Verdict: Gnawa Photo Expedition

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedNow ensconced in sunny and hot London, I've reflected on the past 2 weeks spent photographing in Morocco during the Gnawa Festival Photo Expedition, and two key words immediately jump to mind: frustrating and sublime.Here's the frustrating bit: people photography in the large cities of Morocco is to say the least, extremely difficult. Moroccans are generally reticent to pose under any circumstances, and photographing them on the sly (say in a marketplace) can lead to some unpleasant confrontations. I recall that we were photographing fishermen off-loading their catch in the post of Essaouira, and hearing one of them, clearly irritated by our presence, asking his colleagues if we thought them to be...

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Posted in: Morocco,Photo Tours

Essaouira Report: Zaouia Sidi Bilal

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedWithin a few steps from my lovely Essaouira hotel (Riad Mimouna) is the zaouia of Sidi Bilal, who was the first muezzin in Islam, and is the patron saint of the Gnawa order.It is there that most of my photographs of the Gnawa performers are made. The backdrop of the zaouia is of traditional islamic zellige, and is just perfect. I've witnessed three Gnawa performance at the zaouia so far. The first was of the Gnawa Maalem Allal Soudani, the second was of the Tunisian Sidi Ali Lasmar Stambali, and the third of the magnificent Ganga de Zagora. The first two performances were of the Gnawa Maalems on the traditional guembri (a three stringed instrument), while the rest of the group provide the repetitive...

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Posted in: Morocco,Photo Tours

Essaouira Report: Gnawa Festival

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedThe 2009 Gnawa (or Gnaoua) Festival in Essaouira officially started yesterday at 6:00 pm, when all the participating groups congregated at the medina's Bab El-Doukala for its inaugural procession through its narrow streets.The various Gnawa bands were amply represented in the square just outside the Doukala Gate, and were being interviewed by the local press. Gnawa music is a mixture of sub-Saharan African, Berber, and Arabic religious songs and rhythms, and they displayed their talents while walking in the medina's streets. The procession was viewed by a large number of spectators, both local and tourists, although I noticed that some of the Essaouirites were irritated at having to wait until the...

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Posted in: Morocco,Photo Tours,TTP Show Off

Essaouira Report: Gnawa Musicians

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedPhoto © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedI've just been able to photograph and audio record a couple of rehearsals of musical bands and dancers in the medina of Essaouira through the persistent assistant of our fixer, Hassan. Normally, attending and photographing these rehearsals require special permits and press passes. The first rehearsal was at a riad (small typical hotel) in the center of the medina, where I photographed the amazing Brazilian dance trio Afoxe Loni, along with the legendary Gnawa Maalem Mahmood Guinea.The second rehearsal was at an arts center, also in the medina, where I photographed the incredibly talented Maalem Abdel Rehim Ben Thami, accompanied by the Trio Amrat, Hussein...

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Posted in: Morocco,Photo Tours,TTP Show Off

My Work: The Tanners of Marrakech

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedAs readers of this blog know, I'm leading a photo expedition in Morocco whose principal destination is Essaouira where we will be photographing the Gnawa Music Festival in a few days' time. The 9 photographers on this expedition are now in Ouarzazate, an ancient city south east of Marrakech and described as the gateway to Africa, and where we are photographing the various casbahs dating from the 11th century. I suspect that it's hardly the remote area it's hyped as, since the hotel here has an incredibly fast (and free) WiFi in its rooms.We stayed in Marrakech for a couple of days, and the above photograph is of Mejid, a worker laboring in its famed medieval tanneries. The stench of the tanneries here...

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Posted in: Morocco,Photo Tours

National Geographic: Angkor Wat

Photo © National GeographicThe National Geographic online is featuring a 3D innovative look at the Khmer Empire, which includes Angkor Wat and life as it must have been in the 13th century.In fact, this animation will provide a sliver of solace to those who heeded the National Geographic's advice of not going to visit the complex. A few months ago, the National Geographic's Intelligent Travel advised people not to go to Siem Reap and to the Angkor complex, and to postpone their visits. It seems the sheer volume of tourists has taken a toll on the Angkor monuments and temples, and that several of the important temples are being restored. Some have unsightly scaffolding with areas just cordoned off. The central section of Angkor Wat is closed...

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Posted in: Cambodia,Innovative Stuff

Blind Boys Magazine

Blind Boys Magazine describes itself as being bold, new and South Asian. I'm unsure whether these photographers form a collective, or are just a group of photographers who seek an avenue to expose their diverse work to the outside world.Aditya Kapoor's photographs reveal the lighter side of the often misunderstood Muslim community, Kapil Das' photo essay covers one of the last surviving traveling theater groups of Gujarat, while Akshay Mahajan explores the lives and uncertainties of a old couple in New Delhi’s new urban scape. Ishan Tankha photographs in a camp in Sri Lanka where 94 former child soldiers live with their supervisors, Surya Sen's photographs show us the aftermath of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, and finally Ruhani Kaur finds Sophie...

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Posted in: India,Photojournalism

Candace Feit: West African Wrestling

Photo © Candace Feit -All Rights ReservedTyson and 50 Cent are the names of the biggest stars in West African wrestling, which according to photojournalist Candace Feit, has become a huge business for wrestlers and sponsors alike. Instead of wrestling to win a bag of rice or a goat, the current monetary prizes are now in excess of $300,000. For many young men in Senegal, it can drag them out of a crippling poverty.Candace has been featured on many occasions on the pages of The Travel Photographer blog, and her photographs of West Africa appeared in the The New York Times, Le Monde, Le Figaro, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and Time magazine, among others. She was based in Dakar, Senegal and now is living in Delhi, India, from where...

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Posted in: Africa,Photographers: Photojournalists

My Gear For The Gnawa Photo~Expedition

Having received questions as to what I normally pack on my photo~expeditions, I thought thought I'd list what I loaded my Domke F-3X Canvas bag with for my Gnawa Photo~Expedition which starts in a few days. In a departure from my usual packing style, I decided this time that I'd go minimalist (sort of) in terms of camera gear, and leave my Canon Mark II (and all its heavy paraphernalia) at home.The contents of my bag:* Canon EOS 5D Mark II* Canon G10 (ideal for unobtrusive street photography)* Canon 17-40mm f4.0* Canon 28-70mm f 2.8* Canon 24mm f1.4* Marantz PMD 620 Audio Recorder* Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch Mini Laptop (w/LR2 and SoundSlides)* A 250gb G-Tech Mini G-Drive External Hard Drive * Blackberry & an iTouchand in a separate (but...

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Posted in: Hard Gear,Photo Tours

Think Tank Wired Collection

Think Tank has announced that it will begin shipping a line of bags aimed at editorial photographers whose work includes capturing audio along with still photos, plus photographers who are acquiring the new breed of digital SLRs capable of capturing high-quality video.The line of bags is called the Multimedia Wired Up Collection consists of 4 belt-mountable pouches and two beltpacks. I never used Think Tank products, but I am impressed that it's bringing a line of products specifically aimed at multimedia photographers, which means the company keeps its ear to the ground (as it ought to) and reacts to our needs. I'm sure its competitors are also readying new products. I always thought that the Think Tank products were too "boxy", but these...

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Posted in: Hard Gear,Multimedia

Tyler Hicks: The Battle For Pakistan

Photo © Tyler Hicks/NYTimes-All Rights ReservedA superb photojournalism feature published by The New York Times of photographs by Tyler Hicks appeared on its website late last night. The title of the multimedia feature is The Battle For Pakistan; a title which I find rather exaggerated, as it really is about South Waziristan. Having said that, the area which may well be the toughest challenge for the Pakistani military in its war against an insurgency. South Waziristan is home to Baitullah Mehsud, who -according to the accompanying article, leads the Taliban in the area and has engineered many suicide bombings in recent years. The article by Sabrina Tavernise (and Ismail Khan) ends with an ominous quote by a top bureaucrat for the tribal areas,...

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Posted in: Pakistan,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Michael Kamber: Hard Lessons in Somalia

"It is also important to keep a low profile when you’re moving through dangerous areas where kidnapping risks are high. Try to find vehicles with tinted windows. Long sleeves, beards, hats and local dress all help. Don’t be embarrassed to wrap a scarf around your head or put on local garb. From a distance, this makes you less visible. It may save your life."-Michael Kamber (from LENS-New York Times)Michael Kamber is a well-known photojournalist, and is currently working on a book on photojournalism and war photography. He was nominated three times for the Pulitzer prize. He has covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, Cote D'Ivoire, Sudan, Somalia, Haiti, Israel, the Congo and various others.He shares some of the hard lessons he learned...

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Posted in: Africa,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Book: Within The Frame: David duChemin

If there's one book on photography I must have with me if I'm ever marooned on a desert island, it'd be David duChemin's Within The Frame. If there's one photography book I'd recommend to all the photographers of varying levels of proficiency who join my photo~expeditions, it's David du Chemin's Within The Frame.If there's one photography manual I'd have with me when teaching my photography courses to emerging photographers and photojournalists, it'd be David's Within The frame.Yes, it's that good.Within The Frame is David's opus...a 'from the heart and soul' of a travel photographer who genuinely likes his craft and is justifiably proud of his work. It's a book of color, of light, of exotic locations, of people, of humanity and of valuable...

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Posted in: Books,Photographers: Travel

En Route: The Gnawa Photo Expedition

I'm on my way to Morocco to lead the Photo~Expedition: The Gnawa Festival In Essaouira, which begins in Casablanca on June 19. In Casablanca, I will be meeting (all for the first time) the 8 photographers who are joining me on this exciting adventure, exploring the souks of Marrakech, the fabled city of Ouarzazate and the famous port city of Essaouira, where the Gnawa music festival is to take place.During the coming 12 days or so, my postings may not be as frequent as usual but I've set up some robot posts, and hope to be able to upload a couple of posts from Morocco during the photo~expedition itself. It all depends on time availability and accessibility of the intern...

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Posted in: Morocco,Photo Tours

Khaled Hasan: The Stone Crushers

Khaled Hasan was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and joined Pathshala (the South Asian Institute of Photography) and completed a workshop in Chobimela IV (2006). He was inspired by Shahidul Alam and Reza Deghati. He worked as a freelancer for several daily newspapers in Bangladesh and for the photo agency Majorityworld. His photographs have been published in the Sunday Times Magazine, American Photo, National Geographic, Better Photography, Saudi Aramco World and The New Internationalist.The Stone Crushers of Bangladesh also appeared on GlobalPost, the excellent online news organization, and documents the working community of Jaflong in the northeastern part of Bangladesh. The Piyain River, which flows from India through Bangladesh, washes rocks...

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Posted in: Bangladesh,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Pakistani Cinema: Zackary Canepari

Photo © Zackary Canepari -All Rights ReservedTIME Magazine features a photo essay by Zackary Canepari titled The Last Days of Pakistani Cinema.It's a welcome change from the current run of the mill photojournalism which we normally see in the mainstream media. I've had enough of seeing photographs of frightfully scary Islamic mullahs, with black beards and betel-stained teeth, which seem to delight photo editors, and are standard fare in our newspapers. So I cheer when I see diverse photo reports such as this one.It seems that in its heyday years, during the 1970s, the movie studios of Pakistan churned out around 200 movies a year, but that has dwindled to a fraction because of the growing accessibility of Hollywood and Bollywood films. It...

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Posted in: Pakistan,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

The Purge: The Travel Photographer's Newsletters

I've sent out my June newsletter yesterday, and realized that it was about time to purge my ever-growing mailing list of subscribers that no longer open my newsletters with regularity. Through my email marketing service, I get an update as to which emails do not open my newsletters, and I've already started to remove them from my list. The criteria is simple. Subscribers who haven't opened any of my four newsletters of 2009 are either not interested any more, or have moved their email addresses or haven't opened them in that length of time. Consequently, they are being removed from the list. What triggered this review and purge is an expanding list which costs me money to send, and I have no intention of keep sending newsletters to recipients...

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Posted in: Rants

My 2010 Photo~Expeditions: Update

As posted a few days ago, a newsletter with details of two of my 2010 Photo~Expeditions was emailed yesterday morning to subscribers. These subscribers have either joined my previous trips, or are photographers who emailed directly expressing interest in them or are people who joined my mailing list by completing the mailing list on this blog's right column.The responses to the two photo~expeditions (especially the Nomads of Rajasthan & Gujarat in early 2010) have exceeded my expectations, and it appears that registration may be closed soon.On my return from leading the Gnawa Festival Photo~Expedition to Morocco (in two weeks or so), I will post these two 2010 Photo Expeditions on my website The Travel Photographer and on this bl...

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Posted in: Photo Tours

My Work: Kathakali Actor

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedKathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama well-known for its attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and body movements. It's prevalent india's southern state of Kerala where it also originated.It was photographed at the reputed Kathakali Kalatharangini school in Thrissur, during he Theyyams of Malabar 2009 Photo~Expedition.The make up used in Kathakali performances is made from various mineral ores and pigments, which are ground on a stone and mixed with coconut oil before being applied on the actors' faces. Interestingly, the character shown in the above photograph placed a "chundanga" seed under his lower eyelids to turn the white of his eyes r...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel,TTP Show Off

Sankar Sridhar: Zanskar

Sankar Sridhar spent his early years in Calcutta, subsequently trekking and guiding tourists on trails in Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kashmir, then worked as an outdoor survival instructor in a Delhi-based adventure company.He eventually worked as a journalist, with many of his articles appearing in Le Courrier France and Le Courrier International Japon, Geo Magazine, Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Statesman, The Times of India, DNA, India Today Travel Plus, Outlook Traveller, Swagat and DiscoverIndia. His photography was exhibited, published and awarded in national and international salons and contests. His Chasing Nyima, a work of non-fiction, has found a distinctive place in Penguin’s third edition of First Proof, an anthology of New Indian...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel

New 13" MacBook Pros

Apple announced yesterday new MacBook Pros, and what I liked in particular is the 13” MacBook Pro. I'm far from being a real gear head, but I salivate at the prospect of updating my aging laptop, and getting one of those, hooking it up to my Apple Cinema display and doing without my iMac desktop all together.I'd say the 13” MacBook Pro is an ideal laptop for traveling photographers. It got a boost in its processor speed, Firewire 800, a SD Card Slot (pretty useless to me, but it's something that others who use them will like), and a reasonable $1200 for the entry level model. On the downside, I don't like the new built-in battery which will eventually require a trip to the Genius Bar to replace it.Having said that, what about an Apple netb...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

Photo~Expeditions 2010

My photo~expeditions schedule for the first half of 2010 is almost completed, with two events planned; one will be a two-week trip amongst the tribal communities of Rajasthan & Gujarat, while the second will be set amongst the temples of Bali.The Travel Photographer's Photo~Expeditions are best described as a mixture of "documentary photojournalism, ethno-photography and travel photography" adventures. As with other previous expeditions, these two-week long photographic events/workshops will include both documentary-style (candid and on-the-run) photography, as well as posed photo sessions with various individuals encountered, and will also include tutorials in multimedia storytelling.I will soon issue a newsletter with dates and details...

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Posted in: Photo Tours

Partha Pal: Santhals

Partha Pal's biography states that his profession is that of a mechanical engineer, technically making him a part-time photographer. Notwithstanding, his photographs were published in Popular Photography, Hindustan Times, Sanctuary Asia, on covers of Penguin books, in Better Photography, Times Journal of Photography amongst others. He has also been recognized by many photographic contests, and awarded a number of prizes.His website features a number of galleries, and the one I was interested in the most is of the Santhals. According to Wikipedia, the Santhals are the largest tribal community in India, found mainly in the states of Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Assam. Its community is devoid of any caste system and there is no distinction...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel

Photocrati: Cairo Report, The Real Thing?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedOver on Photocrati, I've just uploaded a couple of photographs, along with an article, describing an authentic zeqr ceremony in a small village on the western banks of the Nile. Here's an excerpt:Following the sound of the rhythmic Sufi song booming out of loudspeakers, we turn into a narrow alley, crowded with people; some are standing but many more are sitting on simple straw mats, lighting the small pieces of charcoal that burns the tobacco on their water-pipes. The barely illuminated alley seems to be inhabited by ghosts, particularly as I now can see a row of elderly men slowly swaying to the rhythm of the song, as if they’re sheets hung up to dry in the wind. Curious eyes follow me as I make...

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Posted in: Egypt,Photographers: Travel,Photojournalism

Robin Hammond: Street Children of Delhi

Here's Namaste Delhi, a photo essay on the street children of Delhi, India's capital city, by Robin Hammond, who presents his work in a flip book format. He has also written an essay on these children, so his photographs are arranged in magazine format, which is very attractive.He tells us that most of the street children in Delhi are originally from Bihar (one of the poorest states in India), and that they're running from poverty, abuse and neglect. One of his photographs is of 12-year old Husina, who makes around 500 rupees a day from selling herself, is haunting. She wears earrings and a ring, probably bought with her earnings, but it's her expression that stays with me...a mask of indifference and resignation to her fate. Robin Hammond...

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Posted in: India,Innovative Stuff,Photojournalism

POV: White Judges Only?

Here's an issue that came to my attention via the excellent blog Duckrabbit, which in turn noticed it on the Reciprocity Failure blog.PDN (Photo District News) has recently announced the results of its Photo Annual 2009 Contest, and also introduced its readers to the 24 judges who adjudicated this hard fought contest. So far so good...however here's the rub: all 24 judges are white. Yes, you've read correctly....all of them are white persons.Stan Banos at Reciprocity Failure continues his criticism by suggesting that the reasons behind this range from indifference to blatant passive racism. I don't know if I would go as far as to describe it as passive racism...perhaps it is, but my gut feel is that it's principally because of pervasive cronyism...

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Posted in: Contests,POV,Rants

James Morgan: Kazakh Eagle Hunters

James Morgan is a travel and documentary photographer, as well as a professional writer based in the United Kingdom. Although he specializes in travel and documentary photography, he has also worked on a number of commercial projects. Amongst his many clients are The Sunday Times (South Africa), Foto8 (UK), Dalmatia Creative (UK/US), Baikal Club (Siberia) and others.He recently documented a Kazakh eagle hunting family in the Altai mountains of Mongolia. Having published the resulting photo essay in a Soundslides format on Foto8, he writes that the spread of the Russian empire some 200 years ago sent many Kazakhs across the border into western Mongolia where they settled in the region of Bayan Ulgii. The current Kazakh government is offering...

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Posted in: Asia,Photographers: Travel,Soundslides

FolioLink Does Large

As readers of this blog well know, I'm a strong proponent of large images on websites so I'm glad to see that one of the online website services is now offering such an option to its clients.FolioLink, an online website service for photographers, has announced the immediate availability of scaling technology in their latest FLASH design. With scaling websites, photographers no longer have to choose between large or small images for their online portfolios. Instead, photographers upload big images that display on large screens while still impressing their clients on small laptops/netbook. The latest FolioLink website design seamlessly scales the images down to fit the viewer's monitor.For a sampling of this new option, go here.(via SHUTT...

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Posted in: Innovative Stuff

World In Focus Contest

The National Geographic Traveler Magazine and Photo District News announced the World in Focus Photography Contest, which ends on September 8, 2009. The prizes range from a 10-day safari trip to Tanzania, to various camera equipment prizes.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 occ...

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Posted in: Contests

Joey L. : Ethiopia

Once in a while, I come across work by a young photographer that is so interesting, so adventurous, so visually compelling, so extraordinarily edgy and so cerebral....that I spend many hours just staring at it. And yes, I'll admit it...it's so good that it's incredibly annoying. I'm a purist and certainly not a fan of photo manipulation, but the imagery I've seen by this photographer is really excellent.Joey Lawrence is 19 years old (no, that's not a typo, he's really 19..or maybe 20 by now), and has been shooting commercial photography, photojournalism and music videos around the world by the age of 17. He already has a reputation of being a pioneer of new aged digital hyper-realistic photography, lighting and manipulation. All his techniques...

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Posted in: Ethiopia,Multimedia,Photographers: Travel

RESOLVE: Foundry Photo Workshop

©Kirsten Luce, Courtesy FPW -All Rights Reserved"But if you’re serious about becoming an international photographer, the Foundry can be like a halfway house. We’re here to help you with the first steps. Student who haven’t traveled, or they’re scared of travel, or they’re scared of shooting internationally — this can bring them to the next level".So says Eric Beecroft, the co-founder of Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, whose second venue is in Manali, India at the end of July. Interviewed by Miki Johnson of RESOLVE blog, the discussion highlights how this affordable new workshop is an incubator for emerging international photojournalists, and describes how it ought to be viewed as a "halfway house" helping photographers who may be uncomfortable...

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Posted in: Events,Photojournalism

William Widmer: Between Giants

Here's Between Giants, a feature on a small community in Ladakh by photojournalist William Widmer.The Changpa are one of several groups of indigenous nomads who inhabited the high plains of Ladakha for generations, and are finding their traditional way of life threatened by modernity and influx of tourism.William Widmer is a freelance photographer based in San Francisco, who's interested in shifting concepts of community. While most of his work is focused on subcultures within the United States, he also produced photo essays (including multimedia) of India and others. He also works at liveBooks, a company that provides customized, editable websites for photographers.Don't miss his Soundslides essay on SOFOSH, an NGO involved in childcare, adoption...

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Posted in: India,Ladakh,Photographers: Photojournalists,Soundslides

DISPATCHES & Foundry Workshop

A couple of news bits from Dispatches:The Dispatches 2009 Foundry Scholarship in Memory of Alexandra Boulat has awarded Sabhanaz Rashid Diya (Dhaka, Bangladesh) a full scholarship to attend The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop as well as $100 toward travel expenses. So congratulations to Sabhanaz, and I look forward to meet her in Manali.Filmed on 22 May 2009 at VII Gallery, Brooklyn, here's a discussion on war & photography, photojournalism and its future involving Gary Knight, Tim Hetherington, MaryAnne Golon, and Ashley Gilberts...

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Posted in: Photo Events,Photojournalism

Franck Vogel: The Bishnois

Photo © Franck Vogel -All Rights ReservedThe Canon Professional Nework (Europe) brings us a feature on Franck Vogel's project photographing the Bishnois in India. The project was recently a major cover story for the 30th anniversary edition of GEO France magazine.This features dovetails quite neatly into my plans for a photo~expedition in early Spring 2010 to South Rajasthan and the Rann of Kutch to cover tribal life (including the Bishnois and Rebaris, amongst many others), and Baneshwar Fair.Anyway, back to Franck Vogel and his project. In 2006, he began documenting the lives of the Bishnois in India. This tribal group (the article calls it a "sect") bases its way of life on 29 principles formulated in the 15th century by Guru Jambheshwar....

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Posted in: India,Photo Interviews,Photojournalism

5D Mark II: New Firmware

Canon USA published the recently announced firmware update for its EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR which enables manual exposure during video capture.As well as the manual exposure video functionality, EOS 5D Mk II firmware v1.1.0 includes fixes to the lens peripheral illumination correction, auto lighting optimizer, battery information display, and depth-of-field preview button functionality, as well as correcting menu errors in certain languages.You can download it from h...

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Posted in: Soft Gear

7dot7 Magazine

Photo © Alfonso Moral-All Rights Reserved7dot7 is an online photo magazine, and a project of the collective of photographers called RUIDO Photo in Barcelona. Its objective is to become a a repository for an independent, social, critic and committed photojournalism.One of its interesting features in its initial publication is the work of photographer Alfonso Moral with his photo essay on the heroin addicts in Afghanistan. Alfonso studied journalism in Valladolid, and photography in Barcelona. He har worked in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Afghanistan. His photographs has been published in Newsweek, The Sunday Times, El País Semanal, Magazine de La Vanguardia and Foto Magazine, among others. He is a member of the collective Pandora...

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Innovative Stuff,Photojournalism

Saiful Haq Omi: Bangladesh's Coastline

Bangladesh is a country that produces incredibly talented documentary photographers, and certainly Saiful Haq is among those who qualify for the recognition. Saiful Haq Omi has wanted to tell stories from his very first days as a photographer. His political activism eventually evolved, and he now considers himself as a ‘photo activist,’hoping to use his visual talents to document a variety of unique and vibrant profiles including the former prime minister, migrant workers, laborers, - and victims of political violence. From his black & white portfolios, I like his Life Along the Coastline the best as it documents a way of life surviving the erosion of land by rivers and sea, surviving the loss of homes and livelihood, and a story of migration...

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Posted in: Bangladesh,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism