Lisa Kristine: Bhutan

Photo © Lisa Kristine-All Rights Reserved

Lisa Kristine has been in the news with her recently published book Free The Slaves, and her talk at TEDxMaui about her photographic work. She has worked over the past 28 years documenting indigenous cultures in 70 countries on 6 continents around the world, and involved with Free the Slaves, an organization whose goal is to end slavery.

Notwithstanding the undeniable virtues of her involvement in using her photography to document the scourge of modern day slavery, I feature instead her lovely work of Bhutan which is representative of the best of  ethnographical fine art photography. Toned to perfection, these images are just superlative and were made with a large-format 4″x5″ field view camera.

POV: Bhutan...No More Shangri-La?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Is Bhutan no longer the "Shangri-La"?

I've traveled to Bhutan no less than 5 times over the past 12 years, leading photo expeditions that were extremely popular and were well attended. These photo expeditions were especially enjoyable, provided its participants and myself a solid inventory of photographs of Bhutan's unique culture, traditions and religious festivals, and were trouble-free.

However, over my last three photo expeditions in 2006, 2008 and 2009 I noticed changes...some subtle and others not so subtle. Tourism had progressively become a huge business. The guides and fixers we had on these photo expeditions have become tour operators themselves, luxury hotels chains (such as the Aman Resorts with already 5 properties in the country...Thimpu, Paro, Gangtey, Punakha and Bumthang, with the Taj and Uma chains) are building properties, and there's now a domestic airport in central Bumthang for those who want to fly from Paro, instead of driving for a couple of days.

Shane Green, a photographer who's joining my forthcoming photo workshop in Vietnam, just returned from Bhutan along with his wife, and emailed me his impressions, and they confirm what I have sensed and noticed over the past few years.

Yes, Bhutan is still a wonderful country to visit, and the Bhutanese are some of the most gracious people one can hope to meet, however exploding consumerism, modernisation and urbanisation are taking their toll. Thimpu seems to be a huge building site, with many leaving their rural living to make a living in its capital.

In 2009, I recall having a cappuccino with a Thimpu resident in a Starbucks look-alike cafe and then playing snookers (and drinking too much beer) at a sort of watering hole with some of my group, amongst Bhutanese teenagers. And yet, a few days before, dinner in a Jakar hole-in-the-wall, consisted of Tibetan momos cooked the traditional way in a dingy smoky kitchen.

It wasn't too long ago that most, if not all, Bhutanese women had their hair in pageboy cuts, but with the advent of television bringing with it 46 channels exposing people to Indian (and others) programs, they started to grow it, following the Bollywood fashion.

Shane went as far as remote Ura, in the central Bhutan, where I don't recall seeing any tourists there as recently as 2009...and yet now, tourists outnumbered the local audience at its annual festival.

Is it over for Bhutan as a specialty destination? I hope not...but I don't see how its tourism authorities can retain the country's cachet against an encroaching modernism, especially with a population that seeks a more affluent standard of living brought about by tourists and other sources.

After all, look at what's happening in Siem Reap...and Angkor!

I predict it won't be long before the Ugyencholing elderly man in this post's photograph will be holding a Blackberry or a Nokia...if he doesn't have it already.

Mary Calvert: Bhutan: The Art of Archery

Photo © Mary Calvert-All Rights Reserved

Bhutan's national sport is archery, and Mary Calvert documents the sport in her Bhutan: The Art of Archery photo gallery.

In Paro, I witnessed a couple of these archery contests, some impromptu and others more elaborate, in the valley where one could see the famous Tiger's Nest monastery. Apart from these contests being raucous, and during which I was told that opponents were fond of distracting each other by insulting each other, they are taken very seriously by participants and spectators.

There are two targets placed over 100 meters apart and teams shoot from one end of the field to the other. Each member of the team shoots two arrows per round. Traditional Bhutanese archery is a social event and competitions are organized between villages, towns, and amateur teams. 

Mary F. Calvert is an award winner photographer who worked as a staff photographer for eleven years on the award-winning staff of The Washington Times. She will be teaching Intermediate photojournalism at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington D.C. In addition to being a guest faculty member of Momenta Workshops, the Western Kentucky University Mountain Workshops, the NPPA’s Flying Short Course, and the Eddie Adams Workshop, she has been a member of the faculty for the Department of Defense Worldwide Military Photographers Workshop in Ft. Meade for the last fourteen years.

She was honored with the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in International Photography for her project, “Lost Daughters: Sex Selection in India” in 2008,  and was awarded the White House News Photographers Association Project Grant to document sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Some of her clients include The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, AOL, The New York Post, Inside Counsel Magazine, McClatchy-Tribune Photo Service, The International Herald Tribune,  Le Monde, Mother Jones, and The Christian Science Monitor.

POV: The Dove Whisperer & Storytelling

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Regular readers know that I've joined a new storytelling website called Cowbird, and have already posted a couple of mini-stories.

I've just started a few days ago, and I've realized a couple of interesting things. First off, the community of Cowbird are not professional photographers...there are some, but the majority describe themselves as storytellers not as photographers. Secondly, haphazardly eyeballing members' pages, tells me that the majority of them reside in the United States, and by definition tell local stories.

But here's what's interesting as far as I'm concerned. The most popular story among the four I've published so far is The Dove Whisperer. I think there's a number of reasons for that. It's very brief, it's simple and it's touching...and it was one of the 'recommended' stories on Cowbird.

In my multimedia workshops, I stress that stories need to be brief, simple and compelling. So it's not surprising that The Dove Whisperer is more 'magnetic' than the rest of my stories.

And one more thing...and I also stress this in my classes, choosing a title that resonates with one's audience is almost half a battle won. We all know that a title that is mysterious, compelling, unusual but also descriptive is extremely important to the success of one's project...be that a book, article, multimedia slideshow or movie.

I don't know how Cowbird, which is still in its infancy, will evolve and mature....but the possibility of reaching a large (or I should say, a different) audience for my stories through its platform is exciting. 

Finally, The Dove Whisperer was a forgotten moment experienced in Bhutan in September 2009. I was shooting in a small monastery in Jakar when this elderly man appeared with a dove under his arm. I asked what he was doing, and was told he was a bird healer. He was known to tend birds that had broken wings, and released them once they could fly. 

The whole thing didn't last more than five minutes, and yet when I was thinking of a story for Cowbird, I remembered it, searched for the photograph and it was on Cowbird in less time.

It's funny how things remain in the recesses of one's mind, and pop out at the right time.

In Focus: Bhutan

Photo © Paula Bronstein-All Rights Reserved

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

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

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

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

Scott Woodward: Thunder Dragon

I realized it's been a while since I featured Bhutan on this blog. It's one of my favorite destinations to photograph, and having chanced upon Scott Woodward's portfolio of Bhutan, I thought his lovely toned photographs would fill that gap very nicely.

Scott Woodward worked for American Express in Singapore, and switched careers in 2003 to become a freelance photographer. He specializes in making editorial and commercial photography, all enhanced with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 software.

He favors shooting location-based narratives, where it’s just him and his camera. He spent 28 days on the Mekong River traveling through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, during which he made 12,000 images. His work is people oriented, and he seeks to discover new and remarkable photographic opportunities throughout Asia, where he lives and works.

Books: Robert Van Koesveld's Bhutan Heartland

Robert Van Koesveld has published a wonderful book on Bhutan, and entitled it Bhutan Heartland. The details of the book are available on a sub-section of Robert's website.

When I got it, I experienced a twinge of envy at Robert's talents as a photographer, and how well produced this book was. Joining Robert in the task of putting this book together is his wife Libby Lloyd.

Bhutan Heartland explores the culture, history, beliefs and dazzling Himalayan landscapes of this wonderful country, known as Druk Yul...and where smoking in public places is against the law!

Nine chapters make up this hardback book of 210 pages. Robert and Libby have taken their readers from Paro in the west of the country to its east, traveling through the high passes of Dochu La and others, meeting monks, nuns, lamas...stopping at Ogyen Choling and documenting the various exuberant tsechu festivals...and end up with silk weavers and yak herders.

If you decide to visit Bhutan (and you must!!!), this is the book you ought to read. It's not a guidebook, but the amount of informed research in it was new to me, informative and interesting...and I've already been to Bhutan about 4 times!!!

Well recommended. You can buy it from Robert's website or order it from major booksellers such as B&N.

Robert van Koesveld: Bhutan

Robert van Koesveld is a retired psychotherapist living in Perth, Australia. His biography tells us that he delights in meeting with people from all walks of life, and describes as travel's best moments as those in which he encounters these people.

Robert is also about to publish his book Bhutan Heartland, (Fremantle Press, October 2010) which he produced with his wife, Libby Lloyd.

You can also watch the Bhutan Circumambulation video in large QT format here. Some nice bokeh in the movie.

Circumambulation of temples is an important Hindu ritual, and is similarly performed in most religious traditions; from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I like how circumambulation sounds when it's uttered...but it's a word I can never spell it correctly.

Jørgen Johanson: Kham & Amdo (Tibet)

Photo © Jørgen Johanson -All Rights Reserved
Jørgen Johanson went on his first trip to Asia in 1982, and completed the Annapurna circuit in Nepal. He was hooked from that moment on travel, photography and on Asian cultures.

He's a software development engineer for companies Norwegian companies, and recently took a 2-3 years sabbatical just to travel. Most of his travel has been trips to Asia, but also made some trips to Africa, where he photographed in Ethiopia and Niger. He's also enamored of India and China...but it's the Tibetan culture and the Himalayas that really fascinate him.

Take a look at Jørgen's Kham & Amdo photo galleries (he's got two on his website), and explore the other galleries which include Myanmar (some good shots of the fishermen of Lake Inle) and Bhutan (stop by the lovely photograph of Wangdi Phodrang Dzong in the mist).

Jørgen also self-published a book "Kham And Amdo" which is available on Blurb, which you can preview in its entirety.

Dede Pickering: Bhutan

Photo © Dede Pickering-All Rights Reserved
Dede Pickering has just returned from Bhutan with a collection of new photographs, which she posted on her Bhutan Gallery. She traveled in that Himalayan country from its west to its east and trekked in the rarely visited Sakten Valley.

I chose Dede's lovely photograph of the unfurling of a thongdrel for this post. The thongdrel is a large tapestry typically depicting a seated Guru Rinpoche surrounded by holy beings, the mere viewing of which is said to cleanse the viewer of sin. During tsechus, it's unrolled before dawn and rolled up by morning.

Having retired from the corporate world, Dede became a world traveler and photographer. She has traveled to Antarctica, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, China, Cambodia, Peru, Patagonia, Kosovo, Albania, Rwanda, New Zealand, Guatemala, South East Asia and has made multiple trips to Africa and India, but her passion is the Himalayan Region.

Nori Jemil: Bhutan

Photo © Nori Jemil -All Rights Reserved
Nori Jemil is a writer, photographer and a teacher who joined The Travel Photographer's Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™, and she has produced a broad body of work during the trip's two weeks' duration.

The above photograph of a novice was made at the Wangdicholing Palace, which had served as the principal summer residence of the first and second kings of Bhutan, but currently houses novices and monks.

Photo © Nori Jemil -All Rights Reserved
This vertical photograph was made at the ancient Ura Goempa. The normally quiet temple was bustling with monks when we arrived, as a prominent judge had just died in the Ura area, and funerary rites were being held in its small ceremonial hall. The photograph captures the wisps of smoke rising from incense sticks, next to the head monks who were officiating the ceremony.

Photo © Nori Jemil-All Rights Reserved
The above photograph of a novice throwing his cape over his shoulders was also made at the Wangdicholing Palace and monastery.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Nori was commended for her entry in the Travel Photographer Of The Year's New Talent 2009 - A Traveller's Tale competition with a series of four narrative photographs on an island in Chilean Patagonia.

She was also the runner-up in the Landscape category of the 2008 Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition with her photograph of the Cerro Torre and Monte Fitz Roy mountains in Patagonia.

Graham Ware: Bhutan

Graham Ware joined The Travel Photographer's Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition, and has produced an audio slideshow in QuickTime format of some of his various images made during the trip, coupled with live audio recordings gleaned during the tsechu festivals, religious pujas, the Sangha debates of the monks and a Bhutanese folk song.

A medical technologist based in Chandler, Arizona, his interest in photography started in 2000, with most of his focus at that time on wildlife and landscapes. However, he admits to have discovered photojournalism in 2004, and it is then he joined the "dark side". Last January he joined Gary Knight and Philip Blenkinsop on a photojournalism workshop in India, and professes to have been totally hooked. Some of his photographs from this India workshop are on his website.

Graham's panoply consists of a Canon 5D mark II, a Canon 1D Mark III, a 24-70 L 2.8, a 35 L 1.4 prime, and a 70-200 IS L 2.8 lens as well as a Sony PCM-D50 recorder.

An extremely agreeable travel companion, with a keen sense of cultural curiosity, Graham is hoping to help schools and hospitals in Bhutan.

Dan Bannister: Bhutan

Photo © Dan Bannister-All Rights Reserved
Dan Bannister is a commercial, industrial and editorial photographer based in Calgary, Canada, who joined my recent Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™, and I'm pleased to feature a selection of his fabulous work that he is showcasing in his Bhutan slideshow.

Photo © Dan Bannister-All Rights Reserved
A consummate professional, Dan's work spans the world from travel stock and magazine features to oil and gas annual reports, advertising imagery and environmental portraiture. He regularly travels the world capturing interesting, high quality travel photography to add to his travel stock photos portfolio. He has a wide selection of royalty free and rights managed travel pictures in his travel stock photos portfolio from destinations in Canada, the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, China, the Caribbean and other destinations.

Photo © Dan Bannister-All Rights Reserved
Dan's travel work has appeared in The New York Times, Canadian Geographic, Our Canada, Connecticut Magazine, Rough Guides travel guides and numerous airline in flight magazines. His commercial client list includes some of the biggest oil and gas and industrial companies in Canada.

One of the important benefits of photographic trips is the informational synergy that accrues to its participants from rubbing shoulders with each other during photo-shoots. We all learned quite a lot from Dan during the Bhutan trip, especially as to his lighting techniques and stylistic approaches...while debating our occasional divergent points of views on photography was always useful and interesting.

My Work: The Dancers of Tamshing Goemba

Here's a gallery of new photographs made during my recent Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™.

The gallery is a collection of photographs of various performers at the tsechu at Tamshing Goemba near Chamkar town, in the religious heartland of Bhutan.

The performers range from the jovial jokers who wave wooden penises around, and whose principal role is to distract spectators, to the more austere Black Hat dancers who are defenders of the "dharma" and who battle enemies of Buddhism.

Tamshing Goemba was established by Pema Lingpa in 1501, and is the most important Nyingma temple in the country. Its external murals (as seen in the photographs) are badly damaged by the elements, but those inside the Goemba are magnificent.

My Work: A Bhutanese Nun

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here's one of my favorite portraits made last month during my Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition. I met this nun while she was circumambulating the Jambhey Lhakhang goemba in Jakar, spinning the many prayer wheels in its walls.

Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu ritual. It is also practiced in Buddhism, as in this case here. In Islam, circumambulation is performed around the Kaaba in Mecca in a counter-clockwise direction.

The Jambhey Lakhang is one of 108 Buddhist temples built in the 7th century by the Tibetan king, Songtsen Gampo, and it's revered as one of the oldest landmarks of the arrival of Buddhism in Bhutan, explaining the number of pilgrims who visit it all day.

Multimedia Work: Debates At The Sangha

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
I'm pleased to share a multimedia gallery of new photographs made during my recent Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo Expedition.

The "Debates At The Sangha" slideshow is of photographs (and audio) of the weekly Buddhist debates at the sangha of the Kharchhu Monastery near Chamkar town, in the very heartland of Bhutan.

The Lhodrak Kharchhu Monastery is a recent addition to the Bhutanese pantheon of monasteries, and its venerated abbot is Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche. Over 300 monks and novices live at the monastery, and animated debates are held twice a week to hone the mental skills of the qualified monks.

Most of the debates are held in the open air, and are expressed in Sanskrit through loud vocalization of the various points of view and punctuated by hand slapping for emphasis.

Coming Soon: Bhutan Galleries!

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

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."

My Work: Debate At The Sangha

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.

"Toothpick" Photo Expeditions

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.