Fred Canonge: Pehlwan of Benares

Photo © Fred Canonge-All Rights ReservedPehlwani (also known as Kushti) is a traditional style of wrestling popular in the sub-continent of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The wrestler is known as pahlawan which, interestingly for those who are etymologists, is the colloquial Arabic word meaning "clown". I wouldn't tell this to these wrestlers, as they would be offended and I'd be on the mat in less than a second.Based in Paris, Fred Canonge is a French freelance photographer who has extensively travelled in India for the last ten years, and is constantly exploring all the nuances and the diversity of Indian society. His website is replete with galleries of India, including some of images made in Kathputli and Varanasi, but the gallery...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel

VII: Franco Pagetti: Afghanistan's Agony

The exciting VII The Magazine features Afghanistan' Agony, the multimedia work of Franco Pagetti which combines movies, stills in both color and black & white.Although I'm getting tired of war stories and its imagery, Pagetti manages to infuse this work with his own personality as when he says (I paraphrase) in his Italian accent"...the only thing a photographer really wants...more than life, more than sex...more than anything...is to be invisible." Brilliant!This multimedia piece provides a very realistic of what Afghanistan must be...it merges color stills with black & white images (which, in my view, are the best of the lot), aerial shots and movie footage.Overall a very well done production, but if I had to point out a niggling...

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Posted in: Afghanistan,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Next Week On The Travel Photographer

For the week starting Monday November 29,  the following posts are in the blog's pipeline:1. The work of a photographer with a ton of images of India, including one of the wrestlers of Benares. I had planned to post it last week.2. The work of another photographer with a lot of images of Buddhism. All black & white square format with a Hassleblad. Very impressive.3. The work of an editorial photographer with a gallery of images from the Khumbu (Northern Nepal).4. Interesting portraits of "witches" from West Africa.5. The updated website of one of the best travel photographers will be featured.Plus other whimsical posts as the week goes ...

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NPR: Cairo And The "Disconnected"

This touches on photography/multimedia only tangentially, so unless you're into Middle Eastern-international politics, you may want to skip all the stuff below and just click on the movie.A number of media outlets are gingerly covering Egypt's political scene due to the imminent parliamentary elections. I say gingerly because Egypt is a so-called major ally in the "war against terror" or whatever it's called these days, so it wouldn't be politic or in our national "interests" to criticize its ossified and corrupt regime. Why the United States aligns itself with despots in the Middle East and elsewhere will always be an anachronism.NPR has featured a number of short articles and some multimedia for the occasion, and I found this one titled In Cairo Slum, Little Hope For Change to be an exemplar...

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Posted in: Egypt,Multimedia

Kares Le Roy: Tibet & More

Here's the photographic work of Kares Le Roy, a French photographer and graphic designer. Unfortunately, his bio is very limited on his web site, but he traveled and photographed in Tibet, Nepal, India, Bali, Cuba, Cambodia and Morocco...returning with quite an inventory of photographs which he categorizes as Portraits, Life, Street and Landsca...

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Posted in: Photographers: Travel,Tibet

Black Friday: Get My Book!!!

On this Black Friday, my new photo book Bali: Island of Gods is still available from Blurb. You can choose between two main versions of the book (82 pages of black & white photographs): one is a large (13x11 inches) landscape hardcover version and the other is a standard (10x8 inches) landscape version. More details are available on a page of my website Island of Gods. The link will also take you to my bookstore on Blurb, which has previews of the book.Forget the long lines at the check-outs...just do it online. ...

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Posted in: Books

Thanksgiving Wishes

All the best from The Travel Photographer on this Thanksgiving Day! There may not be a post tomorrow...I'll be flying back to New York, probably feeling very fu...

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Apratim Saha: Varanasi

Apratim Saha is both a pharmaceutical executive and a photographer, whose work has been featured in the National Geographic and other publications. He's also a contributor to NationalGeographicStock.comWhile I've liked Apratim's Varanasi gallery in which the above photograph of the sadhu is fetured, there's a photograph of a holy man, possibly after a dip in the Ganges, carefully arranging what can only be described as a comb-over. A priceless image of the temporal perhaps trumping the sacred. You'll find it in the Culture portfol...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel

Michelle Frankfurter: Destino

Photo © Michelle Frankfurter- All Rights ReservedHaving read Cormac McCarthy’s, The Crossing, Michelle Frankfurter started to photograph along the US-Mexico border, and focuses her photo essay Destino featured on Burn magazine on undocumented Central American migrants who travel across Mexico in an attempt to reach the United States to work.It's a sad tale that highlights not only the harsh risks inherent in such an endeavor, be it from criminal gangs, from corrupt police, from accidents to a myriad of other life-endangering events on the way.A number of photographers attending the Mexico Foundry Photojournalism Workshop chose a similar subject for their documentary projects, and the area known as La Lecheria, where migrants seemed to converge...

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Posted in: Mexico,Photographers: Photojournalists

POV: Weeding The Subscribers: It's Time Again

It's the time of year when I have to start weeding (a more delicate term than 'purge') inactive subscribers from my newsletter mailing list. I have to do this about twice a year now.Campaign Monitor tracks the number of newsletters opens for each subscriber, so it's easy to determine the rate of open of each. If that rate is less than a certain percentage, the subscriber is dumped. As I use a pay-as-you-go option to send out my newsletters, each subscriber costs me...and if there's no reasonable open activity during a 12 months period, then it's to the dumping grounds we go.It's more efficient for all concerned, saves me money and un-clutters the disinterested subscribers' mailboxes. Last year, I weeded out about 300 subscribers. The total...

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Posted in: POV

Raphael Nguyen: Vietnam

Photo © Raphael Nguyen-All Rights ReservedPhoto © Raphael Nguyen-All Rights ReservedRaphael Nguyen is a French-Vietnamese photographer, who moved to Vietnam in 1999. He lived Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and finally in Hoi An in the very center of the country. He travels within the country, uses either film or digital cameras; Nikon FM2, Nikon F3 and Nikon D70, Canon EOS 5 D and Canon EOS 5 D Mark II.I was drawn to his gallery of Daily Life in Vietnam with over 100 intensely saturated color photographs of various areas of Vietnam. These range from simple portraits, lifestyle shots, culinary images, environmental portraits etc. The ones I liked most and feature here are of Hoi An, and these two underscore Raphael's photographic style...which gives...

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Posted in: Photographers: Travel,Vietnam

Next Week on The Travel Photographer

For the week starting Monday November 21,  the following posts are in the pipeline:1. The work of a part-time Indian photographer with multi galleries, including one on Varanasi.2. A Vietnamese photographer's gallery of Vietnam's daily life. I didn't manage to post it last week as planned.3. The work of a photojournalist on Pakistan's Swat Valley and the floods.4. An interesting edgy documentary on illegal emigrants from Central America. A post I had planned for last week.5. The work of a photographer with a ton of images of India, including one of the wrestlers of Benares.6. Another photographer will be featured with a lot of images of Buddhi...

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The Big Picture: National Geo Contest 2010

Photo © Ario Wibisono-All Rights ReservedThe Boston Globe's photo blog The Big Picture is showing off some of the submissions to The National Geographic annual  photo contest. The deadline for the submissions is November 30. The Big Picture editor chose 47 images from the three categories of People, Places and Nature.No one asked me for my opinion, but I'll give it anyway. My favorite of those shown is the one of the two Indonesian boys playing with roosters in the village of Suradita, near Serpong in West Java. The photographer is Ario Wibisono who's based in Jakarta.Ario's caption informs us that this was not a real cockfight. I'm confused by their dress as I took them to be Balinese children, but they're not...they're Javanese.I also...

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Posted in: Contests,Indonesia,Photographers: Travel

Olivier Laban-Mattei: Award Winner Paris Match

Photo © Olivier Laban-Mattei- All Rights Reserved Olivier Laban-Mattei was awarded the 2010 Grand Prix Paris Match for his recent coverage of Haiti. This prize was created in 1980 and all French professional photographers can compete. Every two years, the prize is decided by an international jury, with the winner receiving 8,000 euros.The prize recognizes photojournalists who cover current events.Olivier Laban-Mattei is a photojournalist who worked with AFP for 10 years, and left it a few months ago to start a career as an independent photographer. For the past decade, Olivier criss-crossed the world reporting on the Iraq war, the Haitian earthquake or the Gaza Strip humanitarian disaster.Olivier's Haiti gallery contains a number of graphic...

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Posted in: Haiti,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Paul Kowlow: Japan (and Geishas)

Photo © Paul Kowalow-All Rights ReservedPaul Kowalow's website on Zenfolio is sparse with his biographical details, but I thought I'd nevertheless feature his work of Japan here. You'll see that his gallery of Japan has a large number of portraits of not only geishas but also of young women adopting the punk style of fashion, which I thought is a jarring stark contrast between these two cultures; the traditional and the modern. I wish the gallery was arranged in such a way that the portraits of geisha and punks would alternate. Most of these portraits appear to be candid shots, and the colors are just great.Take a look at his other galleries as well. He's got some nice photographs of Veni...

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Posted in: Asia,Photographers: Travel

Win A Copy of "To Cambodia With Love"

I have a bunch of copies of To Cambodia With Love....the travel guidebook to Cambodia with some of my photographs. These will be given out as prizes to 5 readers of The Travel Photographer blog who correctly answer the three following questions.  The winners will be picked randomly out of a hat provided they have a US mailing address where the book can be sent to. Here are the questions:1) What's the capital of Cambodia? (correct spelling please!)2) What's my favorite destination (ie. country) for my photo-expeditions?3) Which is your favorite gallery (stills or multimedia) of my photographs?So email me with the answers with your name (and it will be put in the hat...provided you have a U.S. mailing address).Good luck!!! The cut off date...

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Posted in: Books

Paul Levrier: Visions of Indochina

Photo © Paul Levrier -All Rights Reserved Paul Levrier is in a good position to photograph all over South East Asia and in particular in Indochina. He's the managing director of a travel company specializing in Vietnam (where he's been based for the past 14 years) and Cambodia. He's also the founder of Visions of Indochina which is a digital image bank/library. Whilst one needs to register to gain full access to the library, there's enough there to satisfy all Vietnamophiles (is that the right term?) with lovely images of its various festivals, as well as a section for multimedia.Since the site is principally an image bank, its navigation seems a little quirky but you'll get the hang of it and you'll find lovely photographs of Vietnam,...

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Posted in: Photographers: Travel,Vietnam

Reuters: Best of the Year Photojournalism

Photo © Adrees Latif/ReutersIt seems that we're at the time of year when many of the news magazines, and large photo-blogs will soon be featuring their "best of the year" photographs. The first of the bunch is Reuters which is showcasing some 55 photographs.Reuters photographers produce over half a million images every year. Some pictures define an event, others capture a moment revealing an aspect of the human condition. What's really neat this time is that each photographer describes the event which he/she photographed along with technical details.My favorite photograph is the one above by Adrees Latif made during relief supplies being delivered to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab in Pakistan. It's one of these photographs...

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Posted in: Pakistan,Photojournalism

Dan Bannister: East Africa

Photo © Dan Bannister -All Rights ReservedDan Bannister is a commercial, industrial and editorial photographer based in Calgary, Canada, who having joined my recent Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™ last year, recently traveled to East Africa to further expand his inventory of travel imagery. His new gallery of East Africa includes a broad spectrum of lifestyle, travel and editorial images.His travel and editorial images appeared in The New York Times, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, and various in-flight magazines.Dan also updated his website, and I encourage you to visit it as it now boasts large photographs and is truly magnificent. On a personal level, I can say that Dan was one of the most enjoyable participants I've had the...

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Posted in: Africa,Photographers: Travel

My Book: Bali Island of Gods: Now Available

I'm excited to announce that my new photo book Bali: Island of Gods is now available from Blurb. There are two main versions of the book (82 pages of black & white photographs) on Blurb's bookstore. A large (13x11 inches) landscape hardcover version and a standard (10x8 inches) landscape version. All the details are available on a page of my website Island of Gods. If you choose to buy, the links will take you to my bookstore on Blurb, which has previews of the book.I know...the timing of the publication is great! Just in time for the holida...

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Posted in: Bali,Books,Photographers: Travel,TTP Show Off

The Haj In 1885 And Now

CNN has featured an interesting clip of images and audio dating from 1885 of Mecca and of the Haj ritual. It's accompanying article tells us that Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, a Dutch scholar of Oriental cultures and languages, and an advisor to the colonial government of the Netherlands East Indies, visited Mecca in 1885 taking photos and making sound recordings. He had converted to Islam, and was therefore allowed to gain entry to the city.The article is an interesting read, especially since it seems Snouck had to leave his camera equipment behind to a local Saudi, who continued making pictures, possibly becoming Mecca's first home-grown photographer. (My thanks to Gul Chotrani who sent the article to me).Contrast the scenes in the CNN clip...

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Posted in: Events,Multimedia,Photojournalism

Mohamed Hassan: Photojournalist

Photo © Mohamed Hassan- All Rights ReservedMohamed Hassan Abd El Aal (Mikko Hassan) lived and worked in Cairo, and graduated from the Akhbar El-Yom Academy with an honor degree in Journalism. He worked as a press photographer in the daily newspaper El-Shorouk El Gedid. Apart from covering political issues, protests and demonstrations, he was interested in documenting the traditional manufacturing processes in Old Cairo. One of these features gleaned him first prize in the 2009 Annual Press Photography Competition of Egypt.I met Mohamed (aka Mikko) at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul. He wasn't in my class, but approached me, rather shyly, and expressed his pleasure in seeing that one of the instructors was of Egyptian heritage....

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Posted in: Egypt,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Erika Larsen: Lavvos & Reindeer

Photo © Erika Larsen- All Rights ReservedErika Larsen is a photographer and film-maker who's recently been doing work in the Scandinavian Arctic with families of Sami reindeer hunters. She worked as a magazine photographer since 2000 specializing in human-interest stories, cultural issues and the daily life of people connected to the natural world. She's recognized by World Press Photo, American Society of Magazine Editors, Society of Photographers, New Jersey State Council of the Arts and is a Fulbright Scholar.The Sami peoples are also known as Lapps (although this term is considered as outdated, and often derogative), and are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of...

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Posted in: Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists

LATimes' Framework: Chhath Festival

Photo © Narendra Shrestha/EPA The Los Angeles ' Times large image photoblog Framework has featured a number of lovely photographs from around the world this past week. I liked this one by EPA photographer Narendra Shrestha of a Nepali woman staring while offering fruits and coconuts to the setting sun during the Chhath festival in Kathmandu.The Chhath festival is observed by Hindus in India and Nepal, and it's performed in order to thank the Sun god Surya for sustaining life on earth, and to ask for the granting of wishes. The rituals include bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water, standing in water for long periods of time, and making offerings to the setting and rising s...

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Posted in: Festivals,India,Photojournalism

Next Week on The Travel Photographer

For the week starting Monday November 14,  apart from off-the-cuff posts, the following is in the pipeline:1. A photographer's multimedia photo essay on the Sami people of the Scandinavian Arctic.2. A photographer's gallery of his freshly-minted photographs of East Africa.3. The work of a Vietnamese photographer of his homeland.4. Another interesting edgy documentary on illegal emigrants from Central America.5. Hard-hitting images from a photojournalist out of Hai...

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WSJ Photo Journal: The Haj

Photo © Hassan Ammar/Associated PressThe Wall Street Photo Journal is one of the first of the large picture blogs to publish a photograph to commemorate the Haj (or Hajj, as it spells it). The caption reads "Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims prayed inside the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world."I think the qualifier that it's the largest yearly gathering of people is appropriate since the religious gatherings of the Kumbh in India surpass it....however the Kumbhs are not yearly pilgrimages.The Guardian newspaper's website has also featured a fresh slideshow of the Haj rituals. Some lovely...

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Posted in: Events,Photojournalism

My Book: Bali Island of Gods Update 2

I've received the full version of my book Bali: Island of Gods from Blurb, and I'm happy with it. The variations in tone have been evened out, and the photographs are much better looking than in the sample I got last week. Phew!I will have two versions of the book (82 pages of black & white photographs) on Blurb's bookstore. A large (13x11 inches) landscape hardcover version that'll be more expensive aimed at those who like me a lot, and a standard (10x8 inches) landscape hardcover version aimed at those who like me a little less. Those who are indifferent don't have to buy either...but wishing me luck with it would be nice. Both versions will be available in a few days....and will be announced he...

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Posted in: Bali,Books,TTP Show Off

Marc Riboud: Magnificent Traveler

Afghanistan 1955 Photo © Marc Riboud- All Rights ReservedAnnick Cojean, journalist at Monde, says it well about Marc Riboud:"This man is free. This man is passionate. He's a magnificent traveler which the world continues to amaze. He loves life and intensely photographs it", which underscores what Riboud says of himself: "Rather than a profession, photography has always been a passion for me, a passion closer to obsession."Born in Lyon, Riboud takes his first photographs in 1937 at the Paris Exposition Universelle with a Vest-Pocket (I never heard of this camera?)**. Having fought in 1944, he studies engineering during the late 40s and works in a factory, but decides to take up photography full time in 1948. He's later on invited to Magnum...

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Posted in: Photographers: Photojournalists

POV: Face Covered, Women Only...Must Be Islamic!

Photo © Gali Tibbon/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images But it's not. The caption as per the WSJ Photo Journal is this:"A member of the religious group Women of the Wall wore the traditional Jewish prayer shawl of men called the tallit during a prayer service at the women’s section of the Western Wall in Jerusalem Monday."So the traditional Jewish prayer procedures at the Western Wall call for the separation of women from the men, and for women to cover their heads and faces?Huh? You mean like in traditional Islam?Go...

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Posted in: Photojournalism,POV

Enrico Martino: Tango Soul

Here's a wonderful multimedia essay by the talented Enrico Martino on the ageless, eternal and graceful dance of Argentina, the tango. Originating in Spain or Morocco, the tango was introduced to the New World by the Spanish settlers, freed African slaves and gauchos in Buenos Aires around the 1880s.Tango is not a dance, but a particular way of seeing and enjoying life...it's a way of life, where seduction by both sexes is disguised by dance moves and steps. But no one is fooled...in my view, tango is another word for seduction.This multimedia will be one of  the pieces that I shall use as examples for my future students at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop...in Buenos Aires. I especially liked the man's voice-over...soulful, melancholic...and also virile and passionate. Perhaps...

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Posted in: Multimedia,Photojournalism

Dilla Djalil-Daniel: Kolkata's Durga Puja

Photo ©Dilla Djalil-Daniel- All Rights ReservedPhoto ©Dilla Djalil-Daniel- All Rights ReservedPhoto ©Dilla Djalil-Daniel- All Rights ReservedPhoto ©Dilla Djalil-Daniel- All Rights ReservedPhoto ©Dilla Djalil-Daniel- All Rights ReservedDilla Djalil-Daniel is a photographer currently living in Jakarta, and just returned from Kolkata where she photographed the city's exuberant festival of Durga Puja. Although she travels around the world for her photography, especially in Asia and has a large portfolio that ought to be shown on her own personal website, Dilla has yet to have one. It's a shame really...but to make up for it, here's a selection of her Durga Puja work.Durga Puja is the biggest festival in Bengal, and it's also known as Dussehra and...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel

In Support of Joao Silva

The New York Times contract photographer Joao Silva, one of the major conflict photojournalists of our time, stepped on a mine while on assignment in Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago, and as a consequence his legs have had to be amputated below the knees. He is now recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC.His friends have set up a new website to raise funds for him by selling some of his prints. So please consider helping him by buying a print, by making a donation,  or by forwarding/tweeting this po...

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Posted in: Events,Photojournalism

POV: Photo-Workshops Are Useful, But....

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedScott Bourne, who publishes and writes Photofocus since 1998, has posted an article on photo workshops titled Don't Listen To The Trolls in which he encourages people to attend workshops led by photographers who have work they find inspiring...an encouragement that is both reasonable and logical.However, let's take this a step or two further because, simply put, there are photographers who market their workshops (and there are many these days) whose work may be phenomenally beautiful and inspiring, but who are unable to lead, who can't/won't teach and are unable/unwilling to share. It's simply not enough that the photographer's work is good...not at all. There are many more factors that come to play...

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Posted in: Photo Tours

Next Week On The Travel Photographer

For the week starting Monday November 8,  the following posts are in the pipeline (not in this order though):1. A photographer's mini-portfolio of black & white images of the Durga Puja in Kolkata.2. A wonderful multimedia essay of Tango in Buenos Aires.3. A The Travel Photographer Point Of View on photo workshops. which may raise hackles (aka piss off people) as my POVs are designed to do...we'll see.5. A multimedia project on the Day of The Dead...Filipino-style.6.  Magnum's new Fund for emerging photographers.PS. Don't you just hate this winter time fall-back?? Daylight Savings Time just suc...

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Ken Hermann: Sadhus of the Kumbh

Photo ©Ken Hermann-All Rights ReservedKen Hermann is a photographer based in Copenhagen, Denmark and is a member of the Behance Network. He has a personal website, but I get a no access message when I try to view it. No matter, his portraits of Sadhus made during the 2010 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar can be seen on here. Sadhus attend Kumbh Mela festivals and are amongst the many driving forces behind these festivals, and are also a magnet for photographers and photojournalists because of their appearance, and lifestyle.The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 4 years. The Ardh Kumbh Mella is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag, as the one earlier this year. The Purna Kumbh takes place every twelve years at four places: Allahabad,...

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel

The 900th And 901st Follower

Photo © Debarpita Mohapatra- All Rights ReservedMy list of Google Followers has now grown to just over 900 people. This list is distinct from my Twitter and Facebook followers and/or friends, Feed subscribers or from the subscribers to my newsletters.To commemorate this milestone, here are the two Followers as they've joined at the same time.The 900th Google Follower is Debarpita Mohapatra. He's an architect, photographer and biker based in Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. He also authors a blog titled The Indian Expedition.Photo © Luisa Puccini- All Rights ReservedAs for the 901st Google Follower, she's Luisa Puccini from Camogli near Florence. She's a traveler and photographer, and authors a blog titled Fotovagando, or Photo Wanderer. She seems...

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Posted in: Events

Human Rights Watch: Burma Defenders

The Human Rights Watch feature Burma Defenders is timed to coincide with the first elections to be held in the repressed country in more than 20 years. Burma has been run by a junta of army generals who have silenced any opposition to their brutal regime with human rights abuses and by silencing any dissent.Political observers are awaiting the elections and wondering if civil unrest flare up after what is widely perceived as a sham election on November 7, and whether Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, be released when her sentence ends on November 13.Human Rights Watch and photographer Platon have teamed up to photograph opposition members, former political prisoners, and journalists who have sought political refuge in neighboring...

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Posted in: Burma,Photographers

Panasonic's Lumix DMC GF2

Aaaaargh! It seems that engineers love to spoil a good thing. Panasonic has just announced the Lumix GF2, the updated version of its excellent mirrorless, lens-swappable GF1.According to WIRED's Gadget Lab, the new GF2 comes with an updated image processor for a maximum ISO to 6400, a do-all touch-screen control, and an upgrade to the HD video mode.The spoilers? Well, the mode selector on the GF1's top plate is gone, as well as the lever that allowed the user to choose between burst, timer and bracketing modes. The AF/MF selector is gone as well as the DOF preview button. Moreover, the GF2's body is said to be 18% smaller and 7% lighter than its predecessor....which I think won't provide the satisfactory feel of holding a "serious" small camera...

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Posted in: Hard Gear

Evan Abramson: When The Water Ends

Ethiopia's government is building a new dam in the Omo river projected to be the largest hydropower project in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost 50% of its electrical output has already been sold to neighboring countries, but it will reduce the water flow to the Omo River and threaten the lives of some 500,000-800,000 nomadic pastoralists.Evan Abramson's When The Water Ends photo essay examines the impact of such a massive infrastructural on the lives of the Omo Valley tribes. Evan's photographs were also used in a 16-minute video When the Water Ends produced by Yale Environment 360 in collaboration with MediaStorm. It tells the story of the increasingly dire drought conditions facing parts of East Africa, and the eventuality of conflict. Evan Abramson...

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Posted in: Africa,Ethiopia,Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists

Jimmy Williams: Music Makers

Photo © Jimmy Williams - All Rights ReservedI couldn't find much in the way of background on Jimmy Williams except the brief biography on his website which tells us that he's a narrative storyteller. That is true, but to me he also captured the essence of the remarkably talented southern music makers.The series began with an assignment and led to an organization named the Music Makers Relief Foundation which supports musicians who are the true representations of southern music, whether blues, bluegrass, gospel and so forth.A wonderful section of Jimmy's website groups all the musical genres, and is narrated by him. It will thrill all of us who love authentic blues and its derivatives. I've promised myself that I would fly down one day to Clarksdale,...

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Posted in: Photographers

My Bali Island of Gods Book: Update

I've been working on my book for a few days now, and I've just sent it to Blurb for publishing. I've chosen for it to be in large format landscape 13x11 inches, and with 82 pages of black & white photographs, it'll be a large coffee-table style book.I fixed the variations in tone, sharpened the "soft" photographs and those that seemed "muddy" to me. So I'm crossing my fingers. Its shipping date by Blurb is November 9 so I ought to actually get the final product a few days later.As I was setting up the book, I erred while saving it and Blurb's software just gobbled it up, and it promptly vanished! So I had to start almost from scratch...I say almost because all the photographs had been saved on my laptop's hard drive....so perhaps not a...

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Posted in: Bali,Books,TTP Show Off

Taking A Day Off...Because.

I'm taking the day off because I feel like ...

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