New York Times: Gaza's Youth

Image Copyright © Shawn Baldwin for The New York Times-All Rights ReservedThe New York Times sometimes has an intellectual and moral spine (I think it's vestigial, but that's an argument for another post), and it did the right thing this week by featuring a multimedia slideshow on the plight of young Gazans who pay the price for Israeli security. Narrated by Steven Erlanger in an appropriate compassionate voice and intonation, and produced in collaboration with Cornelius Schmid, it features still photographs by Ali Ali, Amir Cohen, Emilio Morenatti, Edi Israel and Shawn Baldwin.Here's how the accompanying article starts: The three Abu Ghazala fathers were in mourning, in the Palestinian way, sitting with their relatives recently in a shaded...

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Posted in: Middle East,Multimedia,Photojournalism

Digital or Film? : Poll Result

Results of last week's highly scientific poll featured by The Travel Photographer:Totally Digital: 72% of readersTotally Film: 15% of readersSome Digital: 4% of readersSome Film: 9% of read...

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Daniel Pepper: Haiti

Image Copyright © Daniel Pepper-All Rights ReservedDaniel Pepper studied philosophy and Middle East studies at the University of Chicago. After graduation, he worked as writer and photojournalist focusing on human rights and justice issues. His work appeared in Time, Newsweek, Fortune, NYT magazine, Sunday Telegraph and MSNBC.com among others. He currently resides in New Delhi.I chose Daniel's work on voodoo in Hati for his powerful images, and dynamic colors. The photograph above is one of my favorites for its saturated colors and the sense of motion that I'm so partial to.Voodoo is the name attributed to a traditionally West African spiritual system of faith and ritual practices, and its intent is to explain the forces of the universe, influence...

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Posted in: Haiti,Photographers: Photojournalists

News Update: Myanmar (Burma)

The images from Burma of a Japanese journalists as he lay dying after soldiers opened fire on thousands of anti-government protesters have shocked the international community. The above photograph shows Kenji Nagai held his camera above his head to continue taking photos even as a soldier pointed a gun at his chest. He was one of at least nine people who were killed when troops opened fire after ordering the protesters to move on. Another 11 were reported injured.The military regime is clamping down on the protestors, has shuttered down most monasteries with barbed wire preventing monks from leaving and have significantly curtailed internet acces and communications.AP reports: "Soldiers clubbed activists in the streets and fired warning shots...

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Posted in: Burma

Incredible India: Seema K. K.

As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.Seema lives in Trivandrum, Kerala in southern India, and is a graphic designer who recently took up photography with the aim of specializing in the field of cultural and documentary photography. Her keen eye and color sense is amply demonstrated by her exuberant photograph of a Theyyam dancer.Theyyam is a popular ritual dance of north Kerala, south India, particularly presented in...

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Posted in: Events

Incredible India: Prabir Purkayastha

Image Copyright © Prabir Purkayastha-All Rights ReservedDuring the past fourteen years, Purkayastha traveled through the wilderness of Ladakh, which lies at the northern tip of India, and captured powerful images of the last bastion of ancient Tibetan culture, and says that “Ladakh connects with me at a very emotional and spiritual level. I can spend a lifetime in there."He's an Indian photographer who exhibited in New Delhi and at the Photokina in Cologne, Germany. His photographs have been published in leading newspapers and magazines in India. He also won the National Habitat Award for Best Photography Exhibition for 2002. In the summer of 2005 he published his picture book Ladakh. I attended a photo talk by Prabir at the Rubin Museum of...

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Posted in: Events,India

NY Times: Myanmar (Burma) Unrest

The NY Times has published a slideshow depicting the latest photographs of the unrest in Rangoon. The photographs are by various news agencies, and not attributed to specific photographers.The government's security forces cracked down today on nationwide protests, firing shots and tear gas, and raiding at least two Buddhist monasteries, where they beat and arrested dozens of monks. A monk at the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery, pointing to bloodstains on the concrete floor, said a number of monks were beaten and at least 70 of its 150 monks taken away in vehicles.The government told Japan’s Embassy in Rangoon that a Japanese national was killed, and reports indicate that he appeared to be a photographer.To me, the above photograph (Reuteurs) in the...

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Posted in: Burma,Multimedia,Photojournalism

NY Times: Delhi's Garbage Collectors

Copyright © J. Adam Huggins/International Herald Tribune-All Rights ReservedThe New York Times features a slideshow of Manwara Begum, one of the garbage collectors working in Delhi. More than 95 percent of New Delhi has no formal system of house-to-house garbage collection, so it falls to the city's ragpickers - one of India's poorest and most marginalized groups - to provide this basic service. In the above photograph, Manwara hauls a garbage cart along her morning collection route in Netaji Nagar, blowing her whistle to notify residents of her arrival. It's backbreaking work, and Manwara earns about 40 rupees rupees a day, roughly a dollar. The NYT refers to Manwara as Ms Begum...which is incorrect. Manwara is Muslim and the name Begum is...

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Posted in: India,Multimedia,Photojournalism

Incredible India: Sanjit Das

Image Copyright © Sanjit Das-All Rights Reserved As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.Sanjit's work addresses social issues in the backdrop of changing economic and political scenario in India, which reflects the changing India through the lived experiences of people, especially women and children. His work is published in books, book covers, newspapers and journals in India and overseas, and he has exhibited his work...

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Posted in: Events

Washington Post: Myanmar

Image Copyright © AFP/Getty-All Rights ReservedHere's a slideshow of recent photographs of the current events in Myanmar as published by the Washington Post. In this photograph a monk uses a large megaphone to speak to the crowd gathered in Yangon on Sept. 25. At first the monks simply prayed and chanted "democracy, democracy." As the public joined, demonstrators demanded dialogue between the government and opposition parties, freedom for political prisoners, and adequate food, shelter and clothing.The Washington Post's Burmese Protestors Defiant (Registration may be require...

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Posted in: Burma,Multimedia,Photojournalism

Incredible India: Sohrab Hura

Image Copyright © Sohrab Hura-All Rights Reserved As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.Sohrab Hura was born in 1981 in India, and studies for a masters degree in economics at the Delhi School olf Economics. Although he has no formal training in photography, he's been photographing since 2001. He takes inspiration from the work of many photographers...such as " James Nachtwey's endeavour to illustrate social injustice,...

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Posted in: Events

News: Nepal

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedNepal's (nominal) king Gyanendra missed his annual blessing from a virgin "goddess" breaking a tradition seen as crucial for the Himalayan monarchy's survival. The Royal Kumari festival is a 250-year-old tradition the king of Nepal needs to attend in order to remain the country's undisputed leader.The Kumari is a pre-pubescent girl selected from a Buddhist community in Kathmandu valley and taken from her family to live in an ornate palace in the centre of the capital's ancient quarter. She is worshiped as the living incarnation of a Hindu goddess, and her annual blessing is considered a spiritual seal of approval for the palace in the conservative Hindu-majority nation.The final status of...

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Posted in: Nepal

News Update: Myanmar

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedAs a follow up to my post on September 19 : the Associated Press now reports that thousands of Buddhist monks and sympathizers defied orders from the military junta by protesting today in the country's two biggest cities, Yangon and Mandalay. Soldiers, including an army division that took part in the brutal suppression of a 1988 uprising, converged on the capital.Today's actions increase the pressure on the junta to either crack down on or compromise with a reinvigorated democracy movement. The monks have taken their traditional role as the conscience of society, backing the military into a corner from which it may lash out again. However, the military is restrained by China which has considerable...

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Posted in: Burma

Incredible India: Altaf Qadri

Image Copyright © Altaf Qadri-All Rights Reserved As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.Altaf Qadri is a photojournalist based in Kashmir, who has been covering the conflict in Kashmir for several years.. His photographs and stories from events in Kashmir have appeared all around the globe including Time, The Guardian, New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Post and The Times among others. The above photograph...

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Posted in: Events

Incredible India: Gaddi Tribe

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.The Gaddis reside in the Mandi, Kangra and Bilaspur districts near Dharmasala in Himachal Pradesh. Gaddis are not fully nomadic since they live in villages with stone houses. Although the origin of the Gaddis is unclear, they believe that their ancestors fled from persecution of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The Gaddi women wear...

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Posted in: Events

Incredible India: A Kite's View

Image Copyright © Nicholas Chorier-All Rights ReservedNicholas Chorier's aerial photographs provide wonderful perspectives of familiar Indian monuments and vistas, which are photographed using large kites. A camera (a Canon 5D) is mounted on a rig that hangs below the kite, and is operated by remote control from the ground. Chorier feels a deep gratitude for India for giving him the opportunity to show his work. “In a sense, I feel like I am giving something back to the country— that I didn’t, like the colonialists of yore, simply ‘steal’ without giving back anything.”It's because of this statement that I include Nicholas on TTP's pages this week.For a short slideshow (courtesy of the BBC): A Kite's Eye ViewNicholas Chorier's webs...

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Posted in: Events

Incredible India: Ran Chakrabati

Image Copyright © Ran Chakrabati-All Rights Reserved As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.Ran Chakrabarti is a lawyer and graduate of the London School of Economics, and has worked with the United Nations in New York and Reuters in New Delhi. He has exhibited his work in Singapore, London and publishes occasionally in the Times of India and the UK quarterly travel magazine, Traveller. The above photograph is of the Khuri...

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Posted in: Events

Incredible India: Kathputli Puppeteers

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.I photographed this husband and wife team of puppeteers at the Kathputli Colony, a slum beneath the bridge of Shadipur Depot in South Delhi. Kathputli Colony is what's called a tinsel slum, with some 800 families of artists such as magicians, acrobats, mime artists, puppeteers, jugglers, folk singers, snake charmers, bear handlers,...

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Posted in: Events

Incredible India @ 60

India's 60th anniversary of independence is being observed with a week-long celebration in New York City starting today, Sunday September 23rd. The celebrations are sponsored by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and India's Ministry of Tourism, as well as other Indian entities.Among the events is an exhibit of photographs by Steve McCurry at the Bryant Park Hotel (40 West 40th Street in NYC). I attended the opening event on the hotel's 25th floor this morning, and came out of the exhibit with a sense of disappointment and dejection...and here's why...I would think that the Government of India should use the celebration of its independence from foreign colonialism by promoting its own artists. It is true that Steve McCurry is a talented...

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Posted in: Events,India

Poll: Digital or Film?

Digital or Film?Are You Totally Digital or Do You Still Use Film? Totally Digital Totally Film Some Digital Some Filmview results !--- This javascript is placed in banners/banner_pollinside.jsfunction get_referrer(lk){var dc=document;if(dc.location==''){return true}var ru=escape(dc.location);var pu='';var du;if(lk!=null){if(lk.href!=null){du=lk.href;}else if(lk.form!=null && lk.form.referrer_url!=null){lk.form.referrer_url.value=dc.location;return true}}else if(pu!=''){du=pu}else{return true}if(du==null){return true}if(du.match(/\?/)){du=du+'&'}else{du=du+'?'}du=du+'referrer_url='+ru;if(lk!=null && lk.href!=null){lk.href=du}else{window.location=du;return false}return true} --->...

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Carolyn Drake: The Lubavitch

Image Copyright © Carolyn Drake-All Rights ReservedCarolyn Drake is a Brown University graduate who worked as a concept designer and producer of multimedia projects in New York before deciding to become a photographer. She studied at the ICP and obtained a masters in Visual Communications. She was chosen by Magenta Foundation as one of the emerging photographers in 2007. Carolyn currently lives in Istanbul. This is the second time I feature her work on TTP...the first was on her work on the Uighurs.The Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest branches of Hasidic Judaism and one of the largest Jewish movements worldwide, especially in the United States, the Former Soviet Union, Europe and Israel. The word "Lubavitch" is the name of the town in...

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Posted in: Photojournalism

New York Times: Yom Kippur

Image Copyright © Rina Castelnuovo/New York Times-All Rights ReservedThe New York Times brings us a short slideshow of photographs by Rina Castelnuovo of the preparations for Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. It's an interesting feature which provides us with a tiny glimpse into how Orthodox Jews prepare for the Day of Atonement, considered to be one of the holiest and most solemn days of the year, and whose central theme is atonement and repentance for sins against both God and one's fellow man. Jewish oral tradition calls for observant Jews to refrain from eating and drinking, wearing leather shoes, bathing, annointing oneself with perfumes, and marital relations for a day before Yom Kippur. Another tradition is the ritual slaughter of chickens known...

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Posted in: Middle East,Photojournalism

Jakub Sliwa: Deshnoke (India)

Image Copyright © Jakub Sliwa-All Rights ReservedJakub Sliwa was born in Krakow and is a graduate of Oriental Philology studies. His principal interest is in documenting human condition, and he has traveled to the Middle and Far East in search of various documentary projects. His website lists a variety of projects including a leper colony in Puri (India), the Ganges, a spiritual center in the Ukraine, the Zabaleen (garbage collectors in Cairo), the last days of El-Qurna and the Rat Temple of Deshnoke.The famous Karni Mata Temple in India's small northwestern city of Deshnoke (Rajasthan) is home to 20,000-odd rats considered holy by the population. These rodents are called kabbas, and pilgrims travel great distances to pay their respects. The...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel,Photojournalism

Geoffrey Hiller: Heavenly World

Image Copyright © Geoffrey Hiller-All Rights ReservedGeoffrey Hiller is one of the first advocates of multimedia on the web, and has worked as a photographer for over 30 years. He lived in Brazil for three years where he was a staff photographer for Manchette and Revista Geografica (Brazil’s National Geographic). He worked as a documentary photographer working on extensive photo essays in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. His work has been published in major international magazines and he has received grants from the California Arts Council and Eastman Kodak. Since 1995, Hiller has been passionate about telling stories with photography on the Web. Hiller has directed Creativesight for Tektronix/ Xerox, and has completed a number of independent...

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Posted in: Burma,Multimedia

New Canon 5D???

The rumor mill has it that the Canon 5D may be replaced before the year is out, so coming sooner than thought. Dubbed as the "Canon 5D Mark II", the crystalball gazers believe that it will arrive late fall 2007. The Canon 5D Mark II is rumored to include a 16MP DIGIC II, 3″ LCD, Live View, Semi Weather Sealing and 4-5 f...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

News: Myanmar (Burma)

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedI follow international -political and financial- news very closely for a number of reasons, and the current events in Myanmar are disturbing. I've traveled to Myanmar a number of times, and I consider it to be one of the most photogenic countries in South East Asia...and its people are warm, friendly, and attractive. In a way like Cuba, its political isolation enhances its attraction to travel photographers, but change might be in the air.The international media is reporting that Buddhist monks staging anti-government protests in Myanmar pushed past closed gates to occupy the Sule pagoda temple in downtown Yangon, and took it over after finding the gates locked at the Shwedagon pagoda, Myanmar's...

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Posted in: Burma

Ashok Sinha: Peru

Image Copyright © Ashok Sinha-All Rights ReservedFor a change in pace from yesterday's post: Ashok Sinha is an emerging travel photographer who was born in Calcutta and is now based in New York City. He works primarily on travel/tourism related assignments, and has traveled around the world on such assignments. Most of his portfolio on his website is of intensely colorful photographs of Mexico, Peru and India.Ashok's photographs have a commerical slant to them, and I expect that they are generally aimed at travel and tourism clients, magazines and brochures. For instance, the one above of the Peruvian woman walking on a cobblestoned street is compositionally ready for a double page spread in a travel magazine...with the title of the feature...

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Posted in: Peru,Photographers: Travel

Fazal Sheikh: Ladli

Image Copyright © Fazal Sheikh -All Rights ReservedHere's the work of a photographer who, by any definition, is the pride of this profession; Fazal Sheikh not only makes pictures, he presents us an unblinking, but immensely compassionate view of the poor and disenfranchised...he doesn't only photograph, but interviews his subjects about their lives, he adds his own commentary on the people, their country, and the situation in which he finds them.Fazal Sheikh went to Vrindavan, "where he began to grasp the full extent to which women in India are the victims of religious and cultural codes that reduce many of them to little more than child-rearing servants. He returned to India to find out more from young women growing up in a society that, whatever...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Photojournalists

Panier Goes to Yemen

Image Copyright © Dirk Panier -All Rights ReservedI've written about Dirk Panier's multimedia website in a March 2007 post. Here's another multimedia creation from him which deserves top accolades for creativity. The feature is on the Yemen, and is well worth your time. Yemen is one of the most intriguing countries to visit, and its history spans thousands of years. There's precious little information on the web on Dirk Panier and his background other than he's Belgian. All I know for sure is that he's damn good in producing multimedia. His website is entirely flash based, so you'll have to click on the blue round icon over Yemen on the map to open the new feature.Here's Dirk Panier Multimedia...

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Posted in: Multimedia,Photographers: Travel

Ardh Kumbh Mela 2007

Image Copyright © Bombay Flying Club -All Rights ReservedHere's a multimedia treat for those of us who are Indiaphiles...A four-part flash multimedia feature of the 2007 Ardh Kumbh Mela produced by the 'Bombay Flying Club' featuring the photographs of Poul Madsen, the sound editing of Frederik Holge and the narration of Mandy Bhandal.This is a really well-crafted piece of multimedia...it provides the essence of a Kumbh Mela within the restrictive parameters of the web and broadband so I applaud the creativity and professionalism of all those involved. If I had the choice, I would've chosen to use larger photographs, but that might have made the feature too slow to load."A story in words, pictures and sound about the world's largest religious...

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Posted in: Festivals,India,Multimedia

Ramadan For Palestinians

Image Copyright © Nasser Shiyoukhi/Associated Press -All Rights ReservedThe New York Times brings us a slideshow of still photographs by Musa Al-shaer, Nasser Shiyoukhi, Emilio Morenatti, Jamal Aruri, Marco Longari, Muhammed Muheisen, Thaer Ganaim, and Sebastian Scheiner on the prevention of Palestinians from worshipping at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jesrusalem on the start of Islam's holy month of Ramadan.One of the captions: Only men above the age of 45 and women above the age of 35, who had also obtained special permits, were allowed to enter Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine of Islam, said police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby.Here's Ramadan Begins in Jerusalem in the New York Tim...

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Posted in: Middle East,Photojournalism

Photojournalism Workshop: Mexico City

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held June 16-21, 2008 in Mexico City, and is the brainchild of Eric Beecroft, a photographer and educator who teaches photography and photojournalism/documentary photography at the Walden School in Utah. The concept behind the workshop was to establish a venue where many instructors would share their expertise with emerging photojournalists, creating an impromptu community of sorts.... a workshop where getting into the field, producing real reportage, getting candid, real time feedback, and making new friends and developing contacts were first and foremost.All the instructors at this workshop are donating their time and talents. Its objective is to help the passionate student, the emerging photojournalist,...

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Posted in: Events

Beyond The Frame: Kecak Dance

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedKecak or Ketchak is a dance usually performed at night, surrounding a bonfire. Tourists generally refer to it as The Monkey Dance. There can literally be upwards of a hundred or more bare chested men, sitting down on the ground surrounding the bonfire, led by a priest in the middle. The only music to accompany them are the beats of their palms hitting their bodies, or their claps, rhythmically accompanied by shouting and chanting.I've seen it performed at the spectacular temple of Ulluwatu overlooking the sea, and at Pura Dalem in Ubud. The above photograph was made at the latter temple, and I found that the Ubud performance was more authentic that the the one in Ulluwatu. This photograph...

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Posted in: Bali,Beyond The Frame

Energizer DUO Charger

I've belatedly concluded that I ought to switch to rechargeable batteries, instead of schelpping non-rechargeables with me wherever I travel to. My Canon 520 flash consumes Lithium batteries very quickly, so it's high time that I used rechargeables...I found a device that may suit my needs.The Energizer DUO Charger lets you power up (two at a time) AA or AAA NiMh batteries by plugging it either in a wall outlet or in the USB port of a computer. The charging time varies between 2 and 4 hours depending on battery type. It's small and light...so it's a good traveler. It ships with two Energizer AAA batteries and costs anywhere between $12-15. The downside of this charger is that it only charges two batteries at a ti...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

Congolese Sape

Image Copyright © Héctor Mediavilla/Zone Zero -All Rights ReservedHéctor Mediavilla has documented the unusal world of the 'sapeurs' while teaching photography in Congo. The 'sapeurs' or 'Sapes' are a subculture of men who derive their lifestyle and sense of well-being on being elegant and wearing fine French clothing. This subculture goes back more than four generations, however, it was virtually unheard of outside Congo, even in France, until Héctor came across it.The Los Angeles Times has picked up on this culture, and recently published an article describing this sub-culture: "The white man may have invented clothes, but we turned it into an art," said Congolese musician King Kester Emeneya, who helped popularize the Sape movement with...

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Posted in: Africa,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists

LaCie Golden Disk

LaCie has just announced the Golden Disk, a 500 GB Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port (USB 1.1 compatible) hard-drive, in a distinctive, golden wave design. This cross-platform hard drive can be used with either PC or Mac computers. It’s plug & play, driver-free (Windows® 2000, Windows® XP & Mac® OS X), and fan-free for quiet operation. The price is $189.I'm not sure who would want to have this designer golden hard drive on their desk, but it does look sleek...but sleek or utilitarian, gold or aluminum, all hard drives will fail at some point....so back up all your precious files on alternative storage media.Here's the LaCie's Golden D...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

Steve Raymer: India In Diaspora

Image Copyright © Steve Raymer-All Rights ReservedThe Digital Journalist brings us the work of Steve Rayner on the India diaspora. Professor Rayner a National Geographic magazine staff photographer for more than two decades, teaches photojournalism, media ethics, and international newsgathering at Indiana University in Bloomington, and is also on the advisory committee of the university's India Studies Program.The foreword to India In Diaspora is by Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online Magazine at the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, who writes: " India's awakening to independence at midnight in August 1947 altered the long-established equation, with millions of Indians voluntarily leaving their homes in search of a better life...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Photojournalists

Francine Orr: India, The New AIDS Capital

Image Copyright © Francine Orr/LA Times-All Rights ReservedFrancine Orr has been a photographer with the Los Angeles Times since 1999. She has traveled and worked extensively in Asia and the Pacific, and in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Angola, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Orr also spent several years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Federated States of Micronesia. According to the Los Angeles Times, her interest in covering poverty issues grew from documenting women living in poverty in India and America. Orr has received numerous awards for her photography and writing.I featured Francine's work in Uganda a few months ago, and the link to that post is here. She has now produced a photographic feature on AIDS...

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Posted in: India,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists

Lynsey Addario: Darfur

Image Copyright © Lynsey Addario-All Rights ReservedLynsey Addario is a photojournalist based in Istanbul, Turkey, where she works for The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Fortune and National Geographic among others. With no professional training or studies, she began photographing in 1996 for The Buenos Aires Herald in Argentina, where she worked for one year before returning to New York. In 1997, she began freelancing for the The Associated Press and has since covered many international stories for a variety of the world's top publications.She works in natural light with digital cameras (Nikon D200 ) and frequently uses a Widelux, a panoramic camera. Lynsey believes that working in the Muslim world as a woman is much easier...

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Posted in: Darfur,Photographers: Photojournalists

NY Times: Captivating Cappadocia

Yoray Liberman/Getty Images, for The New York Times-All Rights ReservedHere's a fluff travel feature slideshow by the New York Times on Cappadocia in Turkey. The area Cappadocia is in Central Anatolia and is known for its unique moon-like landscape, underground cities, cave churches and houses carved in the rocks.These unusual rock formations were created as a result of eroding rains and winds of thousands of years.Its troglodyte dwellings carved out of the rock, and its cities dug out into the underground, present an otherworldly appearance. During the Roman era the area served as a shelter for escaping Christians. It is believed that Cappadocia's area is 250 miles in length by about 150 miles in breadth, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage...

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Posted in: Destinations,Turkey

Nina Berman: Under the Taliban

Image Copyright © Nina Berman-All Rights ReservedNina Berman is based in New York City, and has been a documentary photographer since 1987. She worked in various countries including Afghanistan, Bosnia, India and Vietnam, but she says that most of her time has been spent traveling the United States trying to understand the American way of life. She won many awards and grants, and has a long list of clients including Time, Life, National Geographic, New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, and many others.She earned deserved nationwide recognition for her Purple Hearts project; a series of photographic portraits and interviews with American soldiers returning badly wounded and maimed from the Iraq conflict. The images...

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Photographers: Photojournalists

Beyond The Frame: Nepali Circus Workers

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedSamantha Appleton's work on the Nepali circus girls which I featured on TTP a few days ago (link) reminded me of my unannounced visit to an Indian circus in Chhattisgarh during a solo photo expedition. I recall that my fixer Babu had a difficult time persuading the circus manager to allow me in and photograph. He didn't mind me spending as much time as I needed to photograph the clowns putting their makeup, or the mangy lions (covered with tumeric powder to heal their sores), or any of the stagehands...but he was adamant that I could not photograph the Nepali acrobat girls unless he was present. He claimed -with a straight face- that it was to ensure that I didn't ask them to pose in ways...

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Posted in: Beyond The Frame

Pentaxians?

The PENTAX Imaging Company has announced the launch of a community-based website developed for PENTAX photographers. The website features videos that share the stories of four Pentaxian photographers. One is a former NASA scientist and computer technology executive turned urban street photographer, another is a former Doctor of Medicine turned freelance international surf photographer, a third is a professional nature photographer and a fourth is a cruise ship marketing executive who picked up her first digital SLR two years ago and now freelances on the side as a photographer.I think this is a great idea for a camera company to have...Pentax is reaching to non-working photographers and beginners with this slick website, and is creating a...

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Posted in: Innovative Stuff

Noor

Noor was officially launched during the 19th Visa Pour l’Image festival in Perpignan, and is a collective of nine independent documentary photographers, pooling their resources to make impact on world views and opinions through photography. Noor will promote, sell and exhibit the work of its founding member photographers:Samantha AppletonJodi BieberPhilip BlenkinsopPep BonetJan GrarupStanley GreeneYuri KozyrevKadir van LohuizenNoor is the Arabic word for light...and before seeing the list of photographers, I hoped it would've been founded by some of the emerging and talented photographers of the Near and Middle East, however that's not the case.Here's NOOR (Firefox works bett...

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Posted in: Events

Getty Images: Reportage

Image Copyright © Palani Mohan-All Rights ReservedReportage is a new website by Getty Images and home of photojournalism work from renowned photographers, and emerging new ones in documentary photography. It's well produced, and contains galleries of marvellous photographs by Paula Bronstein, Chris Hindros, Farah Nosh, Spencer Platt, Amy Toensing, David Turnley, Reza and Ghaith Abul Ahad among others...most of whom have been featured in one way or the other on TTP's pages. There's no question that this is an "inspiration stop" for all photographers, whatever we may think of large photo agencies.Getty Images' Report...

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Posted in: Photojournalism

Samantha Appleton: Nepali Circus Girls

Image Copyright © Samantha Appleton-All Rights ReservedSamantha Appleton has worked on stories in Iraq, malaria in Africa and fishing communities of Maine. Most of her projects are self-motivated and concentrate on the social and political consequences of conflict and neglect. She began her journalism career as a writer and became a fulltime photographer after assisting James Nachtwey in 1999-2000. Since then she has been named one of the "30 Under 30" photographers featured in PDN, received the Kodak Professional Award, attended the 2005 World Press Master Class, and won first place from Pictures of the Year for her September 11th feature. Her primary clients are TIME magazine and the New Yorker magazine. Out of her galleries on her website,...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Photojournalists

PhotoPlus Expo: New York City

PDN’s PhotoPlus International Conference and Expo (PPE), the largest and most comprehensive photography expo and educational conference, will be held October 18-20 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.Apart from the usual hoopla, there'll be many 2-3 hour long seminars given by industry professionals. Here are some that are relevant to travel photography:Travels To The Edge by Art WolfeMutlimedia Storytelling by Brian StormTravel & Photography by Lou Jones.If this is of interest, visit its website to regist...

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Posted in: Events

Daniele Mattioli: Chinese Street Opera

Image Copyright © Daniele Mattioli-All Rights ReservedDaniele Mattioli was born in Italy, and started his carreer by working as a photo researcher at the Anzenberger Agency which now represent him. He worked in Australia during the 2000 Olympic Games, and developed a profound interest in Asia that eventually drew him to Shanghai. Following his numerous visits to Shanghai, and as a consequence of his editorial work, he is now based in Shanghai.His editorial work has appeared worldwide in publications such as The New York Times, Time (USA), GQ, Vanity Fair, Geo (Korea), and various others.Mattioli's website is flash-based, and I encourage you to explore its galleries...the photograph above is from his Chinese Opera, which was photographed in...

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Posted in: China,Photographers: Travel

Books: China, People Place Culture History

The accomplished author Anchee Min writes the prologue to China, People Place Culture History, a handsome book published by DK Publishing. The book runs to over glossy 350 pages and, as it title suggests, covers China's history, geography, and culture with magnificent photographs. For instance, the Songzanlin Buddhist 17th century monastery in Yunnan draped in mist and the Grand Canal near Wuxi in Jiangsu are particularly beautiful examples of landscape photography.Most of the photographs -and there are over 700 of them in this coffee table book- are by Christopher Pillitz, as well as by Chester Ong and Gary Ombler.While China: People, Place, Culture History is an exhaustive and comprehensive compilation, I found its section on People to be...

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Posted in: Books,China

Phil Borges: Exhibit At Fifty Crows

Image Copyright © Phil Borges-All Rights ReservedPhil Borges, the humanitarian photographer is presenting his Women Empowered, a collection of 30 portraits and personal stories about women in developing countries who have broken through the barriers of convention and oppression to improve their own well-being and the well-being of their communities.The Artist Reception, Opening & Book Signing is on Friday, September 14th (4:30 pm - 8:00 pm), while the exhibition is through November 17, 2007 at Fifty Crows, 2nd Floor, Suite 225, 49 Geary Street, in San Francisco.Further details at: Fifty Cr...

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Posted in: Events

Christopher Pillitz: Asia

Image Copyright © Christopher Pillitz-All Rights ReservedChristopher Pliilitz was born in Buenos Aires, and after graduating from a hotel management school, decided to begin a self-taught career as a photographer. Since then, he traveled to over 70 countries, photographing editorial and commercial assignments for a variety of clients.He published a number of books, most notable of which is Brazil Incarnate; which delves into that country's body culture. He has now added another fillip to his body of work by being the primary photographer for the book China, People Place Culture History (to be reviewed tomorrow on TTP).Notwithstanding, I chose the above photograph of an Indian woman bathing an elderly man (her father?), while a child looks on....

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Posted in: Asia,China,India,Photographers: Travel

Canon 1Ds Mark III: Video Interview

If you're interested in this sort of thing, Chuck Westfall of Canon USA gives a video interview on the merits of the new Canon 1Ds Mark III. Click on Canon 1Ds Mark ...

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Posted in: Interviews

Noorderlicht Photofestival: Act of Faith

Image Copyright © David Farrell-All Rights ReservedThe Noorderlicht Photofestival is scheduled for 16 September – 28 October 2007. This year's main theme is Act of Faith, and the festival is held in Groningen. Over 130 photographers from all over the world will exhibit their work on faith and conflict, ecstasy and excess. The festival will delve in such topical issues as is faith permissible? Or is faith compulsory? How sacred is the line separating church and state today, long the unquestioned foundation of Western democracy? How firm is the theory of evolution? How conceivable is unbelief?Noorderlicht Photofesti...

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Posted in: Events

NY Times: Turning The Tribes

Image Copyright © Benjamin Lowy/New York Times-All Rights Reserved In one of its rare serious reportage photographic essays, this week's New York Times Magazine is featuring a photo-documentary in slideshow format on the efforts by the US military in Iraq to 'turn' the Sunni tribes, and to have these form alliances of convenience with it. The somewhat grating narration is by Michael Gordon, a reporter for the Times and the impressive photography is by the talented and experienced Ben Lowy.From a political standpoint, I must say that these images and the narration reaffirm what many of us have known all along...we cannot win in Iraq. Are we now forming alliances with minority Sunni tribes by offering protection and funds (wasn't that what Saddam...

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Posted in: Middle East,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists