Boots for the Iraqi Army?

Photograph © Michael Kamber/NY Times-All Rights Reserved
This has nothing to do with the mission of TTP, but I can't resist.

Iraqi army units are complaining about their inadequate supplies and lack of sophisticated weaponry. The above photograph by Michael Kamber in today's New York Times of an Iraqi soldier wearing plastic sandals (albeit new) is indicative of this seemingly widespread problem.

In comparison, the American soldier is equipped with a sniper scope, helmet, rugged boots and perhaps body armor. So this begs the question: where do the funds to equip the Iraqi army go, and why aren't its soldiers properly equipped?

I guess we all know the answer.

Tattooing Monks of Thailand

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
I recently updated a photo essay entitled The Tattooing Monks of Wat Bang Phra, and revamped the photo gallery by using Adobe Lightroom's Flash gallery capabilities. Nothing could have been simpler.

The National Geographic's All Terrain blog has a new post on Thailand's tattooing monks, and I wrote on the same subject a few months ago on TTP, and linked to an identical project which had appeared on NPR

The monks at Wat Bang Phro near Bangkok are reputed to be among the best tattooists in Asia. They use a long metal rod, sharpened to a fine point, and have uncanny precision in their work. Here, antiseptics range from regular rubbing alcohol to a local rice wine, and toilet paper paper to blot any blood. I was told that the ink is made from snake venom, herbs, and cigarette ashes. The monks' talents as tattoo artists are available for little remuneration: an offering of orchids, a carton of Thai cigarettes (preferably menthol-flavored) or a few Bhats towards the upkeep of the Wat.

Wayang Kulit Kebudayaan Asli Indonesia.

Kesenian wayang dalam bentuknya yang asli timbul sebelum kebudayaan Hindu masuk di Indonesia dan mulai
berkembang pada jaman Hindu Jawa. Pertunjukan Kesenian wayang adalah merupakan sisa-sisa upacara keagamaan
orang Jawa yaitu sisa-sisa dari kepercayaan animisme dan dynamisme. Menurut Kitab Centini, tentang asal-usul
wayang Purwa disebutkan bahwa kesenian wayang, mula-mula sekali diciptakan oleh Raja Jayabaya dari Kerajaan
Mamenang / Kediri.
Sektar abad ke 10 Raja Jayabaya berusaha menciptakan gambaran dari roh leluhurnya dan digoreskan di atas daun
lontar. Bentuk gambaran wayang tersebut ditiru dari gambaran relief cerita Ramayana pada Candi Penataran di Blitar.
Ceritera Ramayana sangat menarik perhatiannya karena Jayabaya termasuk penyembah Dewa Wisnu yang setia,
bahkan oleh masyarakat dianggap sebagai penjelmaan atau titisan Batara Wisnu. Figur tokoh yang digambarkan untuk
pertama kali adalah Batara Guru atau Sang Hyang Jagadnata yaitu perwujudan dari Dewa Wisnu.

Sumber : www.jawatengah.go.id

Wayang Kulit (Purwa)

Biasa dibuat dari kulit kerbau atau kulit lembu, wayang kulit yang juga sering dikenal sebagai wayang purwa telah
menjadi salah satu warisan budaya nasional dan sudah sangat terkenal di dunia. Sehingga banyak wisatawan asing
yang datang untuk mempelajari seni wayang kulit ini, karena tergolong unik. Merupakan jenis wayang yang paling
dikenal, hingga saat ini pertunjukan wayang kulit pun masih menjadi salah satu tontonan menarik yang digemari oleh
masyarakat Yogyakarta.

Kesenian ini menggunakan sebuah layar besar dan lakonan wayang tersebut dimainkan dibalik layar putih tersebut,
sehingga para peniknat tontonan ini serasa menonton film kartun ataupun film-film di bioskop. Penggunaan layar in
berasal dari masuknya pengaruh Islam ke dalam kebudayaan Indonesia, terutama Jawa. Wayang yang pada awalnya
berbentuk boneka yang terbuat dari kayu dan dinamakan wayang golek, dilarang dipertunjukkan karena hukum Islam
melarang penggambaran bentuk dewa-dewi dalam bentuk manusia (boneka). Ketika Raden Patah dari Demak ingin
menonton pertunjukan wayang, para pemimpin Islam ini pun melarangnya. Sebagai jalan keluar, para pemimpin Islam ini
merubah bentuk wayang menjadi wayang kulit. Pertunjukannya pun melalui media layar, sehingga yang terlihat hanya
bayangannya, bukan bentuk aslinya.

Pertunjukan wayang kulit diatur dan dijalankan oleh seorang dalang yang menggerakkan dan mengisi suara-suara tokoh
dalam perwayangan tersebut. Yang menarik, ketika pertunjukan wayang kulit berjalan, di tengah-tengahnya biasanya
diselingi dengan “goro-goro”, semacam pertunjukan dengan pemain manusia, dan membawakan cerita-cerita lucu.
Pertunjukan kesenian wayang kulit ini di adakan semalam suntuk hingga fajar menyingsing. Bahkan tidak jarang
pertunjukan wayang kulit ini diadakan selama tujuh hari tujuh malam.

Pertunjukan wayang kulit ini biasanya mengambil cerita dari kisah Ramayana, Mahabarata, ataupun Serat Menak. Selain
pertunjukan yang membawakan kisah-kisah besar, wayang kulit juga menyajikan kisah Punakawan, yang lakonnya
terdiri dari Semar, Bagong, Petruk, dan Gareng. Dalam pertunjukan yang menggunakan Punakawan ini, biasanya cerita
yang diangkat adalah seputar masalah-masalah saat ini.

Bentuk wayang kulit ini pun berbeda antar daerah. Di daerah Jawa Tengah dan Jogja, wayang kulit dibuat dengan
bentuk yang sangat terencana dan dengan tingkat keabstrakan yang tinggi. Bentuk yang tipis, anggota tubuh yang
indah, mata berbentuk buah almond, serta hidung mancung untuk menandakan kebangsawanan. Di Bali, bentuk wayang
kulit lebih nyata. Sedangkan wayang kulit di Lombok memiliki benda-benda masa kini, seperti mobil ataupun pesawat
terbang.

Pada awalnya, dalam pertunjukan wayang kulit, digunakan lampu minyak atau blancu untuk memunculkan bayanganbayang
pada layar katun yang tersedia. Walau saat ini blancu masih digunakan, tapi banyak pertunjukan wayang telah
menggantinya dengan spotlight. Walaupun begitu, peminat wayang kulit ini masih tetap banyak.(yds)

Source : www.trulyjogja.com/index.php?action=news.detail&cat_id=7&news_id=196
Wisata Parlemen Jawa Timur

Sejarah Reog Ponorogo.

Salah satu ciri khas seni budaya Kabupaten Ponorogo Jawa Timur adalah kesenian Reog Ponorogo. Reog, sering diidentikkan dengan dunia hitam, preman atau jagoan serta tak lepas pula dari dunia mistis dan kekuatan supranatural. Reog mempertontonkan keperkasaan pembarong dalam mengangkat dadak merak seberat sekitar 50 kilogram dengan kekuatan gigitan gigi sepanjang pertunjukan berlangsung. Instrumen pengiringnya, kempul, ketuk, kenong, genggam, ketipung, angklung dan terutama salompret, menyuarakan nada slendro dan pelog yang memunculkan atmosfir mistis, unik, eksotis serta membangkitkan semangat.

Legenda Cerita Reog.

Menurut legenda Reog atau Barongan bermula dari kisah Demang Ki Ageng Kutu Suryonggalan yang ingin menyindir Raja Majapahit, Prabu Brawijaya V. Sang Prabu pada waktu itu sering tidak memenuhi kewajibannya karena terlalu dipengaruhi dan dikendalikan oleh sang permaisuri. Oleh karena itu dibuatlah barongan yang terbuat dari kulit macan gembong (harimau Jawa) yang ditunggangi burung merak. Sang prabu dilambangkan sebagai harimau sedangkan merak yang menungganginya melambangkan sang permaisuri. Selain itu agar sindirannya tersebut aman, Ki Ageng melindunginya dengan pasukan terlatih yang diperkuat dengan jajaran para warok yang sakti mandraguna. Di masa kekuasaan Adipati Batorokatong yang memerintah Ponorogo sekitar 500 tahun lalu, reog mulai berkembang menjadi kesenian rakyat. Pendamping Adipati yang bernama Ki Ageng Mirah menggunakan reog untuk mengembangkan kekuasaannya.

Reog dimanfaatkan sebagai sarana mengumpulkan massa dan merupakan saluran komunikasi yang efektif bagi penguasa pada waktu itu. Ki Ageng Mirah kemudian membuat cerita legendaris mengenai Kerajaan Bantaranangin yang oleh sebagian besar masyarakat Ponorogo dipercaya sebagai sejarah. Adipati Batorokatong yang beragama Islam juga memanfaatkan barongan ini untuk menyebarkan agama Islam. Nama Singa Barongan kemudian diubah menjadi Reog, yang berasal dari kata Riyoqun, yang berarti khusnul khatimah yang bermakna walaupun sepanjang hidupnya bergelimang dosa, namun bila akhirnya sadar dan bertaqwa kepada Allah, maka surga jaminannya. Selanjutnya kesenian reog terus berkembang seiring dengan perkembangan zaman. Kisah reog terus menyadur cerita ciptaan Ki Ageng Mirah yang diteruskan mulut ke mulut, dari generasi ke generasi.

Reog mengacu pada beberapa babad, Salah satunya adalah babad Kelana Sewandana. Babad Klana Sewandana yang konon merupakan pakem asli seni pertunjukan reog. Mirip kisah Bandung Bondowoso dalam legenda Lara Jongrang, Babad Klono Sewondono juga berkisah tentang cinta seorang raja, Sewondono dari Kerajaan Jenggala, yang hampir ditolak oleh Dewi Sanggalangit dari Kerajaan Kediri. Sang putri meminta Sewondono untuk memboyong seluruh isi hutan ke istana sebagai mas kawin. Demi memenuhi permintaan sang putri, Sewandono harus mengalahkan penunggu hutan, Singa Barong (dadak merak). Namun hal tersebut tentu saja tidak mudah. Para warok, prajurit, dan patih dari Jenggala pun menjadi korban. Bersenjatakan cemeti pusaka Samandiman, Sewondono turun sendiri ke gelanggang dan mengalahkan Singobarong. Pertunjukan reog digambarkan dengan tarian para prajurit yang tak cuma didominasi para pria tetapi juga wanita, gerak bringasan para warok, serta gagah dan gebyar kostum Sewandana, sang raja pencari cinta.

Versi lain dalam Reog Ponorogo mengambil kisah Panji. Ceritanya berkisar tentang perjalanan Prabu Kelana Sewandana mencari gadis pujaannya, ditemani prajurit berkuda dan patihnya yang setia, Pujangganong. Ketika pilihan sang prabu jatuh pada putri Kediri, Dewi Sanggalangit, sang dewi memberi syarat bahwa ia akan menerima cintanya apabila sang prabu bersedia menciptakan sebuah kesenian baru. Dari situ terciptalah Reog Ponorogo. Huruf-huruf reyog mewakili sebuah huruf depan kata-kata dalam tembang macapat Pocung yang berbunyi: Rasa kidung/ Ingwang sukma adiluhung/ Yang Widhi/ Olah kridaning Gusti/ Gelar gulung kersaning Kang Maha Kuasa. Unsur mistis merupakan kekuatan spiritual yang memberikan nafas pada kesenian Reog Ponorogo.

reog adalah kesenian asli indonesia untuk negara lain yang mengambil hak cipta reog itu salah besar karena reog warisan nenek moyang indonesia.jadi untuk negara yang mengambil hak cipta kesenian dari negara lain adalah negara yang gak berbudaya...

PopPhoto: Journeys of a Lifetime

Photograph © Jim Lo Scalzo-All Rights Reserved
Popular Photography magazine has published the article "Journeys of a Lifetime" describing how four very different trips change the lives of four very different photographers. The four photographers are Greg Bleakney, Fiona Aboud, Doug Menuez, and Jim Lo Scalzo.

It's always interesting to read how other photographers started their careers, what makes them click, what are their passions and how their styles evolved over time. Fiona Aboud's story details how a documentary portrait photographer found her signature style amid the chaos of her native country's Carnival, while Jim Lo Scalzo's story tells us how a travel-addicted photojournalist learned to stop moving and embrace the calm.

Siddharth Jain: Holi Festival

Photograph © Siddharth Jain-All Rights Reserved
This is TTP's second post on Siddharth Jain, a photographer residing in Delhi but who frequently travels around India to capture color and movement. Siddharth's color affinity and the festival of Holi brings us Holi in Braj, a photo essay that pulsates with super saturated color and dazzling movement.

As Siddharth informs us, the people of Braj (Uttar Pradesh) come together to celebrate Holi, the festival of colors. It is believed that it was here that the festive tradition started. Braj consists of Mathura (where Krishna was born), Vrinadavan (where he was raised), Nandgaon (his natal village) and Barsana (Radha’s village). It is also here where the women reenact the scenes of the mythology where they try to beat up men with long bamboo sticks.

Siddharth's work is also distributed by Zuma Press (USA) and OnAsia Images (Singapore).

National Geographic: CHINA

I just received the May issue of the National Geographic magazine, which is entirely devoted to China. The photography and articles on the new super-power are just superb, and it's a must-have even if you are not a subscriber.

In the magazine, there are photo essays by Fritz Hoffmann, Randy Olson, Lynn Johnson, and Greg Girard as well as by aerial photographer George Steinmeitz. On the web, short videos narrated by the photographers are available. NGM has added photographs from a 2002 issue on Tibetans by Steve McCurry, as well as an interesting article originally published in the July 1955 National Geographic by Heinrich Harrer, along with vintage photographs, both color and B&W.

Bilal Hussein Free At Last

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. military has now released Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein after holding him for more than two years. Bilal was handed over to AP colleagues today in Baghdad.

The U.S. military accused Hussein of links to insurgents, and was detained by U.S. Marines on April 12, 2006 in Ramadi. An Iraqi judicial panel this month dismissed all allegations against Hussein and ordered his release. Hussein and the AP strongly denied any improper contacts by the 36-year-old photographer, saying he was doing the normal work of a photographer in a war zone.

The Washington Post's Bilal Freed

(AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)

Brent Stirton: Omo Valley

Photograph © Brent Stirton-All Rights Reserved
Brent Stirton is a photojournalist based out of New York, where he's a senior staff photographer at Getty Images. He specializes in documentary work and travels an average of 9 months of the year on assignment in his work for Getty Images, working exclusively on commissioned assignment.

Brent holds a degree in Journalism from his native South Africa and often works in tandem with journalists from the world’s leading publications. He is a multiple award winning photographer, receiving 5 awards from the World Press Photo Foundation and 3 awards from the UN for his humanitarian work, including Awards from the Global fund for his work in the field of HIV. Brent’s work has appeared in Newsweek, National Geographic, CNN traveler/CNN.com, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, The Sunday Times magazine, Le Monde 2, GQ, Geo and many others.

Richard Holbrooke, President of Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC), said this: "No one can argue with a Brent Stirton photograph.

It was difficult to choose a photograph to feature here out of the many excellent available of Brent's website, but I ended up choosing one of an Omo Valley tribesman from his Travel gallery to showcase his lighting style, and use of flash/strobes.

Luang Prabang: A Zoo?!

Photograph © David Longstreath/Associated Press-All Rights Reserved
This photograph appeared in the New York Times this morning with the article "Tourism Saves a Laotian City but Saps Its Buddhist Spirit", and is of tourists jostling each other to take photographs of Buddhist monks during their alms gathering in Luang Prabang. What a disgraceful spectacle!!! I realize that Laos is in dire need of the jobs and money that such tourism brings, but the damage that this does to its traditions and ways of life is irreversible. Many other South East Asian cities have degenerated into touristic zoos...Siem Reap and its fabulous Angkor temples is one of them.

I visited Luang Prabang 3 years ago, and I recall seeing tourists photographing the monks early morning, but they were not as aggressive and so 'in-their-face". In fact, they stood at a respectful distance from the monks, some even standing on the other side of the road (as I did), to show respect for this age-old ritual.

This is from the article: “Now we see the safari,” said Nithakhong Somsanith, an artist and embroiderer who works to preserve traditional arts. “They come in buses. They look at the monks the same as a monkey, a buffalo. It is theater.”

How would these tourists feel if the roles were reversed? Haven't these monks the same feelings and sensitivities we all do?

I see this shameful behavior time and time again wherever I go from tourists who are clueless -or are uncaring- as to their reprehensible behavior. Some nationalities are worse than others, and I (as participants in my photo expeditions only know too well) have no second thoughts in directly confronting such tactless people.

Four Entry Level DSLRs

Courtesy Gizmodo
For those who are interested in entry-level digital SLRs, Gizmodo has a comparison of four popular choices: Canon Digital Rebel XSi, Sony Alpha a350, Nikon D60 and Olympus E-420.

The comparison makes an interesting read; perhaps too simple for technophiles, but it is a great starting point for anyone seeking to either buy an entry-level DSLR or a back-up body. According to the reviewer, the Canon XSi is first choice.

Holy Week (Spain)

Photograph © Leslie Mazoch/Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved
Here's a Soundslides feature produced by Leslie Mazoch and Chico Sanchez on the Holy Week in Cadiz, Andalucia in Spain.

First, a brief intro on the photographers: Leslie Mazoch began her career as a photojournalist at the Daily Texan at the University of Texas at Austin. She worked in Venezuela photographing for the Associated Press. In 2007 she joined an editing team that oversees AP's Latin America and Caribbean report from Mexico City.

Chico Sanchez is a freelance photographer based in Mexico City since 2007. For the last six years, he lived in Venezuela collaborating with Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, Agencia EFE, and others.

Throughout seven days, Andalucia celebrates Semana Santa, a tradition which joins the devout and the curious in street processions and parades. The organization behind the parades rests with the religious fraternities and brotherhoods, which have the responsibility of maintaining the statues as well as co-ordinating the penitents and musicians.

The "costaleros" carry the weight of the floats and their sculptured representations of biblical scenes. The floats are followed by "nazarenos" dressed in tunics, hoods and masks, and women dressed in traditional costumes.

The high point of each procession is when the float exits and enters the respective church. The best floats date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, and are carefully preserved.

Adobe TV

Many of us will find Adobe TV very useful as it features 4 channels, each targeting a specific audience. Naturally, the one that is of most interest to us is the Photographers channel.

Each channel features tutorials and commentary from Adobe experts, and more than 200 videos are currently available on Adobe TV: the first of which offers secrets about Photoshop software, podcasts and design tips for Creative Suite, techniques for Photoshop Lightroom, and many others that will be useful to other disciplines as well.

Atlantic Monthly: Kolkata

Photograph © Atul Loke-All Rights Reserved
Here's a Soundslides feature from The Atlantic Monthly of Kolkata photographs by Atul Loke. The one above is of street barbers in the Kalighat neighborhood of the city. The slideshow is accompanied by a lovely piece of sitar by Ravi Shankar, but I'm not sure why the magazine's website insists in opening a small window for the slideshow. It's annoying.

It is also the accompanying feature to Robert Kaplan's article about this teeming city. Kaplan is an author and an editor for the magazine. His writings have also been nationally featured, and while he's viewed as controversial because of his support for the Iraq war (his biography is revealing as to why), he captures Kolkata very well.

This is one of the paragraphs of the article which I found to be spot-on:

"Calcutta is, frankly, obscene. I walked out of a tony espresso bar—its windows cluttered with credit-card stickers—that offered an eclectic Indian-cum-cosmopolitan cuisine of extravagant mocha cocktails and paneer-tikka sandwiches. As I left the air-conditioning for the broiling street, I was careful not to stumble over families sleeping on cardboard along a sidewalk where men and women urinated."

It's exactly the feeling I had when I visited this city a few years ago. I was struck by the overpowering poverty the moment I stepped out of my hotel's doors. It was a jarring experience that remains with me to this day, and it doesn't seem it has changed since then.

Email Newsletters

I don't usually plug products much, but I found Campaign Monitor to be one of the better ones I've used so far. The thing I like best about it is its pricing structure. There are no setup fees, no monthly fees and no hidden fees. For each campaign sent with more than 5 recipients, it's a flat delivery fee of $5 plus 1 cent/recipient. So it's a purely pay-as-you-go product.

Sending newsletters by email is one of the most effective way to reach one's clients/audience, whether your mailing list is in the tens or in the thousands. You have to realize that some will not reach their mailbox destination, but that's a function of anti-spam filters in email providers.

Using Campaign Monitor is not difficult, but because it's built for designers, it gives its users complete creative control over the design and structure of their emails. You can use their templates or you can create your own to send in HTML, plain text or both.

I use my own newsletter design (the link to my latest newsletter is on the right of this post, under "My Other Websites". My mailing list, which is expanding every day, is all permission-based (as it should be) and I'm ruthless in weeding out those names who signed on to the list just to get details of my photo-expeditions' itineraries for their own purposes...a bunch of those have already been removed!

It's one thing for photographers to keep track of what others are doing (some view it as 'industrial espionage'...but I don't) and quite another to essentially 'steal' photo itineraries which have taken me effort and time to put together, and just walk away. So I'm very selective as to whom I send itinerary details to.

Inside Guantanamo: Louie Palu

Photograph © Louie Palu-All Rights Reserved
Frank Rich of the New York Times authored an insightful Op-Ed today, which he titled The Petraeus-Crocker Show Gets the Hook . It's an extremely well-written and well-thought out opinion piece, especially when he writes: "Most Americans don’t want to hear, see or feel anything about Iraq, whether they support the war or oppose it. They want to look away, period, and have been doing so for some time."

Coincidentally, I found The Atlantic Monthly's Inside Guatanamo, a Soundslides feature by photojournalist Louie Palu, who visited the facility where the U.S. government is holding some 340 “enemy combatants”.

From the accompanying article, we read that "fewer than 20 percent of Guantánamo inmates have been members of al-Qaeda, a National Journal study suggested. The same survey concluded that a high percentage, perhaps the majority, of inmates were not captured on any battlefield, but were handed over by Afghan warlords or Pakistanis in return for rewards."

The slideshow is narrated by Palu, who could only photograph what the authorities allowed him to.