Bhutan: Field Report

I am sitting in the main town of Bumthang which has the rather evocative name of Jakar. The internet cafe here has four terminals, wifi and espresso. What else can one ask from life! I shall try to post a few photographs in the coming few days. The two festivals in Wangdue and Tamshing exceeded our expectations, and our collective image storage has run in the hundreds of gigabyt...

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Posted in: Bhutan,Photo Tours

The Globe & Mail: Behind The Veil

Canada's The Globe and Mail provides a rare insight into the lives of Afghan women through a week-long multi-media series, Behind the Veil. In these series, 10 representative Afghan women in the Kandahar area speak about key issues in their lives. Aided by an interpreter, specific questions were asked from each of the women. The Globe & Mail is well-known for its edgy multimedia, having featured equally interesting and extremely well produced multimedia pieces before.I haven't got the time to view this except for a few minutes, but I intend to return to it once I'm back from Bhut...

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Multimedia

On The Road: Bhutan (Bangkok Report #2)

Chinatown (Bangkok)-Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedThe 8 participants of my Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition are currently in Bangkok, and are collectively relieved to hear that yesterday's earthquake hasn't disrupted our plans, and having spoken to our agent in Thimpu, all indications are that its damage was restricted to the Mongar area in south-eastern Bhutan.It'll be a short sleep for most of us here in Bangkok as we will be making our way to the airport for a check-in at 4:30 am. We should be in Pao airport at 9:00 am, and it'll be kuzuzangbo-la...

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Posted in: Bhutan,Photo Tours

On The Road: Bhutan (Bangkok Report)

The late afternoon in Bangkok saw Graham Ware, Kayla Keenan and I spending a couple of hours in Bangkok's Chinatown district, "de-rusting' our shutter fingers with some street photography.While having dinner with some of the photo-expedition's members at The Irish Pub on Silom, news of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Bhutan reached me. The AP report said that the earthquake killed at least 11 people, damaging an ancient monastery and forcing hundreds to flee, with at least 15 people injured.The afternoon earthquake was centered in Monggar, a little-populated eastern region of the tiny nation of Bhutan, close to Gauhati in Assam, India. The AP also reports that most buildings in that region are small farmhouses built from mud and stone.At this time, all signals are green for the photo-expedition...

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Posted in: Bhutan,Photo Tours

On The Road: Bhutan Photo-Expedition

Well, I've packed my last few items in my bags and as you read this, I'm on my way to meet up with the rest of the Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo~expedition participants in Bangkok (after stopping en route in London) on September 21. The 8 photographers are all US-based, except for one who hails from Canada.Being in Bangkok for a couple of days will allows us to get to know each other before getting to Bhutan, and perhaps take the opportunity to photograph in the city's Chinatown and other areas. What I do know for a fact is that I'll splurge on as much sushi and glorious Thai food as I can...Bhutan is not really a gastronomical destination, so tucking in goodies is always a good idea. I will try to update the blog whenever I get the chance...certainly...

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Posted in: Bhutan,Photo Tours

NPR: Traveling Down The Amazon

Here's Traveling Down The Amazon, an intelligently produced NPR multimedia feature that combines audio, stills and graphics to tell the story of transcontinental highway being built in Peru and Brazil which promises to bring economic opportunities, and also acute environmental problems, to one of the most remote places on earth. NPR correspondent Lourdes Garcia-Navarro and staff photographer John Poole traveled the Peruvian route to produce this series.I found this via a Twitter post (aka a "tweet") by Tracy Boyer, the editor of the excellent Innovative Interactivity blog, that deals with new multimedia and which she appropriately calls "a digital watering hole for multimedia enthusiasts". Traveling Down The Amazon is not the kind of feature...

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Posted in: Brazil,Multimedia,Peru

Black Rapid R-strap: Reinforcement

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedAs reported here on The Travel Photographer's blog, I'm a fan of the Black Rapid R-straps and have used mine for over a year on my various photo-expeditions. Many participants in my photo-expeditions like and use them as well, however they're all wary about having expensive cameras dangling from their bodies.One of the common fears is that the Fasten R which attaches the strap to the bottom of the camera's tripod mount gets undone. If that attachment/fastener is not tightly screwed in, it could get undone because as the camera hangs from one's body, it wiggles and swivels around; such movements can loosen the attachment. Naturally, if that were to happen, the camera and lens would fall to the ground...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

Mansi Midha: Kashmir

Photo © Mansi Midha-All Rights ReservedFirst 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...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Photojournalists

POV: Divine Plan

Photo © Rita Castlenuovo/The New York TimesThe 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...

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Posted in: Photojournalism,POV

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 onli...

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Posted in: Photo Interviews,Photographers: Travel

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...

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Posted in: China,Multimedia,Photojournalism

POV: The Mind Boggles

© Casey Kelbaugh/The New York TimesWhile 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 socie...

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Posted in: POV

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 Guin...

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Posted in: Asia,Multimedia,Photographers: Travel

Pétanque In NYC's Bryant Park

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedPhoto © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedPhoto © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedPhoto © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedFor 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...

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Posted in: TTP Show Off

New Leica M9

Photojournalists (the few who can still afford it) and dentists have been impatiently waiting for 9/9/2009 for the new Leica M9. According to the British Journal of Photography, Leica has updated its M8 model with a full-frame M9. The M9 fits a 24x36mm 18.5 million pixel resolution CCD sensor that has been developed specifically for the camera. It offers ‘full 35mm film format without any compromises’ claims Leica.The M9 has a magnesium alloy body, and is said to have a "discreet" mode for candid shots in street photography. It can photograph at a range of ISO80 to ISO2500, at up to 2fps, and has a 2.5-inch LCD screen on the back.The M9, which will be available in a steel-grey or black paint finish, weighs 589g with its battery and measures...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

Mohit Gupta: Thankas

I mentioned that I would feature Mohit Gupta's multimedia project "Thankas" on TPP as soon as it was uploaded on his website, and I'm pleased that he has just made it available to us to appreciate on his newly completed website/blog.Originally from Himachal Pradesh, Mohit is an independent photographer based in New Delhi, who specializes in travel and documentary photography. To Mohit, photography is a serious medium for expression. A self taught photographer, he is mainly interested in documenting culture, traditions, rituals and religion, and has traveled within South East Asia to do just that. He also works with NGOs and helps them documenting their work."Thankas" was Mohit's project while at the Foundry Photojournalism, where he attended...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel,Soundslides

Mindy Adams' Guide: Multimedia Reporting

Mindy McAdams teaches university courses about online journalism and the changing ways we use technologies for communication, and she has published a comprehensive guide to multimedia proficiency, now available for download in PDF from her website.The 42-page document is fully linked and usable online in most web browsers, Adobe Reader, or in Preview on the Mac OS. McAdams has licensed the entire document under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. This means that users are free to share, distribute, reuse and even remix it, in line with the CC conditions.I have yet to read it in its entirety, but my quick scan of its chapters convinced me that it's a valuable document for those who seek to, not...

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Posted in: Multimedia

Mitchell Kanashkevich: Seeing The Light

Photo © Mitchell Kanashkevich-All Rights ReservedMitchell Kanashkevich is an oft-published travel/documentary photographer, whose main passion resonates with those of us who are described as "ethno-photographers". Much of his work is in capturing disappearing ancient cultures and the human condition in unique, challenging situations. Much of his travel/documentary photography is represented by Getty Images, while his cultural portraits, both color and black and white, are in private collections.Mitchell has recently published a new eBook titled Seeing The Light. The premise of the eBook is to show how to create “believable” looking artificial light with a single off camera flash in a softbox or with a reflector, exploit natural light with...

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Posted in: Books,Photographers: Travel

WIRED: Kanepari & Ferguson

Photos © Adam Ferguson (L)/Zackary Canepari (R)-Courtesy WIRED"The photojournalist has long been known as the lone wolf, traveling solo to the far-flung corners of the world to document experiences few are capable of seeing. By function, it’s often a solitary quest, lonely and alienating; rarely as romantic as the photographs make it appear."What a great start for the Raw File article written for WIRED by Bryan Derballa! The article deals with the friendship and healthy competition between Adam Ferguson and Zackary Canepari, two immensely gifted photojournalists working in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. It appears that they helped each other, and edited one another’s work, always hoping to improve its quality.WIRED's Raw File's article is...

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Pakistan,Photo Interviews,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Ulla Lohmann: Papua Mummies

An unusual project has put Ulla Lohmann in the 'crosshairs' at the Visa pour l'Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan. Ulla's Mummies in Papua portfolio was shown at Visa's first nightly projections, and is a distinct change from the normal fare that the festival is reputed for. She had to wait two years before being granted authorization to see and photograph the mummies. In Papua New Guinea’s Morobe Highlands, the Anga tribe used to follow an ancient method of mummification for its dead by smoke curing, however the tradition has been almost lost, until the tribe leader's grand-daughter's death.The lost tradition was revived when the grand-daughter died. The mummies were brought back to the village, and eventually restored for preservation....

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Posted in: Asia,Photographers: Travel

POV: To Publish or Not?

After 3 weeks of deliberation, the Associated Press released a graphic photograph by Julie Jacobson of Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard shortly after he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan. Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard was mortally wounded and died shortly thereafter. The New York Times has the whole story here.Naturally, both the knee-jerk and the well reasoned outrage at AP's decision to publish such a photograph have been the subject of many op-eds, newspaper articles, commentary and blog posts. It is not the first time (nor the last) that the issue is whether the public is better served by seeing what really happens in war, or whether it's better to shield us from the ugliness of war, and to protect...

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Posted in: Photojournalism,POV

Shiho Fukada: Tawang

Photo © Shiho Fukada/NYTimes-All Rights ReservedOne of my favorite photographers is Shiho Fukada, and a fresh slideshow of her photographs is featured in the New York Times. A Contested Frontier In The Clouds is the rather awkward title chosen for the slideshow, but Shiho's photographs, despite the dry reportage they illustrate, has flashes of her usual creativity.Tawang is a town in India's Arunachal Pradesh, and rises above 10,000 feet in this region of eastern Himalayas. It is home to one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most sacred monasteries, which is of the Gelugpa sect. The area is thickly forested with white stupas and steep, terraced hillsides that is home to the Monpa people, who practice Tibetan Buddhism, speak a language similar to Tibetan...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Photojournalists

Carolyn Cole: Afghan Women

Photo © Carolyn Cole/LATimes-All Rights ReservedThe Los Angeles Times has featured an audio slideshow on Afghan Women, photographed and narrated by Carolyn Cole, and produced by Bryan Chan.The premise of the audio slideshow is that while Afghan women live in a freer environment than what it was under the Taleban, when they were forbidden to leave their homes without a male relative, beaten for trivial infractions, and deprived of schooling and employment, they are still disillusioned by the meager gains achieved despite billions of dollars in international aid, and a sustained military campaign.The abhorrent constraints of age-old traditions over the treatment of women still remain, and these are reinforced by poverty, illiteracy and ignorance....

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists

WSJ Photo Journal: Pind Daan

Photo © Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press-All Rights ReservedThe Photo Journal of the Wall Street Journal continues to bring us interesting photographs from all corners of the globe, including this one by AP photographer Rajesh Kumar Singh of Hindus performing Pind Daan rituals in blessing their ancestors’ souls in the River Ganges in Allahabad. As per Hindu tradition, families and relatives perform this mandatory rite which is believed to bring salvation (moksha) to the departed souls Pind-Daan is considered to be a mandatory rite believed to bring salvation to the departed souls, and is performed at the Ganges in Gaya, Varanasi and Allahb...

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Posted in: India,Photojournalism

LENS blog: Dominic Nahr's Uneasy Congo

The New York Times' LENS blog brings us the work of photojournalist Dominic Nahr in a series of photographs titled Uneasy Congo. Though he is only 26 years old, Dominic’s photographs of Congo’s brutal conflict are being exhibited in Perpignan at Visa pour l’Image, one of the most important international photojournalism festival.The article explains the reasons as to why Dominic's photographs were chosen for the venue, but what is the most poignant of his statments is this one as he recalls viewing the results of a massacre: "At first, you feel like a scavenger because you’re hanging over these bodies, but you have to document it. This had to be remembered. Laws were broken. There had to be evidence and this had to be remembered."While this...

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Posted in: Africa,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

My Work: The Street Barbers of Manali

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedThe gestation period for The Street Barbers of Manali was remarkably short...certainly the shortest for any of my projects. Walking through the streets of Manali with Yasin Dar (a conflict photographer and photojournalist based in Kashmir), we came about the barbers who had set up a sort of shack near the Peace Cafe...a Tibetan coffeehouse and restaurant that offers an extraordinary muesli with fruits and yogurt.As Yasin chose one of the barbers for his multimedia piece which would be eventually presented at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, we photographed alongside each other for about an hour. It was quite an experience to see the various angles we each chose...distinct from each other, but eventually...

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Posted in: India,TTP Show Off

Ami Vitale: Interview

Photo © Ami Vitale-All Rights ReservedI regret two things. While Ami and I traveled side by side to Manali for the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop on the latter section of a 20 hours road trip marred by unforeseen twists and turns (including fender benders and police shake-ups), we were both so knackered that conversation was limited, and I regret that both she and I were so immersed in tutoring our respective classes at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, that it was difficult to get to know each other beyond some passing pleasantries. So it's with pleasure that I found this interview with her on The Adventure Life, the personal blog of Steve Casimiro, West Coast Editor of National Geographic Adventure. It fills in the gaps very well,...

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Posted in: Photo Interviews,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photographers: Travel

Canon Announces the EOS 7D

So the rumors were right, and the flaky images leaked by Chinese and Japanese website were accurate after all! Canon USA Inc. has today announced its new EOS 7D single-lens reflex digital camera, as well as three new lenses, a new battery grip, and a new wireless file transmitter.The Canon 7D has a new 18-megapixel APS-C sensor with a 1.6x crop factor, and is equipped with dual DIGIC 4 chips to speed processing of large 14-bit files, as well as to handle the shutter's 8-frame-per-second top speed. The Canon 7D is expected to ship toward the end of September 2009, and retail body-only for $1,699. A kit with the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens will sell for $1,899.For further details, go to The Imaging Resource or DPReview for a hands on review.Another...

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Posted in: Hard Gear