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.

Terri Gold: Where Earth Meets The Sky

Photo © Terri Gold-All Rights Reserved

"No matter where I am, I am always happiest with a camera or three in my hands…"

Terri Gold is an award-winning photographer and artist based in New York City, and has built an impressive reputation for her rituals, rites of passage, festivals, celebrations and portraits from all over the world. She specializes in infrared imagery, which is her signature work.

She has just returned from Ladakh and has posted a new series of infrared imagery in a gallery she titled "Where The Earth Meets The Sky", which is just fabulous. He infrared treatment of her photographs gives the already ethereal moonscapes of Ladakh a unique look and feel. 

Ladakh is the mountainous region in northwest Jammu and Kashmir in north India and in the area known as the Trans-Himalaya. Called by some as The Last Shangri-La (although a fistful of other regions and areas have been called that as well), its capital (or major town) is Leh. Ladakhis people are equally mixed between Buddhist and Muslim, but the majority of the tourist attractions are in the east and relate Tibetan Buddhist culture.

Terri describes Ladakh as a different world...and that certainly is an apt description, especially with her imagery talents.

Sharon Johnson-Tennant: Diffusion & Magical Mystery Tour

Pilgrimage Home (Ladakh)- © Sharon Johnson-Tennant-All Rights Reserved

Kitchen , Stok Monastery-© Sharon Johnson-Tennant-All Rights Reserved

Morocco-Photo © Sharon Johnson-Tennant-All Rights Reserved

Morocco- Photos © Sharon Johnson-Tennant-All Rights Reserved

di·aph·a·nous/dīˈafənəs/

Adjective:  Light, delicate, and translucent.

Here are a number of photographs by Sharon Johnson-Tennant, a multi-faceted award winning photographer in Los Angeles and a participant in my 2010 Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition.

These photographs are part of a larger number she sent me in connection with her forthcoming exhibition named DIFFUSION; a compilation of 9 years of Sharon's work from travel all over the world. She describes the photographs in this exhibition as "images that seem to have stopped in time, things in plain sight but not always seen" such as the two top ones made in Ladakh, a remote area of India. Apart from India, her travels have taken her to Malaysia, Burma, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and the Philippines.

The exhibition's opening night is March 3, 2012 (7-10 pm) at the Robert Berman Gallery, in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. The exhibition will continue until March 31st.

As for the lower photographs, they're part of Sharon's larger body of work (still in progress) which she calls Magical Mystery Tour. Those were recently made in Morocco at twilight. That time of day in terms of light, coupled with the natural reticence of Moroccans to being photographed pushed Sharon to alter her techniques to meet these challenges.

On my blog, I frequently describe photographs as powerful, emotive, and/or well composed.  For Sharon's new photographs, I happily add diaphanous and ethereal to all these adjectives.

For further examples of Sharon's talents, visit her new website...you'll see the versatility of her work.

Ania Blazejewska: People of Ladakh

Photo © Ania Blazejewska-All Rights Reserved

To start the week on a pure travel photography note, here's the work of Ania Blazejewska. She is a freelance travel photographer based in Poznan, Poland. Having graduated with a degree in political science, her embrace of travel and photography led her to Asia and northern Africa.

Her work was recognized in various Polish and international photo contests, and her  freelance photos and articles were featured in a number of Polish-language travel portals. She has photographed in Cuba, India, Ladakh, Laos, Oman, Morocco, Srl Lanka and Nepal...to mention just a few.

Many of her travel photography is of people, and photographed in portrait mode...in vertical format. I chose her Ladakh gallery to feature here, but don't leave her website until you've explored her many other galleries. One that I particularly liked as well is her Living As A Burmese Monk photo essay.

Incidentally, Ania is one of the many photographers who uses PhotoShelter for her website and galleries.

If you want to learn how to sell your prints, PhotoShelter has issued a free downloadable PDF guide to help you out.