Dang Ke Cuong: Hoi An

Photo © Dang Ke Cuong-All Rights Reserved

I thought I'd feature the work of Hoi An based photographer Dang Ke Cuong, who specializes in scenes of Hoi An and its environs.

Whilst walking the streets of photogenic Hoi An, I saw some of my photo expedition group members in  Dang Ke Cuong's photography store-gallery. I joined in, and agreed with them that his photographs were admirable. I believe some were purchased by one of our group members.

I recall liking Dang's monochrome work, especially his environmental portraits and those made in the countryside of Hoi An.

Seeing his photographs of the Chinese fishing nets, Maika and I asked for Dang's assistance to set up a half day boat trip to do so, but unfortunately the previous days' storms had swelled the waters too high, and the fishermen were waiting for the water level to subside...so it couldn't be done.

Catru: A Vietnamese Musical Tradition

I had never heard of Catru before, but I happened to find a brochure about it in the wonderful Golden Silk Boutique Hotel, whose location and staff made it our home during my Vietnam photo expedition.

Reading that Catru is a Vietnamese religious music genre, and born in the tradition of northern Vietnam, I made it an option for the participants of the expedition to attend one of its performances which are held in a restored 110 years old building (known as nha co) at 87 Ma May street in Old Hanoi. My reasoning from a practical standpoint was simple; record the performance so as to provide ambient background to the multimedia projects produced out of this trip.

Catru was already played during the 15th century during ceremonies at the Vietnamese court, but during the 1950s fell in disrepute due to its association with opium and the like.

The musician/singer in the above photograph is Ms Pham Thi Hue, a famous practitioner of this art form, who performed beautiful musical pieces during the hour-long session.

Catru Thang Long has a wonderful website, with video clips and background.

The Portraitist Of Hang Ngang Street

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy

Little excites me more than walking the streets of a crowded and vibrant city like Hanoi, and meeting people with stories, history and talent in whatever craft they exercise. Nguyen Bao Nguyen is one of those.

Walking down Hang Ngang Street in old Hanoi, I stopped at Nguyen's storefront/atelier...drawn by his very realistic portraits of French and American actors, and other luminaries as well as other common folk. His store's walls covered with his work, showing erstwhile French actors such as Jean Gabin, Yves Montand and even Alain Delon...Gary Cooper and John Wayne represented the United States.

Nguyen's craft is in drawing/copying old (or damaged) photographs in exquisite details; a painstaking task that can take him many days. Very cheerful, he announced that his English wasn't too fluent, and his French was somewhat limited.

Notwithstanding, we got along well...and he immediately grasped I wanted to make a short story of him and his work. He was very proud I had come into his "atelier" as he described it, and it took no effort whatsoever to have him speak of his work, his youth and his work. Normally, I have to goad the person I'm interviewing to talk more, but Nguyen needed no encouragement whatsoever.

Returning to my hotel, I listened to the audio I had captured during my couple of hours with him, and it was fine and perfectly suited to what I hope to produce.  Depending on what I find in the couple of days to come, I may well return for another photo shoot at Nguyen's storefront.

In Sapa...Or Is It Sa Pa?

After a somewhat restless night spent on the Victoria Hotel Express Train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, we are now in Sa Pa...the launching hub for treks into the territories of the hill tribes such as the H'mong, Red Zao and Zao. Visiting minorities always carries issues relating to whether payment should be made for taking photographs of these very photogenic people. But I have no time here to go in any depth as to what is right or wrong.

However, if the Red Zao and H'mong seek to sell some of their handmade wares to visitors, I see no wrong in buying a trinket against taking photographs of their lifestyles. Having no need for the stuff they sell, I decided to buy large pack of biscuits/cookies for a group of Red Zao women, and gave it to them as an expression of 'giving back'.

That said, the Red Zao (in particular Mamei -shown in the lower photograph-) are incredibly persistent...some do so with humor and wit, while others do it less well and it becomes a drag. 

Notwithstanding these issues, the eventful day will be on Sunday during the Bac Ha market during which many of the hill tribes come down from their villages to the market to sell, buy, socialize and so forth.

In Hue....Day Two

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Having driven from Da Nang to Hue yesterday, I noticed a Cao Đài temple close to our hotel. I had wanted to visit and photograph the rituals associated with this religious tradition for quite a while now, so the presence of this temple was extremely exciting.

Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tây Ninh, southern Vietnam in 1926. Its adherents engage in ethical practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism. Estimates of its adherents range from 3 to 6 million, most of which are in Vietnam. Some of its saints are Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, William Shakespeare, Joan of Arc and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Following a few telephone calls and a visit by Maika Elan and Quoc Anh, we secured the approval of the head priest to photograph its daily prayer at noon. Both Maika and I had to meet him again this morning, and to reassure him that we were serious photographers, interested in documenting world religions.

We were allowed to photograph at will during the prayer ceremony, and to interview the congregation. It was extremely fortuitous that we were allowed to do so, as my understanding that the main Cao Đài temple in Southern Vietnam doesn't allow visitors except on the upper balconies during prayer times.

Photo © Quoc "Ron" Anh- All Rights Reserved

In Hoi An...Day Two

Photo © tewfic el-sawy

Having woken up really early in the hopes of catching the fishermen  hauling their catch did not make any difference, as there were no fishing boats which venture out to sea this morning....the level of water was unusually high so that may have played a part in it.

The main objectives of the rest of the day was for the participants start working on a personal photo essay, and learn the fundamentals of Soundslides. We had also booked a model for an afternoon photo shoot.

I initiated a photo essay which deals with an octogenarian and his wife who both own and operated coffee house, and hope to produce along the lines of the successful One In 8 Million series by the New York Times.

Photo © tewfic el-sawy

Finally, we hired Tien...a beautiful model from Hoi An, and spent the better of a late afternoon photographing her in the Old Quarter of Hoi An. The photo shoot lasted longer than anticipated as we sought to squeeze every little moment of light.

Photo © Maika Elan- All Rights Reserved

The Soundslides session in the afternoon was held in the bar of the Hoi An Hotel. Sound editing classes via Audacity will start in Hue.

In Hoi An....

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Immediately upon arriving in Hoi An, we had a walk-about in the center of this historic small town, with its well-known yellow decaying walls, small alleys and tiny store fronts.

Whilst walking, we encountered a group of movie technicians huddled with their lights and cameras around a gorgeous Vietnamese woman. Naturally, I quick-footed over to her to see what was all the fuss about, and it turned out that she was Ngô T Vân, one of the top Vietnamese actresses. We chatted while her handlers fussed around, and she was just delightfully approachable.

Subsequently, I and Maika chanced on the house of an elderly couple, who welcomed us in their living room. Octogenarians, they had worked in the coffee business all their lives. I intend to return today and try to develop a photo story on their lives.

This morning, we woke up really early to catch the fishermen delivering the daily catch to the fishmongers in the market, but we were either too late (5:30am?) or the fishermen didn't make any deliveries. We heard conflicting reasons...however, we spent around two hours documenting the fishmongers and the going-ons in that market.

Photo © Maika Elan- ALl Rights Reserved

Morning photo shoot in Hoi An Old Quarter with Victoria Alexander, Colleen Kerrigan and Sharon Tennant-Johnson.

More to follow.

In Hanoi...Third Day

By midday today, the workshop group had all arrived and had met in the Golden Silk Boutique Hotel's lobby.  For a couple of hours, I described the general parameters of the workshop insofar as multimedia was concerned. The participants are (by order of arrival to Hanoi) Colleen Kerrigan, Sharon Johnson Tennant, Graham Ware, Frances Bruchez, Victoria Alexander, David Regehr, and Shane and Julie Green.

Following lunch at a nearby restaurant, we then brought our photo gear out and walked in the streets of Hanoi, to explore the teeming street life, the pandemonium of zigzagging scooters, and the endless street food stalls.  Street photography in Hanoi is both simple and difficult. The mass of people on the streets sidewalks is breathtaking, and lots of opportunities abound...however, it's quite difficult to figure out eye-pleasing patterns because there are simply too many people in one spot.

In the evening, we had dinner at the notorious Xoi Yen, where we all had xoi xeo ga (yellow glutinous sticky rice) with chicken breast, and fried shallots. This is a very tasty dish, and one we shall return to when we're back in Hanoi.

Tomorrow, we fly off to Danang...onwards to Hoi An and Hue.

In Hanoi...Second Day

Instagram Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy

By mid morning, three of the 8 workshop participants are already in Hanoi, and have already started to familiarize themselves with the Old Quarter. Three more will arrive this evening, and the last two arrive early tomorrow morning.

Hai Thanh and I along with Graham Ware has a wonderful lunch at Highway 4, which I understand is one of the best restaurants in Hanoi as described by the Lonely Planet. And since we were alerted to the weekly night market by the Golden Silk Boutique Hotel, we spent most of the evening taking the sights there, photographing...and ultimately having dinner in an open air restaurant, joined subsequently by Hai and Maika Elan, who'll be assisting me on this workshop.

We ordered a hot pot that came with prawns, tofu, beef, pork liver, clams and other stuff including mushrooms. It was way more than we could eat, but we pretty much polished the wonderful broth off.

After all, we had photographed the length and breadth of the night market all along the Hang Duong and Hang Dao walking streets, and that had honed our appetite.

Photo© Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

In Hanoi....!!

 After a long flight on Malaysian Airlines (excellent service, brand new aircraft, etc), and connecting from Kuala Lumpur, I landed in Hanoi and whisked to the workshop's hotel Golden Silk Boutique Hotel in the midst of Old Hanoi.

Grabbing my street photography favorite, my scarf and my cell phone I chanced the notorious streets of the quarter. I have to say that despite my having not slept for quite a while, the photo opportunities in these streets are just staggering.

Having risked my life in the streets of Cairo, Delhi, and New York City...amongst many other large cities, I found that crossing the Hanoi streets and dodging the scooters not such a big deal (so far).

Most of the group participants are arriving in waves today, and the workshop officially starts tomorrow.

  

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop 2013: Sarajevo!

Eric Beecroft, the co-founder of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, has just announced the tentative dates for the 2013 workshop which is to be held in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The door for Pre-Registration is already open!

The tentative dates for the workshop are July 14-20, 2013. The initial list of instructors consists of Ron Haviv, Robert King, Andrea Bruce, Maggie Steber, James Whitlow Delano, Alison Morley, Tewfic El Sawy, Paula Bronstein, Kael Alford, Thorne Anderson, Adriana Zehbrauskas and more to come.

The cost:

Local Tuition: $475. Any photographer from the Balkans/Former Ottoman Empire (Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Moldavia, Romania, Macedonia, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Cyprus 

BONUS: Anyone coming from South or Southeast Asia, since 2012 workshop was in Thailand, gets one year of locked-in tuition at: $475 for this year's workshop. 

Standard tuition: $975.

What are you waiting for?

The Travel Photographer's On His Way To Hanoi

I'm on my way to Hanoi to start my Vietnam: North Of The 16th Parallel Photo Expedition/Workshop.

During the coming two weeks, my posts will not be as frequent but I'll try to update my readers as to the progress of the workshop, and upload a few photographs.

Cedric Arnold: Sacred Ink

Photo © Cedric Arnold-All Rights Reserved

Having just spent some 10 days in Chiang Mai, I'm glad to have found Sacred Ink, the impressive work of photographer Cedric Arnold featuring the tattooing culture in Thailand.

The sacred tattoos in Thailand are much more than just an art form, and with a culture deeply rooted in superstition and spirituality, such tattoos are believed to have magical and healing powers. Thai men and also women have their sacred tattoos done at Buddhist temples, for protection against evil spirits, and as good luck charms.

Cedric Arnold's website tells us that these sacred tattoos can be scripts based on ancient Khmer, and the original Buddhist Pali, along with figures and mythical creatures. Using large-format and Polaroid cameras, formal black-and-white portraits were made of boxers, monks, construction workers, policemen, soldiers, taxi drivers, shipyards workers, a shaman, and tattoo masters.

A few years ago, I photographed at Wat Bang Phra, a Buddhist temple about half an hour's drive from Bangkok. It is here that every March 30 thousands of Thais and foreigners gather to watch or participate in the 'Sak Yant' festival. Sak means "tap tattoo" while Yant translates into "sacred design". 

After being granted permission by a head monk, I photographed during a non-festival day, a couple of Buddhist monks were already busy tattooing Thais. The 'sak yant' is done with a 'mai sak'- a long bamboo stick sharpened to a point. The ink is said to be made from various ingredients including snake venom, herbs and cigarette ash. I was told these was no payment made nor expected, but that gifts of cigarettes and food were accepted by the tattooing monks.






The above short clip is also by Cedric Arnold and I believe must have been filmed during the annual Sak Yant festival at the Wat Bang Phra temple.

Thumb Rests For The Fuji X Pro-1

Back in April 2011, I was getting used to the ergonomics of my then-new Leica M9 and found that it needed an add-on in the form of the extremely well made Thumbs Up EP-1, produced by matchTechnical (see above photo). It has remained on my M9 since then, as I found it to be invaluable while shooting with it...adding stability and improved handling.

With the advent of the Fujifilm X Pro-1, I was expecting a similar add-on from matchTechnical, and true enough, it has recently produced the Thumbs Up EP-75 specifically made for it. 

The quality seems to be as high as the remaining models by matchTechnical, and is claimed to provide the most efficient shape for holding your Fuji camera more securely and more comfortably...reducing any camera shake. It also claims that it would not inadvertently disturb the position of the program control buttons on the X-Pro 1.

Without seeing it, I'm certain about the quality of the Thumb Up EP-75 ($118 inclusive of shipping), but hope it doesn't interfere with the X Pro-1's Command Dial.

Since well-thought and successful products are frequently imitated, I should also mention the Lensmate Fujifilm X-Pro1 Thumbrest is also available. It's described as being milled from a block of 6061 T6 alloy, and has the fit and finish equal to the camera itself. It sells for $75.

The Lensmate Thumbrest

I have no relationship with either matchTechnical Services or with Lensmate (and/or any of its retail outlets) other than having bought a Thumbs Up EP-1 from the former.

New Fujifilm X-E1

Fujifilm has just announced the new X-E1 mirrorless camera, which is a smaller sibling to the successful X Pro-1. It features the same 16.3 mp CMOS sensor as the X-Pro1, but has a smaller and lighter body.

It features a 2.8-inch LCD, a pop-up flash, ISO of 200-6400 (expandable to 100-25600), and RAW and built-in RAW conversion, but doesn't have the hybrid viewfinder found on the X Pro-1. It only has a EVF. It's much lighter than its larger sibling, and in terms of size, it's 30% smaller.

I haven't used my X Pro-1's video mode (relying on the Canon 5D Mark 2 when I needed to) but the X-E1 can shoot 1920×1080 video at 24fps, and Fuji's Film Simulation option can be enabled during video recording...nice!

I leave it to you to decide if the X-E1 will be as successful as the X Pro-1. My initial reaction is that it might be too small...even for a second body. However, it's supposed to have a retail price of $1000...$700 cheaper than the X Pro-1.

Vietnam Is Next....

In under 10 days, I'll be once again back in South East Asia...this time in Hanoi, to lead another of my photo trips Vietnam: North Of The 16th Parallel Photo Expedition/Workshop™!

The itinerary will only include the northern half of Vietnam...so the title of the photo expedition is based (almost) on The Seventeenth Parallel, which was the provisional military demarcation line between North and South Vietnam established by the Geneva Accords of 1954. It will include Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue, Halong Bay and naturally Sapa and Bac Ha.

On this itinerary, the participants will be emulating real-life photo assignments, and produce multimedia bodies of work ready for publishing. The workshop is devised for photographers interested in documentary photography, ethno-photography and multimedia, and for those ready to create visual projects from their inventory of photographs, and learn how to control story length, intent, pace, use of music and ambient sound, narration, field recordings and interviews.

The participants are from the United States, Canada, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Australia...a veritable multinational group.  I will be assisted by Maika Elan (Nguyen Thanh Hai), an award winning freelance photographer from Hanoi.

From a technical standpoint, I will be putting my two "rangefinders" (M9 and the Fuji X Pro-1) through their paces on this trip. Probably shooting in monochrome in the Sapa and Bac Ha, and color (with the Canon 5D Mark II) on the rest of the itinerary...with mostly wide angle lenses on all my cameras.

Everything is prepared and ready...the hotels, the visas, the internal flights...and even the local eateries seem to have been alerted of our arrival.

KL Photo.BOM: Asia By Asians

One of The Travel Photographer blog's objectives has always been to provide a modest platform to further the exposure of emerging travel and documentary photographers from all over the world, so it's a distinct pleasure to feature a slideshow of photographs by KL Foto.BOM, a collective of documentary photographers from Asia/Malaysia. The actual slideshow presentation was held at The Leica Store Malaysia, Avenue K on 2 September 2012.

The photographs/photo essays are by Andri Tambunan,  Adli Ghazali,  Maika Elan, Edward Khoo,  Lim Paik Yin, Binh Dang, Azahari Salleh, Ahsan Qureishi, Ridzki Noviansyah, Mervyn Leong, Azreen Madzlan, Izzat Yahaya, Khairil Safwan, Vignes Balasingam, Rahman Roslan, Javad Tizmaghz, and Hanif Maidin. 

Some of these photographers are alums of The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop and others of the Angkor Photo Festival...and some of both. Accomplished photographers and photojournalists, they have varying styles and different visions...but all of them are united by the common thread of creativity and dedication to their craft.

The slideshow can also be viewed directly on YouTube

Ed Peters: Beyond The Indus

Photo © Ed Peters-All Rights Reserved

"It’s the challenge of capturing the texture of life, created by these contradictory elements, which draws me to India’s streets." -Ed Peters

And so writes Ed Peters prefacing his Beyond The Indus photo gallery... and what a photo gallery of captured moments of life! Just take a look at the photograph above...a man asleep, horizontally inert..and sort of Hindu angel floating above him, next to an askew small painting of the Taj Mahal, and a sliver of a woman staring at the photographer...

I was torn between featuring Beyond The Indus or Mexican Proximity (many of the photographs are from Oaxaca, my favorite Mexican town), but I decided to feature Ed's work from India because I was so taken by the above image.

A New York-based retired photojournalist, Ed is a Leica M9 user, as well as a Canon 5D Mark II for his photographic work. Possibly influenced by the work of Costa Manos and Alex Webb, Ed is obviously drawn to color...to the interplay of contrasts between shadow and light...and to the streets.

In an interview with Leica Liker, this is what he says about why he does street photography:

I find it enjoyable. Otherwise why bother? I like the process of walking, the challenge of making successful images, and the element of gamesmanship involved.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Ed Peters worked as a freelance photographer, before joining the staff of The Star Ledger in Newark, New Jersey. He subsequently relocated to Asia where he photographed the plight of Burmese refugees, and the pro democracy movement in Nepal. Returning to the United States, he joined a photo agency and photographed a wide variety of stories. These include the famine in Somalia, war in the former Yugoslavia, traditional wrestling in India, and the continuing AIDS crisis. He is now focusing on his personal work, especially street photography.

Victoria Alexander: The Gurukul Newspaper

"I’m happiest with a camera in my hand, photography keeps me fresh, when creating or making something, anything, a home, cooking or writing."- Victoria Alexander.

Here's The Gurukul Newspaper; an audio slideshow by Victoria Alexander, whose resume is not only lengthy, but extraordinarily varied, multi-layered and complex.

Victoria was a fashion editor for Vogue and Cosmopolitan and a freelance stylist and art director for stills, film and television commercials. She established the television production company, The Film Business, and a small boutique hotel, The Russell, in Sydney, and built The Bathers’ Pavilion restaurant and café in Balmoral. She also completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) at the National Art School.

She's also the author of three books: The Bathers Pavilion Cookbook, One, and Colour. Colour is due to be released in England, New Zealand and Australia on 1st November. She's a photographer, and a home making consultant, and an inveterate traveler...to India, Bhutan, Cuba, Ethiopia, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Namibia, Vietnam, Laos and Bali to name but a few.

I encourage my readers to log on to Victoria's blog, and explore her multi-faceted talents directly from her posts.

Her lastest (to be released in November) 300+ pages book Colour is described as "Lyrically written and thoughtfully illustrated with photography by Victoria Alexander (stylist, fashion editor and passionate traveller), Colour is interspersed with poignant reminders on how to use colour to transform your mood and brighten your life."