New York Times: Khmer Torture House

Image Courtesy Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide
The New York Times brings us an article on a Cambodian photographer Nhem En, who was on the staff of the Tuol Sleng prison, the most notorious torture house of the Khmer Rouge regime, which caused the deaths of 1.7 million people from 1975 to 1979. Nhem En was called to be a witness at a coming trial of Khmer Rouge leaders, including his commandant at the prison, Kaing Geuk Eav, known as Duch, who has been arrested and charged with crimes against humanity.

Mr. Nhem En’s career in the Khmer Rouge began in 1970 at age 9 when he was recruited as a village boy to be a drummer in a touring revolutionary band. When he was 16, he said, he was sent to China for a seven-month course in photography. He became the chief of six photographers at Tuol Sleng, where at least 14,000 people were tortured to death or sent to killing fields. Only a half dozen inmates were known to have survived.

A chiiling must-read. The article is by Seth Mydans.

The article: Out From Behind a Camera at a Khmer Torture House

The podcast: Back Story

External link: Photos at Tuol Seng Prison

Beyond The Frame: Orang Asli

It's been a while since I've written up a Beyond The Frame post for TTP, so here's one.

On my way to the Cameron Highlands in the heart of peninsular Malaysia, I chanced upon an orang asli, an aborigine, who was quite amenable to my photographing him near his hut. He was a hunter, showed off his traditional blowpipe, and demonstrated his skills by blowing a dart at a small target about 50 feet away. Although he wasn't far from the main road, he gave me the impression that he had little contact with the modern world... it may have been an act and he actually went to his real home at the end of the day to watch television...but we communicated in sign language during our encounter.

The term "orang asli" signifies "original people" or "first people" in Malaysia, where there are about about 60.000 orang asli , most of whom still live in the rain forest. Some of the northern orang asli groups speak languages suggestimg a links with the indigenous peoples in Burma, Thailand and Indo-China.

The aborigine I met is in all probability a member of the Negrito group or possibly a Senoi. They live in the jungle and rain forests of the Malaysian peninsula, and are thought to have arrived some 8000 years ago. They hunt with bamboo blowpipes for birds and little monkeys. The darts which I saw are made from the leaf-stalks of palm cones, and are coated with a lethal concoction made from the sap of toxic trees. Fear of the spirits of dead ancestors and hunted animals is very strong among them, and it is an unwritten law that all animals caught in the forests suffer no pain.

Canon 24mm 1.4L USM Lens

Following the highly scientific results of the poll recently conducted on TTP, I am happy to report that I'm now the proud owner of a Canon 24mm 1.4L USM lens. This is my first prime lens (I've always used the Canon f2.8mm L zooms) , and one that I hope will serve me well in the years to come.

New York Times: Another Kurdish Front

Image Copyright © Warzer Jaff/New York Times -All Rights Reserved
The New York Times brings us a slideshow feature about a less publicized Kurdish militant group, which is engaged in guerilla warfare against Iranian forces. This is separate than the deadly raids into Turkey by Kurdish militants holed up in northern Iraq. The latter is the focus of urgent diplomacy, with the United States begging Turkey for restraint.

As the accompanying article states: "Yet out of the public eye, a chillingly similar battle has been under way on the Iraqi border with Iran. Kurdish guerrillas ambush and kill Iranian forces and retreat to their hide-outs in Iraq. The Americans offer Iran little sympathy. Tehran even says Washington aids the Iranian guerrillas, a charge the United States denies. True or not, that conflict, like the Turkish one, has explosive potential.

I chose the above photograph (all photographs are by Warzer Jaff) for this post for a purpose. It shows a purported Iranian soldier captured by the Kurdish guerillas. The photograph's caption tell us that the prisoner sits under "a picture of Abdullah Ocalan, a Kurdish guerrilla imprisoned in Turkey. "

No, Mr Caption Person at the NY Times....you need to be more accurate than that. Mr Ocalan is not just a "Kurdish guerilla"...he's the founding leader of the Kurdish militant group Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and is currently imprisoned in Turkey where he is considered a child murderer and a terrorist, directly responsible for countless terrorism acts in Turkey. Another of Mr Ocalan's attributes is that he's a Marxist, and espouses a socialist agenda as do his followers. The PKK is branded a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union as well as Turkey.

So why are we applying pressure on Iraq to prevent the Kurds in the north from attacking Turkey, and we're not asking the same from the southern Kurdish front?

The slideshow: A Second Kurdish Front

The article: A Second Kurdish Front

Per-Anders Pettersson: South Africa

Image Copyright © Per-Anders Pettersson -All Rights Reserved
Per-Anders Pettersson is a Swedish photojournalist, who tells us that he's a a photojournalist of the old generation and that he was never been just interested in photography or photography as an art, and that his main aim is not about capturing the most outstanding or award-winning images but to understand the story and to capture it fairly and with respect.

He started his career by covering major stories around the world for the likes of Stern, Geo and Newsweek, and now lives in Cape Town and New York where he is contracted to Getty Images. He has gained several international awards for his work. His desire to document the survival of people in hardship zones has taken him to more than 50 countries over the past 16 years.

His most well-known work, In Transition, is a 10-year project to capture life in South Africa, has won him awards and been exhibited at Perpignan’s Visa Pour L’image.

Per-Anders Pettersson's In Transition

National Geographic: Alexandra Boulat

Image Copyright © Jerome Delay/AP-All Rights Reserved
The National Geographic Magazine is featuring a tribute to Alexandra Boulat who passed away Ocober 5, 2007. Touching eulogies from fellow photographers Alexandra Avakian, Jose Azel, Pascal Maitre, Jodi Cobb and colleague John Stanmeyer as well as many others, underscore and reaffirm how much she will be missed.

Alexandra's tribute includes some galleries of her great work with National Geographic Magazine.

(My thanks to Marilyn Terrell)

NGM's Tribute to Alexandra Boulat

New York Times: Burma, Uneasy Days

Image Copyright © The New York Times-All Rights Reserved
A recent article by Choe Sang-Hun in the New York Times reports that as the lunch gong chimed through the tree-shaded Mahagandhayon Monastery in Mandalay , several hundred monks in burgundy robes lined up on a mid-October day, all holding alms bowls, returning after seeking donations. It is a common scene in Myanmar, formerly Burma, where one out of every 100 people, many of them children, are monks. But the lunch line at the Mahagandhayon Monastery, the country’s largest, used to be much longer.

A senior monk told the NY Times reporter: “We usually have 1,400 monks here,” said a senior monk. “Because of the situation, parents took 1,000 of them home.”

The article ends with this: "In mid-October at Mahagandhayon, the monks were going about their daily routine. The senior monk said he hoped that the rest of the students would return in a month or so. One young monk who had remained said, “Please go out and tell the world exactly what really has happened in this country.” He added, “I am scared just talking to you about this.”

I've been asked by many TTP's readers if I would travel to Burma under the present circumstances. A difficult question to answer...on one hand, traveling to Burma invariably channels some funds to the military junta, and gives it a veneer of legitimacy...but on the other hand, not traveling threatens the livelihood of many Burmese who rely on tourism for their very survival. Naturally, the foreign travel agencies -because of commercial justifications- use the latter as a reason not to cancel their tours.

Personally, I would wait to see whether the international mediation efforts between the junta and the opposition result in an improved political climate. For those who are still going, I think you'll find less populated monasteries, and certainly desperate vendors. Please donate generously to the monasteries and monks, and be expansive in your tangible and moral support to the common people you'll meet. The gentle people of Burma need help.

Uneasy Days for Monks in Myanmar

Tewfic El-Sawy : The People of Druk Yul

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
During the October 2006 photo-expedition which I led in Bhutan, we crossed the kingdom to reach its eastern central spiritual regions. These are some of the people I encountered along the way. The People of Druk Yul is a multimedia slideshow using Soundslides, I embedded an audio track recorded during the festival in Prakhar.

To receive advance notice of my 2008 photo expeditions, join my mailing list (the box on the right hand side of this page). Itineraries of past photo expeditions can be found here.

The multimedia slideshow: The People of Druk Yul

What The Duck

New York Times: Burma, Ominously Calm

Image Copyright © The New York Times -All Rights Reserved
The New York Times brings us a cluster of updated reports on the situation in Burma...an article, a slideshow, and a podcast.

Distressingly, the article carries this paragraph:

“It’s not peace you see here, it’s silence; it’s a forced silence,” said a 46-year-old writer who joined last month’s protests in Yangon and was now on the run, carrying with him a worn copy of his favorite book, George Orwell’s “1984.” “We are the military’s slaves. We want democracy. We want to wait no longer. But we are afraid of their guns.”

The whole article is here.

The slideshow's photographs don't carry a photographer's by-line...only the copyright by the New York Times...presumably to protect the photographer who may still be in the country. Incidentally, I'm surprised that the newspaper still insists in using Myanmar as the country's name....the name that was chosen by the military junta. Most British newspapers here use the name of Burma.

The slideshow is here.

The podcast is here.

Poll: Which Lens?

Which Lens Would You Buy?
	Canon EF35mm f1.4L ($1099)
	Canon EF24mm f1.4L ($1089)
pollcode.com free polls

If you had the choice between these two lenses, which would you buy? The lens will go with a Canon Mark II with a 1.3 field of view crop factor...and used for people photography largely in dim interiors.

Gary Knight: EOS-1D Mark III

In June, VII Photo photographer Gary Knight travelled to Israel, Jordan and northern Iraq on assignment for Newsweek magazine. He used an EOS-1D Mark III throughout and spoke to Canon Professional Network about his experiences.

I had the pleasure of spending some time with Gary in Indonesia a couple of years back, so I wasn't surprised to read his conclusion on the EOS-1D Mark III was succint and to the point... "This camera just works.” I'm pretty certain that if the camera "works" for Gary it'll "work" for everyone. Since it's a Canon marketing blurb, there's no mention of the auto-focus issue...but other than that, it works.

I much prefer reading reviews on cameras or lenses from working photographers, rather than lenghty techo-heavy reviews that magazines and websites seem to relish. I was somewhat surprised that Gary wasn't that thrilled by the fast frame per second (10 fps) of the Mark III.

Read Part 1 of Gary's take on the EOS-1D Mark III