Frontline Club: Reza

The Frontline Club (I need to really make an effort and drop by this week while I'm in London) has featured a presentation by Reza, the Iran-born photojournalist who photographed most of the globe for National Geographic and other major international publications. He presented and talked about a selection of work from his new book War + Peace.The presentation lasts for a little less than two hours, which makes me wish that they had edited it...but it's certainly an interesting insight into a photojournalism legend.

In the course of his photo reportages across the world's trouble spots, this modern-day Ibn Battuta has met a cast of extraordinary characters, befriending personalities as diverse as the Dalai Lama and the late Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panshir.

Throughout the 1970s and '80s, Reza worked for Agence France Presse, served as Tehran correspondent for Newsweek, and was the Middle East correspondent for Time. He also served as a consultant for United Nations Programming in Afghanistan in 1989-90. In the years since, he has also photographed for Figaro, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times Magazine.

Reza's work has been published and exhibited in Canada, Cuba, England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Libya, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.

In 1996 Reza won the Hope Prize for his efforts on behalf of Rwandan refugees. In 2001 he founded AÏNA, Afghan Media and Culture Centre to bring a free press to a nation silenced by the Taliban. He was again honoured in 2005 when Christian Poncelet, president of the French senate, presented him with the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite, the national award for distinguished public or private service. And in 2006, Spain's Crown Prince Felipe presented him with the Principe de Asturias Medal. That same year, he also received the Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

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Chico Sanchez: Chinelos

Photo © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved
Here's another SoundSlides slideshow by photographer Chico Sanchez, featuring the dance of the Chinelos. Chinelos is a traditional dance performed in the state of Morelos, Mexico in which colorfully dressed dancers dance and wave flags accompanied by traditional tunes played by a brass band.

According to Wikipedia, the town of Tepoztlán is known for its chinelos but the dance exists throughout Morelos in towns like Yautepec, Coacalco, Cuautlixco, Atlahuahuacán, Oaxtepec, Jojutla and Totolapan, as well as in certain towns in the state of Puebla.

Many of Chico Sanchez's documentary/travel photography slideshows have been featured on The Travel Photographer blog; latest of which was The Island of Dolls and others.

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WSJ Photo Journal: Afghanistan

Photo © Ahmad Masood/Reuters-All Rights Reserved
Not to be outdone by the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal's Photo Journal published this striking photograph of a burqa-clad woman walking in an old Kabul bazaar. Ahmad Masood of Reuters most probably spot metered the brightness of the woman's clothing to throw the rest of the background in darkness...an effective technique to highlight primary subject such as this one.

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The Big Picture: Scenes From Pakistan

Photo © AP/Emilio Morenatti-All Rights Reserved
The Boston Globe's The Big Picture is consistent in bringing remarkable photographs from various sources and covering interesting current events. It recently featured Scenes From Pakistan following the country's announcement that it would accept Islamic Sharia Law to be implemented in its Swat Valley region, as part of a truce with local Taliban leaders. In this particular feature, it acknowledges the artistry of AP photographer Emilio Morenatti. Emilio was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year by Missouri School of Journalism for its Pictures of the Year International competition.

The above photograph is of a Sh'ia Muslim worshiper receiving medical care in a clinic, after flagellating himself with knives in a procession in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

While in Kochi a few days ago, I met a young shopkeeper who had participated in a Ashura procession in Bangalore. He showed me a short video clip recorded on his cell phone of his bleeding profusely from the head, and he solemnly assured me that his wounds healed miraculously within two hours.

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Theyyams of Malabar: Brief Update

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
The Theyyam Photo Expedition ended last night, and I'm about to leave Delhi in a few hours. As I usually do, I will post a detailed "post-mortem" on the whole expedition as soon as I get a chance to review my notes.

The 4-5 days we spent at the various Theyyam ceremonies and performances in the Kasaragode area of Kerala were nothing short of an orgy of non-stop photography, and the access we enjoyed was unprecedented. In the meantime, here's a teaser of a Theyyam performer...I intentionally chose a blurred image to convey the sense of sporadic motion which characterize these rituals.

Theyyam is a 2000 year old performance-ritual exhibited only in the northern Malabar region of Kerala. The word is a corruption of "daivam" or god in local dialect. The unusual head dresses, intricate and elaborate make-up, costumes and body painting are nothing short of extraordinary.

More to come in the days and weeks to come.

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On The Theyyam Photo-Expedition

Photo ©Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
I realize that my readers are waiting for new posts, but I'm still traveling on my Theyyams of Malabar photo-expedition in the Kerala region of India, and will return to posting as soon as I can.

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Interview on James Robinson's Blog

I'm privileged to have been interviewed by James Robinson for his outstanding blog, which you can find here.

Thank you James for including me on your roster of photographers.

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John Delaney: Mongolia

Photo © John P. Delaney-All Rights Reserved
John P. Delaney’s series titled “Golden Eagle Hunters of Mongolia” garnered him one of the International Photography Awards' most coveted prizes. His work was chosen out of nearly 22,000 submissions spanning 124 different countries. Delaney is also a Master Printer working closely with photographers such as Bruce Davidson, Richard Avedon, Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Klein, Annie Leibovitz and Irving Penn.

With the Golden Eagle Hunters of Mongolia, Delaney presents a rich and beautiful collection of portraits and landscapes that capture an intimate glimpse of the ancient way of life for the nomadic Kazakh tribe, who date farther back than the 15th century and are once again in danger of being eradicated.

Among many Kazakh traditions is the ancient art of hunting with trained birds of prey. The tradition is believed to originate in Central Asia some 6000 years ago and was adopted in Europe and other countries. Historical chronicles relay records of Kublay Khan's lavish hunting trips in autumn and winter involving thousands of people and horses, with falconers in the thousands.

Kazakhs catch and train golden eagles, common throughout Central Asia. These huge birds weigh up to 15 pounds, and have wingspan of seven or eight feet.






http://www.johndelaney.net/

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WSJ Photo Journal: Kathakali

Photo © Arko Datta-All Rights Reserved
A Kathakali dancer in the traditional South Indian dance, performing at the recent Kala Ghoda Festival of Arts in Mumbai. The nine-day festival showcases Indian arts and heritage.

I'm currently in Kasargod (Kerala) on my Theyyams of Malabar photo-expedition, and on my way to Thrissur and Kochi where we are planning to attend and photograph Kathakali performances.

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James Nachtwey: Congo

TIME magazine has published a photo essay by James Nachtwey of VII, along with an article by Ben Affleck, an actor, who has traveling to Congo since 2007 to learn, and to report.

Affelck writes:

"The warring parties in the east can be distilled into three main groups: the Congolese army; a breakaway faction composed mainly of Tutsis, led by a former general, Laurent Nkunda; and an outlaw militia, the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), led by the same Interahamwe Hutu extremists who committed the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda. "

The accompanying article is here.

TIME magazine surely can do better than frame James Nachtwey's gripping photographs with this hideous slideshow platform. It's also incongruous to have banners and ads fro Samsung cellphones, TurboTax and W Hotels with these photographs of misery and conflict.

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