Bhutan Photo Expedition: Taktshang

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy/All Rights Reserved
Yech! Britain has now switched to Winter Time, and it'll get darker earlier from now on. The weather forecast calls for rain...so it'll be a miserable Sunday. Perhaps it's a message from the gods that I ought to stay in and start reviewing my thousands of images from Bhutan, process them and put Lightroom 2.1 through its paces.

Here's a photograph (a postcard view) of Taktshang Goemba, also known as Tiger's Nest, near Paro. Taktshang is probably the most famous of monasteries in Bhutan. It literally hangs on a cliff at over 10,000 feet. The legend behind the monastery is that Padmasambhava (or Guru Rinpoche) flew there on the back of a tiger. The only way to the monastery is by foot (or on mule-back), and the trek takes about 2 hours depending on one's fitness, and on the condition of the trail.

On nearby cliffs, I noticed other smaller structures and buildings, and was told that these were meditation abodes, where lamas and high-ranking monks come to meditate for varying lengths of time. It seems that some remain in meditative seclusion for 3 years, 3 months and 3 days.

We trekked up the trail, and were rewarded with this incredible view of the monastery. The trek was arduous, especially on the way down as it was raining and the going was very slippery in some areas. At the start of the trek, an enterprising elderly Bhutanese was selling poles he had hand-fashioned from branches, and they sold like hotcakes. Mine came in very handy on more than one occasion, and a member of my photo-expedition liked his so much that he took it home to the US. I've bemoaned the appearance of souvenir vendors at the foot (and beyond) of the trail, but the pole seller was really offering a useful service.

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John Stanmeyer on Malaria Project

John Stanmeyer is a co-founding member of VII, and works regularly on assignment with National Geographic magazine. Here's is a recent interview (via Canon Professional Network) of him discussing his latest long-term assignment with the magazine, involving the global scope of malaria.

A thoughtful interview with one of my favorite photographers...John Stanmeyer's Malaria .

This blog has previously featured John Stanmeyer's Malaria work (link)

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NYT: Roots Of Faith & Strife

Photograph © Rina Castelnuovo/The New York Times
The New York Times featured a slideshow of Rina Castelnuovo's photographs of Joseph’s Tomb, a stone compound in the heart of Nablus that "many Jews believe is the final burial place of the son of Jacob, the biblical patriarch." The accompanying article is by Isabel Kershner.

The article reports that ardent and devout Jewish pilgrims, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, arrive throughout mornings' early hours to pray and worship at the site. Their goal is to make such visits weekly, and to re-establish a permanent presence that existed before 2000 so that Jewish pilgrims will able to come as they wish.

Some Palestinians declared the tomb an Islamic holy site and painted the dome green, justifying the declaration since Joseph is considered a prophet in Islam, and his story is related extensively in the Qur'an. Amazingly, after the city of Nablus was handed over to the Palestinians, a mob ransacked the structure, smashing the dome with pickaxes and setting the compound on fire. Naturally, this was probably done to prevent Jewish orthodox settlers to lay claim on the tomb...in other words, "we'll destroy a religious site so that no one can claim it as their own". There are always two sides to each story but the religious xenophobia from both Jews and Muslims is just staggering.

Anyway, back to photography: Ms Castelnuovo's photograph above of Orthodox Jews throwing themselves on the grave of Joseph is in my view the most powerful in the slideshow.

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Photo Plus Expo in New York City

Although I'm still in London, I ought to acknowledge the self-proclaimed "Most Important Event in Photography: October 23-25, 2008" in New York City's Javits Center. Frankly, I wouldn't attend it even if I were there, since it's a sort of convention-like event that showcases new products that I'll eventually read of on the internet. Unless I were to specifically meet other similarly-minded photographers, or get some promotional freebies (never happened in my case), I give Photo Plus Expo a pass.

Don't get me wrong. I think that such events are terrific for the industry, but they're just not for me. I'm not a tech head, and my interest in what I call "hard gear" is essentially limited to Canon products. If I want to tantalize my permanent lust for computers,, monitors and hard drives, I drop by the Apple store...for Canon cameras, ah well...B&H is a handful of streets north of me...that's the extent of my interest in that kind of stuff.

Having said that, I read PDN's reports on some of the event's seminars, and here are some interesting nuggets:

From a photographer called Blake Discher:

* Start a blog (separate from your web site), and make sure the first words on the blog are your keyword phrase.

* Get the URL that’s your keywording phrase, if you can. (in my case, I got thetravelphotographer.net)

From Louisa Curtis:

* Client expectations are that they prefer web sites to show large images showing quality work; they expect photographers' sites to load quickly and operate intuitively; they don’t want to wade through clutter; and they want to be able to contact photographers easily (ie, put your phone number on your web site, not just your e-mail address).

From Kat Dalager:

* Web site design should support the photographer's brand so that it’s easier for clients to remember you. It’s all about functionality, and convenience of getting in and out.

From Amy Salzman:

Forget the moving pictures, forget the music, leave out the bells and whistles. (I disagree, but I guess she's referring to commercial photographers rather than photojournalists or travel photographers).

For the whole reporting, drop by the very informative PDN Pulse.

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Jehad Nga: Master of Chiaroscuro

Photograph © Jehad Nga/All Rights Reserved
One of my favorite photographers, Jehad Nga, has just launched his website...in my estimation a master of the chiaroscuro (the contrast between light and dark), Jehad Nga was born in Kansas, but moved when young to Libya and then to London, where he was raised. In his early 20s and living in Los Angeles, he discovered a book by photographer Natasha Merritt. The book convinced him that he could use his own digital compact during a backpacking trip to southeast Asia. By 2002 he was traveling through the Middle East, and by the following year, Jehad made his way to Baghdad photographing for the New York Times.

Over the recent years, Jehad covered Somalia, Kenya, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Darfur, Ethiopia and Iran, providing stories for major publications such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time, Fortune and Forbes magazines. He also won several honors, including American Photo magazine's Emerging Artists 2007 issue and for World Press Master Class 2008.

His website showcases his talent in the shadow and light play, and while all of his galleries have wonderful images that simply befuddles the mind as how he managed to capture them, my favorite is titled Shadowed By The Sun...a visual treat.

Jehad's work has appeared on many occasions on The Travel Photographer. Here are some of the links:

Somalia Through A Lens
Somalia On The Brink
Ethiopia's Stone Churches

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Bhutan Photo Expedition: Just Because

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy/All Rights Reserved
I found this photograph amongst the thousands I made during the Tamshing Lakhang tsechu during my photo expedition Land of the Druk Yul. It appeals to me just because there's a human story unfolding here...unfortunately, I was whisked away to another spot before I could find out whether this was a monk greeting his wife and child, or whether he was the uncle, brother or just a friend. All I know is that this beautiful woman and her child had been waiting outside the lakhang for a while until he emerged, smiling broadly at them.

This is totally unrelated to this photograph, but I just read a hilarious post on David duChemin's blog...it has references to intestinal mutiny, a threatened body cavity search, a brief rant about how Kathmandu was maggoty with tourists, and an apt description of annoying European and American tourists.

I encountered a lot of those characters as well in Bhutan. The issue with Bhutan itineraries is that no matter how hard one tries, you'll invariably meet the same annoying tourists over and over again...either at one of the festivals or worse, at the same hotels. It's quite simple to identify the various nationalities...if they're really loud and look freshly showered in the mornings, they're usually Americans...if they hijack the only plate of butter from the buffet (and I have to walk up to their table and retrieve it), they're usually French...and as my friend Gavin Gough pointed out, they're British if one steps on their toes, and they're the ones who apologize.

The wisdom one acquires from traveling is just breathtaking, isn't it?

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Adriana Zehbrauskas: Daily Life Mexico

Photograph © Adriana Zehbrauskas/All Rights Reserved
Adriana Zehbrauskas is a Brazilian photographer/photojournalist, currently living in Mexico City. She received her degree in Journalism in 1989 and then moved to Paris where she studied Linguistics and Phonetics at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. Adriana worked as a staff photographer for Folha de Sao Paulo for 11 years, traveling extensively throughout the country and abroad, covering a variety of subjects. She also worked as James Nachtwey’s assistant in Brazil and New York, and studied with Mary Ellen Mark in Mexico and with Susan Meiselas in Colombia.

She's a frequent contributor to the New York Times, and her work appeared in Newsweek, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Paris Match, Le Figaro Magazine, Elle U.S.A, Architectural Record, Time for Kids, The International Herald Tribune and La Nación, among others.

I had the privilege of meeting Adriana during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City. Knowing the quality of her work, and despite having to teach my own multimedia classes, I was sorely tempted to play hookey and attend hers as a student...maybe the second Foundry Workshop will provide another opportunity to do so. I also had the pleasure of visiting her lovely home for lunch with a group of photographers, and can personally vouch for her gracious hospitality.

While I emphasize with Adriana's Faith portfolio, I was also struck by her images of her Daily Life in Mexico; the above photograph of a street musician in Oaxaca just clinched it for me. An immensely talented photographer, with an enormous capacity to share her talents with others.

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