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Submissions can be published or unpublished work but MUST have been created between Sept 1st 2010 and the contest submission deadline, Sept 23rd 2011.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.

Angkor Photo Festival Program 2011

I take great pleasure in featuring the 7th Angkor Photo Festival Program Preview which is to take place in Siem Reap from November 19 to November 26, 2011. This well established event is the first photography festival held in Southeast Asia and for 2011, will exhibit the work of 110 photographers, out of whom 60 are from Asia.

The 2011 list of exhibiting photographers includes Andrew Biraj, Pep Bonet, Paula Bronstein, Marco Di Lauro, Tewfic El-Sawy, Siddharth Jain, Yuri Koryzev, Liz Loh-Taylor, Wendy Marijnissen, Erica McDonald, Palani Mohan, and many more.

My photographs from the photo essay The Possessed of Hazrat Mira Datar will be screened during the festival.

Angkor Photo Festival will hold 12 exhibitions, 7 evenings of slideshows, free workshops for 30 Asian photographers, and a lot more. It's curated by Francoise Callier in consultation with a 9-member international committee. The program is coordinated by Camille Plante and Jessica Lim.

For the PDF Press Release which also contains sample photographs of the exhibits and screenings, click here.

If you haven't considered attending the Angkor Photo Festival, I encourage you to do so. It's an unmissable photography event.

Andrés Lofiego: Con La Tierra

Andrés Lofiego attended Maggie Steber's class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires, and chose me to view his portfolio of black & white stills. He also showed its multimedia version of these stark images, with a throbbing sound track. The multimedia is co-produced with Martin Cossarini.

Con La Tierra, Andrés' photo essay examines the injustice committed by various industries and corporations such as the oil & gas industry, the farming and mining industries against the natives peasants who, for generations, were born, lived and worked in, and died on their ancestral lands. The photographs are of the Mapuches who were evicted from their their lands in Neuquen (Southern province of Argentina), the farmers of Santiago del Estero (Northeastern province) and the people in Quebrada de Humahuaca.

"But these people, the men and women of the land, work to get informed, peacefully resist and build a world wide enough to embrace all cultures."

Photo © Andrés Lofiego-All Rights Reserved

Andrés Lofiego is a photographer/photojournalist who lives in Buenos Aires. He began studying  photography about a decade ago, focusing on reality and social issues. He worked of visual projects covering the recovery of factories in Argentina after the crisis of December 2001, and published a book titled "No Trespassing, A Look from the Self-Managed Work" in cooperation with the workers of the print shop "Chilavert". He is currently documenting land disputes between farmers and corporations in Argentina.

Maggie Steber: Photographer, Educator, Speaker...

Two of my favorite (and insightful) moments at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires were when I had the good fortune of having breakfast with Maggie Steber, and then walking with her to the Motivarte school, where we were meeting our respecting classes.

I thought I'd share with my readers what most have missed by not being at the Foundry this year. No, it's not Maggie speaking during that event (I believe this will be coming in the next few weeks), but of her addressing attendees during the 15th Joop Swart Masterclass in which she talks of her career, along with an overview of her work. This is not a talk that you will want to rush through...quite the opposite. Take your time, and absorb as much as possible from a renowned professional in all the senses of the word. Candid, articulate, funny, wise, interesting and perceptive...that's how I'd describe her. So bookmark or save it, because I know you'll enjoy it.

"How can nature or God or the fates or the universe do this to a country that has borne far too much sadness?" 

Maggie Steber worked as a documentary photographer in 60 countries. Her longtime work in Haiti received the prestigious Alicia Patterson Foundation Grant and the Ernst Haas Grant as well as a book publishing support grant from Kodak. A contract photographer for Newsweek Magazine for 4 years, she has worked through several press agencies as well the Associated Press in New York as a photo editor. She served as Assistant Managing Editor of Photography and Features at the Miami Herald from 1999-2003 and guided the photo projects to become Pulitzer Prize finalists twice and a third time as winner. Her work for National Geographic has included articles on Miami, the African slave trade, the Cherokee Nation, soldiers' letters, and Dubai.

In 2007, she received a grant from the Knight Foundation to design a new newspaper prototype through the new Knight Center for International Media at the University of Miami. In 2010, for the 3rd time, she was invited as a Master Teacher at the World Press Photo Foundation’s Joop Swart classes.

Finally, you ought to view Maggie's photo essay on The New York Times' Lens blog entitled No End Of Trouble. Ever , which includes her reflection on Haiti's misery.

World Press Photo At The United Nations

For the 8th consecutive year the United Nations is hosting the World Press Photo Contest winners, the world’s largest contest for photojournalists. This year's exhibition contains 177 photographs related to 2010 news events from all over the world. This year, 5,691 photographers from 125 countries submitted a total of 108,059 images.

The international jury selected an image by South African photographer Jodi Bieber as World Press Photo of the Year 2010. The picture shows Bibi Aisha, 18, who was disfigured as retribution for fleeing her husband's house in Oruzgan province, in the center of Afghanistan.

Admission to the Exhibits is free and the galleries can be viewed daily between the 5 – 28 August, 2011 from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Visitors’ entrance closes at 4:45 p.m.

PlanetPic Does Ramadan Images

Photo © Daniel Berehulak - AFP/Getty Images

PlanetPic is the new photo blog of GlobalPost, and has impressed me by its variety and the large size of its photographs.

It's one the first large photo blogs that featured images from around the Islamic world on the occasion of Ramadan. Sundown on July 31st marked the beginning of Ramadan, the month when Muslims all over the world are supposed to go without food, drink, smoking and abstain from sex from sunrise to sunset. It is intended for Muslims to purify themselves and concentrate their minds on Islamic teachings.

At sunset each day, Muslims break their fast with a meal known as Iftar, which many start by eating three dates. This holy month, sees a spike in charity, and it is not uncommon to see people marking Ramadan by giving food to the homeless.

As a footnote, I see that the Governor of Texas has backed a prayerapalooza in Houston today, and since he claims he will be fasting all day, I wonder whether he's considering joining the millions of Muslims in their fast. Just sayin'.

The Travel Photographer Is On PhotoVerse

I am pleased that Photoverse will be including The Travel Photographer blog on its application. Photoverse collects information from multiple news sources and blogs related to photography, pools them and presents them to you in an easy to read scrollable list. It enables you to  choose the view you want to see, be it from a single news source or blog or a time-sorted collection from multiple sources that you can select. All pages are rendered locally within a web view so that you never have to leave the application.

Photoverse also allows you to share any interesting article you read via Twitter, Facebook or email. It even allows you to bookmark articles for later perusal.

Photoverse is a utility application developed for the iPad, iPhone by photographers for photographers and is available from iTunes. All i need to do is to get an iPhone!

Omar Mullick: See No Evil

Photo © Omar Mullick-Courtesy Foreign Policy Magazine

Foreign Policy magazine has featured See No Evil,  the work of Omar Mullick in Afghanistan, which was largely made with iPhones and using the Hipstamatic app. When Mullick's embed with the US Army ended, he proceeded to make trips in and outside of Kabul, documenting the lives of ordinary Afghans affected by the grim toll of war. The images in this gallery are from his travels during six weeks from March and April 2011.

Omar Mullick was born and raised in London, and studied politics, philosophy, and economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in New York. He spent six years in fashion photography and the film industry, shooting music videos and commercials before turning to documentary photography. He has received fellowships and awards from the M100 Foundation, the Western Knight Center for Journalism, and the Annenberg Foundation.

Perhaps I'm old hat, but I'm still ambivalent about the fad of using the iPhone by photojournalists to document conflicts. My ambivalence is for purely aesthetic reasons...I'm still of the view that documenting conflicts (especially) needs to be as "pure" as possible, without being tainted by manipulative processing. An iPhone with Hipstamatic and similar software certainly produce interesting images and that, I suppose, is what counts for many photographers.

PS: I've recently noted that even David Alan Harvey seems to have a lot of fun with Instagram photography...but so far these are personal snaps.

Milongas: The Seduction of Tango

I'm pleased to feature an audio slideshow titled "Milongas! The Seduction of Tango" of my still black & white photographs made in various tango halls and milongas of Buenos Aires during the week I spent there  teaching with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop.

Note: You have two viewing options: either to view it as a Vimeo movie (above) or as a SoundSlides, which has better resolution images.

I am equally pleased in having broken many of my self-imposed rules which I religiously followed when producing such multimedia pieces. For this piece, I applied panning (Ken Burns effect) on a few occasions to give the semblance of motion, and to bring the eyes of the viewers to a specific part of the still. Rules are made to be broken, and I hope the photographers who attended my class do not take me too much to task for that.

"the silent and imperceptible gesture by men inviting women to dance..."

I chose to photograph the milongas and the tango at these venues for many reasons. Perhaps it was mainly because of my appreciation for international music, but as I observed the people who were at the milongas...I call them 'actors' because they were, wittingly or unwittingly, acting a part in a pre-ordained old fashioned ritual of almost courtship...the silent and imperceptible gesture by men inviting women to dance...I was reminded that their actions mirrored what occurs between men and women in their quotidian life.

I've also used only two audio tracks...one is by the legendary Carlos Gardel singing the beautiful A Media Luz, and a short poetic narration by Paula Acunzo, a Buenos Aires based photographer who attended my class, and is also a terrific tango dancer. She deserves much credit, not only for writing this evocative poem, but also for suffering some of us at the tango halls and milongas.

But back to A Media Luz....which means 'half-light'. I decided I'd use it as main soundtrack for the slideshow because I was humming it in Buenos Aires almost all the time...and because I photographed these images in the penumbra of the tango halls, and accentuated their darkness even further by vignetting some....so it seemed eminently appropriate.

So turn your speakers on...full volume...and enjoy the seduction of tango.

Johannes P. Christo: Tajen; Ritual & Pleasure

Photo © Johannes P. Christo-All Rights Reserved

Johannes P. Christo is an Indonesian self-taught photographer who has been developing his own vision in visual storytelling. Currently based in Bali, Johannes works as a freelance photographer for editorial, documentary and portraiture projects.

His work has been published in The Jakarta Globe, The West Australian, National Geographic Indonesia, National Geographic Traveler (Indonesia), Travel and Leisure Magazine (Thailand), TEMPO Magazine English Edition (Indonesia), Forbes Indonesia Magazine, Wall Street Journal Photo Blog, Agence French Press, Reuters, ZUMA Press, etc. and he has been recognized with various awards.

I met Johannes in Istanbul where he attended the 3rd Foundry Photojournalism Workshop on a scholarship, and subsequently in Bali where he shared with me his projects which are currently shown on his website. I highlight Johannes' well composed black & white photo essay on cockfighting in Bali, which he titled Tajen: Ritual & Pleasure.

An extremely talented photojournalist, with an interesting collection of photo essays, which, while eschewing color, captures Bali's exotic and ancient traditions in edgy black & white photographs.

Dominic Nahr: Travels Through Islam

Photo © Dominic Nahr-Courtesy TIME

With good reason, I've become skeptical of mainstream Western magazines abilities or interest to present non-stereotypical (and non-judgmental) features dealing with Islam, but I found TIME International's Travel Through Islam five-part series in its Summer Journey issue, to be interesting and insightful.

In this first installment, photographer Dominic Nahr followed the footsteps of famed 14th century explorer and traveler Ibn Battuta into sub-Saharan Africa. In February 1352, Ibn Battuta set off from the city of Sijilmasa at the edge of the Sahara to journey with a camel caravan to lands far to the south.

A few years ago, I was fascinated by Ibn Battuta (whose full name is Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta), and read anything I could find about his life and his travels, to the point that I went to the New York Public Library to read some older manuscripts.

Ibn Battuta's journeys took almost thirty years and covered almost the entire known Islamic world and beyond, extending from North Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, to the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the East, a distance far surpassing that of his predecessors and his near-contemporary Marco Polo.

For an interesting book on Ibn Battuta and his exploits, Tim Mackintosh-Smith followed the traveler's footsteps as well, and wrote Travels With A Tangerine. Not to be confused with the fruit, Tangerine is a resident of Tangiers...as Ibn Battuta was.

Egypt's Revolutionaries: Platon Style

Photo © Platon-Courtesy The New Yorker

The month of Ramadan has dawned on the Islamic world, and I thought I'd mark the event by posting Platon's images of the Egyptian revolutionaries, and in so doing wishing the Egyptian people a future they want and certainly deserve.

Be sure to view the accompanying short videos. You'll first have to suffer Goldman Sachs adverts, but just close your eyes while they play.

According to the news, Hosni Mubarak, his two sons, former interior minister Habib el-Adli, six of his aides and businessman Hussein Salem, are all charged with being involved in the killing of protesters during the 18-day revolt.

I'm not optimistic that the trial will be a speedy one, nor thorough. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's postponed for a myriad of reasons...but the Egyptian people will eventually get justice. They must.

POV: In Praise Of Foundry Photojournalism Workshop

As this blog's followers and readers know, I attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires as a faculty member, and decided I'd jot down my thoughts as to how it progressed and developed.

I attended all four Foundry workshop (Mexico City, Manali, Istanbul and now Buenos Aires), and it was by far the best in terms of organization and infrastructure. Whilst there may be a difference of opinion among faculty members as to the strength of the students projects as presented during the workshops, we all agreed that the organization, the behind-the-scenes work and the two venues (Motivarte and Arte y Arte) were terrific.

The photographers in the faculty were lauded for generously sharing their knowledge and time, but I think the unsung heroes of Buenos Aires' Foundry were its staff, administrators and the local volunteers who made it a wonderful success.

Eric Beecroft, as the visionary force behind the Foundry Workshops, deserves singular praise. He had an idea 4-5 years ago, and made it a reality despite enormous obstacles. As they say, Eric pushed water uphill, and made it to the top. With him, and deserving many kudos for the success of the Buenos Aires workshop are Mansi Midha, Kirsten Luce, Gabriel "Morty" Ortega, Tiffany Clark, Jen Storey, and Hugo Infante. They are excellent photographers in their own right, and you can see their individual biographies here.

Despite their various bouts with tenacious flu, exhaustion and long hours, the staff and local volunteers worked around the clock, and deserve enormous credit for the success of this year's Foundry. Here's to you...and a standing ovation for a well done job!

The students' presentations were shown on the last evening, and having strict time limits for each made it much easier to appreciate. The audience was delighted to have seen such powerful, compelling, creative, imaginative and in a couple of cases, tongue in cheek work.

I will only mention the faculty by saying that, as usual, all instructors exerted tremendous efforts to share their technical knowledge with their classes and beyond. There were incredibly interesting panel discussions, and I, for one, was stunned at some of the instructors' candor in describing the toll their jobs have had on their lives...and yet, they participated in this workshop just because they want to give back.

Finally, a word about Buenos Aires...the combination of the best beef, lamb and chorizos (especially at Glumy and Criollo on Serrano square) in the world, excellent wine, bewitching tango music, and the seductive milongas...as well as some of the most attractive women (and I'm told, handsome men) I've seen, also contributed to it being such an unforgettable experience.

The 2012 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held in Southeast Asia....Viet Nam is on top of the shortlist. Keep your eyes and ears open for the eventual details...and be part of it. You won't regret it.

Terri Gold: Into The Mists of Time

Photo © Terri Gold-All Rights Reserved

Terri Gold joined my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ last year, and is now showing her terrific infrared images about life in Guizhou (China) in an exhibition entitled “Into the Mists of Time", of which the above image is part of.

Julie Keyes is curating and presenting the exhibition at 4 North Main Gallery, which is located at 1 North Main Street in Southampton, New York, and will be opened for viewing on July 30th, 12-7PM and July 31st, 12-5PM. 

From the exhibition's press release:

Terri Gold’s lifelong body of work “Still Points in a Turning World “focuses on Asia’s vanishing tribal heritage and has been widely published and exhibited. Recently, she was featured in aCurator Magazine and Lenscratch and was a winner in the Planet Magazine and London International Creative Competitions. Gold’s work is interpretive in nature and incorporates the use of infrared light and the invisible light spectrum. She is interested in the myriad ways in which people find meaning in their lives, how an individual explores his or her existence through their traditions.

So if you're in the Hamptons this week-end, don't miss it! Teri's images are unique and well worth your time.

Indu Antony: It's A Beautiful World Outside

Indu Antony attended the Buenos Aires Foundry Photojournalism Workshop which just ended a few days ago, and chose the incomparable Maggie Steber as her instructor. A wise decision...and one which speaks volumes about Indu's passion for photojournalism.

She also chose me to review her phenomenal portfolio...which I did, spending a very long time doing so, forgetting I had other photographers waiting for me. Her multimedia photo essay on the destitute and the homeless in a Bangalore shelter is so compelling and sensitive that I watched it twice...slowly. You will too.

"Indu, you should marry a dentist and open a dentist clinic and have two boys who will be successful dentists too!". I decided to disobey her and follow my dream of being a photographer. I have been chasing colour purple ever since through my images."

Indu hails from Bangalore and is drawn to documenting the unprivileged, the homeless and those who lack a voice.  Her It's A Beautiful World Outside was photographed in a Bangalore shelter which mainly houses psychologically ill people who, like us, have dreams and wishes.

From the sight-impaired to the physically handicapped, all believe they will one day walk out from that shelter into that beautiful world "Outside". In her multimedia piece, Indu fused their portraits to photographs of their dreams, and recorded their voices telling us of their hopes and wishes.

Powerful...emotional...and sensitive.

Jon Goering: Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity

Photo © Jon Goering-All Rights Reserved

I am certainly glad Jon Goering chose me to review his multifaceted portfolio during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires a few days ago, and so will you when you view his black & white images of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

I guarantee you'll find these beautiful images very compelling, and extremely well composed.

Jon is a photojournalist living near Birmingham, Alabama and is the staff photographer for Shelby County Newspapers. He was awarded third place by the Hearst Journalism Awards program for News/Sports in 2008/2009 and honored for his photography of Ethiopia. At CPOY64 he was awarded two honorable mentions awards, one for International Picture Story for a story on the children of the Chinandega, Nicaragua landfill, and one for Portrait. The project was later selected by the photojournalism collective LUCEO as one of ten finalists for their student project award. Jon garnered other awards, and I predict he will continue to impress us with his future projects.

In Buenos Aires, my review of Jon's images (viewed on his iPad) quickly evolved into a conversation about Ethiopia and the profound religiosity of its people. I can't recall for certain if I told Jon this, but when looking at his images, the sinking feeling in my stomach signalled I had missed much by photographing only in color when I was in Lalibela during Timket...but it was in 2004 and what did I know then?!

So I'm happy Jon is smarter than I was, and did realize that black & white photography enhanced his visualization of Ethiopia's beautiful Christian rituals.

David Lazar: The Monks Of Burma

Photo © David Lazar-All Rights Reserved

After the 10 days or so I spent amidst photojournalism work, I thought I'd revert to pure travel photography through the work of David Lazar; a collection of absolutely gorgeous portraits of Burmese monks which are certain to thrill and impress the legions of photographers who traveled to this magnificent land, and who especially favor simple portraiture work. I know quite a number of those photographers, and also know of a few who will be traveling soon to see for themselves what Burma has to offer.

Not only are the portraits just spectacular, but the gallery's presentation is also superb. The gallery of large images is on the Visions of Indochina website.

David Lazar is a musician and photographer from Brisbane, and who loves traveling and capturing moments of life through photography. He has won a number of awards and recognitions for his photography which include Shutterbug Awards 2011, Kumuka Travel Photo Contest 2010, Lonely Planet Photo Competition 2010, Asian Geographic - Poetry in Motion Competition 2010, Intrepid Photography Competition 2009...and many more.

I'm not at all surprised. David's photographs are the type that win awards consistently.

Amy Winehouse: Unique Talent

Here's Amy Winehouse in an acoustic version of Love Is A Losing Game. She sang this sad song with only a solo guitarist, and it demonstrates her impressive range of vocals. She had a incredible future, but it was not to be.  

One of my favorites is her "Me And Mr Jones"....another great song.

(Via One Voice-One Guitar)

Gardelito, The Tango Performer Of San Telmo

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved (Click To Enlarge)

After the phenomenally successful Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires ended, and the raucous party(ies) waned in the wee hours of the night (or more accurately with the first rays of the sun), some sleep-deprived souls joined the Sunday throngs in San Telmo.

San Telmo is the oldest neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is a well-preserved area and is characterized by its cafes, tango parlors, antique shops on cobblestone streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers.

Mervyn Leong, Syed Azahedi, Mariana Castro and myself met in the San Telmo main square where we ambled for a few hours, photographing the stalls, the vendors, the customers and the flaneurs. To the side of the square, we stumbled on a solo tango performer who called himself Gardelito, presumably after Carlos Gardel who was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is the most prominent figure in the history of tango. For one of his songs, click here.

Gardelito is an old hand working the crowds, sings and plays the guitar quite well and knows how to market himself. He displayed his washed out photographs on a wall behind him, and claimed he was interviewed by all the world's major newspapers.

As a footnote, there's little doubt in my mind that the Buenos Aires Foundry Photojournalism Workshop was the best one organized so far since it was started by Eric Beecroft in 2008. I will post more on this in a few days.

Buenos Aires: The Tango Dancer Is Waiting

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Well, we're midway through the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, where the food and wine are remarkable, the women are gorgeous and the music is superb. A photojournalism workshop with intense classes given by top photographers, and interspersed with forays into the night life of this non-sleeping city! It can't get any better.

A group of us went last night to the Salon Canning on Scalabrini Oritz, where we witnessed some of the finest tango musicians, and impressive dancing from the patrons of the establishment.

Although I photographed the dancers, this image of a woman waiting to be asked to dance is the one that remains with me from last night.

New: Zoom H2n Handy Recorder

Since I'm about to start teaching my class Multimedia For Photographers at the incomparable Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, I am glad to have caught the news that Samson (Zoom) has announced the H2n, a portable audio recorder that incorporates five built-in mics, and one 3.5mm external mic input, for a variety of sound capture scenarios, and for the anticipated street of $199.

It will come with a bunch of accessories including an audio editing software, and an optional accessory pack with lots of goodies.

It may well be time to retire my Marantz PMD620 after all! But it will have to do until the H2n is released in September....which may allow me to get it before I travel to Kolkata on my Cult of Durga photo expedition.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop Is Live!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I've been on Buenos Aires since Friday morning, and I've already seen tango street performers, as well as spent many hours at a genuine milonga observing the traditional rituals and procedures that govern the tango, the national dance of Argentina.

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop 2011 has just been inaugurated by a lunch for the faculty, and approximately 130 students are converging towards Motivarte, where the official introduction of students-instructors is scheduled in an hour or so.

Eric Beecroft, in the manner of the Roman emperors, declared the workshop open by saying 'let the games begin'. He didn't really say that...but his speech was infinitely more eloquent.

I ought to get ready to meet my students.

Once Magazine: Photojournalism For The Mobile Age?

As I'll be on my way to Buenos Aires this evening for the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, I thought of posting this potential photojournalism opportunity about Once Magazine.

Once Magazine claims that it will publish three stories of about twenty-five full-screen photographs with captions, an introductory text essay, and interactive features. The magazine will allow photographers to tell their stories by using the iPad as one of the mobile platforms.

The magazine will split all subscription revenue directly with photographers, and its stories will be chosen for their "narrative appeal, journalistic insight, and photographic quality."

For further information and to submit stories and projects, take a look at the magazine's About page.

I wish Once Magazine's team success. I can't foretell its future but I'm sure many photographers/photojournalists ought to be rooting for it to succeed.

The Leica File: The Tourist & Magnolia Bakery

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved (Click To Enlarge)

The West Village in NYC is not totally taken over by Wall Streeters, fashionistas, movie stars, pooping dogs and cranky old people....it also has its share of 'cupcake tourists'.

The Magnolia Bakery opened in 1996 at Bleecker Street (one of the most sought after retail streets in the city), and is said to have started a cupcake mania. I walk Bleecker Street often, and there are usually long lines of customers waiting to binge on cupcakes.  Most of the customers are either very large tourists from out of town (ie Texas) or real tourists from Europe and Asia. Those who emerge from the bakery with their (I'm told, overly sweet) cupcakes, brandish them triumphantly like trophies for their friends to snap their pictures.

But how can a tourist, if alone and with a cupcake, record such a historical life-altering event for posterity? Well, she could do what this young woman is doing. She has it in a paper plate...aligns it carefully with the bakery's store name, and clicks her point & shoot. There...her folks, friends back home will know for sure she's been at the "famous" bakery and had one of its confections.

I suppose I could stand there with my camera and offer my services, but I might get paid in cupcakes.

For more on my street photography efforts, go to The Leica File.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop: Multimedia Class

I'm caffeinated at flying to Buenos Aires tomorrow evening to teach at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (which this year is in Buenos Aires) in just a few days. I will be teaching, along with Rodrigo Cruz (and with Jessica Pons' assistance), a multimedia class that allows its participants to concentrate on the story, rather than on the application. It's structured to show photojournalists how to make quick work of slide show production, using their own images and audio generated in the field, to produce a cogent photo story under the simulation of publishing deadlines.

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is designed photography and emerging photojournalists hone their skills, have a chance to work with some of the world’s best shooters in the field, on real reportage projects, to create multimedia, to see some of the best work being done today, to collaborate, to make contact, plan future projects, develop your own vision and leave the workshop energized, exhausted, and more committed then ever to concerned photography, storytelling and to documenting the world through the lens.

If you're in Buenos Aires, interested in photojournalism and haven't enrolled yet...you'll be missing a unique opportunity! So get going!

Dede Pickering: Myanmar 2011

Photo © Dede Pickering-All Rights Reserved

Once again, Dede Pickering has just returned from her photographic travels and this time it's from Myanmar (Burma).  Having retired from the corporate world, she became a photographer, and 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, as well as Cuba.

From the many photographs in Dede's Myanmar gallery, I stopped at the lovely one above of young nuns. Girls, as boys more commonly do, take vows during ordination, and practice the same activities as do the boys for monkhood, with the only visual being that they wear pink instead of red robes.

Dede's Myanmar gallery has 34 images, out of which 18 are verticals...an almost perfect balance with her horizontals, If it had been my photographs, the gallery would have been all horizontals!! It's always interesting to appreciate and study other travel photographers' points of views and compositional styles.

Rainer Hosch: Faces Of Udaipur

Photo © Rainer Hosch-All Rights Reserved

Rainer Hosch is an Austrian commercial photographer,and currently lives in Chelsea (the NYC one). His photographs appeared in magazines like i-D, Wired, Esquire, GQ and The New York Times, and he has worked on advertising for Nike, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard, among others.

He recently returned to NYC after traveling in Thailand and India, photographing an advertising campaign for an international outdoor furniture maker. I thought I'd feature some of his personal work such as Faces of Udaipur, a gallery of the photo shoot's cast, in order to highlight the work of a commercial photographer doing travel/location photography, and how it differs from documentary travel photography.  It seems Rainer has one of these furniture assignments in India, and it's locations were at the fabulous Lake Palace Hotel, and also in Deogarh.

You can also follow Rainer's other photo shoots on his blog: In Case You Were Wondering.

The Leica File: I Did The Right Thing After All

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved (Click to Enlarge)

As those who follow The Travel Photographer blog may know, I bought the Leica M9 and a couple of lenses (Elmarit 28mm and the Voigtlander 40mm) earlier this year, and I've been using it since for street photography in New York City...which was the main reason I decided to become a "Leica aficionado".

At the time, the decision to spend such a large amount of money on Leica gear seemed frivolous and unnecessary. Believe me, I went through periods of angst and head-scratching as to why I did buy it. At first, I tried to convince myself that I needed it...that it would speed up my photographic evolution...and then that I would enjoy it more than all the other cameras I use.

When I'm asked why I bought, or use, a Leica, I sometimes use this analogy: if I were to drive on the mountain roads in Europe; say between France and Switzerland, would I rent a super modern BMW X5, or would I choose (assuming it was available) a Series 1 Jaguar E Type with manual transmission? I would certainly choose the latter, to maneuver the curves the way they should be, and heel and toe downshift to my heart's content. The analogy is imperfect of course, but I would certainly enjoy the driving experience much more with the Jag...as I found I enjoyed photography with the M9 more than with the Canons.

"All I know is that I enjoy photographing with the Leica whether it's stuck to my face, or dangling on my waist/hip."

In an earlier post, I question if shooting from the hip (by the way, it's one of the most viewed/read post on this blog) was really photography. Many have said yes...I really haven't decided yet, although I confess that I don't care any more. All I know is that I enjoy photographing with the Leica whether it's stuck to my face, or dangling on my waist/hip.


To me, that's the bottom-line answer to my angst-ridden self question as to whether getting a Leica was a good idea. It was all about enjoying it....having fun with it. That's it. I am not a tech-head so whether the Leica is technically a better camera than the Canon 5D Mark II or the Fuji X100 is incidental. I just appreciate it for what it is... a solid, well-built, quirky, irritating, rewarding, reliable and a pain in the ass photographic tool. But to go gaga and weak-kneed over it like some do, is not one of my talents. And speaking of talents, I don't over-intellectualize photographs...whether mine or someone's else.


I like street photography in New York City (who doesn't?) and, emulating seasoned street photographers, I take my camera whenever and wherever I can. Sure, I make lots of mistakes when I use the shooting from the hip technique, which I probably wouldn't do if I had a Canon and an auto-focus lens. For instance, the photograph of these two women "Get Sweet On Salt" would have been better composed (no ice cream cone growing out of a head, for one thing) had I viewed it through a viewfinder, either with the M9 or a Canon. But their expressions (notice the pout by the woman on the left) would have been different....they would have noticed me for sure, and could have either smiled or scowled.

For further street photography in New York City, I have a separate gallery on The Leica File.

Pamplona, The Drifters & Hemingway

Photo © Eloy Alonso-Reuters/Courtesy In Focus

The Atlantic magazine's wonderful photo blog In Focus is featuring 36 large photographs of The Running of The Bulls during the Festival of San Fermin which attracts thousands of visitors to Pamplona, Spain. Over the course of nine days, the festival hosts bullfights, a carnival, fireworks, and of course, the encierro, or "running of the bulls."

"I was so buzzed up by the adrenaline rush I got by reading of the running to evade the bulls, that I vowed to participate..."

I first heard of the Running of The Bulls through books. Like many of my generation, I came across it while in my late teens reading Hemmingway's The Sun Also Rises. I also recall it described in James Michener's The Drifters, an epic novel about youths who drift to Torremolinos, Pamplona, Southern Africa, Morroco, and Portugal. I was so buzzed up by the adrenaline rush I got by reading of the running to evade the bulls that I vowed to participate...much to the disbelief of my friends and peers in Cairo, who probably looked at each other behind my back and rolled their eyes (or whatever the expression was at that time).

Ah, well. I never ran in Pamplona...and never will.

For those interested, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run every year, although most of these injuries are contusions.

I think the above photograph is remarkable...it was probably photographed using remote triggers,  strobe slaves and empty soda bottles (see photograph #21).

Idris Ahmed: Holla Mohalla

Photo © Idris Ahmed-All Rights Reserved

Idris Ahmed is an environmental activist-turned-schoolteacher-turned-professional photographer, as well as a biker. His vehicle has taken him, at times, as high as 13,000 feet to photograph landscapes, monasteries and the people who inhabit these altitudes.

Five years ago, Idris was biking through the Kunzum La pass in Himachal Pradesh, and visited the Spiti Valley for the first time. The landscape was so stunning that he he has since journeyed to the valley every year, staying for a month each time.

Although most of his press coverage has been on Spiti: Daughter of the Sea photo exhibition in Delhi last April, I have featured Idris' gallery of the Sikh Holla Mohalla.

The Holla Mohalla is an annual Sikh festival, which usually lasts for a week and consists of  various displays of fighting prowess and bravery, followed by music, poetry and communal meals. It also is highlighted by a huge procession by the Nihangs, clad in their traditional dress and weapons, on the last day of the festival. It is held at the Indian city of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, and it is estimated that over 100,000 Sikh devotees attend the Holla Mohalla.

Oskar Barnack Award 2011: The Winners

Leica announced the 2011 winners of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, and produced an 18 minute movie of their work. The movie was presented at the Arles Photo festival of 2011.

Jan Grarup received the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2011 for his “Haiti Aftermath” series and Jing Huang won the Newcomer Award 2011 for his photo set titled “Pure of Sight.”

"Regular readers of The Travel Photographer's blog won't be surprised. I am not moved by most of the photo essays that won the Oskar Barnack Award 2011."

I've watched this movie three times, and readily confess that the majority of the photo essays left me indifferent, and even puzzled. I found that the exceptions were the two projects by Jan Garup; the Haiti Aftermath and Darfur (at the end of the clip) and a poignant photo essay by Carsten Stormer titled The Acid Survivors. I just wasn't moved by the remainder of the photo essays....largely because I just didn't understand what the photographs meant to convey.

That being said,  I generally liked the multimedia production of this movie. I found the varying sound tracks (although none were ambient) to be appropriate, slow and deliberate, and in keeping the theme of the photo essays. I also like the sobriety of the typography and the titles of each photo essay....with the technique of underlining the names of the photographers to accentuate their importance to the viewers.

The transitions were mostly simple, and the dissolves were kept to a minimum. The other effects kept to a minimum were the Ken Burns effect and the panning, but only for the first half of the movie. Subsequently, there was more reliance on the zoom in-zoom out effect, and it was unnecessarily  heavy handed. I also noted that the producer(s) used alternating of verticals on a single frame.

Tanya Habjouqa: Women of Gaza

Photo © Tanya Habjouqa- Courtesy Al Jazeera

I am always very pleased to see impressive talent from the Middle East such as that of photographer Tanya Habjouqa, whose Women of Gaza was just featured on Al Jazeera website.

Tanya was born in Jordan and educated in the United States, and is currently based in Jerusalem. She won a well deserved reputation for gaining unique access to sensitive gender, social and human rights stories in the Middle East. She received a number of awards for her work, and is published in The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe and worked for various NGOs.

Her gallery of images on the Al Jazeera website documents the community spirit prevailing in the Gaza strip, which is maintained despite the ongoing Israeli siege and occupation. In her photographs, one clearly sees how the women in Gaza are continuing to live their lives as best they can...continuing to care for their families, working for a better future through education and careers.

Not only has Al Jazeera shown the US-based cable networks how to deliver news from the Middle East and elsewhere, but it's also supporting Middle Eastern photographers and photojournalists by featuring their work, and their projects. Would CNN or MSNBC have featured Women of Gaza? Not likely.  Well done, Al Jazeera!

Via Wendy Marijnissen Twitter feed.

The Leica File: Serendipity Or Decisive Moment?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved (click it to enlarge)

Many interesting photographs are the result of serendipitous events that occur when the photographer is right there, while others are the result of the photographer anticipating the event, the gesture or the decisive moment.

In the case of the three women in the F train (which I titled "The Sleepy, The Anxious And The Bored"), it was certainly a matter of having these three distinctly different women sitting across from me, who being self absorbed in their own world, were oblivious of the M9 propped on my knee. Although I was conversing with Mervyn Leong on our way back from Coney Island, my peripheral vision allowed me to click the shutter when I "sensed" the scene you see in the photograph. I didn't see it...I just clicked...perhaps anticipating it because of their movements? I just don't know. I had taken a couple of frames earlier...and had no clue that I had really captured this scene until I exited the subway.

"I 'sensed' the scene you see in the photograph. I didn't see it...I just clicked.."

Human nature is so interesting. The Sleepy was very energetic when she boarded the train, but eventually slumped in her seat. The Anxious was serene for most of the ride...but suddenly became frazzled as you see her. The Bored looked bored all through the ride...and held that pose for most of the time.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved (click it to enlarge)

Now this one, which I titled "The Gawker" is different. It's a "shot from the hip" photograph at Union Square, and it is more of an anticipatory shot. The attractive Asian tourist was pacing up and down, waiting for someone, and I noticed the man approaching her, then setting down his delivery cart. I knew he would be looking at her (as I had been doing), and it's at that moment that I clicked the shutter. He had a bottle in his hands, and I just can't decide if he was gawking at her because she was beautiful, or whether he saw her drinking and decided he'd drink too...or both.

Erica McDonald: DEVELOPphoto

Erica McDonald is an institution. Yes, you read that correctly. She's an institution for a number of reasons; primarily because she's a damn good photographer/photojournalist, and also because she recently and single handedly initiated DEVELOP Tube, an educational resource on photojournalism.

If you need proof of her photographic talents, just drop by her website, and take a good look at her New York City Portraits, amongst her many galleries. You'll immediately agree with me.

And when you finish doing that...drop by DEVELOP Tube on YouTube and on VIMEO.

DEVELOP Tube features interviews, profiles, lectures, films about photojournalism, fine art, documentary photography, photographers, including multimedia productions which effectively incorporate the still photograph, and slideshows created to showcase powerful photographs, especially those concerning humanitarian issues: human rights, environmental sustainability and global health.

It's a veritable compendium of photography, and Erica must be commended for making all this trove easily available to the public. Bookmark it or follow it on Twitter @DEVELOPphoto

Erica has chosen two of my audio slideshows to add to DEVELOPphoto. White Shadows and Cham.

Anders Ryman: Rites of Passage

Photo © Anders Ryman-All Rights Reserved

Anders Ryman is a Swedish photographer and writer who has been published in a wide range of international magazines, including Animan, GEO and National Geographic Nordic. He specializes in people, travel and ethnic cultures.

The New York Times featured news of Rites of Life an exhibition of Anders' photographs in a development on the south bank of the River Thames, through September 6.

The photographer spent more than seven years on the project, and it won the support UNESCO. The article tells us that "images from Ethiopia, Spain and Micronesia illustrate birth customs; others, from Turkey, Thailand, Norway and South Africa, show various sorts of initiation ceremonies; still other highlight weddings in Nepal and Morocco. Finally, end of life rituals are captured Bolivia, India and Madagascar."

"I decided to focus of rites of passage as it is something which unites us as humans."-Anders Ryman

Also available through the Rites of Life website is Anders' 560 pages book which is for sale. The book portrays more than thirty rituals from all corners of the globe.  The rituals include the blessing of a newborn in a small village in Spain to a girl’s initiation into womanhood among the Apaches of Arizona; from the Xhosa male initiation ceremony in South Africa to the communion with the dead during Todos Santos in Bolivia; from a woman’s first chilbirth in Palau to the wedding ceremonies in the Shinto shrines of Tokyo.

It certainly looks like an exhibition I will try to visit when I'm next in London.  I would like to see these photographs in large format...unfortunately, Anders' website does not render enough justice to his photographs.