TRAVEL IDEAS: Photographers: Travel

Showing posts with label Photographers: Travel. Show all posts

Global Post: Ali Sanderson's Mekong River

Global Post periodically publishes a photo feature called Full Frame, which showcases some interesting work by emerging photographers. This one is on the Mekong River and is by Ali Sanderson, an Australian photographer from Australia who was based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She worked on productions with leading broadcasters such as National Geographic TV and Radio Free Asia.

In Phnom Penh, Ali, with three other Australian filmmakers, formed a film production company focusing on documentary films dealing with environmental and human rights issues. This led to projects commissioned by Radio Free Asia.

The Mekong is the 10th-longest river in the world, and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,909 km (3,050 mi) and runs from the Tibetan Plateau through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Sharon Johnson-Tennant On Lenscratch

Sharon Johnson-Tennant also joined my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ last year, and has just been featured by the LENSCRATCH photography blog, amongst others.

LENSCRATCH writes that Sharon discovered photography during her career as New York fashion designer, where visual inspirations came from exploring color, texture, and from through her travels around the world. This echoes what I wrote about Sharon's style in my blog post:

"Sharon's professional background in textile design and international fashion influences her photographic acuity to the point that during our trip, I frequently wondered at what she was photographing so intently in an isolated spot. Now I know what she saw and what I didn't. "

A photographer who can easily cross over from art to photojournalism to travel and back again is a photographer to watch.

Terri Gold: Tribal India & Kham Exhibition

Terri Gold joined my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ last year, and will be showcasing a series of her photographs from tribal India and Kham that are painted with encaustic wax and oils. This is an intricate and creative process, which Terri describes here on her blog.

Terri is an award-winning photographer and artist based in New York City, and built an impressive reputation for her rituals, rites of passage, festivals, celebrations and portraits from all over the world.

The exhibition is at Keyes Art, 551 West 21st (4th floor), New York, from February 17th to March 8th.

It's well worth attending this exhibition to appreciate Terri's artistry, and her ability to capture the very essence of tribal India and Kham on such a creative medium...so mark your calendars!!!

And here's an insight into the installation process.

Jain Nuns At Palitana

One the highlights of the In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition™ was the Jain temples of Palitana. As my intent for this photo expedition was to explore and document existent syncretism (defined the attempt to reconcile contrary beliefs, by melding practices of various religious traditions) in Gujarat, Palitana proved itself an interesting stop on the itinerary.

Near the town of Paltina, there's a cluster of 1,500 Jain temples packed densely together on the hillside overlooking the town. These date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, and are the focus of Jains' pilgrimage or tirtha. From the foot of the hill to the top there are about 3,800 stone steps, and it is these steps that Jains have to climb to reach the main temple on top of the hill.

Dismissing the help of porters and their "doli", a sort of palanquin from which passengers are suspended, and that would have terrified me anyway, I walked the 3800 steps up and down. I must say it wasn't that much of effort, but many Jain nuns I encountered along the way do it a multiple times a day, on empty stomachs...no food nor water! That would be tough.

The story behind the above photograph is that the Jain nun on the right had earlier stepped on thorns, and had been in pain while her companions tried to pull them out. I stopped and gave them water to soften the skin to make it easier. Seeing her in pain, I tapped her on the shoulder shoulder meaning to comfort her, whereupon she recoiled in alarm. I had forgotten that touching a Jain monk or nun was prohibited as it defiles them. I felt terrible as I had added to her troubles...however I saw her later at the top temple, and she smiled and thanked me.

So I hope I was forgiven.

Geoffrey Hiller: India

I've recently received an email from Geoffrey Hiller with the link to his dedicated India website with photo galleries of its various cities and areas. The one that caught my particular attention, since I've announced a photo expedition to Kolkata during the Durga Puja, was his work in Kolkata . The rest of his galleries are of Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai.

You'll see that Geoff's photographs of this quintessential Indian city is a mix of environmental portraits and classic street photography, including a few shots made during the Durga Puja too.

To my knowledge, Geoffrey Hiller is one of the first photographers who embraced multimedia, and I recall his work on Burma which introduced me (and certainly others) to this medium. His photography has been published in the United States, Europe, and Japan in such publications as Geo, Newsweek, Mother Jones, and The New York Times Magazine. His photo-essays have covered Asia, Latin America, Europe, and West Africa, and his multimedia projects about Vietnam, eastern Europe, Ghana, Burma, and Brazil have earned recognition from Adobe, the Soros Foundation, Apple, The Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today.

(Posted From London)

Mitchell Kanashkevich: Ati Atihan Festival

Mitchell Kanashkevich has just posted to his blog a reportage on the Ati Atihan festival in Kalibo, which is the capital of the province of Aklan, in the northwest of Panay Island, Philippines; about 45 minutes flight from Manila.

This festival is, as Mitchell describes it, a convergence of Catholic and tribal traditions, and dates back more than 700 years. It was originally a pagan festival observed by local tribes who were practicing animism, and Spanish Catholic missionaries gradually added to it Christian elements, culminating into what it now a frenzied religious festivity observed in January honoring the Santo Niño (Infant Jesus), and concludes concluding on the third Sunday of the month.

Ati Atihan was caught in my radar a few weeks ago, and I am putting it (or perhaps another one like it in the Philippines) on the list of possible photo~expeditions for 2012. I'll do some homework to explore the logistics involved, and if all works out, will announce it in due course to my newsletter subscribers, and eventually here on this blog.

Mitchell Kanashkevich is a travel/documentary photographer, and is represented by Getty Images. He's been featured on this blog a number of times.

Books: Robert Van Koesveld's Bhutan Heartland

Robert Van Koesveld has published a wonderful book on Bhutan, and entitled it Bhutan Heartland. The details of the book are available on a sub-section of Robert's website.

When I got it, I experienced a twinge of envy at Robert's talents as a photographer, and how well produced this book was. Joining Robert in the task of putting this book together is his wife Libby Lloyd.

Bhutan Heartland explores the culture, history, beliefs and dazzling Himalayan landscapes of this wonderful country, known as Druk Yul...and where smoking in public places is against the law!

Nine chapters make up this hardback book of 210 pages. Robert and Libby have taken their readers from Paro in the west of the country to its east, traveling through the high passes of Dochu La and others, meeting monks, nuns, lamas...stopping at Ogyen Choling and documenting the various exuberant tsechu festivals...and end up with silk weavers and yak herders.

If you decide to visit Bhutan (and you must!!!), this is the book you ought to read. It's not a guidebook, but the amount of informed research in it was new to me, informative and interesting...and I've already been to Bhutan about 4 times!!!

Well recommended. You can buy it from Robert's website or order it from major booksellers such as B&N.

Joey Lawrence: Omo Valley Portraits

There's no question that Joey Lawrence (aka Joey L) is one heck of a photographer...travel photographer, ethno-photographer and portrait photographer as well. He recently added more photographs of Lower Omo Valley tribes to his blog that are breathtaking in their simplicity.

These are different than what we come to expect to see from Joey, who had accustomed us to environmental portraits of endangered tribes people, whether in Ethiopia or Indonesia. This latest crop of incredibly beautiful photographs have been posed, and the subjects set against a simple black background. According to Joey, these will be part of a fine art book with all his work from the Omo Valley.

The tribes depicted in this series are the Karo, the Nyangatom, the Mursi, the Daasanac. the Hamer and the Arbore.

Joey used a PhaseOne/Mamiya 646 with a 80mm prime lens, a light setup and a collapsible reflector. The combination of the medium format and the lighting technique produced these remarkable results.

Frederic Lemalet: Tibet

Frederic Lemalet is a French travel photographer who, evidenced by his focus on Tibet, is in love with that region. He traveled to Alaska, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, China, and Nepal...but it's Tibet that seduced him

Between 2003 and 2009, Frederic spent 3 years in Tibet, documenting its culture which may soon disappear. Distributing his time between his native France and Tibet, he's currently working on publishing books, and displaying his images in exhibitions. The last exhibition was "Himalaya" and held in Montier-en-Der (north-eastern France).

His Tibet gallery has 44 photographs, with a number of lovely portraits like the one I chose above...but don't miss those of the famous Tibetan wide open spaces, and of the Tibetan pilgrim praying in a sort of crude shelter made of stones. The photographs span the four seasons; a testament to Frederic's dedication to the region.

Marji Lang: Gujarat

Marji Lang is a French travel and documentary photographer, whose color-full photographs in her India galleries just jump at you.

She's fallen in love with India and has already traveled there four times. Over the past 10 years, Marji traveled in South East Asia, and was influenced by Henri Cartier Bresson and more recently by the work of her compatriot and Indiaphile Claude Renault.

She rarely plans ahead her trips, and just takes it a day at a time. No specific hotel reservations nor fixed itineraries. She prefers making her photographs with a human presence...but is not against making a few that are devoid of people (such as the one above). Marji only uses a 24-70mm lens.

I was interested in her Gujarat gallery as some of her photographs are of Jain female pilgrims (sadhvi) in Palitana, one of our stops during my forthcoming photo expedition In Search of Gujarat's Sufis next month.

Romain Alary: The Street

Photo © Romain Alary-All Rights Reserv

Romain Alary is French photographer-filmographer who traveled extensively, and has recently completed a voyage of many months from Paris to Tokyo. He now lives in France where he's involved in both photography and cinematic projects.

From an entry in his blog, Alain was involved in the movie "Women Are Heroes" by JR whilst parts of it was being filmed in India. The reason I mention this is that he posted a movie clip of Bundi, which is very well made...a time-lapse of the small Rajasthani town, which I initially took to be Pushkar because of its central lake. Most of Bundi's houses/bulidings are painted blue, which gives the movie an interesting look. It's not posted on Vimeo, so you'll have to click on Romain's blog to view it.

Neil Wade: Kham & Amdo

Neil Wade is an editorial and corporate photographer based in Taipei, Taiwan. His photography was featured in varied magazines as National Geographic, Forbes, The Financial Times of London and Skateboarder.

Kham is a region currently split between the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai. The people of Kham are reputed warriors. Many Khampas are members of the Bon religion; an esoteric branch of Tibetan Buddhism, and are considered with suspicion by more mainstream Tibetan sects.

The traditional Tibetan region of Amdo is located on the northeast corner of the Tibetan Plateau. Most of Amdo lies in modern day Qinghai province. It is famous for producing some of Tibet's most famous spiritual leaders.

Eric Kruszewski: Tibet

Eric Kruszewski is a Baltimore-native, who started traveling internationally in 2005. He is drawn to new cultures, faces, practices and daily life. His website features galleries from Tibet, Mongolia, India, Georgia, and closer to home, Alaska and the American West. Spend some time at Eric's Mongolia gallery, which has some nice photographs of the Naadam festival.

The above photograph is of Tibetans prostrating themselves in Lhasa. Prostration is an important expression of Tibetan Buddhism. It's said that Tibetans are expected to prostrate themselves 100,000 times a year. Although they prostrate themselves at temples, some pilgrims cover the entire 33-mile route around Mount Kailas by repeatedly prostrating themselves.

The first time I saw a Buddhist pilgrim prostrating himself in such a way was at the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, about 10 years ago. He wore a full-body leather apron, and wooden "clogs" for his hands, and he circumambulated the stupa for as long as I was there.

The Travel Photographer's 2010 Favorite Image Makers (Part 2)

Following yesterday's post, here are the second 5 of the 10 travel and/or documentary photographers (listed in no particular order) whose work was posted on this blog, and whose photographs were my favorites during 2010.

As I said, deciding which is a visual favorite amongst the hundreds of photographers I've shown here in this blog is a highly subjective and personal choice...nothing more or less. Every single photographer whose work was featured on my blog is worthy of praise and admiration.

1. Jamie Williams:

This photograph is part of Jamie Williams' Tibet series, and is featured in his gorgeous website. I posted on Jamie Williams here.

2. Kieron Nelson:

This photograph of a Zhuang fisherman is part of Kieron's Guangxi gallery. I posted on Kieron's Vanishing Cultures photographs here.

3. Andrea Pistolesi:

This photograph of a Cambodian dancer is part of Andrea's gallery of Cambodia. I had featured Andrea's reportage work on the Rohingya refugees here.

4. Diego Verges:

This photograph is one of the latest of Diego's projects which are featured on his website. I featured Diego's work in a number of posts...this particular one is here.

5. Jørgen Johanson:

Although I posted Jørgen's work on Tibet, I also encourage you to visit the rest of his galleries, including the one of Ethiopia, where I've seen the above photograph.

The Travel Photographer's 2010 Favorite Image Makers (Part 1)

First, let me render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s...this post was suggested by travel photographer Paolo Evangelista. He suggested I ought to post some of my favorite photographers whose work I've featured on this blog over the year....great idea!

So here's the first 5 of the 10 travel and/or documentary photographers (listed in no particular order) whose work was posted on this blog, and whose photographs were my favorites during 2010. The remainder (Part 2) will be posted tomorrow.

As I always say to whoever is interested; deciding which is a visual favorite amongst the hundreds of photographers I've shown here in this blog is a highly subjective and personal choice...nothing more or less. Every single photographer whose work was featured on my blog is worthy of praise and admiration.

I decided against grouping these photographs in a slideshow, so this is going to be a rather vertically long post:

1. Matjaz Krivic:

This photograph is part of Matjaz's gallery of the Pir-e Shaliar festival in the Kurdish area of Iran. I posted Matjaz's work here.

2. Raphael Nguyen:

This photograph is part of Raphael's gallery of super saturated photographs of Hoi An. I posted Raphael's work here.

3. Chico Sanchez:


Photo © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved

This photograph is part of Chico Sanchez's audio-slideshow of Flamenco dancers. I posed Chico's work here.

4. Jehad Nga:

This photograph is part of Jehad's Turkana exhibit at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in NYC, and was also included in the Daily Telegraph article on his photographs. I had posted Jehad's work a number of times here.

5. Richard Murai:

This photograph is by Richard Murai, who recently won the Travel Photographer of the Year contest in the World in Motion category. I had posted an image by Richard Murai here.

Fernanda Preto: Cowboys of Pantanal

Fernanda Preto is a Brazilian photojournalist currently based in Sao Paulo, and after living in the Amazon area for three years, has worked in environment and social reportages. She obtained degrees from the Panamerican School of Arts in Sao Paulo and from the Tuiuti University of Parana.

Her short film is about the Cowboys of Pantanal, which she produced using a Canon 5D Mark II. Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland in the world. Its largest area is in the state of Matto Grosso do Sul, with the rest being in Bolivia and Paraguay. It's considered as one of the last 37 natural wilderness areas in the world. The cowboys working in the area have survived for more than 100 years, doing the same task as the fathers and forefathers did, drive cattle to the highlands before the floods.

You can also see Fernanda's very well composed still images of the Pantanal Cowboys on her website by hovering your cursor over Features.

National Geographic Photo Contest 2010

The National Geographic 2010 Photo Contest winners were announced. More than 16,000 photographs were submitted from around the globe, and 3 earned top honors in the people, places, and nature categories.

The winner in the People category is photographer Chan Kwok Hung of Hong Kong, who captured the photograph of an Indonesian farmer and his buffalo charging through the mud in a buffalo race called "makepung".

I also liked the photograph of a Xhosa boy crying during a circumcision ceremony by Robin Utrecht which garnered the Honorable Mention in the People category.

Samih Güven: India & More

Samih Güven is a Turkish photographer currently residing in Paris. Despite degrees in political sciences and Turkish language/Oriental civilizations, he practiced photography for over 20 years. His recent voyage to Asia is encouraging him to become a professional photographer, and to take up formal training in photojournalism.

He is also a founder member of a French collective called Phrawup.

Take a look at his India color portfolio from which the above photograph is taken, as well as those of Burma, China and Nepal to name but a few. His galleries are both in color, and black & white.

Vincent Prévost: West Papua

I occasionally receive emails from photographers such as the one from Vincent Prévost that make the work of maintaining The Travel Photographer blog feel really worthwhile.

Vincent tells me he's been a regular reader of The Travel Photographer blog for about 2 years, and that it has been a source of inspiration to him. He cites my two posts on Grenville Charles and Diego Verges, who documented tribes of West Papua, as triggering his own photo expedition "Highlands Encounters" to this remote part of the world.

That's what this blog is all about...to inspire photographers to explore other unfamiliar areas, to try new techniques and to document endangered cultures.

He has been teaching French in South Korea since 2002 and is also a freelance editorial photographer who fuses fine art and journalism. While most of his work is in color, he also enjoys black & white photography, and travels with compact audio equipment to add a further dimension to his visual work.

West Papua is an Indonesian province that borders the independent nation of Papua New Guinea and forms the western half of the world's second largest island. The indigenous people of West Papua are of the same ethnic origin as those in the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. Ethnically and culturally, they are also related to other Melanesian peoples of the Pacific.

Sam Chadwick: Cuba & More

Sam Chadwick is a travel photographer and a Hell's Kitchen (NYC) resident where he works on a variety of photographic projects and planning his next photographic travels.

He started photography as a main means of documenting his 5-day ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. Since then, he traveled to over 50 countries, creating a large collection of images of people, cultures and environments. In 2007, he reached the semi-finals of the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and his images have appeared on Reuters.

You can see his many galleries on his website, from Guatemala, Belize, Nepal, Costa Rica, East Africa and my favorite Cuba.