Amanda Koster: Salaam Garage

Photograph © Amanda Koster-All Rights Reserved
Amanda Koster is the force behind Salaam Garage Adventures, which connects travelers and enthusiasts with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Travelers commit to creating and sharing unique, independent social media that raises awareness and causes positive change. The rest of the adventure is spent touring around the region, experiencing and exploring the culture and environment with an entirely new context.

I've written about Amanda and her work with Moroccan women in an earlier post on TTP, and she's an internationally recognized photographer whose mission to raise the general public's awareness by documenting some of the world’s more compelling issues.

Her biography speaks for itself, but I'd like to highlight that "she combines her anthropology background with photographic and media-making skills to create inspiring media content as a means for powerful communication, storytelling and learning."

I couldn't have described her work any better, but I would've certainly added that her work is immensely sensitive.

Eric de Vries: Thailand

Photograph © Eric de Vries-All Rights Reserved
Eric de Vries lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he's been travelling since 2000. He's working on a long-term project titled 'Still Life in Khmer Style' that covers landscapes, temple scenes and Buddha statues. He has already produced several series, most of them in black and white, and published 3 books so far.

The new series Breaking The Clouds (Over Ayuthaya) was recently photographed during a trip to Thailand, while the One-Three-Six-series is a documentary about Street 136 in the heart of Phnom Penh.

Both series will be ready for publication during the second half of this year, but a preview of the two series can bee seen on Eric de Vries' website

Brent Stirton: Omo Valley/Bull Jumping

© Brent Stirton/Courtesy Discovery Channel
I've featured Brent Stirton's fabulous work on the Omo Valley a few months ago, and now bring him back with a Quicktime movie of the bull-jumping ceremony (click the small arrow above to start it).

The bull-jumping ceremony is an important ritual performed by some of the tribes of the Omo Valley region of southern Ethiopia, and is considered a sort of a rite of passage in a tribal man’s life. Bull jumping is a prerequisite for a man to take a wife and have children, and it involves him undergoing a number of rituals before leaping onto and running over the backs of cattle.

I witnessed the bull-jumping ceremony not far from Turmi, a village in the Omo Valley, and was taken aback (an understatement) by a preceding ritual involving the women of the Hamar tribe tribe being whipped by the men in their families.

Aditya Kapoor: Goa

Photograph © Aditya Kapoor-All Rights Reserved
Aditya Kapoor tells us in his biography that his two great passions are travel and photography, and that living in a heritage country such as India provided him a wealth of "diverse communities, architectural marvels, nature and different traditions waiting to be explored".

His photography has been published in various publications such as Tehelka magazine, Hindustan Times, Outlook, Indian Express, India Today and Mail Today, and he is actively involved with NGO’s such as Ithihaas, The National Association for the Blind, Tamana School and SECA.

Aditya's website has many galleries, and I chose his work on Goa to show here. I'm a fan of much larger photographs on photographers' websites, but unfortunately bandwidth realities have to be taken into account. I'm always glad to be able to show the work of emerging and promising photographers, and Aditya is one of them.

Lyle Owerko: The Samburu

Photographs © Lyle Owerko-All Rights Reserved
Raised in Canada, Lyle Owerko is a photographer, a film maker and, in my opinion, a first class ethnographer. His current projects seek to bridge ethnic borders by documenting cultural groups, such as the Samburu, for the improvement of the human condition.

According to Wikipedia, the Samburu are ethnically related to the Maasai. The name 'Samburu' is also of Maasai origin and is derived from the word 'Samburr' which is a leather bag used by the Samburu to carry a variety of things. The Samburu practice polygynous marriage, and a man may have multiple wives. A Samburu settlement is known as a nkang or manyatta. Each woman in the household has her own house, which she builds out of local materials, such as sticks, mud and cow dung.

From Lyle's website, you'll find that he was the photographer whose image of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 was published by the Time magazine on its cover, but it's his ethnographic work that caught my attention, and which brings him to The Travel Photographer blog.

World In Focus: Travel Photo Contest

The sponsors of the World In Focus: The Ultimate Travel Photography Contest are the National Geographic Society, and Photo District News.

The categories are:

Travel Portraits
Outdoor Scenes
Sense of Place
Spontaneous Moments
Photo Essay

If you have any interest in participating in the contest, click here: World In Focus. however caveat emptor and read the rules and regulations very carefully before committing your entry fee and more importantly your photographs. Having the National Geographic and PDN as sponsors of the contest does not mean that one should blindly participate...and reading the rules beforehand is a must.

Interestingly, since the contest is open to both "amateur" and professional photographers (each in a different category), I learned that this how the contest defines a professional photographer:

" A professional photographer:

* Earns more than 50 percent of his or her income from photographic sales.
* Is a member of such professional photo organizations as the National Press Photographers Association.
* Publishes photographs in books, magazines, newspapers, or online regularly."

I accept the first two conditions, but what about the third...especially the bit about "publishes online regularly"? Does this mean that photographers who frequently post on Flickr (as an example) are considered professionals? That'll be news to them.

New York Times: Virgins of Albania

Photograph © Johan Spanner for The New York Times-All Rights Reserved
I'm a real sucker for this kind of reportage, but read on! The New York Times featured a so-called multimedia piece titled The Sworn Virgins of Albania and an accompanying article, which tells us that in the isolated and conservative northern Albania, gender swapping was the norm for families that had a shortage of males...either due to natural causes or due to blood feuds that continued for generations. Consequently, some women took vows of lifelong virginity, and lived as men.

Much to my disappointment, the photo essay (erroneously described as multimedia) has no audio, and the measly 6 photographs cannot do justice in telling the life stories of these interesting women. I don't blame the photographer since I'm almost certain that he photographed to his heart's content...but the absence of accompanying audio interviews (and the small number of photographs) makes this slideshow nothing but a weak one-dimensional product. Why does The New York Times editors think that this qualifies as multimedia is beyond me.

I just returned from teaching a multimedia class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City, and the first thing I asked the photographers in my class to do was to capture ambient audio...and then photograph.

So here's the basic rule: slideshows with no ambient sound are not multimedia products....they are just slideshows. Slideshows with music "borrowed" from the web are not multimedia products...they are just slideshows with the photographer's iTunes songs/music playing in the background. Just imagine if the "Virgins of Albania" feature had ambient sound recorded where these women live, with snippets of their voices telling their life stories and experiences, textured by a narration by the photographer!!! It'd be a gem of a multimedia ethnographic-cultural reportage...that's what it would be. As it stands now, it's nothing but a waste of a good idea.

The accompanying article by Dan Bilefsky is here

Pop Photo's Batteries' Test

Popular Photography magazine's website has published a useful comparison of AA batteries, shopping around for the best prices, by spending $200 that bought seven sets of rechargeable and seven sets of single-use batteries -- 84 batteries in total.

The results for the rechargeable batteries were somewhat ambiguous, but Pop Photo chose the Energizer 15 Minute Charger as the best buy, while the Energizer e2 Lithium batteries are the best buy for single-usage batteries. As you'll see from the comparative data, there are many ways to determine the results.

For the in depth comparison: Pop Photo Batteries' Test

Ricoh Caplio GX-200

Whilst attending the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City, I heard many positive things about the Ricoh Caplio GX-100, and that many of the photojournalists use it in situations that do not lend themselves to the large DSLRs.

So I was interested in today's announcement by Ricoh launching the GX200 digital compact camera. The new model is replacing the GX100 and inherits the old model's 24 to 72 mm (equiv.) lens, manual controls and a removable (optional) tilting electronic viewfinder. Its resolution has been increased to 12 megapixels, and the screen now measures 2.7 inches.

The GX200 will be available in the UK from the beginning of July, but no word as to when it'll be available in the US.

DPReview.com

Eric Lafforgue : Travel Photography

Photograph © Eric Lafforgue-All Rights Reserved
Eric Lafforgue lives in Toulouse, France, and produces content for television, radio, the music industry and travel photography as a freelance photographer and multimedia producer.

His website is truly excellent, and enhances his photographic talents. If you like ethnography combined with pure travel photography, this is the website to visit and spend time exploring and savoring. Eric seems to have been everywhere; from Indonesia, to the Sudan...from Malaysia to Danakil.

I recommend you open his Flash website Eric Lafforgue...and wait until you see all of his wonderful images on its cover page. The images are of exotic faces...and you'll soon notice that the eyes on each face remain level on every image. Don't miss the main photograph on the cover page of an elderly Chinese woman standing in front of a textured wall!

Professionally produced, this website and Eric's photographs will most certainly reinvigorate those who love travel photography. Highly recommended!!!

INSIGHT Guides: Travel Photo Competition

Insight Guides in conjunction with the Independent are offering travel photographers the chance to win a commission to shoot one of its travel books. All the entrants have to do is offer three images on the theme of 'water'.

The first prize is a commission, worth £3,000, to photograph a travel destination for a future Insight Guide. Second and third prizes will be £1,000 and £500 worth of photographic equipment. The entrants must be normally resident in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, and all entries must be received by Friday 12 September 2008.

As usual in these sort of competitions, caveat emptor and a careful read of the fine print is a must. For instance, here's a condition which anybody considering participating should take note of:

"All entries, however submitted, shall become the property of INM and will not be returned. By entering this competition entrants agree that should they win or be a runner-up they are deemed to have agreed to grant to INM a non-exclusive licence to publish the winning entries online and in print.".

So again, caveat emptor!!!

Insight Guides' Travel Photo Competition 2008

8 Photographers : Access To Life

Photograph © Paolo Pellegrin-All Rights Reserved
The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Here's a truly magnificent multimedia production for The Global Fund, and featuring work by Magnum Photos photographers such as Paolo Pellegrin, Alex Majoli, Larry Towell, Jim Goldberg, Gilles Peress, Jonas Bendiksen, Steve McCurry, and Eli Reed.

In Access to Life, these 8 Magnum photographers traveled to 9 countries, photographing people before and 4 months after they began antiretroviral treatment for AIDS.

This multimedia production must be one of the best I've seen, and ought to be studied by photographers wishing to learn about multimedia, and how to excel at producing them.

Marvi Lacar: Maasai Ritual

Photograph © Marvi Lacar-All Rights Reserved
For the Maasai of Kenya, Femal Genital Mutilation (FGM) is considered a rite of passage. Although practiced in some Islamic countries, the tradition originated in Africa.

Particularly practiced amongst the poor pastoral Kenyan families, the marriage of a daughter brings in a significant enhancement of status, and an infusion of cash and livestock as dowry. In 2001, FGM became illegal in Kenya.

Marvi Lacar is a New York based photographer working with non-profit organizations, focusing on migrant and woman's health issues. She's been recognized by Communications Arts, PDN and American Photography, and has a long list of clients such as the New York Times, Time, Newsweek and many more.

Ron Haviv: Asia Society

Photograph © Ron Haviv/Courtesy Asia Society
Bill Swersey has recently joined the Asia Society and, as as a long-time photojournalist, is leading the revamp of the global non-profit's website. He plans to expand the use of photography on the website, which has already published several photo projects on Asia-related themes. Also in the works is PictureAsia, a section of the site dedicated to showcasing great photography about Asia.

Here's its first multimedia project The Fires Within: Sri Lanka at War by VII photojournalist Ron Haviv, that looks at the civilian toll of 25 years of civil war in Sri Lanka.

Also available is Photographing Conflict to Give a Voice, an interview with Ron Haviv

Coincidentally, Ron was at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City last week, where he presented The Fires Within. An extremely powerful and poignant multimedia portrait of the 25 years of civil war in Sri Lanka.

Matt Wright-Steel: Migrantes

Photograph © Matt Wright-Steel-All Rights Reserved
Here's one of the many excellent multimedia photo essays presented at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW). "Migrantes" is produced by Matt Wright-Steel, a photojournalist based in Texas who participated in FPW.

"Migrantes" was photographed in an area nicknamed El Lecheria of Mexico City, where migrants from Central America and beyond slip on freight trains heading north to the United States borders, hoping for a better life and opportunities. It's estimated that in recent years at least 4.5 million migrants made it through the border.

Foundry Workshop: Verdict

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Well, I'm back home in New York City after participating as an instructor at the phenomenally successful Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City. The event was initiated by Eric Beecroft who, along with brilliant staff members, managed the Herculean task of putting together the workshop attended by over 140 emerging and established photojournalists/photographers.

The event offered the 140 photographers (and instructors) the unique opportunity to mingle, establish contacts, find peer support, discuss, debate, argue and agree on the innumerable facets of photojournalism and photography. It was enlightening to witness and appreciate the photographic depth, wisdom and generosity of Kadir van Lohuizen, Stanley Greene, Kael Alford, Hugo Infante, Michael Robinson Chavez and Adriana Zehbrauskas, to name but a few.

The absolutely stunning presentations by the talented "students" ranged from documenting the Santa Muerte cult, the dancing Aztecs, female wrestlers, gay life in Mexico City, women's prison, street clowns, to a hospice for elderly ex-prostitutes, and farmers' demonstrations. There were many more!

A fuller report will soon be posted on the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop blog, so I intentionally kept this report brief, but I have the absolute certainty that the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be an annual event. There's already talk of next year's venue being in India or Morocco.

The above photograph is of a commercial photographer at the steps of the Basilica at the Virgin of Guadalupe. I thought it would be an amusing addition to this post.

Georgia Country Information

map source: www.lonelyplanet.com

FAST FACTS:

Name: Georgia (engl.), Sakartvelo (geo.)

Capital City: Tbilisi (1,7 Mio.)

Area: 69,700 sq km 26,911 sq miles
Longitude: 400 - 470 E;
Latitude: 410 - 440 N;

Borders: 1970 km (1224 miles);
Land border: 1655 km (1028 miles);
Georgian section of the Black Sea coast line: 315 km (195 miles);
Armenia: 164 km;
Azerbaijan: 322 km;
Russia: 723 km;
Turkey: 252 km;

Country code: GEO;

Internet code: .ge ;

Population: 4,300,000

Time Zone: GMT + 3 (GMT + 4 from last Sunday in Oct. to last Sunday in March);

Languages:
Georgian (official)
Belongs to the Kartvelian language family, which is related to the Caucasian languages - it has no linguistic connection to Russian. Russian (other) Most Georgians also speak Russian. Armenian (other) Azeri (other)

Religion: Georgian Orthodox (84%), Muslim (10%), Armenian Apostolic (4%)

Currency: Lari (GEL)

Electricity: 220V 50HzHz

Electric Plug Details: European plug with two circular metal pins

Country Dialing Code: +995, Tbilisi area code: 32

Principal cities:
Tbilisi: 1.700.000
Kutaisi: 241.100;
Rustavi: 158.000;
Batumi: 137.100;
Zugdidi: 105.000 including IDP from Abkhazia;
Chiatura: 70.000;
Gori: 70.000;
Poti: 50.900;

Highest mountains:
Shkhara - 5068 m (16,627 ft);
Janga - 5059 m (16,597 ft);
Mkinvartsveri (Mt. Kazbeg) - 5047 m (16,558 ft);
Shota Rustaveli - 4860 m (15,944 ft);
Tetnuldi - 4858 m (15,938 ft);
Ushba - 4700 m (15,419 ft);
Ailama - 4547 m (14,917 ft);
Chaukhi - 3800 m (15,419 ft);

Longest rivers:
Mtkvari (Kura in Russian) - 1364 km (847.5 miles);
Chorokhi - 438 km (272.1 miles);
Alazani - 351 km (218.1 miles);
Rioni - 327 km (203.1 miles);
Tori - 320 km (198.8 miles);
Enguri - 213 km (132.3 miles);

Largest lakes:
Paravani - 37.5 sq.km (14.4 sq ml);
Kartsakhi - 26.3 sq.km (10.1 sq ml);
Paliastomi - 18.2 sq.km (7.0 sq ml);
Tabatskuri - 14.2 sq.km (5.4 sq ml);
Khanchali -13.3 sq.km (5.1 sq ml);
Jandari - 10.6 sq.km (4.0 sq ml);