Lana Šlezić: The Hidden Half

Image Copyright © Lana Šlezić-All Rights Reserved (Courtesy Mother Jones)
Mother Jones magazine brings us a visually compelling photo essay by Canadian photojournalist Lana Šlezić, who crisscrossed Afghanistan—from Mazar-e-Sharif in the north to Kandahar in the south—to document the plight of Afghan women since the fall of the Taliban. Six years after the invasion of Afghanistan, the burka is more common than before, an "overwhelming majority" of Afghan women suffer domestic violence, according to aid group Womankind, and honor killings are on the rise. Health care is so threadbare that every 28 minutes a mother dies in childbirth—the secondhighest maternal mortality rate in the world. Girls attend school at half the rate boys do, and in 2006 at least 40 teachers were killed by the Taliban.

Some of the photographs are disturbing, and while I have no doubt that the treatment of women in Afghanistan is appalling, is it really that pervasive and what is the Karzai government doing about it? Probably nothing.

Lana Šlezić The Hidden Half

Books: A Fortune Teller Told Me

It was 1976 when Tiziano Terzani was warned by the fortuneteller in Hong Kong: "Beware! You run a grave risk of dying in 1993. You mustn't fly that year. Don't fly, not even once." Sixteen years later, Terzani had not forgotten. Despite living the life of a jet-hopping journalist, he decided that, after a lifetime of sensible decisions, he would confront the prophecy the Asian way, not by fighting it, but by submitting.

One of the most enjoyable reads for me has been A Fortune Teller Told Me, a somewhat fabulistic account of travels in South East Asia by Tiziano Terzani. He sadly passed away recently, however his traveling style remains with me...not that I would dare emulating his itinerary but because of this last paragraph in the book, which always stays with me:

"I have heard that in India, not far from Madras, there is a temple in whose recesses three thousand years ago a great sage wrote on palm leaves the lives and deaths of all men of all times, past, present and future. When a visitor arrives, a monk comes out to greet him, saying: 'We have been waiting for you'. From somewhere he takes out one of those yellowed leaves, on which is written all that has happened to the visitor, and all that will happen to him in the future.

Now, going to to live in India, I shall seek out that temple. After all, one is always curious to know one's fate."

On the flight back from Bali, I mangled Tiziano's name in a conversation. This post atones for my faulty memory.

Robert Maybach: Faces of Tibet

Image Copyright © Robert Maybach-All Rights Reserved

Robert Maybach is an Austrian photographer with a degree in Industrial Mathematics and who studied photography in Prague. He worked as assistant to Mario Schmolka, and is more of a commercial than travel photographer but his portraits from Tibet are attest to his skills. The photographs are also for sale for a worthwhile cause: the Austrian chapter of Save Tibet.

Maybach's Faces of Tibet

Mark Tucker: India

Image Copyright © Mark Tucker - All Rights Reserved

After studying photojournalism in college, Mark started his commercial studio in 1981, and worked many years in the music and entertainment business, and now photographs primarily lifestyle and portraits for various industry groups, such as banking, insurance, tourism and healthcare.

His images have been featured in various publications, including Communications Arts, Print, Photo Design, Photo Insider and PhotoMarket magazines.

While his photographs are primarily commercial, Mark's website also showcases his work in Ecuador, Cuba, Mexico, Germany and India. Naturally, I've chosen Mark's India as entryway for this TTP post. The photographs are in black and white, and some seem to have been made with IR film.

Here's Mark's India.

Canon EOS-1D Mark III Update

As reported on Rob Galbraith's website, Canon has released firmware v1.1.0 for the EOS-1D Mark III. The firmware update includes the changes of firmware v1.0.9, plus a correction for an anomaly whereby the camera won't power up after a battery is inserted, requiring the battery to be removed and reinserted.

The firmware update is meant to improve the camera's AI Servo autofocus performance, provide a sharper zoomed view when playing back photos on the rear LCD, fix a bug that affects the operation of the Main Dial and Quick Control Dial and correct errors in the Italian and Simplified Chinese menus.

The update can be downloaded from here

Exhibit: Diversity of Devotion

Image Copyright © Marcia Halperin-All Rights Reserved
"Diversity of Devotion" a shared photo-documentary project exploring the range of spiritual practices observed throughout New York City will be exhibited at Safe-T-Gallery in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, from September 7th, through September 23rd, 2007. The show, features the work of 32 photographers from across the country, who participated and photographed events during one week in November of 2006 and during a second week in January of this year. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, Sept. 6th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm which is open to the public and will be attended by many of the photographers as well as representatives of various spiritual groups.

The exhibition contains 40 thought-provoking, and inspired images documenting New York City's varied and unique spiritual and religious beliefs. "Diversity of Devotion" photographers were welcomed in homes, churches, and spiritual centers where they went about capturing both distinct and universal aspects of belief and faith. Islam, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Santeria, Greek Orthodoxy and Catholicism are all represented among the images, to name a few.

Four photographers were selected for special honors: Stephanie Keith, Melanie Einzig, Marcia Halperin and Nura Qureshi, their work and the work of all the photographers helped to exemplify the extraordinary diversity of belief found within New York City. The jurors were Tewfic El-Sawy - travel and culture photographer, Russell Joslin - Editor / Publisher SHOTS Magazine, Alison Nordstrom - Educator and Curator of Photographs, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Eli Reed - Award winning Magnum photojournalist and Molly Roberts - Smithsonian Magazine, Photo Editor.

The Project Director and Curator of the Diversity of Devotion project is Jenny Joswiak, who can be contacted through her email.

Safe-T-Gallery, 111 Front Street, Suite 214, Brooklyn, NY 11201 is located in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, between Washington and Adams Streets

For further information, visit Diversity of Devotion

Barbara Paul: Grasslands of Eastern Tibet

Image Copyright © Barbara Paul _ All Rights Reserved
Tibet House US, the internationally renowned arts and cultural institution in New York City, is now hosting a two-month exhibition of work by photographer Barbara Paul. "Grasslands of Eastern Tibet: Nomads, Festivals & Monasteries" is a selection of photographs from several thousand images shot on the high plateau of Eastern Tibet, featuring the unique customs and lifestyle of the Amdo nomads.

The show includes the brilliantly costumed Machen summer horse festival and its bejeweled women adorned with amber and coral.

Barbara Paul is a well-traveled photographer, with an affinity for tribal cultures and endangered traditions, and has previously exhibited at Gallery Vietnam in New York, and at the Thomas J. Walsh Gallery at Fairfield University, among others. Her Tibet House exibition will certainly be a must-see for those of us who are similarly passionate.

"Grasslands of Eastern Tibet" continues her association with Tibet House US following the use of her other work for the institution's Philip Glass-curated 2005 Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall with Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Debbie Harry and Michael Stipe.

For further details including the date for the opening reception, here's the link to Tibet House

Verdict: Bali Photo Expedition

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved
I’m returning to blogging after the hiatus of leading a photo expedition in Bali from July 15 to July 28. I’ve just arrived in London after spending 16 hours in flights so this is only a brief overview.

The expedition consisted of 7 photographers wanting nothing else but to photograph the island’s cultural and religious rituals all day long. Our timing was perfect since it included a whole week of innumerable temple anniversaries all over the island of Bali, and a calmer second week gave us the opportunities to focus more on non-religious activities, which are plentiful on the island. Some of us also opted for a day in Borobodur, the fascinating Buddhist monument, in Java.

It is extraordinarily difficult to set up a rigid itinerary for such a photo expedition in Bali as temple anniversaries are all scheduled to the lunar-based Balinese calendar that has only 210 days…temple anniversaries (known as odalan) are frequently 3 or 4 day-long events, while others only last one day….some have their crescendo just before noon (a time of day that is terrible for photography), and others have it later in the evening. Thrown into this confusing mix is that some temples will not allow non-Hindus in certain sacred areas, but others will welcome them with open arms (provided they wear the appropriate clothing such a sarong and sash).

Notwithstanding, because of our perseverance and quick-witted drivers/fixers, we were able to immerse ourselves in temple ceremonies, cremations and other sacred rituals occurring on the island. We were extraordinarily lucky when we were allowed to photograph a small group of white-clad Balinese performing a mewinten, which is a sacred ritualistic purification ceremony attended by only a few relatives of the devotees. Among the best odalans was held at Pura Puseh in Perancak conducted by a high-ranking female pedenda.

The Balinese people are extraordinarily hospitable and generous, and I regret having seen many foreigners abuse this hospitality. At a private cremation, I overheard the head of the family requesting some other photographers not to approach the remains of the deceased and not to use flash, and yet they did so repeatedly until I intervened.

The above rather quirky photograph is of rejang dancers during a ceremonial procession in Pura Goa Lawah.

I will address the expedition's logistics, accommodations and related matters in another post.