Brent Foster: Varanasi

Varanasi, India : Holy Waters - Images by Brent FosterBrent Foster is a photojournalist producing still, video, and multimedia content who is based in Delhi, India since January 2009. He was a staff visual journalist for the Los Angeles Times before deciding to give freelancing a try. Not content in being an accomplished photographer and multimedia producer, Brent also authors an interesting bog titled Visual Journalist. The above slideshow is of...

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The Travel Photographer's Face-Lift

Many of my readers will have noticed that The Travel Photographer blog has undergone somewhat of a face-lift. Its original anthracite background with a lighter grey logo was over 2 years old, and I felt it was time for a freshening up. After all, I started this anthracite/grey color scheme in January 2007!Over the past few months, I stealthily increased the size of the photographs appearing in my posts, and while I'm a proponent of the "larger is...

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My Work: Theyyams, Incarnate Deities

One of the most personally rewarding photo~expeditions I organized and led was the Theyyams of Malabar this last February. There are many reasons for this; the synergy between the 9 photographers in the group worked exceptionally well, the pace of the photo expedition was just right, and I fulfilled the ambition of photographing the Theyyam ceremonies over the 5 days we spent in...

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Taylor Davidson: India, Close & Afar

©Taylor Davidson-All Rights ReservedTaylor Davidson is a documentary photographer focused on the role of business and people in their environment, and according to the map of India on Taylor Davidson's website, he visited about 25 cities in the subcontinent; from Dharmasala in Himachal Pradesh at the foothills of the Himalayas to Trivandrum in Kerala at its southernmost tip. He...

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Alex Espinosa: Criancas de Nordeste

©Alex Espinosa-All Rights ReservedAlex Espinosa is a Mexican photographer and photojournalist, who traveled in Latin America from 2000-2006 to document daily life and the humanitarian efforts made to improve lives of children. The documentary project was sponsored by CETYS University, San Diego State University and the University of Baja California.His work was exhibited in Mexico,...

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Marantz-PMD 620

I just published an article on Photocrati providing my impressions of the Marantz-PMD 620, a small hand-held audio recorder, which I needed badly to replace my aging M-Audio MicroTrack I that was beginning to act erratically.I’m not an audio engineer, so my take on the quality of my various recordings should be viewed as that of a photographer who records ambient sound to accompany...

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Farzana Wahidy: Burqa

At the age of 24, Farzana Wahidy has been a photographer for Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press. She was born in Afghanistan but now resides in the United States. The National Geographic All Roads Film Festival recently recognized her work by awarding her seed money and equipment to assist in her field work.In an interview, she said: " I wasn’t at all interested in photography...

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Ad For Canon 5D II Video

Here is a 200-second promotional video from Canon for the 5D Mark II that essentially showcases the various Canon lenses that can be used to produce such a video. The ad's soundtrack is annoying, but what is most annoying is that I have yet to be able to produce a half decent video with mine. Video-making is not as easy as one would think, especially when engrossed in making still photographs, then switching to video mode as an afterthought, or just...

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Minimalist Photo Gear

I'm planning to travel to Cairo for around 10 days, and finally took the plunge in reducing the load of photographic gear I normally take with me. Since the trip is not one of my group photo~expeditions nor a workshop, but will involve a couple of self-assignments, I can afford to pare it down.Here's my list:1. Acer Aspire One 8.9-inch Mini Laptop (1.6 GHz Intel Atom, 1gb RAM,...

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Are You Doing Audio Slideshows Yet?

©Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved I've published an article asking this very question on Photocrati.com, a pro photographers' blog, gear review site, and community, which includes this:"Multimedia is not a panacea for ill thought out or badly produced projects. It still needs good stories, great photographs and certainly, audio that is part of the story and part of the photographs....

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Stefano Torrione: The Rituals of the Gnawa

This is a post that'll be particularly appreciated by participants in my forthcoming Gnawa Photo~Expedition as photojournalist Stefano Torrione has documented the Gnawa in Essaouira and Marrakech in one of his many interesting galleries titled The Rituals of the Gnawas.Stefano is a photojournalist who started his career at the magazine Epoca in the early nineties, and that led...

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The Travel Photographer's FPW Awards

©Jyotika Jain (L)- ©Martyn Aim (R)-All Rights Reserved In February 2009, I offered two scholarships to the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, and both Eric Beecroft and I (as jurors) had the difficult task to choose the recipients of the scholarships, which were announced on April 15th.The above are photographs by Jyotika Jain and Martyn Aim, both winners of the two scholarships....

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Felice Willat: The Spirit of Burma

©Felice Willat-All Rights Reserved Felice Willat is founder and president of Tools With Heart, a company that develops products to enhance personal discovery and well being. A successful entrepreneur, and with a strong background in network television production, Felice is also an accomplished photographer, as evidenced by the recent publication of her photographs of Burma on the...

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Joyce Birkenstock: Kathakali Paintings

©Joyce Birkenstock-All Rights Reserved Joyce Birkenstock is a remarkable artist and photographer, and a peripatetic international traveler who visited most countries of the world. She received her training at the University of Dallas, the University of Iowa, the Norton Art School, the Art Students League, and the Vermont Studio Center, and her awards, achievements and professional...

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NYT: Colombia's Displaced Indians

©Moises Saman for NYTimes-All Rights Reserved Here's an audio slideshow "Colombia's Displaced Indians" with photographs by Moises Saman, and narrated by Simon Romero (also the author of the accompanying article) concerning the misery affecting the indigenous population of western Colombia caught in the crossfire from a new breed of criminal armies is pressing deeper into the jungle,...

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Pulitzer Prizes For Photography

Photojournalists Patrick Farrell of The Miami Herald and Damon Winter of The New York Times have just won this year's Pulitzer Prizes for Photography. Farrell won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, and Winter won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.Farrell won for his coverage of Hurricane Ike's devastation in Haiti and the humanitarian disaster that followed...

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Chico Sanchez: Holy Week In Oaxaca

I've been waiting for Chico Sanchez's photographs of Semana Santa and as I predicted, he just came through with another of his well produced SoundSlides slideshows featuring Holy Week in Oaxaca. As you'll see, Easter for devout Oaxacans is the most important religious celebration of the year, which is demonstrated by processions and ceremonies that take place throughout the city...

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La Santa Muerte

In total contrast to the above feature by Chico Sanchez, this post is about La Santa Muerte; a growing cult in Mexico whose core is the worship of the Santa Muerte or Holy Death, a kind of female incarnation of the Grim Reaper. In this short movie clip. Ioan Grillo and Journalist Daniel Hernandez go deep into Santa Muerte's spiritual center in Tepito, an old market neighborhood in the heart of Mexico City, which has long been associated with the...

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Sandra Chandler: Carnevale, Fantasy of Venice

Sandy Chandler has just published her new book ‘Carnevale, Fantasy of Venice' of her beautiful photographs of Venice and its magical Carnevale. One can preview the book here.Her introduction in the book reads :Venice is one of the world's most picturesque cities and as a backdrop, Carnevale is shown as a vivid, vibrant colorful dream. The excitement of this twelve day celebration...

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WLIW21: In The Footsteps of Marco Polo

I missed In The Footsteps of Marco Polo, a delightful and unusual travelogue on WLIW21, most probably because I was traveling and not in New York. However, I now have the chance of watching it on its website, and it promises to be a great televised yarn.The series chronicles the journey of two men – Belliveau, at the time a wedding photographer, and O’Donnell, an artist and former...

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WSJ: Bob Krist's 'A Focus on Storytelling'

You actually need to think about what kind of photos you want. I say inspiration is for amateurs. Even though you aren't working for a magazine, you can still give yourself a little assignment...When you shoot with a mission, you start to think in terms of a storyteller, rather than a person walking around waiting to be hit with a bolt of, "Wow, that's beauty."-Bob KristThe Wall...

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Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest

The Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) has announced its 2009 international travel photography awards. TPOTY is run by photographers for photographers, judged by photography experts, and provides prizes, including foreign travel, photographic equipment and photography tuition.As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make...

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WSJ Photo Journal: Orthodox Good Friday

©Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty-All Rights Reserved The Wall Street Journal's Photo Journal consistently brings us remarkable images from the world over. Here's one of an Ethiopian Christian Orthodox worshiper carrying a wooden cross along the Via Dolorosa, the path Christians believe Jesus walked while bearing the cross, in Jerusalem’s Old City. Orthodox Christian clergymen and pilgrims...

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We Are Not Untouchables

©Jakob Carlsen-All Rights Reserved The International Dalit Solidarity Network's website in an attempt to publicize the still-present plight of the "untouchables", around 250 million people primarily in South Asia, but also in the Middle east and Africa, who are born into a life where they are subjected to dehumanizing practices linked to the notion of "untouchability" and caste...

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Jim Romano: The Tabloid Photographer

I normally plan my posts a few days ahead of time, but when I saw that today's The New York Times' wonderful multimedia One In 8 Million was featuring Jim Romano: The Tabloid Photographer, I simply couldn't resist.Since 1946, Jim Romano has chased news on Staten Island for the Daily News, The New York Post and many others. The audio in this multimedia piece makes all the difference...see...

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Stefen Chow: Imperial Beijing

A few days ago, I posted a POV titled Larger Is Good in which I wrote that larger images on photography/photographers' websites were advisable in order to attract photo editors and buyers.Here's a beautiful example of what I meant: the website of Stefen Chow, a photographer who worked with Getty Images, Associated Press and Bloomberg News, Singapore Airlines and Shell. Not content...

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NYT Magazine: Finally No Models Pics

©Ellen von Unwerth From today's The New York Times' article "Times Will Cut Sections To Lower Costs""Beginning with the issue of May 10, The New York Times Magazine will no longer contain a regular fashion layout; fashion reporting and photography will continue in the T magazines published every few weeks, and in the weekly Sunday and Thursday Styles sections."Finally! If I wanted...

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POV: 160gb vs 160gb?

I'm always on the lookout (as most travel photographers and photojournalists are) for ways to reduce the electronic gear I carry with me on my photo~expedition/assignments, which seems to get heavier with time. Notwithstanding the many advantages of digital photography, I recall with some nostalgia as to how I used to gripe at the weight of 50 rolls of film...a feather compared...

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Zackary Canepari: The Heart of Punjab

©Zackary Canepari/The New York Times The New York Times featured the work of photographer Zackary Canepari in a slideshow titled The Heart of Punjab. His above photograph is of young students at a seminary school in Dera Ghazi Khan, a gateway both to Taliban-controlled areas and the heart of Punjab.One of the key captions in the slideshow comes from the accompanying article:"The...

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The Travel Photographer's Awards Go To....

In February 2009, I offered two scholarships to the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, and both Eric Beecroft and I (as jurors) are delighted today to award them to two photographers. We also chose two runners up should one or both of the winners be unable to join the workshop. 1. Winner of the TTP Full scholarship of $450 for a South Asian photojournalist is Jyotika Jain. (Runner...

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Ajmal Naqshbandi: The Fixer

Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi is a feature-length documentary that follows the relationship between an Afghan interpreter, Ajmal Naqshbandi and his client, American journalist Christian Parenti. This intimate portrait of two colleagues shifts dramatically when Ajmal is kidnapped along with an Italian reporter. The documentary also examines why was the Italian journalist,...

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Eric Tourneret: The Honey Gatherers

Photo ©Éric Tourneret-All Rights Reserved.The Rai (aka Raji) people live in the Himalayan foothills of central Nepal, and are known as the honey hunters. Twice a year, Rai men gather around steep cliffs that are home to the world's largest honeybee, and as they have for generations, these men are to harvest its honey. The harvest ritual usually starts with a prayer and sacrifice...

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New Nikon D5000

Nikon introduced the new D5000, with a 12.3 megapixel DX-format CMOS image sensor, a D-Movie Mode with sound, which allows the recording of 720p HD movie clips, a vari-angle color LCD monitor allowing the positioning of the 2.7-inch monitor, 19 Auto-exposure Scene Modes, One-button Live View, continuous shooting as fast as 4 fps, ISO sensitivity from 200 to 3200, built-in image...

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My Work: Traders of Kochi

One of the scheduled photo-shoots during the Theyyams of Malabar Photo~Expedition was in the streets of old Kochi, or more specifically, Mattencherry. This area offered opportunities to photograph the bazaar-like alleys, with traditional godowns and stores stocked with all types of rice, dark brown nutmeg, red and green chillies, earthy ginger, black pepper and other spices. From...

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POV: Larger & Simple

My two posts today are inter-related. This one is about my long-standing view that photography web sites which display large photographs do a better job in getting them sold (or getting their makers hired), and the second (above) puts this belief into practice. In one of my posts on Photocrati, I made the point that “larger is better”, and used the example that some of the most...

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Gary Knight: FT Interview

©Gary Knight-Courtesy FT-All Rights Reserved. "You find when you photograph the poor the world over that, unless you’re trying to make them appear without dignity, people understand what you’re doing and they collaborate."-Gary KnightThe Financial Times' Weekend Magazine published an interview with VII co-founder and photographer Gary Knight, who turned his lens on Brazil’s penal...

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Praful Rao: Chatt Puja

(Click arrow to play video)Virtually every civilization has worshiped a sun god but in Bihar, it is the setting sun that is worshiped. Photographer Praful Rao documented the Chatt Puja, which is when the Bihari community in Kalimpong congregate in an open area much before dawn to worship the sun. Women bedecked in colorful saris, along with their husbands carrying puja material in baskets, arrive to the area much before sunrise. It is they who perform...

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BBC's Human Planet: Timothy Allen

I was pleased to receive an email from Timothy Allen announcing that he is writing a weekly blog for the BBC documenting his work with indigenous societies around the world for the documentary Human Planet. Human Planet is a new 8×50 minute documentary series being made by BBC Television. The series celebrates the human species and looks at our relationship with the natural world...

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Easter & Holy Week

©REUTERS/Henry Romero-All Rights Reserved. A masked Catholic penitent flagellates himself during the start of a procession through the streets of Taxco in the Mexican state of Guerrero, in observance of Holy Week celebrations. Hundreds of penitents, bound and flagellating themselves, walk the labyrinthine cobblestone streets of Taxco, an almost 500-year-old silver mining town built...

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Foundry Photojournalism Workshop: Another Scholarship!!

Eric Beecroft, co-founder of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, announced that the dispatches 2009 Foundry Scholarship in Memory of Alexandra Boulat will award one woman photographer from South Asia (India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Tibet) a full scholarship to attend the workshop as well as $100 toward travel expenses.Eligibility: Any...

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David DuChemin: Within The Frame

David DuChemin of The Pixelated Image is in the final phases of having his new book Within The Frame available at major bookstores everywhere. This a 260 page book in which David shares his experiences and knowledge acquired from years of working as a travel photographer.Peachpit Press are publishing the book, and have posted a free down-loadable chapter of Within The Frame as...

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Kiran Ambwani

Kiran Ambawni is a freelance photographer based in Montreal, and she specializes in editorial and commercial photography. A graduate of McGill University and the Dawson Institue of Photography, her background in anthropolgy has clearly influenced her work as evidenced by her travel portfolio.Some of her projects deal with one of the largest slums in Asia; Mumbai's Dharvi, a Trek...

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liveBooks Photojournalism Websites

liveBooks has launched liveBooks Photojournalism, a cost-effective, pre-designed website offering and community for photojournalists launched in partnership with FiftyCrows and the National Geographic All Roads Photography Program.This partnership will include eight additional leaders in international photojournalism and documentary photography in the near future, and will provide...

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Canon 5D II Does Theyyams (VIDEO)

Here's a short snippet of raw video captured on my Canon 5D Mark II during one of the many Theyyam ceremonies witnessed during my Theyyam of Malabar photo expedition in Kerala (India). The camera used was the new Canon 5D Mark II...Nothing fancy. I just pointed and pressed the button. I still have quite a few others that are lengthier which will be worked on using iMovie etc. Audio...

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Foundry Photojournalism Workshop: News

Eric Beecroft, co-founder of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, has recently announced a new tuition deal for South Asian students and others.The tuition deal runs from March 28 to April 18, 2009...so hurry and register before it expires!South Asian:Two for $800 — If two students sign up and pay together, tuition is $400 each/$800 total. (The students need to note whom they...

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Canon 5D Mark II Batteries

A recent post on a professional photo forum complaining about the non-availability of extra Canon LP-E6 Camera batteries for the Canon 5D Mark II was joined by a rep for a retailer whose post reveals how Canon completely dropped the ball by not supplying sufficient extra batteries to its authorized retailers; totally mismanaging a critical component of the camera's launch, and...

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Sylvain Savolainen: The Afars

©Sylvain Savolainen-All Rights Reserved.Sylvain Savolainen is a photographer and reporter based in Geneva, and is regularly published by international newspapers and magazines such as Geo, La Stampa, IHT, The New York Times and Le Figaro. In Paris, he worked with Sygma and Gamma agencies, and currently Cosmos and Grazia Neri partly distribute his work. He is also a contributor...

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Geisha Peeping!

Photo ©Hiroshi Yamauch-All Rights Reserved.How awful! The New York Times has an article on how Kyoto, the historic and former imperial capital, is attracting hordes of tourists wanting to photograph the geisha and maiko, who, with their "elaborate dress, white-painted faces and stylized gestures, exercise a special allure for Western imaginations as the seeming embodiment of Japanese...

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Matthieu Paley: Lal Shabaz Qalander Festival

Here's a multimedia feature by Matthieu Paley titled Pakistan's Love Parade. I initially thought it dealt with a Pakistani gay parade of some sort, but it turned out to be a remarkable (and lengthy, at almost 12 minutes) reportage on the annual festival of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar when, as writes Matthieu:"For three days and nights, over one million Sufi pilgrims, devotees and...

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My Work: Kochi's Chinese Nets

Photo ©Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved.Here's one of the many images of Fort Kochi's famous Chinese fishing nets I made during my Theyyam of Malabar Photo~Expedition. Post processing was with Lightroom 2.3RCThese are interesting structures which, according to legend, were introduced by Zheng He, a Chinese Hui Muslim naval admiral who was ordered to explore the seas by the emperor...

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Justin Mott: Hanoi

Photo ©Justin Mott/NYTimes-All Rights Reserved.The New York Times' Travel section features Justin Mott's photographs of Hanoi. The accompanying article (by Naomi Lindt) highlights how the capital city of Vietnam experienced remarkable growth since the 1990s , by shedding its grimness and morphing into a sleek metropolis with high-rises, world-class cuisine and art. I've photographed...

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The Gnawa Festival Photo~Expedition

I am leading the Gnawa Festival Photo~Expedition from June 18 to June 29, which will include street photography in the bustling souks of Marrakesh, in the desert city of Ouarzazat (or Ourzazate) and 4 full days of the Gnawa festival in the coast town of Essaouira. For good reason, the expedition was sold out very quickly.From Wikipedia: "Gnawa or Gnaoua (غناوة) refers to an ethnic...

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Thierry Falise: The Jarawas

Photo ©Thierry Falise-All Rights Reserved.The Belgian photojournalist Thierry Falise has photographed a number of various indigenous groups, including the Jarawas, one of the indigenous peoples of the Andaman Islands, in his gallery titled The Twilight of the Andaman Naked People.The Jarawas are estimated at between 250-350, and have largely avoided interactions with outsiders....

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