monitor-sized and are breathtaking in their composition. I'm not much of a landscape fan, but these volcanoes are just stunning. The gallery mixes these landscapes with the mysticism of the ancient Balinese rituals which are held to this day to appease the volcano gods.

John is also a "musicphile", and perhaps a ethnomusicologist...you can read all about his love for world music in his blog entries. Bookmark his blog...if you're like me, you'll visit often.

Paolo Evangelista: Stone Town (Book)

I've previously featured Paolo Evangelista's work of Zanzibar on The Travel Photographer, but he has just self-published a book of his photographs of Stone Town, the ancient city and cultural heart of Zanzibar, where little changed in the last 200 years, so I thought it would be of interest to my readers who are curious in that tiny but authentic part of Africa.

Stone Town is a 142 pages book, currently available on Blurb, and is very well designed. I think Paolo's best color photographs are those spread in a double truck, like the one of a young girl running in the rain or  the one with a women in red with a young girl in a frilly white dress. I also liked some of the quotes used by Paolo; "God made the country, and men made the town", and "God made women to be loved, not understood". You can have a preview of the book here.

The backdrop of these photographs are the narrow alleys of Stone Town, whose houses were built in the 19th century when Zanzibar was one of the most important trading centres in the Indian Ocean region. It is a place of meandering alleys, bustling bazaars, mosques and impressive Arab houses.