New York Times: Yom Kippur

Image Copyright © Rina Castelnuovo/New York Times-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times brings us a short slideshow of photographs by Rina Castelnuovo of the preparations for Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. It's an interesting feature which provides us with a tiny glimpse into how Orthodox Jews prepare for the Day of Atonement, considered to be one of the holiest and most solemn days of the year, and whose central theme is atonement and repentance for sins against both God and one's fellow man.

Jewish oral tradition calls for observant Jews to refrain from eating and drinking, wearing leather shoes, bathing, annointing oneself with perfumes, and marital relations for a day before Yom Kippur. Another tradition is the ritual slaughter of chickens known as kapparot, where the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl, which is swung around a person's head three times before being slaughtered. The fellow in the above photograph is swinging a hen over the heads of his sons, presumably to free them from sin.

All religions have 'unusual' traditions and rituals...the fasting, the sacrifice of animals, wearing special clothes, abstinence...are all traditions that are common to all religions.

By the way, for those of us who live in New York City...Yom Kippur means that B&H is closed.

Yom Kippur in Jerusalem

Jakub Sliwa: Deshnoke (India)

Image Copyright © Jakub Sliwa-All Rights Reserved
Jakub Sliwa was born in Krakow and is a graduate of Oriental Philology studies. His principal interest is in documenting human condition, and he has traveled to the Middle and Far East in search of various documentary projects. His website lists a variety of projects including a leper colony in Puri (India), the Ganges, a spiritual center in the Ukraine, the Zabaleen (garbage collectors in Cairo), the last days of El-Qurna and the Rat Temple of Deshnoke.

The famous Karni Mata Temple in India's small northwestern city of Deshnoke (Rajasthan) is home to 20,000-odd rats considered holy by the population. These rodents are called kabbas, and pilgrims travel great distances to pay their respects. The temple was built by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata.

The legend is that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. Among the thousands of rats in the temple, there are said to be four or five albino rats, which are considered to be especially holy. They are believed be the manifestations of Karni Mata herself and her kin. Sighting them is a special charm, and visitors put in extensive efforts to bring them forth, offering prasad, a candylike offering. I recall walking in the temple (in stockinged feet) and frankly, the sensation of rats running over one's feet is difficult to forget.

During the century of this temple's existence, there has never been an outbreak of plague or other ratborne illness among the humans who have visited. When I visited the temple, I was also told that the nearby farms and fields are free from rat infestations since they prefer to live in the temple. I suspect that Jakub spent more time that I did in this temple...his photographs attest to that.

Jakub Sliwa

Geoffrey Hiller: Heavenly World

Image Copyright © Geoffrey Hiller-All Rights Reserved
Geoffrey Hiller is one of the first advocates of multimedia on the web, and has worked as a photographer for over 30 years. He lived in Brazil for three years where he was a staff photographer for Manchette and Revista Geografica (Brazil’s National Geographic). He worked as a documentary photographer working on extensive photo essays in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

His work has been published in major international magazines and he has received grants from the California Arts Council and Eastman Kodak. Since 1995, Hiller has been passionate about telling stories with photography on the Web. Hiller has directed Creativesight for Tektronix/ Xerox, and has completed a number of independent projects. He has received three Macromedia Site of the Day mentions and has recently completed projects on Brazil and West Africa.

I feature Geoffrey's Heavenly World, a collection of his excellent images from all over Asia...however take the time to explore his website, especially Burma: Grace Under Pressure, a multimedia feature on Burma. It may be somewhat outdated by now, but Hiller is one of those who started the multimedia revolution. His coverage of Burma is still very relevant in light of the current events in this nation.

Heavenly World

Burma: Grace Under Pressure

New Canon 5D???

The rumor mill has it that the Canon 5D may be replaced before the year is out, so coming sooner than thought. Dubbed as the "Canon 5D Mark II", the crystalball gazers believe that it will arrive late fall 2007. The Canon 5D Mark II is rumored to include a 16MP DIGIC II, 3″ LCD, Live View, Semi Weather Sealing and 4-5 fps.

News: Myanmar (Burma)

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
I follow international -political and financial- news very closely for a number of reasons, and the current events in Myanmar are disturbing. I've traveled to Myanmar a number of times, and I consider it to be one of the most photogenic countries in South East Asia...and its people are warm, friendly, and attractive. In a way like Cuba, its political isolation enhances its attraction to travel photographers, but change might be in the air.

The international media is reporting that Buddhist monks staging anti-government protests in Myanmar pushed past closed gates to occupy the Sule pagoda temple in downtown Yangon, and took it over after finding the gates locked at the Shwedagon pagoda, Myanmar's most revered temple, which sits atop a hill dominating Yangon. These actions reflect long pent-up opposition to the repressive military regime.

In the central city of Mandalay, more than 1,000 monks marched, while about 100 others in dark saffron robes staged a peaceful march in the western Yangon suburb of Ahlone. More than 100 Buddhist monks from some monasteries in South Okkalapa township in Yangon's northern suburbs also marched in protest, returning to monasteries without incident.

The interesting aspect of these developments is that monks in Myanmar have historically been at the forefront of protests, but the authorities know that restraining monks poses a dilemma. Monks are highly respected in Buddhist Myanmar, and abusing them in any way could cause public outrage. The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks has asked its followers across the country to refuse alms and offerings from anyone connected to the military. This is deeply humiliating for the military regime and its supporters, since such an action by the monks will be taken extremely seriously in this Buddhist country. Without such rites, a Buddhist loses all chance of attaining nirvana, or release from the cycle of rebirth.

In my view, something's about to happen in Myanmar...I suspect there'll be increased repression and continued civil unrest in the months to come.

Ashok Sinha: Peru

Image Copyright © Ashok Sinha-All Rights Reserved
For a change in pace from yesterday's post: Ashok Sinha is an emerging travel photographer who was born in Calcutta and is now based in New York City. He works primarily on travel/tourism related assignments, and has traveled around the world on such assignments. Most of his portfolio on his website is of intensely colorful photographs of Mexico, Peru and India.

Ashok's photographs have a commerical slant to them, and I expect that they are generally aimed at travel and tourism clients, magazines and brochures. For instance, the one above of the Peruvian woman walking on a cobblestoned street is compositionally ready for a double page spread in a travel magazine...with the title of the feature printed on its right hand side. His website has other examples of this type of composition...especially those of India.

Ashok Sinha .

Fazal Sheikh: Ladli

Image Copyright © Fazal Sheikh -All Rights Reserved
Here's the work of a photographer who, by any definition, is the pride of this profession; Fazal Sheikh not only makes pictures, he presents us an unblinking, but immensely compassionate view of the poor and disenfranchised...he doesn't only photograph, but interviews his subjects about their lives, he adds his own commentary on the people, their country, and the situation in which he finds them.

Fazal Sheikh went to Vrindavan, "where he began to grasp the full extent to which women in India are the victims of religious and cultural codes that reduce many of them to little more than child-rearing servants. He returned to India to find out more from young women growing up in a society that, whatever economic advances it may boast, is still widely prejudiced against them."

As I have made it clear through my photography and through this blog, I'm an Indiaphile, however India's treatment of women has marred my deep affection for this country. On one hand, many women in India have reached heights that few women in the United States have, but on the other I (like Fazal) have seen the shameful treatment of widows in the ashrams of Vrindavan and Varanasi.

Fazal Sheikh's 'Ladli' is not a gallery of portraits to be looked at quickly and superficially. No, this is work that grasps us by the throat, and fills our hearts with compassion for those portrayed in such dire conditions.

Here's Ladli .

Panier Goes to Yemen

Image Copyright © Dirk Panier -All Rights Reserved
I've written about Dirk Panier's multimedia website in a March 2007 post. Here's another multimedia creation from him which deserves top accolades for creativity. The feature is on the Yemen, and is well worth your time. Yemen is one of the most intriguing countries to visit, and its history spans thousands of years.

There's precious little information on the web on Dirk Panier and his background other than he's Belgian. All I know for sure is that he's damn good in producing multimedia.

His website is entirely flash based, so you'll have to click on the blue round icon over Yemen on the map to open the new feature.

Here's Dirk Panier Multimedia .

Ardh Kumbh Mela 2007

Image Copyright © Bombay Flying Club -All Rights Reserved
Here's a multimedia treat for those of us who are Indiaphiles...A four-part flash multimedia feature of the 2007 Ardh Kumbh Mela produced by the 'Bombay Flying Club' featuring the photographs of Poul Madsen, the sound editing of Frederik Holge and the narration of Mandy Bhandal.

This is a really well-crafted piece of multimedia...it provides the essence of a Kumbh Mela within the restrictive parameters of the web and broadband so I applaud the creativity and professionalism of all those involved. If I had the choice, I would've chosen to use larger photographs, but that might have made the feature too slow to load.

"A story in words, pictures and sound about the world's largest religious festival in India"...Indeed, it tells that story very well and as I wrote earlier, a visual treat for all. Perhaps our national media will notice the quality of these multimedia features that are produced by individuals... whose quality and subject matter, in my view, surpass 90% of the multimedia features produced by these newspapers.

Kumbh Mela