Bali: First Post

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
I've been in Bali since Wednesday afternoon, and having been able to shrug off some of the jet-lag and its resultant disorientation, I've been quite busy in Ubud and its environs. For starters, I'm working on a feature covering a famous Wayang Kulit in Sukawati and other projects.

In the meantime, Komang (my driver and fixer) suggested that I attend a small Balinese wedding close to Ubud, which we just chanced upon it as we were driving. While the wedding itself was not a tremendously "visual" event in itself, I am always amazed at the generosity and hospitality of the Balinese who, despite of us being nothing more than wedding crashers, welcomed us with open arms, and plied us with food and beverages. This is my fourth trip to Bali, and this never ceases to amaze me.

Most of the 9 participants in the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition will be converging at our Ubud hotel tomorrow where, after an hour of orientation, we will start the adventure. It's particularly exciting as we expect to hit the ground running since there are various temple anniversaries all through the 2 weeks of the photo~expedition/workshop.

The above photograph is an out-take of the groom after having been made up for the official wedding portraits. The hand is of the make-up artist who couldn't stop adding final touches even as I was photographing!

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop's Stats

It's been almost a month since the wrap-up of the very successful Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW) in Istanbul, which achieved an impressive degree of multi-ethnicity amongst its participants...a veritable United Nations of photojournalism.

According to Neal Jackson, FPW Istanbul was attended by about 130 photojournalists (excluding instructors) from 41 countries.

The largest contingents were from the United States (30), host country Turkey (15), India (8) and Romania (7). Notably, 8 Middle Eastern countries were represented, fielding 16 photojournalists including 1 from Palestine/Gaza.

A tremendous achievement by all concerned; its founders, its staff, its instructors and its participants....and Istanbul.

On My Way: Bali!!!

I'll shortly be on my way to Bali to lead my Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition™, which officially starts on August 1 to August 15. I'm in London for a short stop over, then on to the Thai Airways flight from Heathrow to Bangkok and onwards to Denpasar.

I'll spend a few days before the start of the photo-expedition in Ubud where I'll work on a short two-day assignment, renew my friendship with this delightful small town, and with Bintang beer.

I will be joined in Ubud by 8 photographers, but this is my last photo~expedition with such a high number of participants. Those who follow my blog know I've recently decided to limit my forthcoming trips/workshops to 5 participants, and to further enhance their photo-journalism component and multimedia story-telling.

I've tried cramming all my gear in my Lowepro backpack (a non-roller), but found it too uncomfortable to carry...not only was it very heavy, but also sort of awkward. Consequently, I will use my small Domke F-8 and the no-name messenger bag combination. This way, I'll be able to spread the gear over two bags....one for each shoulder when I need to. And this configuration is easier to get through any pedantic check-in agent. However the 70-200 2.8 will have to travel in my checked-in luggage.

It still allows me to carry a Canon 1D Mark II along with my 5D Mark II, a 28-70 2.8, a 17-40 4.0 and a 24 1.4, my Marantz audio recorder, and a couple of hard drives and my Macbook Pro 13". The rest of the electronic paraphernalia will travel in my checked-in luggage. Better that than risk a dislocated shoulder.

Oh, and no room for a Holga...but my Panasonic GF1 is trotting along with me, so we'll see how it performs in Bali as a walk-about camera.

Since internet access is ubiquitous in Bali, I will try to post some updates on the trip but there will a hiatus for a few days.

In the meantime, for those missing out on joining my photo expedition and workshop on this lovely island, I leave you with this short movie commercial for a new Sony Handycam filmed in Bali.

POV: Robert Fisk Is A Mensch

What does Robert Fisk of The Independent have to do with photography? Probably nothing, but he's a mensch, which in Yiddish means "a person of integrity".

And why do I think that? Well, it's about his opinion piece on Octavia Nasr of CNN (or I should say, previously of CNN) and the British ambassador to Beirut, Frances Guy (still at her post, as far as I know).

Here's a quotation from this opinion piece published in The Independent of July 17, 2010:

"I loved the "controversial" bit – the usual "fuck you" word for anyone you want to praise without incurring the wrath of, well, you know who. The Foreign Office itself took down poor Ms Guy's blogapop on old Fadlallah, thus proving – as Arab journalists leapt to point out this week – that while Britain proclaims the virtues of democracy and the free press to the grovelling newspaper owners and grotty emirs of the Middle East, it is the first to grovel when anything might offend you know who."

Read it. And if you're interested in the Middle East, and why we are where we are now, you may want to read his incomparable The Great War For Civilization.

I am amazed at the number of younger photojournalists/photographers who "parachute" into Iraq and Afghanistan with only a rudimentary knowledge of history, and who tell me that after having 5 cups of tea with an Afghan family, they "understand" the culture.

This book has all they need to know and will set them straight...alas, it's a thick volume, so I'm not holding my breath.

Mongolian Racer

Reading and posting Stan Greene's excellent interview yesterday will probably satisfy my photojournalism interest for this week, so for a change in pace here's a lovely travel multimedia piece titled Mongolian Racer by The Guardian photographer Dan Chung, and narrated by Tania Branigan. (click the arrow).

The multimedia piece is on a horse trainer and his 10-year-old jockey who face the biggest day of their year at Mongolia's Naadam festival, which dates back to before Genghis Khan's time and celebrates the 'manly sports' of wrestling, archery and racing.

The Mongolian traditional festival of Naadam is also called in the local dialect as "the three games of men". These are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery. The festival is held throughout the country during the midsummer holidays, however the largest is in Ulaanbaatar.

For the geeks, the piece was shot using Canon 1DmkIV, 5DMkII, 550D and GoPro HD camera, and a load of ancillary gear which is described in length in Dan Chung's blog DSLR News Shooter.

Apart from it being gorgeous videography, I noted the simple and clean font used for the title of the piece, and how it's placed against the dark cloud in a red sky...nice touch, that. And I also liked how the voice-over expertly blended with the ambient sound/voice.

LENS: Stanley Greene Talks To Michael Kamber

Photo © Stanley Greene/Noor-All Rights Reserved

Stanley Greene’s Redemption and Revenge on the New York Times' LENS blog is one of the most interesting (and candid) interviews with a photojournalist/photographer I've read in a long time.

Having met Stanley Greene in Mexico City, I don't think I'd be wrong in describing Stanley as an iconoclast, as someone who doesn't mince words and who doesn't imitate. His opinions and responses as expressed during this interview confirm my view. This interview is a no platitudes no bullshit zone...and may rile some "lemmings", but for those who appreciate iconoclasts, it's a must read.

Excerpts that particularly resonate with me:

"When journalists start to distort reality, then I have a real problem with it. And when everything starts to look like a cartoon, I have a problem with it."

"When we get to the point where we start digging up graves to make photographs, I think we are in trouble."

"You need to be able to communicate with people. You should know a language. But even if you don’t know a language, you should at least be decent enough to understand what you are about to photograph, instead of just going, “Pow, pow, pow.” Because when you do that, then you are a vulture, and then you are what a lot of N.G.O.’s call us: “Merchants of misery.”

"I don’t own an apartment. I don’t own a house. I don’t own a car. I don’t have any stocks and bonds. All I own are my cameras. That’s it. And some cowboy boots."

Michael Kamber has worked primarily as a conflict photographer and covered a dozen wars including Afghanistan, Somalia, Liberia, Darfur and the Congo. He photographed the war in Iraq for The New York Times between 2003 and 2010. His photos have been published in nearly every major news magazine in the USA and Europe. Michael is the winner of a 2007 World Press Photo award, the Missouri School of Journalism’s Penny Press Award, American Photo Images of the Year and an Overseas Press Club award. He has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize–twice for photography and once for reporting.

As I said, one of the best interviews I've read in a while.

Jacob Maentz: The Infanta Penitents

Photo © Jacob Maentz-All Rights Reserved
I've been terribly remiss in covering the Philippines on this blog, but Jacob Maentz's fine work on this Asian nation will go a long way to rectify this.

Originally from the United States, Jacob is based in the Philippines from where he does considerable amounts of travel, working on freelance assignments and shooting stock photography. His travels to Latin America whilst in college is where he discovered his passion for the camera. He was brought to the Philippines in 2003 when he joined the United States Peace Corps and has found himself repeatedly drawn back to this part of the world since then.

Most of his galleries are of the Philippines, and I chose to feature the very interesting Infanta Penitents here.

Jacob writes that "Self flagellation practices were adopted by Filipinos during their Spanish colonization almost 500 years ago. Flagellants are practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their own flesh by whipping it with various instruments. Today, you can still see some Christians practicing flagellation in the Philippines as a form of devout worship and personal sacrifice, sometimes in addition to self-crucifixion. In the Philippine province of Quezon there are still a number of men who wear elaborate costumes while preforming their act of self flagellation."

When you've looked the Infanta Penitents, continue exploring Jacob's galleries. I did, and learned much about the cultural wealth of the Philippines.