Narratively: Stories Of New York

Living and photographing in New York City when I'm not traveling means that projects such as Narratively never fail to turn me on.

Narratively describes itself as a digital platform devoted to original, true, and in-depth storytelling about New York, through writing, photography, documentary video, animation and interactive media. And the best is that Narratively is on the lookout for interesting stories and talented contributors.

And this sounds especially compelling:

Each week, we’ll explore a different theme about New York and publish a series of connected stories — just one a day — told in the most appropriate medium for each piece. We might feature a longform article with portrait photos on a Monday, followed by an animated documentary on Tuesday, then a photo essay, an audio piece or a short documentary film. Every story gets the space and time it needs to have an impact. We’ll bring you weeks devoted to New York’s waterways, hustlers, sexual subcultures, obscure pastimes and countless other themes.

What's not to like? So drop by Narratively's Kickstarter's page, and if the concept also turns you on, consider supporting it.

Shooting From The Hip On LK Road

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Whilst teaching at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop the past week or so, I've also managed to set aside some time to fit some of my favorite style of photography, and shooting from the hip with the Fuji X Pro-1 has been high on my list to do, especially at night.

Here's LK Road, a collection of street photography scenes made in one of the grittiest mainstream streets in Chiang Mai; Loi Kroh Road. The photographs are grouped under the title page of Katoey Or Not?, but I chose not to title this post with that particular name to avoid having visitors being referred to it by search engines for purposes other than photography.

Loi Kroh in Thai means "washing one's troubles away", and it's one of Chiang Mai haunts for tourists principally for the preponderance of girlie bars on its approximately one-mile length...some of these bars are staffed by young women, and/or ladyboys known as katoeys.

Apart from the bars, Loi Kroh Road hosts some restaurants, massage parlors for tourists with aching legs and feet, and tattoo shops. That said, I found its ambiance a little sad and melancholic despite the blaring large screen television sets then showing some Olympics sport event, the occasional clicks of billiard balls, the forced laughter of the young women (or ladyboys) working the bars and the ubiquitous and hopeful "sawasadee...massage?" yells at every corner.

The areas seemed to me to be way past its prime...perhaps it was the off-season as well...but the bars were less than half-empty, even when there were muay thai fights held at the seedy boxing ring. Most of the fights seemed (at least to me) to be staged, with spectators generally consisting of drunken middle-aged European men.

I was asked why I chose to shoot from the hip on Loi Kroh Road, and if it was because it was risky. Not at all...although I imagine some of the bar clients wouldn't relish being photographed. The real reason is the same as whenever I choose to shoot from the hip: it allows me to capture the subjects unawares with natural expressions.

Lastly, the ladyboy in the above photograph, extroverted and very "sociable", reminded me of Ru Paul. I was super prompt in buying her a drink to get rid of her unwanted and rather heavy-handed attentions.

Finally, the Fuji X Pro1 performed extremely well at night, and I have nothing but praise for its performance. Its auto-focus let me down a few times, but its overall performance at high and very high iso is nothing short of spectacular.

Maika Elan: Ain't Talkin', Just Lovin'

Photo © Maika Elan-All Rights Reserved

Here's the work of Maika Elan titled Ain't Talkin', Just Lovin', which -in my view- is one of the three photo projects that attracted me the most during the final evening of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Chiang Mai.

Maika attended Maggie Steber's (known as "the incomparable Maggie") class The Power of Images in Today’s Media, and presented a photo essay depicting individuals living in Chiang Mai with close bonds to their animal friends. Whether these were cats and dogs, or exotic snakes, the mutual relationship and dependency between the two were brilliantly captured by Maika's lens.

While this photo essay most certainly stands firmly on its own two (or is it four in this case?) feet, I somehow wished it had been accompanied by an ambient soundtrack; perhaps a short snippet of a conversation between the young man and his cat purring...as an example. Imagine that!?

Maggie Steber used a wonderful phrase in one of our recent email exchanges...we (the photographers) need to go beyond the tyranny of the photographic boundaries. Yes, we do. Very much so. And adding ambient sound collecting to our panoply of skills is one way of doing it.

Maika will be soon working with me during my Vietnam Photo-Expedition-Workshop, and I'll make sure she's up and running insofar as multimedia is concerned.

The other two projects I particularly liked during the final Foundry Workshop presentation were Ulises Baque's Oui Nan, and Cheryl Nemazie's Night At The Naga.

Ulises Baque: Oui Nan, 93 Years Riding

As per my latest blog post, the presentation evening ending the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop showcased all of the students' work, and I highlighted three projects which I thought were the best. Two of the three were multimedia, and here's one of these. Extremely well made and edited, this short multimedia piece elicited much praise from the audience.

The project was made and edited by Ulises Baque, a videographer based in Thailand. It was made for Henrik Kastenskov's multimedia class, and is about the oldest samlaw cyclist in Chiang Mai.

I intend to write a bit further about this, but the dichotomy of the multimedia and the non-multimedia projects during the Foundry's evening presentation could not have been more stark. Although some of the non-multimedia were interesting and compelling, few could compete for the audience's attention as powerfully as those presented from two classes: Henrik Kastenkov's Storytelling For An Online Audience or my own Multimedia For Photographers.

In short: multimedia (whether as audio-slideshows -with ambient audio- or more elaborate) is the future, and photographers must hop on its train if they want to remain on the cutting edge of their industry, and retain the attention of viewers. I heard this point of view over and over from students after the presentation night...wanting to put their still photography work into a multimedia format and start ambient audio recording.

POV: The 5th Foundry Photojournalism Workshop

Photo © Mervyn Leong-All Rights Reserved

During the long flight from Bangkok to London, I thought I'd write up a personal POV on the Fifth Annual Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW) which was held in Chiang Mai from July 29 to August 4, 2012. This will be the closing post on the Workshop.

As my readers know,  FPW is an annual photo event held in various international locations, bringing well regarded photojournalists together to teach to emerging photographers and students who normally would not be able to afford workshops.

Firstly, as I always do, I tip my hat to Eric Beecroft, the visionary (he hates it when I describe him as such, but it's the truth) co-founder of the workshop, and the staff he assembled to support the logistics that such events require to function smoothly.

In my view, FPW Chiang Mai was the best organized of all the workshops that preceded it, although I have to stress that it shares that distinction with last year's FPW Buenos Aires. The availability of the very impressive (jaw-dropping, actually) facilities of the Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Arts were really a phenomenal attribute to this year's workshop.

I don't know if the other classes fared as well, but the two multimedia classes (Henrik Kastenskov's and mine) of the workshop were given large computer labs with about 50 iMacs, all connected to the internet, color balanced projectors and sound systems. Heaven on earth! Thank you, Chiang Mai Uni.

The choice of Yantarasri Resort as hotel accommodations for the instructors and staff was brilliant, as it was comfortable, posh, lovely and well run...plus within walking distance from the University where the classes and presentations were held....and I'm told it has a beautiful swimming pool. Its proximity to Nimmanhaemin, Chiang Mai’s most fashionable street, made it doubly better. After all, I got my daily fix of mango smoothies from a cafe a few steps away.

The location of Documentary Arts Asia for the portfolio reviews was grumbled about, since it wasn't very easy to find (at least for some map-challenged instructors), and it was space restricted as well. However, the availability of food, drink and masseuses during and after the portfolio reviews made up for the minor shortcomings.

More importantly, I have to laud the accomplishments of my class members. I don't really know how they managed it, but they were the fastest class I've ever taught in grasping Audacity and the concept of audio editing. I was taken aback at their speed/ease in using the nature of sound tools, so breathed a huge sigh of relief much earlier than I expected. 

Alycia-Ray Down, Ahmed Shajee Aijazi, Adelina Abad-Pedrosa, Cheryl Nemazie, Amean J. and Christina Malkoun in my class produced disparately-styled audio slideshows, reflecting their interest and individual personalities. From the faith-based to the human touch, they all shone...not only with the quality of their productions  but also with their enthusiasm and single minded approach. My style is perhaps different from other instructors in as much I don't dictate what sort of projects my students ought to produce. They make the choice, and provided they feel for it and like it, I go along with their choices.

Here's where I may get into trouble, but this is my blog and I answer to no one anyway: in my view, the best three projects were Maika Elan's (Maggie Steber's class) Ain't Talkin' Just Lovin' (a lovely photo essay on young people and their pets), Ulises Baque's Oui Nan, a touching web-documentary on 93 years-old rickshaw driver in the Old City (Henrik Kastenkov's class), and Cheryl Nemazie's Night of the Naga (in my own class), a web-documentary of a small tattoo parlor. Yes, the latter two are multimedia projects...and I am certainly biased. Multimedia is the future...whether as web documentaries or as simpler forms of multimedia.

Finally, I was very touched in getting this sweet thank you card from my class. I always learn more from my class participants than they do from me...so it was I who should've given them thank you cards...but I did share a bottle of excellent red Merlot wine sent to me by Nadim Bou Habib all the way from Lebanon. I also have to express my appreciation at the lovely scarf that Christina Malkoun gifted me, and which I wore in the group's photograph.

In closing, all I have to say is that I was glad to renew/refresh my friendship with so many of Foundry alums, and equally happy to make new friends amongst the students...and look forward to seeing all of them in the future.

Chico Sanchez: La Guelaguetza

Photo © Chico Sanchez- All Rights Reserved

As part of the celebrations in honor of the Virgin of Carmen, residents from Oaxaca state's eight regions travel every year to the capital to offer traditional dances, while the residents from Carmen Alto and Carmen Bajo neighborhoods participate in banquets, offerings and processions throughout the city....and this is how Chico Sanchez describes his latest audio-slideshow Deep Friendship.

The Guelaguetza is an annual indigenous cultural event in Mexico that takes place in the city of Oaxaca as well as in nearby villages. The word Guelaguetza means "offering" in the Zapotec language, but its means much more. In traditional Oaxacan villages, people attending the festivities bring food, alcoholic beverages, etc. Each person's offering, or "guelaguetza" triggers a reciprocal exchange, and enables the reinforcement of social ties.

Chico Sanchez is far from being a stranger to The Travel Photographer's blog. His audio-slideshow work has been featured on it on many occasions.

He is a freelance photographer based in Mexico City. Chico worked in Venezuela, collaborating with Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, Agencia EFE, and freelances for various newspapers and magazines.

The Travel Photographer's Presentation At The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop

Photo © Insiya Syed-All Rights Reserved

The Travel Photographer (Me) Presenting The Cult Of Durga...A Multimedia Photo Essay On Kolkata's Durga Puja...During The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop.

The presentations were held at the very impressive facilities of the Chiang Mai University.

As you read this, I'll be on my way to London.