NYT's One In 8 Million Gets An Emmy

I was very glad to read that The New York Times’ multimedia series One in 8 Million won an Emmy Award in the “new approaches to documentary” category a few days ago, and that its producers and all those involved were deservedly recognized and honored. For those who don't know,  the series is a collection of stories told with audio and photography that portray everyday New Yorkers. Unfortunately,...

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Candace Feit: Orissa's Tribals

Photo © Candace Feit -All Rights Reserved  Candace Feit is a photojournalist currently residing in New Delhi, and was featured on the pages of The Travel Photographer blog a number of times.Her photographs of West Africa  (she was based earlier in Dakar, Senegal) appeared in the The New York Times, Le Monde, Le Figaro, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and Time magazine,...

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David Myers: City of The Dead

The City of the Dead is produced by David Myers, a part-time photographer who lives in Maryland and works in Washington DC.The City of the Dead is a four mile long cemetery (a necropolis would be a better word to describe it) which extends from the northern to southern part of Cairo. It's called el-arafa by Egyptians, and is an area of tombs and mausoleums where people live and works amongst the dead. Its foundation dates back to the Arab conquest...

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Esther Havens: Ethiopia

Photo © Esther Havens-All Rights ReservedIt's very easy to like and admire Esther Havens. She is a humanitarian documentary photographer who focuses on social-awareness campaigns with Non Profit Organizations around the world, and spent the past two years capturing stories on water projects in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Haiti and Central African Republic.She traveled to over 40 countries and, as she...

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Andreas Burgess: In The Courtyard of the Beloved

Photos © Andrea Burgess -All Rights Reserved I am thrilled to have stumbled on Andrea Burgess' magnificent In The Courtyard of The Beloved, a visual and aural "portrait" of the Dargah of Nizam Uddin Auliyah, a Sufi shrine in Delhi. The shrine is for the revered Hazrat Nizam Uddin, a famous Sufi saint of the Chisti Sect in South Asia, whose main tenet is in drawing close to God through renunciation...

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Kashmir: Will 2011 Be It ???

Photo © Altaf Qadri/ AP Courtesy SacBee's The Frame-All Rights Reserved I read with interest that the Indian government announced it would start releasing jailed protesters, ease security in Kashmiri towns and cities, reopen schools and universities, and offering financial compensation to the families of those killed since the protests in June.I've been keen to go to Kashmir for a number of...

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Next Week on The Travel Photographer

I'm starting a Sunday feature in which I announce some of the posts in the pipeline for the rest of the week. Most of my posts are scheduled ahead of time but there are exceptions, which occur when I stumble on an interesting portfolio, website or issue..I've also been frequently complimented on my POVs...and especially those containing rants. I will try my best to come up with those as soon as I...

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My Work: Balinese Dancers

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedAs some participants in my photo~expeditions seek to return with a diverse portfolio, I try to organize alternative styles of photography events during the trip...and although the primary focus is always on merging travel photography with documentary photography, I provide such opportunities to those who join them...depending on the destination. One of the...

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30 Days In Muslim America

 Courtesy of Boing BoingWith The New York Times and others reporting discrimination against Muslims in the United States just yesterday, I thought it would be opportune and timely to feature here 30 Days In Muslim America, a photo essay published in the well-known Boing Boing blog, by Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq.Naturally, discrmination against Muslims has spiked recently as a consequence of the...

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Wink Willett: Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat

Photo © Wink Willett -All Rights ReservedWink Willett was on the participants in my Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition, which took place earlier this year between January 23 and February 7, 2010. Due to conflicting time demands, it took a while for him to upload his photographs of the trip, but he finally got them on his website. Here are those I chose to showcase:To kick the post...

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POV: iPad Re-examined

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedWell, I've played with it for about a week now and I still am of the opinion that the iPad is a more of a wonderful display-toy-gadget rather than a useful tool. And I think this is exactly what Apple intends it to be. I also read that new features are being worked on to include Apple’s Facetime video chat capability.I also have seen articles predicting that...

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S&F™ Lowepro: MultiMedia Photographer

Here's what is fantastic about being ad-free and not beholden to any manufacturer (or retailer)...I am free in liking or disliking any product I want, and mention my opinion on my blog. I'm not paid to flog a particular product and ignore others that I like. I can use a product from ABC and another from XYZ...I have no particular loyalty to any manufacturer (unless it produces exceptionally good products), nor do I follow a fad...nor another photographer....

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Jørgen Johanson: Kham & Amdo (Tibet)

Photo © Jørgen Johanson -All Rights ReservedJørgen Johanson went on his first trip to Asia in 1982, and completed the Annapurna circuit in Nepal. He was hooked from that moment on travel, photography and on Asian cultures. He's a software development engineer for companies Norwegian companies, and recently took a 2-3 years sabbatical just to travel. Most of his travel has been trips to Asia, but...

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Nguyen Thanh Hai: Hanoi

Photo © Nguyen Thanh Hai -All Rights ReservedNguyen Thanh Hai is known as Maika Elan, and is a young Vietnamese freelance photographer based in Hanoi whose work is just delightful. Maika was a selected participant in the Creative Economies workshop at the Asia Europe Forum for Young Photographers in Malaysia, and at the 2010 photojournalism workshop with the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation (IMMF),...

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Ralph Childs: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights ReservedRalph Childs is a five time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the seventh to submit samples of his work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™. The above photograph, which I view as one of the best ones in his Bali portfolio, is of a devotee in a trance during a melasti ceremony at Masceti beach. These trances are not play-acting...

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Greg Vore: Rickshaw Wallah

Photo © Greg Vore -All Rights ReservedGreg Vore is a New York City-based photographer, and attended three colleges: Duke, The New World School of The Arts in Miami and The North Carolina School of The Arts. He started his photography career assisting in New York City for 6 years, after which he opened a studio on the north side of Williamsburg where his commercial work has been on still life. He completed...

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Fujifilm's FinePix X100: Digital "Rangefinder"

These are breaking news from Photokina...Fujifilm launched the FinePix X100, a 12.3-megapixel camera styled in a 1950s metal-and-leather body. It features and APS-C sized CMOS sensor and a fixed-in-place but bright and fast 23mm f2 prime lens. It also boasts an ISO range of 200 to 6400, and 5fps continuous shooting.According to Engadget, this camera will interest many to-be DSLR buyers provided it's...

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Jan Sochor: The Palo In Cuba

Photo © Jan Sochor -All Rights ReservedJan Sochor is a freelance photographer, working between South America and Europe. He lived and worked in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain and the Czech Republic during the past five years. His photographs and stories have appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers and websites, including Sunday Times, National Geographic, Reuters, Burn magazine, Foto8, 100Eyes,...

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Reuters Does Big: Full Focus

Photo © REUTERS/Carlos Barria -All Rights ReservedReuters has joined the other news media in featuring large photographs on a blog.Full Focus, a large format showcase of Reuters award-winning photography, tells global stories. The agency seeks to use this imagery to foster a deeper understanding of current events and social issues, and Full Focus provides an opportunity for its readers/viewers to...

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Kristian Bertel: India

Photo © Kristian Bertel-All Rights ReservedKristian Bertel is a Danish photographer who graduated from Aarhus Tech with a degree in graphic design. His passion for photography began in 2006, and it was exercised in India some years later. Kristian started out in Delhi and ventured into the Thar desert in Rajasthan, and then to the holy city, Varanasi. There are 12 sideshows of India on Kristian's...

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POV: Geniuses!

This will probably be one of my shortest POVs...but Stewart and Colbert are absolute geniuses! I prefer the "Keep Fear Alive" rally...its premise is so satirical that I can't wait to see the faces of the right-wing/tea baggers clowns on Fox.But isn't it also sad that it's up to Comedy Show personalities to satirically stand up to extremism, and to highlight the hypocrisy of our politics, politicians,...

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Lens: John Stanmeyer's Island of Spirits

Photo © John Stanmeyer-All Rights ReservedThe New York Times' Lens features John Stanmeyer's Island of Spirits, whose black & white photographs were made using a Holga.Also included is an interview by the NYT's James Estrin with John, who's one of the founding members of the photo cooperative VII, and whose work appears regularly in the National Geographic and Time. This coincides with an exhibit...

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WSJ Photo Journal: Kapparot

Photo © Ariel Schalit/Associated Press-All Rights ReservedThe Wall Street Photo Journal featured the above photograph of a an ultra-Orthodox Jewish mother holding a hen that was later slaughtered for the Kaparot ritual. Some Jews believe their sins can be transferred to the chicken (or roosters) during the ritual, which comes before Yom Kippur. Kaparot is performed by grasping the bird (hen for women,...

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Anton Kusters: The Yakuza

Photo © Anton Kusters-All Rights ReservedAnton Kusters is the well deserved Category Winner, Editorial — Photography Book Now 2010 with his The Yakuza in Tokyo. The Yakuza are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan, and are well known for violence and initiation rites. Many Yakuza have full-body tattoos known as irezumi in Japan, which are still often done by hand using needles...

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Matjaž Krivic's A Day In Varanasi

Set aside about 7 minutes of your time, adjust the volume of your speakers and choose the full screen option on to watch Matjaž Krivic's A Day In Varanasi...and be transported to this ancient city, helped along with the New Age-like music of L. Subramaniam.Varanasi is also known as Benares and Kashi, and is considered as holy by Buddhists, and Jains, and is the holiest place for Hindus. Hindu cosmology places it as as the center of earth. Mark Twain...

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John Kenny: Omo Valley & Africa

Photo © John Kenny-All Rights ReservedHere's a real treat for those of us who are enamored with Ethiopia's Omo Valley tribes (and we are many), and a treat for "Africanphiles" in general as well. A real trove of magnificent portraits of handsome and beautiful African native people, ranging from the Omo Vallley various tribes to Kaokoland's Himba.John Kenny's website presents around 100 of these portraits...

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Bali: Odalan at Pura Desa Sapat

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedHere's the first gallery of my own work whilst I was leading the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition™ last month. It's a linear photo gallery of about 20 large color photographs made during an important anniversary of a Balinese Hindu temple, and it's titled Odalan: Pura Desa Sapat. It's more photo journalistic in style than travel, and there are graphic...

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Conor Ashleigh: Futu-Manu In East Timor

Photo © Conor Ashleigh -All Rights ReservedFutu manu means"fighting bird" in the local Tetum language of East Timor. Cockfighting is a tradition that goes back centuries in various countries, and I've witnessed it practiced in India, Mexico and Bali to name but a few.I was glad to find Conor Ashleigh's website, and see that he has featured a photo essay on cockfighting in East Timor. There, cockfights...

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Penni Webb: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Penni Webb-All Rights ReservedPenni Webb is a second time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the sixth to submit samples of her work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™. Penni is a professional photographer as well as an Interior Designer and Organizer in Marin, California. She has an MA from the SFAI in Printmaking, learned Photography at California College...

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Roberto Boccaccino: The Flagellanti

Photo © Roberto Boccaccino-All Rights ReservedRoberto Boccaccino's work on the "flagellanti" was featured in the New York Times' Lens blog, but there are more photographs on Boccaccino's website where he titles his photo-essay as Doomsdays. Out of his many lovely photographs of this photo essay, I chose the one above as the one that I prefer because of Roberto's use of layers.Roberto Boccaccino is...

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Eid El Fitr & Rosh Hashanah

Photo © AP/Muhammed Muheisen-All Rights Reserved (Courtesy The Big Picture)I'm certain that the large majority of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims see through the myopia and venality of our media which, by its coverage, abetted the recent freak show in Gainesville, with the "Christian" fundamentalist/sect leader seeking to burn Qur'ans, and will celebrate Eid El-Fitr as joyously and peacefully as they've...

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Udaan School of Photography

Dhiraj Singh and Arko Datta have just announced the launching of Udaan, an independent photography school in Mumbai.Udaan's students will be tutored by leading working professionals such as Singh, Datta, Ritam Banerjee and Yogesh Bhandary. The courses in Udaan have been designed to meet the needs of photography-enthusiasts at different levels of learning and expertise. The school will cater to both...

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The Beat of New York: Thomas Noesner

Filmmaker Thomas Noesner captures the energetic pulse of the big city. Along with the folks at Stereoscreen, including Tim Hahne, Noesner took the sights and sounds of New York city and laid them down to a remixed soundtrack of a drummer performing in a subway station.I live in New York city and just loved this piece. You can smell and feel "it" in this short clip of 3 minutes. The drummers who use empty drywall compound containers to play their...

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Pop Photo's 25 Best Places To Photograph

Photo © Carolyn Drake-All Rights ReservedPopular Photo Magazine has published a feature titled 25 Best Places To Photograph after running a poll amongst various documentary and travel photographers who are drawn to cultures far-removed from ours both geographically and chronologically. The photographers are, amongst others, Chris Rainier recommending New Guinea, Carolyn Drake recommending Xinjiang,...

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Light & Composition Magazine

I'm always on the lookout for new and innovative venues in which photographers (and especially travel photographers) can feature their work, and Light & Composition Magazine appeared on my radar screen via The Raw File Blog's Twitter's Feed.Light and Composition defines itself as a monthly photography magazine that aims to inspire people towards the true essence of photography, and attempts to...

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Chris Schaefer: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Chris Schaefer -All Rights ReservedChris Schaefer is a first time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the fifth to submit samples of his work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™. Chris is an attorney, and when asked to describe himself for this post, wrote that he "likes to travel to far away places with professional photographers and hopes for a quality photo...

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Lonely Planet's 100 Million Competition

Photo LP's 100 Million Competition/Sreesailam Pasupula -All Rights ReservedLonely Planet's competition celebrating its 100 millionth guidebook has ended, and the winning entry was this lovely photograph by Sreesailam Pasupula which features five women on a performance stage at the famous Pushkar Mela.The competition received over 130,000 photos from around the world, and some of the editors' favorites...

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NY Times: Madagascar's Famadihana

Having just returned from Bali where I attended and photographed exhumations and cremations, I was interested in reading a The New York Times' article and watching its accompanying video about the celebratory exhumation of the dead in Ambohimirary, Madagascar. The article written by Barry Bearak (with accompanying photography by Joao Silva) reports that in the island nation of Madagascar, ancestors are frequently taken from their tombs with musical...

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Julie Aucoin: Redux

Photo © Julie Aucoin -All Rights ReservedI've already mentioned Julie Aucoin on this blog, but I've thought of re-posting her recent work which includes a number of South East Asian countries to include Vietnam, and this image of a Bac Ha woman.Julie who's based in Nevada, describes herself as a passionate photographer, an adventurous traveler and experienced stage manager. She's one of those photographers...

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Damon Winter: 2010 Visa d'Or News Award

Photo © Damon Winter/NYTimes -All Rights ReservedDamon Winter won the Visa d’Or News award in Perpignan for his work for The News York Times on Haiti and the earthquake’s aftermath. The award is supported by Paris Match and was presented by the Visa Pour l’Image director Jean-François Leroy. Damon is a New York based photographer who specializes in documentary, editorial, and travel photography. He...

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Houston: Taking A Day (or 2) Off

I'm in Houston for Labor Day weekend and will resume posts in a day (or two) depending...

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Bo Jungner: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Bo Jungner -All Rights ReservedBo Jungner is a first time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the fourth to submit samples of his work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™. Bo holds a MSc in Business Administration and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics and works for a Swedish-based private equity company. He's also a photography enthusiast who joined...

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