Fifth Annual FCCT Photo Contest 2011

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and OnAsia, one of the leading photo agency in Asia, are soliciting participations in the Fifth Annual FCCT Photo Contest. All photos must be taken in the Asia-Pacific region, and photographic submissions in the following four categories will be accepted:

* Spot news: for the best single image photograph taken at a news event in the Asia-Pacific region. No more than five photographs per photographer may be submitted in this category.

* Feature photography - for the best single-image non-news "feature" photograph taken in the Asia-Pacific region. No more than five photographs per photographer may be submitted in this category.

* Photo essay - for the best collection of up to 12 photos on a single topic taken in the Asia-Pacific region. No more than three photo essays per photographer may be submitted in this category.

* Environmental Issues - A special category, sponsored by Delegation of the European Union to Thailand, for the best single photo or photo essay of up to 12 images focusing on environmental topics, including issues such as natural resources and waste; climate change; nature and biodiversity; and the environment and public health. No more than five single images and/or three photo essays per photographer may be submitted in this category.

* In addition, the judges will select one Photographer of the Year to recognize either the best single image, photo essay or the most impressive collection of work submitted by a single photographer in 2011.

Submissions can be published or unpublished work but MUST have been created between Sept 1st 2010 and the contest submission deadline, Sept 23rd 2011. First-place winners in Spot News, Feature Photography and Photo Essay will each receive: $1,000 cash and one round-trip ticket for economy-class air travel in Asia,

I'm generally not fond of photographic contests, but this one may be more interesting than the others I've seen. I will review its terms and conditions before committing to participate. I think I have a photo essay that would suit this contest perfectly.

CPN: Gary Knight: Advice To Young Photographers

Canon Professional Network has featured five Canon Ambassadors – photographers Michael ‘Nick’ Nichols, Gary Knight, Ziv Koren, Frits van Eldik and Paolo Pellegrin, and asked them what they’ve learnt from their years of experience and what advice they would offer to young photographers starting out on their photographic careers.

I thought I'd feature Gary Knight's interview here...this is purely a personal choice based on what he advocates "keep it simple...and don't think too much"; advice which I always follow and advocate, and since I met Gary in Bali some years ago...I know his advice is not a fluff piece, and that he speaks his mind. So his interview is highly recommended to young photographers.

"...keep it simple...don't think too much..."

Gary Knight began his photographic career in Thailand in 1987 and he lived and worked in the Far East until 1992. In 1993 he moved to the former Yugoslavia and documented the civil war there. In recent years he has covered the invasion of Iraq, the occupation of Afghanistan, the civil war in Kashmir and the Asian Tsunami. One of the founders of the VII Photo agency in 2001 his work has been published by magazines all over the world and he has been a contract photographer for Newsweek since 1998. He is one of the founders of the Angkor Photo Festival, a registered charity in Cambodia; a board member of the Crimes of War Foundation and a trustee of the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation.

Manca Juvan: Sans Papier

Photos © Manca Juvan-All Rights Reserved

Manca Juvan is a freelance photographer having completed her studies at the Slovene School for Photography, and has gleaned many awards and recognitions since then.  She was selected as Photographer of the Year in Slovenia for her reportage work in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and was  commended - in 2005 and 2006 - for her work on Afghanistan by the Slovenian Association of Journalists.

Nominated for the World Press Photo’s Joop Swart Materclass in 2008,  she was chosen in 2011 as one of three recipients of a scholarship for NYU/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights Program. Her work was shown at Photomed festival in France, and selected for its “Hall of Excellence” by The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography.

Her work was published in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic (Slovenia), Time.com, Marie Claire, The European Voice and Der Standard.

I particularly admired her gallery titled Sans Papier ("Without Documents"), which consists of a series of diptychs pairing the portraits of illegal immigrants in Paris with objects they brought from their native countries. Simple and yet evocative.

The Frame Does Ramadan

Photo © AP/Mohammed Zaatari-All Rights Reserved

The Frame, The Sacramento Bee's photo blog has featured 33 magnificent photographs of Muslims around the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan which runs this year from Aug. 1 to Aug. 30. During that period, observant Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn to dusk.

It was a tough choice as there are many images from photographers such as Kevin Frayer in India, Altaf Qadri in Srinagar, and Achmad Ibrahim in Jakarta which captured the many facets of Islam during Ramadan all over the globe.

However for the blog, I chose the photograph of Lebanese "dawn awakener" (known as the "mesaharati", holding a lantern and a drum to awaken observant Muslims for a meal before sunrise in the old souk of the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon.

President Obama In The West Village!!!

Photographs © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

The West Village's West 12th Street was abuzz a few moments ago with the imminent arrival of President Obama, who was scheduled to attend a fundraiser at the home of a Hollywood celebrity (Harvey Weinstein?).

I was there with my Canon 7D and a 70-200, and managed to capture his motorcade, and his car.  But I preferred to wave like a kid as it passed...and caught a glimpse of him, looking at the crowds and at his Blackberry.

A Dos Pasos Del Corazón: The Photographer Of Seville

I was impressed by this short documentary of Juan, who is a photographer in Seville (or Sevilla) who at the age of 85 years is still taking pictures at weddings, baptisms and communions. He has been practicing this profession since 1944.

The videography is by Sergio Caro  and Ernesto Villalba, and is a tribute to simplicity. I always advise simplicity in my multimedia classes, and to let the story be carried by the narrative. This video has all the ingredients of successul storytelling via narrative...it even includes faded old photographs as a way to introduce Juan's personal history. Unfortunately, there's no translation but I guess it's not too difficult to understand what is being said...more or less.

With that minor exception (seen through an English-speaking prism), this is a very well produced documentary.

It brings back my childhood memories of Monsieur Phillipe who walked the beaches in Alexandria, Egypt making pictures of families, children and friends. He used a twin-lens reflex camera, probably a Rolleiflex and would have the prints back in about 2 days.  Possibly Greek or Armenian, Monsieur Phillipe always wore a sweat stained Panama hat, leather sandals and knee-length white shorts. I recall he had extremely hairy legs, and his sandals threw sand whenever he walked on the beaches. He probably remained in Egypt until the late 60s.

What an interesting subject Monsieur Phillipe would make...in the same vein as Juan! I'd be interested to hear from anyone who may have know what happened to him.

POV: Street Photography, An Addiction?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Yes, it is.

It's been a little more than 5 months since I've acquired the Leica M9 with a couple of lenses; an Elmarit 28mm (which is my mostly-used lens), and a Voigtlander Nokton 40mm. During the first two months, I used it gingerly, almost self-consciously...waiting for it to "grow" on me, and for my instinct to take over. I took it wherever I went, virtually daily...and it slowly became part of me.

I normally walk around with it either dangling from my neck, or from my shoulder...or more recently, in a Domke waist pouch which seems to have been manufactured for it, when I don't need or want to use it. It has come to the point that if I don't have it with me, something is missing...sort of like forgetting my cellphone or my keys.

I've learned to look (as distinct from seeing) for "characters"...I've learned how to look for interesting faces some 30-50 yards from where I stand or walk to anticipate the framing and composition of the images I eventually make of them...I try to pre-visualize scenes (but haven't fully succeeded yet) such as anticipating the faces of construction workers when they see a pretty woman in a short dress walk by...or that of a child seeing his mother when coming out of school..and snapping that moment. I've learned how to pretend to be checking my cellphone whilst clicking the shutter at the same time....and I've learned to frame the image without looking at my subjects.

I am lucky to live in Manhattan...the most street photography "friendly" (or should I say 'interesting'?) city. I have favorite streets. Broadway and Canal Street...14th Street always has interesting characters, and Chinatown is a haven for street photography just because it's heavily touristic, and its residents are used to photographers.

The Leica File is a gallery of my NYC street photographs, 

"I allow myself to be seduced... I grow. I evolve. And I like that...a lot."

But the best is this. I don't look at the images that I shoot from the hip (or from the waist, in my case) until I return home and download them. Heck, that almost brings me back to the exciting good old days of film!

As for my gear, I have to say the M9 is almost the perfect tool for street photography. Nothing new here. I qualify that perfection because while it's inconspicuous, virtually infallible and it's almost silent...the lack of auto-focus is still a pain in the ass. Leica will not like me for saying this...but it is. I've learned to pre-focus or just move my feet until my image is sharp...I've also learned the zone focusing technique (still not very well, it seems)...and manage to muddle through the focus issue. But I still salivate at the improbable idea of a Leica with auto focus capabilities.

Finally, as a side benefit of all this addictive street photography, I am partly ensconced in a black & white phase...I allow myself to be seduced by toning, by special effects, by Instagram-like colorization, and by a multitude of other "sins" that I normally don't indulge in.

I grow. I evolve. And I like that...a lot.