Mansi Midha: Kashmir

Photo © Mansi Midha-All Rights Reserved
First things first. I believe if Mansi hadn't been involved with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali this past month, it would never have succeeded as it did. She was the hidden (and frequently, visible too) energy behind all the arrangements, big and small, that are crucial to the viability of such a complex venture. Mansi's cajoling, threats and perseverance made the Foundry Workshop click, and she deserves ample recognition of this here.

Mansi also happens to be a damn good photographer. I chanced upon her as I was walking out of our small hotel on my way to Manali town, and saw her hard at work editing the beginnings of her project "Aditya" on her laptop; a poignant story of a disabled child and his struggling family.

However, for the purpose of this blog, I highlight Mansi's Srinagar, Kashmir project. Kashmir is a long term project for Mansi, and this is merely its start.

A graduate of the International Center of Photography in New York City, she also graduated with a BA in Communication Design. Currently based in New Delhi, Mansi's photographs have been exhibited in various venues in New York, India and China, and she was awarded a clutch of recognitions for her work.

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POV: Divine Plan

Photo © Rita Castlenuovo/The New York Times
The New Tork Times brings us a rather interesting photo-essay by Rita Castlenuovo, along with an article by Ethan Bronner, which starts like this:

"Of the hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, those who live in unauthorized hilltop outposts like this one, a hardscrabble unpaved collection of 20 trailers, are considered the most dangerous. They are fervent believers that there is a divine plan requiring them to hold this land."

Er...and I am a fervent believer in a divine plan requiring me to occupy a gorgeous $14,000,000 townhouse in the West Village that is not mine.

The caption accompanying the above photograph in Rita Castlenuovo's slideshow Fervent Believers published today in The New York Times would make me laugh, if it wasn't for the repulsive action of this zealot thug and the resultant humiliation of this unfortunate Palestinian woman. As alcohol, wine is anathema to observant Muslims, and having been drenched with wine must've caused her much grief.

The photograph's caption reads:

"A settler tosses wine at a Palestinian woman on Shuhada Street in Hebron. The approach of some settlers towards neighboring Palestinians, especially around Nablus in the north and Hebron in the south, has often been one of contempt and violence.

I've used a boldface to highlight what I call "diluting qualifiers" inserted by whoever is the editor of this caption to ensure that readers should not take from the article that it's all these settlers who frequently (or consistently) "approach" Palestinians with violence and contempt. I also chuckled at the choice of the word "approach"...instead of "commit violent acts or treat with contempt".

Sneaky wordsmithing which many readers will unfortunately not notice...but perfect timing by Castlenuovo.

See the The Practice of Domination on the No Caption Needed blog for a similar opinion.

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The Travel Photographer: GlobalPost

The GlobalPost's Full Frame features photo essays and conversations with photographers in the field, and it has just featured a slideshow of my photographs, along with an audio interview in flash format. The slideshow is titled Unusual Cultures, Unusual Places, and can be seen either by clicking on the arrow in the above image, or by clicking on the link.

GlobalPost has published nearly 3,000 stories, videos and photo galleries since January including numerous in-depth series on a very broad array of major international issues, and have nearly 20 syndication partners who have reached agreements to use GlobalPost content in print, on-air, or online.

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Best Multimedia: Journey To End of Coal

Here's one of the best multimedia web documentary I've seen so far, and it's titled “Journey to the end of Coal,” developed by two French multimedia companies, Honkytonk and 31Septembre.

It's an interactive web documentary set in China, and documents the sacrifices that millions of Chinese coal miners are making everyday, risking their lives and spoiling their land to satisfy their own country’s appetite for economic growth.

I was amazed at how this web documentary has crossed over to television visual territory, and how well the interactivity of this web documentary is done, which adds an altogether exciting feature to the experience. You have to see it to be blown over as I am. It gives you the opportunity of experiencing what an investigative photojournalist goes through and faces on a similar assignment!

In short: one of the best I've seen so far, and one that totally justifies the 1.5 million page views it received so far.

However, set aside enough time to experience it..this is not the type of multimedia that can be rushed through.

Via Innovative Interactivity.

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POV: The Mind Boggles

© Casey Kelbaugh/The New York Times
While our country is involved in two wars and human lives are lost every day; while President Obama is tackling the enormous economic difficulties inherited from the previous administration, as well as trying to reshape our broken health care system; while we are remembering the dreadful events of September 11, 2001, and while unemployment is at its highest ever, there is still New York Fashion Week to remind us of the breathtaking superficiality of certain segments of society.

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Chris Rainier: Papua New Guinea

Chris Rainier: Meetings with Remarkable People - Papua New Guinea from liveBooks on Vimeo.

RESOLVE, the informative blog from liveBooks, has announced that National Geographic Fellow Chris Rainier would be one of its new regular contributors.

Chris is a well known documentary photographer who took part in many National Geographic initiatives, such as the All Roads Photography Program and the Enduring Voices Project. With RESOLVE, Chris will video-post a monthly series "Meetings with Remarkable People" which will take its viewers along with him as he travels the world.

In this first video, Chris shares the ancient dances and rituals he documented on a recent trip to Papua New Guinea.

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Pétanque In NYC's Bryant Park

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

For a shift in gears, here are a couple of photographs made yesterday at the northwestern corner of Bryant Park in New York City, where aficionados meet almost daily to play bocce or pétanque.

Pétanque is a French game of “boules”, where each player strives to throw metal balls as close as possible to a smaller wooden ball, named the “cochonnet”. Game strategies include “pointing” when a player throws his ball to have it roll as close to the cochonnet as possible, and “shooting” when a player aims for the ball of an opponent, hoping to move him out of a favorable spot.

Bocce is a sport similar to the boules, bowls or pétanque family,with an ancient ancestry dating back to the Roman Empire. It was developed into its present form in Italy, and naturally was exported to other countries that received Italian migrants.

In the South of France, this game (or sport) evolved into a regional activity virtually synonymous with Provence...a little pastis and a game of pétanque is what locals do. Anyone who watched the wonderful French films Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources will surely recall how the game was described in the memoirs of novelist Marcel Pagnol.

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