World In Focus Travel Photo Contest 2013

As this blog's readers may know, I'm not a fan of photography contests for two main reasons: the entry fees and the terms/conditions that often strip the entrants of their rights to their submitted work.

That said, there are many photographers (travel or otherwise) who view such contests as a way to gain visibility and stature amongst their peers, and perhaps even get recognition for their work from publishers, editors and the like....and consequently, I do mention such contests on The Travel Photographer, but I don't endorse them.

The sponsor of the 2013 World In Focus Photo Contest is Photo District News, and the deadline  for entries is August 22. The entry fee is $35 for professionals, and $12 for amateurs, and the grand prize is a week long photo workshop with Maine Media Workshops and a conference pass at the PDN Expo in fall. All winning images will be featured in PDN's March 2014 issue.

There are a number of categories such as Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, Spontaneous Moments and Photo Essay.

Understandably, the economics of World In Contest are very much tilted in favor of its sponsor...naturally. It's a business after all, and one that -if marketed successfully- can be lucrative to its sponsor(s).

My other issue with this particular photo contest is that one of its definitions for professional photographer (ie one who has to pay an entry fee of $35) is that he/she "Publishes photographs in books, magazines, newspapers, or online regularly".

In other words, if an amateur photographer regularly publishes photographs on Flickr, or wherever...the entry fee is $35 instead of $12.

The moral of the story here is this: if you need to enter such contests for ego boosting purposes or for visibility, do so. You probably need it. 

Al Jazeera | Bloodletting In Delhi

Photo © Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera-All Rights Reserved

"My family has been practicing this for generations and this is a gift of God."

One of medicine’s oldest practices is bloodletting, and is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt several thousands of years ago. Spreading to to Greece, it was believed that all illnesses stemmed from an overabundance of blood in the patients' bodies. In medieval Europe, bloodletting became the standard treatment for various conditions, from plague and smallpox to epilepsy and gout.

It still is a therapy for a very small number of conditions, and the use of leeches has experienced a revival in the field of microsurgery. It is still commonly used for a wide variety of conditions in the Unani, Ayurvedic, and traditional Chinese systems of alternative medicine.

Al Jazeera has featured a photo essay by photographer Showkat Shafi of practitioners in Old Delhi still practicing this 3000 year-old bloodletting process. These practitioners are of the Unani school (a form of traditional medicine used by some South Asian Muslims), known as Hakim. (See an earliest post with my photographs of a Kashmiri Unani hakim here).

The photo essay shows a Hakim tying the hands or legs of patients with cloths, and making small incisions with a razor blade to allow blood to trickle out of the body, following this ancient medical practice. These practitioners claim they do not charge money for the 'treatment' as they would lose the power to heal if they did so.

The Al Jazeera report mentions that this particular clinic opens at 9am and treats about 40 patients a day. New razor blades are used, and although Delhi has world-class hospitals, people still queue at this open-air clinic to be treated for various ailments through the process of bloodletting.

Lucas Mulder | Guatemalan Markets

Photo © Lucas Mulder-All Rights Reserved

I was told that the next Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held in Guatemala in summer 2014...a great choice, and which prompted me to feature the work of the talented Lucas Mulder in which he showcases Guatemalan markets in monochrome, using candid street photography techniques.

Guatemala is not only La Antigua (although its Semana Santa festivities and processions are phenomenal to photograph), but also has wonderful little towns and areas that are remarkably photogenic. Lago de Atitlan, Chichicastenango, Quetzaltenango, to mention only a few.

I photographed in Guatemala for about two weeks starting with the Semana Santa, and then doing short jaunts to the places I mention above. One of the intriguing aspects I encountered in western Guatemala is the cult of Maximón or San Simón. He is a folk saint venerated in various forms by the Mayan people in Guatemala. This cult ought to provide interesting ideas to attendees of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop.

Lucas Mulder is a photographer based in Boston, and he's a member of the Ballad photography collective.

Summer Doldrums: Framing

It's the summer doldrums...and having the better part of three bare walls means that I have the time to choose some of my best photographs printed, mounted and framed, and placed exhibition-style on these walls.

I already started choosing these photographs...perhaps I'll have some two dozen by the time I'm done with this project. All will be in black & white, in simple black frames.

I've tried Adorama Pix to print three of the first photographs, and so far it's been a success. It's cheap, it's easy and it's fast. I've had the first one delivered, and I'll be picking up the rest in a couple of days. The printing is done on Kodak Pro Glossy paper, in sizes of 11 x 14 inches.  Each print cost me $4.00 excluding the shipping (for the first one) and $2 handling fee for those I'll be picking up. The frames? I already had those.

I found the print quality to be quite good, and suitable for the purpose. I have no patience to print them myself, nor to have them done in a more expensive professional print studio...and the Adorama outfit is very fast.

I estimate that I'll eventually have two dozen of these monochrome prints; some of my travels in India, in Bali, in Vietnam, etc...and the room will be a "surround-visual" of these travels.

Francisco Guerrero | The T'boli People

Photo © Francisco Guerrero-All Rights Reserved

I haven't posted much on the Philippines on The Travel Photographer blog...perhaps 2 or 3 posts at the most. It's no intentional fault of mine, but it's just that I haven't come across much travel photography from this lovely country.

In order to redress this, I have now found Francisco Guerrero's work on the T'boli people. The T'boli people live in the southern part of Filipino province of Cotabata, and around lake Sebu. It is estimated that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 T'boli people. They generally practice the primitive way of agriculture "slash and burn" to grow corn, upland rice, vegetables, and root crops; most of which is for their own consumption.

Twenty-five years ago, written T'Boli did not exist, polygamy was more actively practiced, and barter was the principal form of economic exchange. The latter has since been replaced by a money economy. The T'boli culture is tightly connected with nature, and their dances mimic the action of animals such as monkeys and birds, and their music is played on a variety of musical instruments, and is a form of connection to their ancestors and a source of ancient wisdom.

Francisco Guerrero is based in Spain and in the Philippines, and holds a degree in Anthropology and Communications from Goldsmiths College, London. His clients include Conde Nast Traveller, Travel and Leisure, Lexus Magazine, Budget Travel, Hemispheres, Afar, Town and Country, Continental Inflight among other publications.

Chris McGrath | Hanoi's Street Barbers

Photo © Chris McGrath/GettyImages-All Rights Reserved

NBC's PhotoBlog featured the work of Chris McGrath documenting Hanoi's street barbers. It seems that having one's hair cut in the street is a tradition that goes back to the 18th century. Many of the barbers are ex-military, have retired from the army and cutting hair is a way to augment their army pensions, or just to keep busy and socialize.

While I was in Hanoi, I saw a one or two of these street barbers but I read that few work in the city's Old Quarter as there's no space to accommodate their chairs and paraphernalia on its sidewalks. The cost of a haircut ranges from the equivalent of $1 to $4, depending on the barber's abilities and whether the client is a regular or not.

This series remind me of my own The Street Barbers of Manali, which I photographed while teaching at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in that northern Himalayan town. 

Manuel Gomes Teixeira | Platinum Palladium Printing

Produced by Luís Oliveira Santos, this gem of a 12 minutes documentary video may help decrease your blood pressure rate quite significantly because it exudes calm and deliberate movements...and is a must for all fans of monochrome photography. Yes, it's a quasi fluff piece for the new Leica M Monochrom, but it will also interest (perhaps even thrill) those who are interested in traditional photographic printing methodology.

Manuel Gomes Teixeira is a photographer and a platinum palladium printer, who usually uses traditional methods, with photographic film in medium and large format cameras. He was asked by the exclusive distributor of Leica cameras in Portugal to test the Monochrom, and demonstrated how platinum printing combined with the quality of the Leica's image files result in beautiful photographs.

Platinum prints are photographic prints made by a monochrome printing process that provides the greatest tonal range of any printing method using chemical development, and are the most durable of all photographic processes. It is recognized that Platinum-Palladium prints convey detail even within the darkest shadows, and reveal a range of inviting tonal warmth.

The documentary was chosen as a Vimeo Staff Pick.

Charlotte Rush Bailey | Prayers To A Pir

Charlotte Rush-Bailey has been on virtually all my recent photo expeditions-workshops (except for the one in Vietnam), and has completed her multimedia project of Gharib Nawaz's Urs festival during my Sufi Saints of Rajasthan & Kashmir Photo Expedition-Workshop.

Charlotte is a photographer who migrated to the world of photography from a corporate career that covered three decades of marketing and communications positions in a variety of global industries including energy, financial services, media, conservation, technology and professional services. This gave her opportunities to work with people all over the world, and to learn to appreciate cultural nuances and the influences of socio-political forces.

She's the third participant to send me her multimedia work of Gharib Nawaz's Urs festival, which captures the intensity of the event.  Prayers To A Pir was made using Adobe Premiere Pro instead of Soundslides which I favor,  but Charlotte found it to be easier to sequence and sync the audio with the stills.

Rasha Yousif | We Came For Peace

With all the turmoil caused by various strands of so-called 'political' Islam and far right Islamists, We Came For Peace is a welcome and timely reminder that Islam's message is that of peace and tolerance.

“We Came For Peace” is a very short multimedia story of Namreen and her mother. Rasha tells us she met them in the women’s section at a Sufi mosque in Srinagar, and was touched by the mother’s sincere prayers. She asked if she would say a prayer for her, and asked the daughter Namreen to translate it. When Namreen was asked as to why she came to the mosque, she answered “We came for Peace”.

Rasha Yousif recently returned from my Sufi Saints of Rajasthan & Kashmir Photo Expedition-Workshop, during which she was immersed in her favorite element, photographing Islamic rituals and traditions, particularly those we encountered in Srinagar.

As I wrote in another post, the Islam (and Sufism) we witnessed in Srinagar's various religious sites was calm and soothing, and while there were many manifestations of utter devotional zeal especially amongst by women, these were gentler than those we witnessed and documented at the Sufi shrine of Moin'Uddin Chisti where the exuberance of the pilgrims was mind-boggling.

Rasha is from Bahrain, where she works in the finance industry. She graduated from the University of Bahrain, and obtained her Masters in Finance from DePaul University.

Bereaved | Rina Castelnuovo | New York Times

Photo © Rina Castelnuovo -All Rights Reserved

For a while now, I had taken the decision not to feature work by conflict photographers.

The banality and superficiality of what was published led to a sort of tediousness...an intellectual and visual fatigue for such work. Comparing the conflict photographers of today with titans such as Don McCullin led me to abandon any interest in this type of photography.

But suddenly there appears work of such empathy...of such depth and of such impact, that I regained a bit faith again. No, it's not conflict photography per se... quite the opposite. However, it's photographed in a conflict area...and is of people involved in a 65+ years confrontation...often, violent and dehumanizing.

This compelling work was published by The New York Times (yes, the very same newspaper that sold us the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction lie, and now tries hard to convince us that the popular uprising in Egypt is a "coup", amongst other journalistic pearls), and is titled Bereaved by Rina Castelnuovo.

While I could easily distinguish the Palestinian women from the Israeli because of their dress, it was impossible to distinguish the men from each other....in line with many studies proving that Arabs and Jews are genetically a single population.

Rina Castelnuovo is an Israeli photographer, who has been documenting the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis for more than 30 years, 17 of them as a contract photographer for The New York Times based in Jerusalem.

You can read more about Bereaved here.

POV: TPOTY At The Royal Geographic Society

Well, to be perfectly honest...the exhibition's style, layout, mounting of the prints and overall arrangement was unimpressive.

As I posted yesterday, The Royal Geographic Society today opened a free exhibition marking 10 years of the Travel Photographer of the Year competition, showcasing dozens of the best entries (about 200 all in) from its most recent contest as well as winning images from previous editions.

Just a few minutes walk from here...not a cloud in sight, sun shining, hot (probably the hottest ever for Britain so far), so ideal conditions to enjoy a travel photography treat.

Not entirely. For one thing, most of the exhibition is mounted in the open, so the sun's reflection on the prints was distracting to the viewers (and will probably eventually damage the ink-jet prints which are not covered by glass or plexiglass).

I certainly enjoyed viewing photographs by fellow travel photographers, including those by Alessandra Meniconzi of Siberia and Lalibela), and those of Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley, by Jan Schlegel, amongst many others.

That said, I thought TPOTY and the RGS should've done a better job in choosing a venue within the building itself, and should've spent more money to better mount and frame the photographs. I realize it's a free exhibition, but I was disappointed. It looked cheap. The photographers' talent deserve better.

Travel Photography: Royal Geographic Society

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi-All Rights Resreved

I'm in luck.

On my way to India from London in early May, The National History Museum on Cromwell Road was featuring the exhibition Genesis of Salgado's phenomenal photographs...and tomorrow, the Royal Geographic Society nearby will open a free exhibition marking 10 years of the Travel Photographer of the Year competition.

Included in the exhibitions are dozens of the best entries from its most recent contest (including the one above by my friend Alessandra Meniconzi), as well as winning images from previous editions. The exhibition runs until August 18.

The Royal Geographic Society is a stone's throw from where I am, so it certainly beckons this weekend. I hope it'll be as well mounted as Genesis...but it will be a tough act to follow. I shall post my impressions when I visit it.

For those who are not in London during the exhibition, the Telegraph newspaper has 30 of the images in the exhibition.

And for more details, drop by the Royal Geographic Society. Its website sucks, but it has the information you may need.

Sofie Olsen | The Moken People

Photo © Sofie Olsen-All Rights Reserved

The Moken are an ethnic group of about 2,000 to 3,000 members who live on the coast and islands in the Andaman Sea, on the west coast of Thailand, and the Mergui Archipelago of Burma. In Thailand, they're called Chao Ley (people of the sea) or Chao nam (people of the water). They're also called Sea Gypsies; a generic term that applies to a number of peoples in southeast Asia.

Some of the Burmese Moken are still nomadic people who roam the sea most of their lives in small hand-crafted wooden boats, however much of their traditional life, built on the premise of life as outsiders, is under threat and appears to be diminishing.

The Norwegian photographer Sofie Olsen travelled to the Surin Islands in the Andaman Sea, located 55 km from the Thai mainland to document the Moken people’s way of life and on-going aquatic-based culture.

Ms Olsen attended the International Center of Photography in New York City, where she graduated in Documentary Photography and Photojournalism in June 2011. Following her graduation Olsen was awarded the Center’s prestigious ICP Directors Fellowship. She won the London Festival of Photography Prize in 2012 with her photo-film I Am Light, which features an artist living in an alternative encampment in Norway together with Roma Gypsies. 

POV: Rocks And Hard Places

Photo © Max Lee-All Rights Reserved

I occasionally depart from opining on photography or on stuff that piss me off...but this time, this POV is personal.

Egypt, my country of birth, is once again facing an incredibly dangerous phase in its 7000 years' history. I've spent most of my life elsewhere, and while perhaps in some ways that detaches me from it, I still have a connection. Seeing the current turbulence on the various television channels and reading the news articles enhances that connection, and whatever my current emotions are, they're based on the residuals gleaned during the earlier years of my life.

As everyone knows, there are three main power centers in Egypt at this time: the 'street' who's had enough of  authoritarian regimes but is ill-organized, the military and the Islamists/Muslim Brotherhood...both well organized.

I've already expressed my views on the removal of Morsi from the presidency in other forums, so I won't repeat them here....but in summary, my view is that he deserved his removal due to his administration's abysmal record during the past 12 months, and Egypt can ill-afford suffering another 3 long years of this terrible governance.

My personal position is this: I don't want a religious clique to govern Egypt...I don't want them to impose their interpretation of Islam on anyone....whether Muslim, Christian, Jew, Baha'i, Shia, Sufi,  agnostic or atheist...I don't want them to impose a style of dress on women...I don't want them to tell women to stay home and not work....I don't want them to interfere in anyone's personal or public life...I don't want them to claim 'jihad' for any cause they deem appropriate to sully Islam further...I don't want them to influence education (already bad enough) in Egypt...I don't want them to tell anyone what to read or not to read...to view or not to view...I don't want them to discriminate against anyone...against any gender or lifestyle....

With the 'street' as disorganized as it is, lthis eaves the military as the only, and potentially temporary, viable alternative. I'm uncomfortable with that option...very uncomfortable. But the military -while execrable when confronting threats to its authority- is more interested in administering its industrial complex and business interests than interfering in daily life....and having a political role distracting them from their lucrative activities.

Eventually, the 'street' will mature, get organized and rise to the task of democracy...and perhaps the military will then cede the reins. Perhaps the youths of the Muslim Brotherhood will remove its current old ideologues and reshape themselves into a constructive political party.

Kainaz Amaria | On Being Zoroastrian

Here's an interesting, and well produced personal documentary on Parsi Zoroastrianism. As readers and followers of this blog know, I'm interested in documenting world religions...and their various rituals, and Zoroastrianism is a religious tradition that I've never thought of. The personal documentary is a tad long by my standards, but stay with it to witness some footage made inside a fire temple.

Zoroastrianism was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago, and is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. For 10 centuries, Zoroastrianism was one of the most powerful religions in the world, and was the official religion of Persia from 600 BCE to 650 CE.

Speaking of oldest monotheistic religions, I intrigued by the notion that Akhenaten (ca 1300 BC) of Pharaonic Egypt could've been the first in human history to subscribe to a form of monotheism He declared that Aten was not merely the supreme god, but the only god.

Ms Amaria makes the distinction that her documentary is on Parsi Zoroastrianism, rather than Iranian. The Parsis are members of Zoroastrian communities in India, and ethnically distinct from the Iranians even though both groups are Persian Zoroastrians. Zubin Mehta and Rohinton Mistry are two of the prominent Parsis I know of...but there are many others.

Kainaz Amaria has a B. A. in international relations and political science from Boston University and an M.A. in photography from the School of Visual Communication, Ohio University. In 2010 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Mumbai, India. Her images and multimedia collaborations have been recognized by contests including CPOY, Women in Photojournalism, Atlanta Photojournalism Conference, the National Press Photographers’ Contest and the South Asian Journalist Association. Her clients include Vogue India, The New York Times, Reuters, National Public Road, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, GlobalPost, Marie Claire (USA), the St. Petersburg Times, US News & World Report, Inc. Magazine & Condé Nast Traveler.

She's a member of the multimedia team at National Public Radio (NPR) and is currently based in Washington, D.C.

Arko Datto | Ladakh In Monochrome

Photo © Arko Datto- Courtesy Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera is not only an Arab television network, but occasionally also features excellent photo essays by established photographers of far flung regions of the world and of obscure festivals.

Ladakh, also known as "land of high passes, is a region of India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir that lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the Himalayas to the south. It's inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent, and is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir.

It's also one of the few regions in India that I have yet to visit.
Arko Datto's Ladakh: Life on India's Northern Frontiers monochrome photographs of Ladakh dispense with the vivid colors associated with Ladakhi cultures, religious dances and way of life.

Arko Datto is an Indian born photo journalist, whose work has been published on BBC World, BBC India, Le Journal de la Photographie, The Times of India, Deccan Herald, DNA, Mumbai Mirror, Photojournale, Galli Magazine, Private Magazine and Kindle Magazine.

Jodi Champagne | Myanmar Monks & Nuns

Photo © Jodi Champagne -All Rights Reserved

I noticed that I hadn't posted the work of a woman photographer since June 11...a rather long and unusual interval  for The Travel Photographer blog.

So to redress this accidental slipup, I feature Myanmar Monks & Nuns, a gallery of 29 large photographs by Jodi Champagne. With a couple of exceptions, these are in color and are carefully posed. Although the colors are lovely, my favorite is the one above of a Burmese nun in black & white.

Additionally, you shouldn't miss Jodi's photo gallery Choices They Make documenting a Shinbyu ceremony which marks the ordination of young boys as novice monks, as well as girls as nuns.

Her website also has galleries of Cuban streets, of the Karen Padaung women, and other documentary work.

Jodi Champagne is a photographer based in California, and has worked as a portrait, wedding, family and sports photographer and quickly discovered her true passion was in documentary and street photography. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Her photographs have been widely published in books, magazines, and used for editorial and commercial work. She received the Worldwide Gala Street Photography and the NYCFA Portrait Awards in 2012. 

Palani Mohan | The Kazakh Eagle Hunters

Photo © Palani Mohan-All Right Reserved

The practice of eagle hunting in Kazakhstan was almost eradicated during the Soviet era, however the ancient tradition is coming back with a vengeance.

Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country by land area, and the ninth largest country in the world with a territory larger than Western Europe. Hunting with eagles is unique to the country and Kyrgyzstan, and there are now more than 50 eagle handlers in Kazakhstan. Most of those make a living posing for tourist photographs, but a handful still ride the steppes to hunt live prey.

Falconry developed in Central Asia and for many centuries, Kazakh men have hunted from horseback with trained golden eagles, the largest and most powerful of raptors. Rabbits, fox and sometimes wolves are hunted for their fur by the Berkutchi (Kazakh for eagle hunter).

Documenting this hunting tradition, Palani Mohan has featured two wonderful monochrome photo essays on his website. I've featured his photographic work at least three times on this blog.

Born in Chennai, India, Palani moved to Australia as a child. His photographic career started at the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, and he's now based in Hong Kong.

His work has been published by many of the world's leading magazines and newspapers including National Geographic, Stern, Time, Newsweek, and The New York Times. He also published three photographic books. His work has been recognized with awards from World Press Photo, Picture of the Year, National Press Photographers Association, American Photo and Communication Arts. He is represented by Getty Images' Reportage Group in New York.