вторник, 14 июля 2009 г.

Toni Greaves: Samburu Rites


I know...readers are thinking "enough already with this Gnawa work you've been hammering us with for the past weeks"...so I listened, and what better way of proving that I listened than by featuring Toni Greaves on the page of The Travel Photographer?

Toni Greaves is a documentary, editorial and portrait photographer with a passion for storytelling. She has an extensive background in design, having worked for over a decade as an Art Director & Creative Director in both the USA and Europe. Toni was recently named one of the "30 Emerging Photographers to Watch" by PDN magazine, an impressive tribute to her deserving photographic work.

She was awarded a New York Times Scholarship for her photojournalism work, was a finalist at the New York Photo Awards, and was the recipient of a fellowship by the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, among many other national and international awards. Her clients include The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The FADER, Sports Illustrated, and The New Jersey Star Ledger.

Since this is a travel photography blog after all, I chose to showcase her Samburu Rites of Passage photo gallery, despite her lovely work on the nuns of the monastery of Our Lady of The Rosary in New Jersey.

The Samburu are an ethnic group in northern Kenya that are related to the Maasai. They are semi-nomadic pastoralists, who herd cattle, sheep, goats and camels. They are extremely dependent on their animals for survival, and their diet consists mostly of milk and sometimes blood from their cows.

Toni Greaves' website demonstrates the wide range of her photographic interests, which range from essays on pediatric cardiac surgeries to cheerleaders.

понедельник, 13 июля 2009 г.

My Work: Multimedia GNAWA!


At long last, here's the multimedia photo essay on the Gnawa (or Gnaoua) Festival in Essaouira, which includes photographs made in situ during performances and processions. It includes audio clips of live recordings, as well as a short interview with a master "maalem".

Just click on the above photograph or here. This will open a new window and automatically start the multimedia slideshow, so if at work, you'll need to turn down the volume of your speakers.

I originally planned to have this posted in a few days, but the multimedia slideshow was recently "leaked" on Twitter...so as it's out there already, it also ought to be on TTP blog!

Felice Willat: Gnawa Photo~Expedition

Photo © Felice Willat -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Felice Willat -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Felice Willat-All Rights Reserved

I organized the Gnawa (or Ganoua) Photo Expedition in late June, which was joined by a number of talented full-time and part time photographers, whose principal objective was to photograph the legendary Gnawa musicians during the 12th Essaouira Music Festival.

This is the third of a series of posts which showcase a sample of the participating photographers' work, and is by Felice Willat, founder and president of Tools With Heart, a company that develops products to enhance personal discovery and well being. A successful entrepreneur, it's clear that her photography is influenced by her background in network television production.

As obvious from her website (link follows), Felice's photographic style is more artistic than documentary, and she is happy to march to the beat of her own drum. My favorite from those I've chosen for this post is the one showing the exuberant embrace of the Gnawa musicians. Her photographic vision of Morocco can be seen in its totality on her website, along with her many other portfolios.

I've featured Felice's work on a number of occasions on this blog; once on the occasion of her new book The Spirit of Burma, and earlier on, when she returned with photographs of Burma.

воскресенье, 12 июля 2009 г.

Sunday Break: Gansevoort Street Fair

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

New York City's Meatpacking District is alive this weekend for the Target High Line Street Festival, a free celebration of the opening of the High Line, New York's newest and most innovative green space. Aside from the gigantic lemonade stand, there's performances by various musical bands such Hungry March Band, Zona Del Barrio, and Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra, among others.

Naturally, crowd-pleasers such as pretty girls and magicians were also on hand to entertain the crowds.

The High Line is a 1.5-mile-long historic elevated rail structure on the West Side of Manhattan, and is the newest addition to New York City's parks.

Here are some of the photographs:

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

My Work: A Gnawa Smile

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

One the highlights of the Gnawa Photo-Expedition was the procession of Gnawa troupes through the streets and alleys of Essaouira, which started at Bab Doukkala and ended at Mohammed El Qorry near Bab Marrakesh. The procession signaled the start of the 12th Festival of Gnawa Music.

The procession started off by a Gnawa carrying a tray of incense, and was followed by the troupes, possibly in a certain order of hierarchy. There was quite a presence of administrators and police, but I wasn't prevented from photographing as I wished. I suppose they took me for an accredited photojournalist.

The most prominent Gnawa troupes were the Houara de Taroudant, Ganga de Zagora, Ganga de Tamanar, and Gnaoua Agadir. Each of the troupes wore distinctive costumes, ranging from a flamingo pink to black, while others such as the Ganga de Zagora only wear the traditional white.

The Gnawa in the above photograph wears a multicolored tunic, probably based on a traditional belief that there are seven colors which represent 7 jinns (spirits) in Islamic numerology. Click on it for a larger version.

A multimedia feature including my photographs of various Gnawas and ambient recordings of their music and performances will shortly be posted on this blog.

ViewBook Photostory Contest


Viewbook PhotoStory 2009 seeks to challenge conceptual and documentary photographers around the world to create compelling stories with a linear series of photographs in an online gallery.

The annual online competition seeks to find inspiring, high-quality photo stories within the photography community and bring them to a broad audience, and by so doing will provide a platform for emerging talents. There are already a number of submitted essays, which are quite interesting to look at.

Viewbook PhotoStory is initiated and organized by Viewbook.com in association with GUP magazine, backed by Blurb, Workbook and others.

As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make sure they carefully read the contests' terms and conditions, especially since misunderstandings between organizers and contestants over terms, prizes and other issues sometimes occur.

суббота, 11 июля 2009 г.

One of Top Ten Blogs is TTP!

Tripbase Blog Awards 2009
Tripbase Blog Awards 2009

I checked into Bob Krist's wonderfully informative and entertaining Photo Traveler blog this morning as I do everyday, and to my surprise read that The Travel Photographer was amongst the top ten in the Travel Photography Blog division of the Tripbase.com competition! Actually, The Travel Photographer came in Fourth place. Way to go, me!

Checking the Tripbase website, I read that its Travel award is only given to the blogs that are the top of their respective class and are some of the best in the field. These are selected based on how informative the blog is, the overall writing style, the actual blog appearance and how well that blog performs in its given category when compared and contrasted to other, similar blogs.

Among the top ten travel photography blogs are Chase Jarvis in First Place, My Marrakech in Third, Bob Krist's Photo Traveler, and the beautiful Stuck In Customs.

I'm gratified that The Travel Photographer blog has earned such recognition, and it encourages me to do even better in the weeks, months and years ahead...and Bob, thank you so much for the generous comments.

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