Update 2: Delhi

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedNotwithstanding everyone's assurances in Delhi that the thick fog which currently envelops it is not unusual, I have never seen it as dense...and it's colder than I expected. Having said that, it's always a joy to be in Delhi at the cusp of another photo~expedition.Two of the photo~expedition members are already in Delhi; Terri Gold and Wink Willett. With the gallant and delightful companionship of my friend, Anamitra Chakladar, we have gallivanted on Chandni Chowk, ate Karim's kebabs, rode on a time machine with the oldest established deed writer in Delhi and tranced in Nizzam Uddin Dargah with the sounds of qawwali. Mohit Gupta joined us, and I came across Peter Aronson as well...all in a matter of...

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Posted in: India,Photo Tours

Update 1: On The Road: London

As much as I love London, I must say that it's quite dreary at this time of year, so I'm glad it's only a short stop over this time. I flew Virgin Atlantic's morning flight from Newark to London, and had two small carry-ons with me. My small Domke and a canvas laptop shoulder bag. I "linked" both with carabiners, and had them stuffed with all my photo gear as well as my Acer netbook. All my cables and electronic "support system" were in my checked-in luggage, including my 70-200mm lens.The security check was polite, fast, efficient and thorough. My Domke bag was singled out for a quick swab by a TSA agent since it had all the gear...and within a minute, I was cleared. On arrival, I checked my main bag and found that the TSA had opened it and...

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Posted in: Photo Tours

Quinn Ryan Mattingly: Puja

Puja from Quinn Ryan Mattingly on Vimeo.Quinn attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali last summer, and photographed (and videographed) one of the rituals occuring right at the heart of this northern Indian town. Rajasthani families descend on Manali during the summer season looking for work and to escape the torrid heat of their state. Naturally, they bring their own rituals, which include daily prayers when some the devotees enter into trances, transported by the music and the chants. His multimedia essay merges stills and video, and brings you to the scene extremely well. I have seen the ritual first hand, and I must say that it's almost as if I was there again.Quinn Ryan Mattingly is a documentary photographer currently based in Saigon, and most of his work aims at giving...

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Posted in: India,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists

NGS: India's Nomads

The National Geographic has just published an online feature on India's Lost Nomads. I consider this to be a highly auspicious coincidence as I am about to embark on the Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™, whose objectives is to document some of these tribes in a similar geographic area of India.The informative article is by John Lancaster, who was East Asia bureau chief for the Washington Post, with pictures by Steve McCurry. Here's an excerpt:"Gadulia Lohar (their name comes from the Hindi words for "cart," gaadi, and "blacksmith," lohar) are among the best known; others are herders, such as the Rabari, famous throughout western India for their bulky turbans and familiarity with all things camel. Some are hunters and...

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Posted in: India,National Geographic

The EVIL Cameras

WIRED's Gadget Lab blog has a fresh article titled 5 Reasons To Ditch Your DSLR, which essentially reaffirms my prediction as in my earlier post POV: Travel Photography Adjustment.To paraphrase the WIRED article, the 5 reasons are smaller size, great quality of images, interchangeable lenses, speed of operation, low-profile, but are expensive. By the way, EVIL stands for Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. It also seems that with an adapter, these cameras can accept many DSLR lenses.I am extremely interested in these cameras, particularly the Lumix GF1 (above), and will certainly look into on my return from India. (Via the always informative The Clic...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

On The Road: Rajasthan & Gujarat

I'm completing my packing today, cramming the last few items in my bags as best I can, hoping that my checked in luggage won't burst at the seams with all the cables, chargers, and photo paraphernalia that just won't fit my carry-on. Tomorrow, I'll be on my way to meet up with the rest of the Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ group in Delhi (after stopping en route in London). I'll be in Delhi on January 20. I'll be in Delhi for a couple of days before the official start of the photo~expedition, and will meet with some of my photographer friends (some alums of the Foundry Photojurnalism Workshop and others), as well as undertake a few personal projects. I plan to attend a qawwali evening in Nizzam Uddin, as part of my...

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Posted in: Photo Tours

POV: No To Walking Billboards?

Here's a lighthearted tongue-in-cheek post.In the midst of packing my stuff for about 3 weeks on the road in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and at the risk of being tarred and feathered by the various manufacturers of photographic soft accessories such as Think Tank, Domke, Lowepro etc, I thought my readers would be interested in my alternative choice to the high priced pouches that are marketed and sold by these companies. With the exception of my Domke camera bag (which I love dearly because of its ruggedness and quality), I prefer not to carry products that have prominent logos/names for a variety of reasons; some reasons are legitimate and others just silly and whimsical.As an example of the logo-less products, I bought no-name pouches for less...

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Posted in: Soft Gear

WSJ Photo Journal: Magh Mela

Photo © Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press-All Rights ReservedThe preponderance of religious bathing festivals in India is really confusing. The Wall Street Journal Photo Journal featured the above photograph of a Hindu holy man drying his clothes after a ritualistic bath in the River Ganges during the annual Magh Mela in Allahabad. However, the Ardh Kumbh is also being held in Haridwar from January 14 to April 28, 2010...so there are two overlapping religious festivals with the same rituals.Magh Mela is observed during Magh and Falgun months (Hindu calendar) for nearly 45 days, and this year ends on February 12, 2010. The ritual of bathing at the Prayag Sangam in Allahabad has a great significance, and attracts millions of devotees to the...

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Posted in: Festivals,India,Photojournalism

Dialects at the ICP

Mansi Midha's photography work, along with that of 26 other talented photographers and photojournalists will be seen at the International Center of Photography in an exhibit running from January 15 to March 28, 2010.The venue is held at the ICP's Education Gallery on 1114 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street with an opening reception on January 15 from 6:00–8:00 pmDialects presents recent work by the 27 photographers from What We Saw, the collective formed upon their graduation from the Documentary Photography and Photojournalism Program at ICP in 2008. The group is made of members from 15 countries including the United States, Mexico, South Korea, India, South Africa, Turkey, Australia, Germany, and Brazil. I hoped to go see what promises...

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Posted in: Events,Photojournalism

Haiti's Tragedy: f/8 And Be There

Photo © Tequila Minsky /NYTimes-All Rights ReservedThe old adage (sometimes attributed to Arthur Fellig aka Weegee) of "f/8 and be there", meaning that being on the scene is more important than anything else, was borne out with the story in The New York Times that Tequila Minsky, a freelance New York City photographer, was in her hotel in Port-au-Prince when the horrific earthquake hit this capital city of Haiti.Ms. Minsky transmitted some of the first photographs of the earthquake in Haiti, pictures that instantly conveyed the awful human toll.The LENS blog of The New York Times bring us that story, along with its harrowing images, including Ms Minsy's own voice describing the scen...

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Posted in: Haiti,Photojournalism

Kevin German: Mount Everest

Not many people have their 30th birthday at a base camp of Mount Everest, but Kevin German is one of them, and Luceo Images showcases his photo essay here.Kevin German studied photography and journalism at Washington State University, and worked for newspapers from California to Florida. In 2008, he moved to Vietnam to focus on humanitarian documentaries, where co-founded the collective Luceo Images. He has won numerous awards, and his clients include Bloomberg News, CNN Traveller, Forbes, International Trucking, Monocle Magazine, National Geographic, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Asia, Time, Vanity Fair, and others.His photo essays on Vietnam such as In The Footsteps of Ghosts and Forgotten are...

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Posted in: Nepal,Photographers: Photojournalists

POV: Travel Photography Adjustment?

As regular readers of this blog know, I'm using the final few days to organize my photo gear before flying to Delhi to lead my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ which starts January 23. Since the attempted airline incident on Christmas day, I've been fiddling with various options in order to maximize the amount of indispensable gear I can carry in one small bag on my international flights. Having gone through these hoops a few times already, I am convinced that travel photographers will have to rethink the amount and type of the photo gear they carry on international flights.Apart from trying to limit the number of hardware we carry on our international flights traveling for assignments, or trying to cram the contents...

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Posted in: Hard Gear,Photo Tours,POV

Massimo Berutti: Afghan Vaccination

Photo © Massimo Berutti-All Rights ReservedThe Wall Street Photo Journal has featured a photojournalistic gem on its Photo Journal titled Vaccination Diplomacy of black & white photographs by Massimo Berutti.In my view, it's a singular gem because it's not an Afghanistan reportage of foaming-at-the-mouth wild-eyed hirsute mujahideen aka jihadists aka Taliban (or whatever the mainstream media's stereotype flavor of the day is), isn't about a bloody military offensive or counter-offensive, and isn't about showing dead and maimed people we don't identify with and frequently demonize. No, it's about how the Taliban, Karzai's central government (corrupt as it it may be), Unicef and the World Health Organization are partnering in trying to eradicate...

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

POV: To Pay or Not To Pay?

I've read a post on the Lightstalkers forum that a popular photo blog featuring documentary photographers will start charging photographers a review/publishing fee. The $50 fee is said to help cover the editing and administrative time involved.The photo blog features an emerging documentary photographer every 2-3 days, and claims that as a result, a number of photographers have received assignments or made sales.The reaction from the handful of photographers in the post's thread to this announcement has been understandably negative, especially in the current environment.I can't really pass judgment on decisions of others, except to say that in the (very) hypothetical event that I decide to monetize The Travel Photographer blog, and need to...

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Posted in: POV

Noor & Nikon Workshop

Here's news I find uplifting, and which proves that altruism is not dead in the photo industry.. NOOR photo agency and Nikon have agreed to support documentary photographers from emerging markets all of over the world through the organization of annual motivational masterclasses. The next program will take place in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, at the Foundation of informational and cultural projects FotoDepartament on 22-26 March 2010.The masterclass will be accessible to young and aspiring documentary photographers from the Baltic countries, the former USSR countries (CIS), Belorussia, Russia and the Ukraine.During the five days of the workshop, the 15 participants, together with the three member photographers of the NOOR agency, will share their...

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Posted in: Events,Photojournalism

Greg Constantine: Ardh Kumbh Mela

The Ardh Kumbh is being held in Haridwar from January 14 to April 28, 2010, and knowing that a number of photographers are making their way to attend it, I thought it opportune to post Greg Constantine's Ardh Kumbh Mela audio slideshow which was held in Prayag in 2007.The main objective in attending the Kumbh Mela is to bathe in the Ganges. It is said that bathing in sacred rivers during Maha Kumbh or Ardh Kumbh breaks the circle of life & death, and liberates Hindus to attain moksha. Pilgrims & sadhus will descend in large numbers from India and elsewhere on Haridwar to bathe in the Ganges during these three months.To underscore the importance of such events, it is estimated that more than 17 million Hindu pilgrims took part in the...

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Posted in: Festivals,India,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists

National Geographic Does Big

© Harikrishna Katragadda/Courtesy National Geographic-All Rights ReservedThe National Geographic Society's website been completely rejigged to present what its SVP Rob Covey describes as having a new, super-clean look with high-tech underpinnings.Using well chozen buzzwords, the website is described as having "high impact visuals with uncluttered typography to provide a new standard in usability". I just love the wordsmithing used here!What I'm pleased about, and what it really boils down to, is that the National Geographic’s photography can finally be seen in a large format, and it joins other print media such as the Boston Globe and the WSJ (among others) that have been bringing us larger pictures on their photography blogs for a while.Here...

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Posted in: National Geographic,Photojournalism

NYTimes: 31 Places To Go In 2010

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights ReservedThe New York Times published a feature on the 31 places to go in 2010, as well as an interactive world map listing its readers' (and its own) top recommendations. I suppose the results, which so far list Istanbul as the readers' first choice, will provide the editors with assignment ideas for its photographers and writers to work on this year. It follows that interested travel photographers may want to look at these results which could predict eventual gigs, or photo editors' interests.I'm not at all surprised that Istanbul is the top readers' recommended destination, but I slightly puzzled by the following choice of Colombia. I've been to Istanbul a few times, and I can understand the choice...and...

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Posted in: Asia

Recent Kudos To The Travel Photographer

I think the British are great...read on and you'll know why I say this.Adam Westbrook is a freelance multimedia journalist, blogger & lecturer with several years experience in television, radio and online. His blog is one the best multimedia-biased on the internet, and if you haven't bookmarked yet, you should.He recently published a free e-book titled 6×6, wich is a series of six blog posts giving advice to the budding multimedia journalists. This is a must-read e-book for anyone who's interested in getting started into journalistic multimedia, and one that I shall use in my own teachings of the subject.In his Best of the Blogs 2009, Adam kindly lists The Travel Photographer in the Photojournalism category saying "Tewfic El- Sawy niftily...

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

Book Event: 100 New York Photographers

The 100 New York Photographer book, in which my biography and four of my travel photographs of Ethiopia, Bhutan, and Burma are prominently featured, will be the subject of a book signing event at Rizzoli Bookstore at 57th Street in New York City on January 22, 2010.The book's author Cynthia Maris Dantzic and special guests (presumably some of the photographers in the book) will be at the event. Unfortunately, I will be in India at that time, so I had to convey my regrets to the publishers.The book groups the work of 100 New York celebrated photographers to include Vincent Laforet, Jay Maisel, Mary Ellen Mark, Joel Meyerowitz, Annie Leibowitz, Jenny Jozwiak and Pete Turner.If you are in New York City and have the time, I'm certain that it'll...

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Posted in: Books,Events,Photographers

Peter Turnley: A Life In Photography

Photo © Peter Turnley -All Rights ReservedPeter Turnley just penned an introspective published on The Online Photographer, which he describes as one of the few times he so exhaustively expresses his connection to the passion of seeing and photographing. Here's one of the most insightful excerpts: "People often ask me how I keep my spirit from becoming cynical, jaded, and pessimistic about the human condition after having witnessed so much despair, so much suffering, and so many conflicts. I try to respond honestly and truthfully, that there are many actions of man that sadden me, distress me, and challenge my optimism. But each time I mentally calculate the sum of what I have seen, I am reminded of the many times that I have seen people of...

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Posted in: Interviews,Photographers: Photojournalists

Stephen Alvarez: Maya Underworld

Photo © Stephen Alvarez -All Rights ReservedAs readers of this blog know, I'm a proselytizer of large photographs for websites portfolios, and have made this preference very obvious through various postings and with my own photographic galleries. I cannot understand photographers who still exhibit dinky small photographs on their websites...in my view, they're not taking proper advantage of the medium.So it's with pleasure that I feature Stephen Alvarez's Maya Underworld, a gallery of 22 large photographs for a story originally published by the National Geographic Magazine, and which showcases the religious rituals and ceremonies of today’s Mayan peoples in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. This is but one of Alvarez's of sensational...

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Posted in: Central America,Guatemala,Mexico,Photographers: Travel

Gulf Photo Plus Responds

Mohamed Somji of Dubai's Gulf Photo Plus (GPP) has responded to my criticisms which I raised in my earlier post. Here's his response:Hi Tewfic,Thanks for your blog post about our annual event. We had a quick email exchange last year and believe me, I would like nothing more than to have more local/regional Arab and Asian photographers but please understand a couple of things:(i) The event caters mainly to commercial photography interests: lighting, fashion, photoshop, landscape, etc. - we have always struggled to fill in the documentary workshops.(ii) The tutors we bring in have international acclaim in their respective genres. I would be very happy to invite Arab/Asian photographers for these particular type of workshopsBut, I'm afraid in...

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Posted in: Photo Events

Asian Geo: Photo Contest 2009 Results

This is a belated post on the results of the Asian Geo magazine Photo Contest 2009 results. Some exceptional photographs have been compiled by the magazine in a flash-based flip viewer which is mildly irritating to use, but the quality of the photographs more than compensate for this. Sometimes simplicity is best, but the desire for innovative presentation techniques trumps reason.Graham Crouch has won the Grand Prize in the Faces of Asia Category with his photograph of a malnourished infant being weighed in Mahdya Pradesh, India. However, don't stop at his compelling photograph...and continue to the remaining submissions, which are all of very high quality.The main Asian Geographic magazine website is he...

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Posted in: Asia,Contests

New Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II

Canon has quietly released the new EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS II USM. It claims that while its physically similar to it's predecessor, the new lens features a revised optical design, incorporating a fluorite element and no fewer than 5 UD elements for the correction of chromatic aberrations. According to Canon's press release, photographers can now stand nearly 8 inches closer to their subject and achieve sharp focus and tight crops. The Image Stabilization is enhanced allowing it to compensate for shutter speeds up to four steps slower than 1/focal length, a one step improvement over the previous lens model.The minimum focus distance has also been reduced to 1.2m, with a corresponding increase in maximum magnification to 0.21x, along with a modification...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

POV: Gulf Photo Plus (Dubai)

If anyone thought Dubai's financial difficulties would diminish its appetite for hosting international cultural hooplas, they ought to think again. Dates for the annual Gulf Photo Plus (GPP) event have been confirmed as the 1st to the 6th March 2010. This is trumpeted as the region’s only hands-on dedicated photography event. It will be a week long event packed with over 50 workshops, 90-minute seminars and panels, an exhibition featuring work by the invited photographers, etc. The event will start with an exhibition featuring selected works from the 12 visiting photographers including Joey Lawrence (TTP's Travel Photographer's of 2009), David Nightingale, Robin Nichols, Bobbi Lane, Joe McNally, David Hobby and Zack Arias. Also scheduled is...

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Posted in: Photo Events,POV

NYT/Adam Ferguson: The Hazaras

Photo © Adam Ferguson /NYTimes-All Rights ReservedToday's The New York Times features a photo essay of Adam Ferguson's photographs titled The Resurgence of the Hazaras. Those who have seen the movie The Kite Runner (and/or read the book) will remember that the Hazara (Shi'a) minority of Afghanistan were historically dominated and discriminated against by the Pashtun (Sunni) majority. It's the same old and sad story of religious discrimination and divisiveness that has (and continues to) plague our world.However, it appears that after the US invasion in 2001, the Hazaras have swiftly remade their circumstances, and in some provinces are overtaking the Pashtuns in many areas. The resurgence is largely built on education, as the Hazaras emphasize...

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

POV: Flying For Photographers (Part 2)

Politico and other news outlets reported that the TSA (effective January 4, 2010) has tightened its rules for all travelers flying into the United States from foreign countries. This means tightened random screening, and all passengers from terrorism-prone countries will be patted down and have their carry-ons searched.So far there's no clarification as to limits on personal carry-on bags except for those imposed by some carriers last week. A photographer friend who was flying from Manila to Los Angeles early yesterday emailed me saying that all passengers on his flight were handed a travel bulletin before entering the terminal. More than one carry-on was not allowed, and the weight and size of those were rigorously monitored. He was allowed...

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Posted in: POV

Eric Beecroft: Delhi Nights

Photo © Eric Beecroft -All Rights ReservedReaders of this blog are familiar with Eric Beecroft as he's been mentioned on its pages quite a number of times; most often in connection with Foundry Photojournalism Workshop of which he is its energetic co-founder.Eric teaches photography, photojournalism/documentary photography, history, geo-politics and anthropology for the Walden School, a public charter school in Utah. He spends a few months a year traveling and leading photo expeditions of high school students and adults.His photography is mostly documentary work, photojournalism, and adventure/outdoors photography.He recently updated his website with photographs of Delhi at night, and of the famed Rohtang Pass in the Indian Himalayas. I particularly...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Photojournalists

My Work: Godown Worker (Kochi)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy |Traders of Kochi-All Rights ReservedAmongst my undeclared 2010 resolutions is to experiment with black & white photography...well, sort of. I'm revisiting some of my favorite photographs of last year, and seeing how they turn out if converted to black & white via Lightroom presets. Having limited patience and not being a pixel-pusher, LR presets (especially if they're free) are ideal for me.Some of my favorite photographs lend themselves quite well to black & white treatment, especially if I apply a smidgen of toning. Others just don't respond as well, but I expect that this is a natural consequence of seeing and shooting in color. To really be able to see in black & white, one needs to shoot it in-camera,...

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Posted in: India,TTP Show Off

POV: Flying For Photographers

The recent increase in security procedures and passenger/luggage screening is/will driving/drive photographers (and others) bonkers, as it’s most probably going to get tougher to get camera gear on board a commercial plane, whether flying from the US, flying to the US or flying between countries that have nothing to do with the US. Many of these new restrictions are nonsensical, and will be relaxed...but some will stay with us, like the rather quaint requirement that we remove our shoes.Let's remember that airlines are essentially lemmings, and their managements realize there's a possible opportunity to make more money in checked-in (or excess) fees from these new rules. They're also painfully aware that passengers have had enough, and that...

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Posted in: POV