Kenro Izu: Rubin Museum of Art

After years of pilgrimage to sacred landscapes and spiritual monuments, the photographer Kenro Izu has turned his masterful lens to the sacred within. Bhutan, the Sacred Within is his final work in a trilogy on this theme, and the second to be premiered at the Rubin Museum of Art. Izu takes the people of Bhutan and their particular blending of an indigenous religion and Buddhist thought as his subject. The meticulously crafted portraits he has made express the purity of those beliefs and their resonance in the larger world of today. These photographs were made during the period of 2002-2007. The photograph which illustrates this post was made at the Jambay Lhakhang in Bumthang (Bhutan), one of the destinations of my photo expedition in October 2006.

So mark your calendars for Kenro Izu's photographic exhibition, Bhutan, the Sacred Within, from November 2, 2007–Spring 2008 at the aesthetically perfect Rubin Museum of Art at 150 West 17th Street New York, NY 10011. I hope to attend it as soon as it opens, and will post a report on TTP. I met Mr Izu during a previous exhibition at the Rubin, and he struck me as an incredibly humble and humane artist. It's no surprise that he built Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) in January 1999, of which he has been responsible for its operation since then.

It'll be very interesting to see how a master of the large format...a superb photographer of sacred architectural structures and temples...applies his artistry over portraits. Bhutan, the Sacred Within promises to be an event to be savored and remembered by photographers and non-photographers alike.

Mr Izu will also be giving a PhotoTalk at the Rubin Museum on Saturday, November 3, 2007. Tim McHenry is the Director of Programming, who is widely credited for setting up incredible programs at the Museum.

For details, visit Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

Angkor Photo Festival: Nov 17-28, 2007

A reminder that the third annual Angkor Photography Festival is to be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, for 12 days of photographic events and celebrations from November 17 to 28, 2007.

The festival brings together well-known and passionate photographers from across the world in a spirit of creativity and sharing. It showcases exhibitions and outdoor projections about Asia by renowned artists and photojournalists, while differentiating itself from other events with its strong educational goals.

Participants share their art by leading free workshops for young Asian photographers, and give their time to outreach projects for street children, landmine victims and HIV+ women .

The free workshops run from the 17th to the 24th of November. This year again Philip Jones Griffiths, Patrick de Noirmont, Suthep Kritsanavarin, Antoine d'Agata and Roland Neveu have volunteered to tutor. Marc Brincourt, chief photo editor of Paris-Match, Benoit Gysembergh and Tengku Bahar of AFP will also participate.

For any questions, contact Francoise Callier, Curator of the Angkor Photography Festival at frcallier989(at)gmail(dot)com

Angkor Photo Festival

Avalon Travel Publishing Purchased by Blackwater?

It's just a parody by Jeff, but still a good laugh at the corporate insensitivity and ruthless impersonal actions of Bill Newlin in recent years.

Reuters Newswire

Blackwater USA, the private security firm hired by the Department of Defense and the State Department to provide support in Baghdad, announced today that it has urchased Avalon Travel Publishing. The sale was announced after the close of trading on the Dow Jones Stock Exchange.

"I've long admired the management style of Avalon, particularly the Moon component," said Col. (Retired) Mike Hammer, CEO of the controversial security firm. "I thought we ran a tough outfit, but after seeing how Bill Newlin and his people deal with authors, we knew we had to have his team on board with us. The best way to get talent, I always say, is to go out and buy it."

Hammer elaborated on the management style at Moon. "I admire a kick-ass company with absolutely no heart. That's what it takes to succeed today. If someone's been with you for more than four years, throw them out! They're useless. Cut the wages and hire some dumb bastards who don't know any better. That's how we try to operate at
Blackwater, but we're pikers compared to these guys at Moon. I expect to learn a lot from from them in the coming months."

Hammer and Newlin announced the titles to be released in the spring of 2008:

--Road Trip Iraq: Jamie Jenson dodges IEDs for a humorous romp through Fallujah, Tikrit, and Mossel.

--Rick Steve's Green Zone Through the Back Door (Quickly! Quickly!)

--The Practically Dead Nomad, by Edward Hasbrouck

--The Run Over Dog Lover's Guide to Iran, by Margaret Littman

Newlin announced that the few authors being retained by Moon will be asked to input more typesetting codes and, beginning in January of 2008, to glue the covers on their books. "We call these Moon 'Handbooks,'" he noted, "so we think that authors ought to have a hand in the production."

Hammer and Newlin also announced a new website that will focus on management. "We've had a lot of success with www.travelmatters.com," said Newlin, "so our new site, which we will roll out when we hire a new web crew to replace the one we just fired, will be called loyaltydoesntmatter.com."

Media inquiries should be sent to Hannah Cox.

# # #

With love and happiness to all,

Jeff

Tracy Hallett: Outdoor Photography

Being in London for a few days, I was immensely pleased to learn that Tracy Hallett was promoted to Editor of Outdoor Photography magazine. Tracy was Deputy Editor for two years, and will be replacing Keith Wilson who will be moving to a new job at the magazine's holding company.

Congratulations to you Tracy....a well deserved promotion!

It's fitting that Tracy's talents extend to being an excellent photographer herself...she has recently exhibited images images from Thailand, Guatemala, Prague in Brighton, has had an image exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and has work published in 18 consumer titles including The Independent on Sunday, British Journal of Photography, Photography Monthly, Travel Photography and Black & White Photography.

Outdoor Photography is one of the better photography magazines published in Great Britain, and is known for its informative balance of features, tests, techniques, travel and environmental stories. Each issue features an array of landscape, wildlife and travel features, with regular contributions (including some of mine) by Britain's leading photographers, and tests of digital and film equipment by photographers for photographers.

Canon 5D II Rumors

The photo-related blogsphere is abuzzing with rumors that Canon will soon announce an upgraded version of its phenomenally successful 5D camera. It seems that the price for current 5D model is dropping "like a stone" which, to some, means that Canon is clearing its inventory before announcing the new model.

The rumor mill has it that the new 5D will have a 16MP DIGIC III sensor, a 3″ LCD, Live View, a Refined AF (similar to 40D), Semi Weather Sealing and 4-5 fps. The timing is expected to be late fall or early winter 2007.

As my friend Ralph Childs would say: I want one!

Anne Holmes: Pul-e-Charki Jail

Image Copyright © Anne Holmes -All Rights Reserved
Anne Holmes is German-born and took her first trip at the age of six weeks, to Crete. She describes herself as peripatetic, and that home is where the suitcase is. After a career in the world of fine arts and troubled by the war -and the daily images in the headlines- in Iraq, she decided to become a photojournalist.

I chose Anne's photographs of the women inmates of Pul-e-Charki prison for TTP. Pul-e-Charki is a notorious large prison in Afghanistan east of Kabul. The prison is notorious for the torture and other abuses after it came under the control of Afghanistan's communist government following the invasion by the Soviet Union.

There are 8 cell blocks but only 3 are being used, and that causes overcrowding. The prison is making room for 110 prisoners that were in Guantánamo Bay. There are also about 70 female prisoners who share the prison. In most cases, children of the female inmates live with them in the prison. Anne photographs document these women.

Anne Holmes' Women of Pul-e-Charki

Sebastião Salgado: Amazon Tribes

Image Copyright © Sebastião Salgado -All Rights Reserved
As a boy growing up on a ranch in Brazil, Sebastião Salgado witnessed firsthand the destruction of the native forest. As thousands of acres were cleared for herds of cattle that demanded more and more pasture for grazing, the landscape was inexorably transformed into a dust-filled plain. Because of this experience, Salgado decided to make the remote tribes of South America an essential element of "Genesis," his eight-year collaboration with Rolling Stone to document the planet as it looked at the dawn of time.

The first half of the Genesis project is on the Yanomami Indians, who are believed to be among the first inhabitants of South America. For the Yanomami, the forest is not just 'nature' but an all-important living entity that controls the destiny of the tribe.

Here's via Rolling Stone magazine, Sebastião Salgado's The Hidden Tribes of the Amazon

Inside Burma: Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera is one of the few international television networks that managed to get its correspondent inside Burma during the recent uprisings. The footage is now shown on YouTube, and parts of it are chilling.

New Canon L Lenses

Image Copyright © Canon (via Rob Galbraith)-All Rights Reserved
Robert Galbraith's website reports that Canon announced the development of two all-new telephoto lenses for use with its EOS SLR cameras: the EF200mm f/2L IS USM and the EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM. Prototypes of the new lenses will be shown at PhotoPlus Expo, taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, October 18 to 20.

The new Canon EF200mm f/2L IS USM and EF800mm f/5.6L IS USM are L (luxury)-series lenses incorporating a high-performance Image Stabilizer, feature optical systems utilizing special optical materials such as fluorite to correct chromatic aberrations, making possible high-resolution, high-contrast shooting performance.

Here's Canon's Press Release via Rob Gallbraith

Vassi Koutsaftis: Mt Kailash

Image Copyright © Vassi Koutsaftis-All Rights Reserved
Greek-born Vassi Koutsaftis has prowled the globe for over 30 years, specializing in travel photography....of the extreme kind, especially in mountainous regions. He also works as a guide for Geographic Expeditions—and has a sideline as an importer of Asian art.

For today's post, I chose Vassi's gallery of photographs made near Mount Kailash. Mt Kailash is a peak in the Gangdisê mountains which is part of the Himalayas in Tibet, the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia—the Indus River, the Sutlej River, a tributary of the Indus River, and the Brahmaputra River—and is considered as a sacred place in four religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bön faith. In Hindu religion, it is considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva. The mountain lies near Lake Manasarowar and Lake Rakshastal in Tibet.

There have been no recorded attempts to climb Mount Kailash; it is considered off limits to climbers, in deference to Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. It is the most significant peak in the world that has not seen any known climbing attempts.

Here's Vassi's Mt Kailash

James Nachtwey: Burma Aftermath

Image Copyright © James Nachtwey-All Rights Reserved
Here's a gallery of photographs by James Nachtwey as published by Time magazine on its website. I'm not certain when these photographs were made, but the implication is that Nachtwey was photographing in Rangoon recently.

The latest from Burma is that its ruling junta has restored Internet service and relaxed a nighttime curfew, thus easing a crackdown on pro-democracy activists. Internet cafe owners around Myanmar's largest city, Rangoon, said they were looking forward to reopening after service was restored Sunday. Another sign of some relaxation is that the curfew was cut to four hours, 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., starting last night.

However, Amnesty International said that the security forces arrested four prominent political activists who had been hiding from a government manhunt, after they were involved in some of the first major marches against the government several weeks ago.

Here's James Nachtwey's Burma Aftermath