James Nachtwey talks on being a documentary photojournalist, and about the the power of documentary photojournalism. He shows his work and discusses the world events he photographed in a superb-quality 24-minute QuickTime video of his acceptance speech for the 2007 TED Prize.
Be patient...it takes time for the QuickTime to load in full.
Courtesy of Rob Galbraith's web site, here's the link.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Carsten Bockermann: Mexico
Carsten Bockermann is a German photographer who specializes in photographing everyday life in different cultures around the world using a combination of direct reportage and visually interpretative style. He favors strong saturated colors in his photographs, and he seems to relish shadows and silhouettes.
I've chosen his portfolio of images from Mexico for this post, but he has equally strong galleries for Cuba, India and Mauritius to name but a few.
I particularly like this image of the shadow of the Mexican man against the super saturated red and textured white wall. Super vivid colors appear to Carsten's hallmark...and these juxtaposed with such a dark shadow is what makes this photograph just 'pop'. I don't know if Carsten meant it, but I see the Mexican flag in this photograph...maybe it's only me.
An excellent photographer, Carsten's Mexican gallery is found here.
Friday, April 6, 2007
The Smithsonian Photo Contest
The Smithsonian Magazine has announced the finalists in each category of their photo contest: Americana, The Natural World, People, Altered Images, and Travel.
The winners will be announced in summer, but for now you can take a look at the finalists' submissions on its website. I didn't think that any of the photographs selected were outstanding, but I did like the one above.
The Smithsonian Photo Contest
Latitudes Magazine
This month's gorgeous Italian-made Latitudes magazine is now on-line. It has a wonderful article on India titled "See God In Every Face", with black & white photographs by Stefano Barozzi. There are also other photo essays/articles on the US Virgin Islands.Have a look at Latitudes
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Chinese Tea Houses
Here's an interesting feature from the New York Times on a traditional Chinese teahouse called Tai Ji. The photographer is Chang W. Lee, a photographer with the NYT.
The slideshow is well put together, however it's a shame that it's only the last frame that has ambient sound. The rest of the slideshow is all narrative by the photographer, describing what is already obvious from the photographs.
Here's some background information: Chinese traditional teahouses are still very popular, and their history goes back to Imperial Times. The practice of tea drinking is said to have started as early as the period of Three Kingdoms (220-265 A.D). Though teahouses appeared later in the history, the particular customs followed in these institutions took shape over long periods of time. People pay special attention to the teapots, tea leaves and water.
In Northern China, the teahouse was originally a meeting place for gentlemen of leisure. They brought their pet birds along, savored their favorite teas, and passed the time of day. Drinking tea was a serious business for them. Music and dancing were not allowed in the ancient teahouses, nor was food. Later on, teahouses were favored by businessmen. Deals would be discussed and sealed in the neutral, relaxed surroundings of a teahouse, rather than in offices.
The tea served in the teahouses generally vary from green tea to black tea, along with local delicacies and deserts. One may come in the early morning and order a pot of tea, chat and enjoy the warm sunshine at the same time, until it closes in twilight.
Oh, Refills are also free of charge as long as the cup is left open. Try that at your local Starbucks!
Here's the Chinese Tea House feature. (You may need to resize the window).
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Bill Hocker: China
I consider Bill Hocker to be one of the quintessential travel photographers. An insatiable globetrotter, he traveled (and still does) all over the planet to satisfy his passion for photography and his interest in new cultures. He is not a professional photographer, but is passionate about his avocation and makes no bones about it.
His formal background is in architecture, and he joined the Peace Corps in the early seventies. He says "from the Peace Corps experience, both travel and photography became important creative interests that would punctuate 12 more years of frustration in the architectural profession."
His website is a no-frills experience, with a plethora of wonderful galleries of his photographs. At least 21 galleries are there, out of which I chose China as the one to showcase in this post. Because of his professional training, I expected Bill to specialize in architectural photography, but he is multi-faceted and offers us all types of photographic styles. I favor those of people, but then I'm always biased. Be sure to view the photographs in the larger format ( to do so, you need to click on one the icons above the photograph).
A real travel photographer by any standard, and an extremely witty writer to boot...I warmly welcome Bill Hocker to the pages of TTP, and encourage my readers to explore his website.
Bill Hocker's website
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Canon EOS-1D Mark III: Price
The Canon EOS-1D Mark III has a price tag of $4495 at B&H, and will be available in May. Here's the link.
POV: Photographers' Web Sites
Since starting blogging on TTP, I've had to look at a lot of photographers’ web sites, and found that there were some that are excellent, some are good, and others that are just hideous.
The main objective of a website for most photographers is to promote their work, as well as to expand the reach of their photography to new clients, and certainly to internationalize their work. When I initially started my own websites, I never imagined that I'd get visits from China, or Belarus...and that's a good thing for all of us. However, photographers need to remember that simplicity is always best in creating websites. Whether photo editors or just casual viewers, simple websites with killer images are always best.
Many photographers' websites have flash galleries, which can be visual treats. However, when these cross into the realm of the fantastical design and navigational labyrinths that remind me of the cult game 'Myst', it becomes ridiculous. It is one thing to have an effective and beautiful website...and quite another to have a 'state-of-the-art' website that is too complicated to be effective as a marketing tool. Don’t waste people’s (especially buyers/editors) time with fancy technology and/or weird navigation, and keep it simple and efficient.
Photographers are encouraged to accept fancy websites by their web designers, who have massive egos as well, and want to showcase their technical prowess. But, the websites belong to the photographers, and must be created around the photographers' work, not vice versa. People will remember powerful images...not flashy websites. Another thing about flashy websites...they get stale quickly.
Having said that, I've seen photographers' websites that seem to have been built in the early nineties...low resolution images, clunky and ugly buttons, thumbnails that don't work, etc. So updating websites is a must. And since I'm on this subject; photographers need to update their copyright statements every year. Another thing: photographers are well advised to avoid free website hosting since these come with adverts, which clutter the web pages and do not exhibit a professional image...and finally, photographers ought to get their personal domain name.
Color is critical for photography websites. My recommendation is to keep it simple...not necessarily monochromatic, but one basic color for the background which serves as complementary backdrop to the images. I personally think that white, grey or anthracite, black are the best colors for backgrounds. Let's remember that it's not about colorful backgrounds but about photographs. Incidentally, I wish I knew how to code my web pages in a way that viewers could choose between 2-3 basic colors. I've seen blogs with this option available, and I'd like to use it for my web site.
The size of the photographs on the web site is also critical. I recently started to use 9x6 inches at the (unprintable) resolution of 72 dpi for my photographs. This size allows the viewers to look at the photographs without straining their eyes, and I think allows them to better appreciate the photographs. Some of my own galleries need updating to that size.
Depending on the subject matter, I occasionally add sound to my photo essays. The sound adds aural texture to the photographs, and is often of recordings made at the same time as the photographs. However, I fully agree with those who advocate that sound (or music) should start at the discretion of the viewers, and not automatically...although I think slideshows are expected to have some sort of soundtrack.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Carla King Motorcyle Adventures
Carla and Ural with SidecarSorry about the gap in posts, but I've been indisposed. It's always great when a local acquaintance publishes a book, especially when it's about one of my favorite subjects: hitting the road with your motorcycle. I'm known Carla for many years and see her at local travel writing events here in the Bay Area, and followed her motorcycle adventures many Moons ago when she left to explore some of the back roads of the American West. And now, the book.
I'll be going to her booksigning at Get Lost on Market Street later this month, but she's also making appearances elsewhere in the Bay Area and has even lined up a few gigs in Europe. And to think her secret occupation is ....... computer geek.
A journey to explore the borders between the United States, Canada, and Mexico becomes a comedy of breakdowns in small towns all around America in this new travelogue by Carla King, author of the Motorcycle Misadventures series of Internet dispatches. Mechanical, social, and natural disasters punctuate the four-month, ten-thousand mile solo test ride of the newly-imported Russian Ural sidecar motorcycle: cracked welds and electrical gremlins, evil tow truck drivers, roadside romances, even tornadoes and hurricanes.
Carla King Motorcycle Misadventures
IHG & NGS: Photography Contest
The Intercontinental Hotel Group and the National Geographic are sponsoring a travel photography contest, which calls for a single color photograph that captures the sense of a destination anywhere in the world. The rules say that the photograph should be compelling, and can be of any subject. The contest ends July 1, 2007. The grand prize is a two person trip to Australia.
As usual in this kind of photography contests, entrants must grant a non-exclusive, royalty-free license through the entire world and for the duration of intellectual property rights pertaining thereto, to use and reproduce, in whole or in part, without any number limitation, in any form, by any mean or process, or any medium, whether now known or hereafter existing, the photograph for editorial, commercial, advertising, promotional, publicity or trade purposes, including commercially using and exploiting it to fullest extent possible.
Professional photographers (of course, with the condition above) may not enter. The definition of a professional photographer by the sponsors are individuals who derive more than 10% of their annual gross income from the sale of photographs and/or provision of photographic services.
If any non-professional travel photographer is interested, here's the link. While I don't encourage anyone to give away their rights to their photographs, some may see the grand prize as adequate compensation.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Beyond The Frame: El Fotografo Habanero
A few years ago, I experienced the pleasure of spending almost two weeks in Old Havana (or La Habana Vieja, as the locals call it) for a workshop designed to improve my then non-existing skills in street photography. The workshop was taught by the Magnum legend, Costas Manos, who immediately made me realize that a travel photographer does not necessarily make a street photographer.
Setting this possible truism aside, I haunted the streets of Old Havana and photographed virtually anything that fit, to my eyes at least, the street photography parameters that were given to me by Costas. Naturally, to find a scene in which the protagonists did not look at me (one of Costas strict directives) was somewhat difficult in Old Havana, where it's hard for tourists for blend in.
Notwithstanding, I persevered and got to a point where I generated acceptable street photography results. This one (though not a 'street' photograph) of the Habanero photographer was taken near the steps of the Gran Teatro de la Habana. The fellow had a tidy little business going, photographimg tourists with his antique pin-hole camera, dropping the 4 x 3 negatives in a bucket-full of some sort of unusual developer solution. He went along his business with a cigarette dangling from his lips, and a world-weary look on his face. I tried to engage him in my uneven Spanish, but he was wasn't interested in small talk. All he cared about was the $2 he charged me. I hope he's still there...fussing about with his camera and bucket.
I toned the image to approximate the vintage photographs which I saw in the windows of portrait photographers in Havana.
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