Ian Winstanley: Pashupathi Sadhus

Photo © Ian Winstanley-All Rights Reserved

Here's a collection of sadhus' portraits by Ian Winstanley, a commercial photographer based in the UK. Exclusively involved in the advertising and design industries, Ian later also specialized in fine art based work.

Photographing in Nepal for a book, Ian spent time on the banks of the Bagmati river in Kathmandu's holy site known as Pashupathi. It was here, in 2001, that the much-loved King Birendra and other members of Nepal’s royal family were cremated after a massacre blamed on the crown prince, who also killed himself. The site is considered as one of the oldest and most holy of temples dedicated to Shiva, and sadhus and other Hindu faithful have been drawn to it since the 5th century.

In Hinduism, sadhus are mystics, ascetics, practitioners of yoga and wandering monks. Technically, sadhus are solely dedicated to achieving the fourth and final Hindu goal of life known as moksha, through meditation. However, many of sadhus are nothing more (or less) than wandering homeless individuals, relying on charity of others to survive.

The Economist's More Intelligent Life website has also published some of Ian's sadhus photographs here.

New Handheld Recorder Zoom H1 In Stores

I've previously posted about the ultra-portable and cheap Zoom H1 from Samson Tech, which is a handy portable stereo recorder at an unheard-of $99 price.

The manufacturer claims that it will give you 10 hours of battery life on a single AA cell, and can accommodate up to 32GB of removable microSDHC storage. Its microphones are configured in an X/Y pattern for optimum stereo imaging.

I predict it'll be a hit for entry-level multimedia photographers, especially that it can be mounted on the camera shoe of a DSLR.

It's currently available at B&H which has also blogged about it. The post also answers the issue as to how to connect it to the camera shoe. The answer? Through a $35 male shoe adapter which is available from a different manufacturer.

I might just be tempted.

Canon G12

According to WIRED's Gadget Lab, CNET Asia leaked the new Canon G12 pro-compact.

It appears that the G12 brings back high-definition video to the table. It will shoot 720p, just like the new Canon S95, which launched yesterday. Some of the specifications are a 10 mp high sensitivity CCD sensor, a 2.8" titlt-swivel LCD and manual exposure function.

The lens is a 28-140mm with ƒ2.8 to ƒ4.5 aperture, and the price is estimated by WIRED's Gadget Lab at around $500.

Via WIRED's Gadget Lab.

Ciara Leeming: Not Gypsies...Roma

Photo © Ciara Leeming-All Rights Reserved
France's current expulsion of illegal Roma with generational roots in Romania and Bulgaria has been labeled by human rights groups as xenophobic, and criticized by President Sarkozy's (whose poll numbers are abysmal) political opponents.

So to feature Ciara Leeming's work on the Roma in Istanbul during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is timely and opportune. Turkey is home to one of the largest Roma populations in the world – an estimated two million people. Yet here as elsewhere, the community is subject to frequent discrimination – ranging from overt harassment to more subtle institutional racism.

Ciara's "Not Gypsies...Roma" was her project during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, where she attended Rena Effendi's class. It's a combination of stills, a PDF of the reportage and an audio clip featuring one of the Roma. Many of the stills are verticals and arranged in the gallery as diptychs, but to my eyes, the one above is the most evocative.

Ciara worked at the Evening Leader, the North West Enquirer and the Manchester Evening News. Currently freelance, she supplies features, images and multimedia content to a diverse range of publications and charities, and edits The Big Issue in the North. She's also worked in India, Israel, Palestine and Turkey.

Armed with a degree in European studies and French from the University of Manchester, Ciara is now working towards an MA in photojournalism and documentary photography, through the London College of Communication.

Diego Vergés: Bali Wedding Ceremony

Photo © Diego Vergés-All Rights Reserved
I was glad that Diego Vergés has just sent me some of his work in Indonesia, which includes photographs from a typical Balinese wedding ceremony in his distinctive style. It's opportune as I just returned from Bali myself and also photographed a wedding.

According to Diego's diary, he was driving in Randang, not far from Ubud in the east of Bali, where he was invited to a wedding. The ceremony was to start at the groom's family house with a lunch offered to all guests. Subsequently, the guests went home, while the groom's friends and family started to slaughter pigs and ducks as offerings to the temple, and for the large dinner on the following day.

Many of the guests arrive early morning, with the religious rituals over by noon when food is offered to the guests. In the afternoon, the groom and his bride will visit her family's house when she bids them farewell, as she will live thereafter with her in-laws.

I experienced the same sequence in tradition when I attended a wedding in Ubud. In essence a wedding-crasher, I was nevertheless considered and treated as a valued guest, and offered food and water whenever I was seen with neither in my hand. Hindu priests (known as a pemangku) officiated the ceremony, which required the bride and groom to perform symbolic rites. It also required them to endure a couple of hours of make-up, and wear traditional wedding attire.

Ramadan: The Month Of Fasting

Photo © Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images-All Rights Reserved
The Islamic month of Ramadan started while I was in Bali, and while the majority of the island's inhabitants follow Hindu traditions, there were indications that its Muslim communities were observing it, especially in areas such as Semarapura.

Many of the newspapers' photo-blogs such as the Boston Globe's The Big Picture, the WSJ Photo Journal and the like have featured images of Ramadan observances around the world, but the one I liked the most was from The Sacremento Bee's The Frame.

In the above photograph, Indonesian women pray during the first night of Ramadan in Jakarta on August 10, 2010. The fasting month of Ramadan, which started on August 11, is the ninth month of the Muslim Hijra calendar, during which the observant abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking during daylight and, in the evening, eat small meals and conduct evening prayers.

I also read that President Obama has recently positively weighed in on the issue of erecting an Islamic community center in downtown Manhattan, but has then waffled on his stance following criticism from his detractors, from conservatives and from the illiterate xenophobes who, incidentally, do not live in Manhattan or even in New York.

Much as has been said and written about this issue, but two of the most repellent are these: the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to ending “unjust and unfair discrimination,” but which now blatantly discriminates against American Muslims, and Newt Gingrich who squawked that “Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington”, making the analogy between Nazism and Islam.

President Obama should be reminded that he said this on the inauguration of his presidency:

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth."

TIME: Soldiers' Tattoos In Afghanistan

Photo © Mauricio Lima /AFP/Getty Images-All Rights Reserved
It's really time to leave Afghanistan when magazines start publishing inconsequential and silly photo essays as the one just featured by TIME's website. It's titled Soldiers' Tattoos in Marjah, and is by Mauricio Lima.

The photo essay shows about 10 images of US soldiers showing off tattoos of various illustrations, religious messages and excerpts from the Bible amongst others. The one above is of Lance Corporal Daniel Weber, and the caption reads as follows: "The Arabic inscription on Weber's bicep translates to "unfortunate soldier."

No, it doesn't. It reads "Al Nafs Al Mahzouza", which means "the fortunate soul" in English. So quite different in its intent. If Weber wanted the tattoo to read "unfortunate soldier", he may want to go back to the parlor that did this, and ask for his money back. Although Arabic is not one of Afghanistan's languages, the script is nicely done.

This captioning error is made either by some clueless soul (a summer intern?) at TIME Magazine, or through careless translation in Marjah. In this particular case, it's an irrelevant mistake....but I shudder to think how much important information is misunderstood or even lost through careless translation by American or Afghanistan individuals.

Why did I bother to mention it here? Well, a photo essay about soldiers' tattoos appears in a national and international magazine, and we still wonder why photojournalism is where it is today? Aren't there more interesting stories in Marjah?

Update: My thanks to Ciara Leeming who just messaged me saying that the caption was changed a few moments ago to this: The Arabic inscription on Weber's bicep translates to "lucky self."

It's still inaccurate, but much closer than the original. Do the TIME staffers read my blog?

Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition™ 2010: The Verdict

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Spending more than 16 hours in flights from Denpasar to London, with a 4 hours stop-over through Bangkok, provided more than enough time to draft the verdict on the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition™ which took place from August 1 to August 15.

But first, on the the subject of airports, I can't emphasize enough the enormous disparity between Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport with its glitzy pulsating shopping mall atmosphere, cleanliness, efficient service and varied restaurants, and Heathrow's crappy, faded and outdated (and in some places, downright dirty) Terminal 3. It was if I had flown from 2010 back to 1963, and landed in North Korea. Well, I'm exaggerating a little perhaps, but you get my drift.

The expedition consisted of 9 photographers, and was the last I led/organized with so many members. I must also say that having this large a group wasn't an issue whatsoever on this photo~expedition. I think that is because we stayed in one hotel all through the two weeks of the workshop/expedition, we had two vans that drove us wherever we wanted so we were not cooped together for long drives, and the temple anniversaries were in many cases sufficiently varied to provide everyone enough visual latitude to photograph away from the others. So I may reconsider the self-imposed maximum group size should I decide for another Bali photo expedition.

The 9 photographers wanted nothing else but to photograph the island’s cultural and religious rituals as much as possible. Its timing was perfectly chosen as it coincided with innumerable temple anniversaries all over Bali, along with ancillary events (some serendipitous, others not) such as cock fights and cremations. While there was no fixed itinerary per se, our drivers/fixers knew the schedule of the odalan ceremonies, and we were there with our cameras at the ready. Were we always at the right time at the right place? No, not always...but we only experienced one or two wipe-outs (as I call them) because we got there too late, or a day too early.

Having said that, I realized that I was pushing the group too much when we photographed a village cremation from morning to early afternoon, then photographed a lengthy religious ceremony in the evening. Most of the members of the group were so exhausted that we had to call it quits earlier than planned and return home, and this prompted me to schedule a day free of photography to rest, and to regroup...since we were in danger of a burn-out.

I believe each participant returned home with no less than 250gb of images in hard drives. I certainly did.

Our accommodations were at the Agung Raka Bungalows in Ubud, as in 2007. The setting is in the midst of rice fields, and its bungalows are built in traditional Balinese style, with thatched roofs and wooden interiors. The bungalows are really starting to show their age, however the owners have started to add new facilities to the property, such as a restaurant and installed wi-fi (which only works within a certain perimeter). Competition is getting fierce amongst other hotels nearby, and I suspect much more upgrading will be needed if it wants to retain its clients...and I know I will look for alternatives if I decide on another Bali trip.

For our group, I had set up photo-shoots at the home/studio of a dance master, and at a private Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet) performance. The latter was a first for everyone, including me.

I found that having a short wide-angle zoom lens such as the 16-35mm (or 17-40), a 28-70mm and a long zoom lens such as the 70-200mm worked best for me. The latter proved useful when photographing the various Balinese dances, but for environmental portraiture and for general photography, the 28-70mm 2.8 did not leave my camera body. For lack of time, I haven't used the Panasonic GF1 at all during the trip. I had brought my elderly Canon 1D Mark II, which performed really well, however as I had only brought one battery and neglected (aka forgot) to bring the charger, it conked out mid way through the trip.

The group's dynamics worked very well, both during photo shoots and elsewhere. There was ample space during ceremonies, whether in temples or on beaches, that clusters were the exception rather than the norm. During the more space-restricted photo shoots at the dance school and the shadow puppet, everyone was mindful of each other.

My most exhilarating experiences were many; photographing a cock-fight with cacophonous gamblers trying to outbid one another, attending a lengthy village cremation for 6 people, a village temple odalan where a number of animal sacrifices occurred, attending a private wedding, and meeting a countless number of Balinese who just overwhelmed us with their smiles, grace, hospitality and generosity.

My overall grade for the photo~expedition hovers around A-, and I believe this grade is shared by other group members as well. I'm glad it turned out so well, especially as it had been sold out for months.

Book: The Complete Photographer

I've been advised that The Complete Photographer which is just published by Dorling Kindersley Publishers, and authored by Tom Ang, is now available in bookstores. I mention this, not only because it seems to be very interesting with tutorials on 10 different genres, covering both technical and creative aspects of photography, and helps to master 10 genres of photography, with 20 top international photographers, but I am also featured as a master of travel photography, with my image of a Guelaguetza dancer.

I believe that some biographical write-up is also included, so I'm eager to look at it at Waterstones on High Street Kensington as soon as I have the chance. Golly, being described as a master photographer is a huge boost to my ego...but before I start strutting around, I'll check it first. Hold your collective breaths!

Update: I walked to Waterstones but did not find the book. So it'll have to wait for my return to NYC in a few days.