NYC's Hudson River Pageant With The Fujifilm X Pro-1

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- (Click To Enlarge)

Chancing upon the Earth Celebration Hudson River Pageant on Saturday gave me the ample opportunity to try out my new Fujifilm X-Pro1 in a non-street shooting situation. As it was almost noon, the sun was really quite harsh, and I had to make do with intense glare off the concrete boardwalk, and rather deep shadows.

I had the only lens I have for the X Pro-1; the Fujinon18 mm f 2.0. Two of the four images were made at f16, and two others at f5.6...and all were at 200 iso. Oh, and I had neglected to bring the lens hood!

It was a pleasure to shoot with such a small unobtrusive camera, although I had to get  really close in some cases to get the photograph I wanted. There were some other professional photographers there; some with the almost obligatory 70-200 lenses, who probably made some lovely close up portraits (I did too...later on when I trooped back to the Hudson River Park with my own Canon 5D Mark II and the 70-200 f 2.8.

But back to the Fujifilm X Pro-1...these were made by choosing the Velvia Film Simulation setting, and Auto White Balance. I intended to get an overly saturated result for all these colored costumes, and I think I chose right.

By the way, Thomas Menk's Fuji X-Pro1/Scoop It website is one of the best ways to keep track of various reviews for this camera, and for its rumor, samples and news. If you're interested in the X Pro-1 or thinking of buying one, follow it.

And for those ecologically minded, the Hudson River Pageant was part of Earth Celebration’s fourth annual events to restore the native species and habitats of the Hudson River.

POV: The Best Marigold Hotel

Go see this movie!!!! No matter how old or young you are...you'll spend an enjoyable two hours in the company of world class actors...wit and realism.

The best line in the movie (and beyond) is uttered by Dev Patel:

 "Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not the end."

Priceless!

Ed Ou: Yemeni Camel Jumping

Photo © Ed Ou/Reportage by Getty Images (Courtesy The New York Times)

I enjoyed Ed Ou's account in the LENS blog of The New York Times of how he had stumbled across the unusual practice of camel jumping in Yemen.  The photographer, known for having documented most of the events during the Arab Spring, was in the country and decided to revisit the remote region of Tehama, which had been the site of one of his most memorable photographic experiences in 2009.

Camel-jumping is an event that takes place during celebrations in that region, which counts as one of the poorest in the country. It seems that in the early evening, 4 or 5 camels are lined up, the contestants take running starts and leap over the animals.

It got me wondering if there was any connection between this form of contest and the jumping of the bulls ceremony practiced by the Hamar tribe (and others) in the Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia. The jumping of the bulls is more of a marriage ritual and ceremony than a contest, since the men performing it are about to get married...and should they fail to jump over the bulls four times, they won't be allowed to wed.

After all, Yemen and Ethiopia are geographically close to each other, and have very strong historical, commercial, religious and cultural ties.

Here's also a short video by Ed Ou of the camel jumping contests.

POV: New Leica M-Monochrom...Is It Mmmmm?

Ah, well...the Twittering with the Leica hashtags was alight with news of THE event! The announcement that Leica would unveil a new model!! The suspense so painstakingly built up by the Leica marketing/PR machinery was rather deflated by the Leica Rumors website, which a few months ago, had already made the prediction/announcement that the new model would be a black and white only sensor in an M camera...and so it was.

Don't get me wrong...I have a Leica M9 and M lenses (well, one of the two in a 40mm Voigtlander) and enjoy using it very much...As my readers know well, I also find it frustrating at times, because of many reasons. Most of these reasons are my own shortcomings...but a few others are due to to the M9's well known issues.

So that said, I scratched my head in puzzlement at Leica's chutzpah in announcing this model which still retains an old LCD screen and no auto-focus, and that can be pre-ordered at a number of retailers (B&H and Adorama list it for preorder) for $7,950 or about $1000 more than the M9!

The justification for the higher cost is the quality of the new sensor, a top ISO setting of 10,000, a rangefinder-type optical viewfinder and a 14-bit uncompressed RAW mode that yields 36MB DNGs.

I have no idea if this model will sell well or be a flop...nor does anyone else.  But I took a look at the dpreview.com hands-on review of the Leica M-Monochrom, and I read phrases which, to me, are smiling warnings. For instance, the reviewer uses sentences such as "there's a real pleasure to be found in having to think harder about the shots you're taking."...and "Getting the best out of the Monochrom takes practise (perhaps a lifetime's worth) and processing, but willfully embracing that challenge seems to be part of what this camera is about."

A lifetime's worth? That says it all. I'll keep enjoying my M9 and my new Fujifilm X Pro-1 with the knowledge that using the former will continue to frustrate me, and will occasionally produce exceptionally lovely photographs....and the certainty that I can, with a swift adjustment, have the X Pro-1 produce in-camera excellent black & whites should I want or need to.

For those who like that sort of thing...here's a video reviewing the new Leica M-Monchrom.

Ayush Ranka; Koovagam (Hijra) Festival

Photo © Ayush Ranka- All Rights Reserved

"Religious festivals in India are typically explosive affairs, but few pack the surreal punch of Koovagam." 

And so begins a three part article in the India Ink section of The New York Times, which is accompanied by the photographs of Ayush Ranka, an independent photojournalist based in Bangalore.

Ayush just attended the Koovagam Festival and returned with a photo essay (33 photographs) of this annual religious festival for hijras, India’s male-to-female transgendered people.

The festival celebrates the myth of Lord Krishna taking female form in order to marry Aravan, a warrior who fought the Mahabharata War. It is in Koovagam, a small village in Tamil Nadu, that a large number of transgendered people come to worship Aravan, and celebrate the night when Krishna took the form of a woman to become his wife, and then weep in mourning at the news of his death.

Hijras have a long recorded history in the Indian subcontinent, and their culture draws upon the traditions of several religions. However, their goodess is Bahuchara Mata with a temple in Western Gujarat.

Ayush Ranka was selected as one of the top ten short-listed photographers of the Redux Scholarship for the 2009 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop,  and his clients include New York Times, Volvo, UVEX (Germany), Azim Premji Foundation, GQ (India), Financial Times Magazine, Harvard Business Review and Femina Magazine.

POV: Swords Are Closer Than They Appear!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

I've been asked as to how close (or far) this particularly fierce looking and menacing Oracle devotee was to me whilst I made this photograph. After all, he's wielding a ceremonial sword with a curved tip that seems to threaten my well-bring...and, depending on what lens I am using, could be inches or feet away from where I was.

This is one of the photographs I made during the festival of the Oracles of Kodungallur celebrated at the Bhagawati temple, which was one of the highlights of my Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop this past March. It involved the sacrifice of cocks and shedding of the Oracles own blood, to appease the goddess Kali and her demons who are said to relish blood offerings.

Well, I was inches away from him and was so close that I felt the draft or the swoosh made by the whirling of the sword above his head. My eye was glued to my viewfinder, shooting like crazy...and since I was using my 17-40mm f4.0 lens, set at probably 17mm.... I "saw" him at quite a safe distance.

Though he seemed rather out of it, I think he was still very aware of me...so I don't think I was in any danger despite the proximity.

But the moral of the story is that when one is photographing something like that, shoot with both eyes open! You'd avoid a splitting headache.

For the rest of the Oracles of Kodungallur photo essay, the gallery of stills is here, while the audio-slideshow is here.

Leica & Magnum: Chien-Chi Chang's Chinatown

Chien-Chi Chang's work in this short video is a singular treat because it'll appeal with many of the street photographers who find New York City's Chinatown to offer the richest of visual opportunities...and I'm one of those.

This photo essay is made of a collection of photographs taken between 1992-2011, and each photograph is paired with a short clip of audio...which is a brilliant idea, and one I shall try to emulate as I walk the streets of NYC. I am certain that adding 5 seconds or so of high heels on the sidewalk of Bleecker Street and some pedestrian chatter for instance, will enhance the visual experience. I have already tried this yesterday, and it isn't as simple as it sounds.

But back to the Chien-Chi Chang's Chinatown. It is estimated that more than 100,000 Chinese live in the Canal Street are of NYC, which is the largest Chinese community outside of Asia.

The photographer spent 19 years documenting the lives of men from the Chinee province of Fuzhou who leave their wives and families to work as dishwashers, cooks, carpenters and day laborers in New York City’s Chinatown. they spend their days at work, usually in difficult circumstances, and live in overcrowded dorm like apartments where they cook, eat, sleep and dream of prosperity and of home.