NPR: Reza: War And Peace

Image © Gerard Rancinan-All Rights Reserved
Reza Deghati is one of the world's eminent photojournalists, who traveled the world for nearly 30 years, bearing witness to wars, unrest, great leaders and the courage of ordinary people trapped by history. He has won countless awards, working for publications such as National Geographic, Newsweek and Time.

NPR has an interview with Reza, to publicize his latest book, Reza War and Peace: A Photographer's Journey. It is "a retrospective of that work, drawing on his own tale of exile and giving voice to those he met along his journey, those without means or audience, who suffer the injustices of war and disaster".

Canon 5D Mark II: $4800...WTF?

I just read on 1001 Noisy Cameras that a camera retailer is offering a Canon 5D Mark II with a EF 24-105mm f4.0 L lens for $4800, a nice $1000 premium. Since these cameras are sold out with a long waiting list, it seems the retailer in question figures that some photographers will fork out an additional $1000 for it to have it now...you know, the immediate gratification thing.

I guess the recessionary headlines haven't made it to where this retailer is located. Greed and cupidity...isn't that what brought Wall Street to its knees just a month ago?

Private: The Other Side of India

PRIVATE is a self-described quarterly international review of black and white photographs and texts, and an "independent and itinerant publication that offer its photographic journey since 1992".

Its website, Private Photo Review, is showcasing a special issue titled The Other Side of India, with black & white photographs by Indian photographers, such as Srinivas Kuruganti with Coal India Limited, Saibal Das with Circus Girls, Bijoy Chowdhury with Bandwallahs, and others.

I wish Private Photo Review could have shown us a sample of these photographs in a larger format. As they are, they're too small for us to really appreciate. For instance, it could've used Issuu to publish a sample magazine, which would enhanced its eye-candy appeal.

My Memory of Hau Hin Hotel

During the long weekend between 5-7 December 2008, i have a chance to visit my favorite place when i was young the place is "Hau Hin" as the distance is about 2 hours from Bangkok.

Around 20 years ago, Hau Hin is the first place that i've ever seen the beautiful sea in my life at that time there're just a few hotel in Hau Hin and the area is quite privacy. The hotel that i visited when i was 2 years old called "Sailom Hotel" as i remembered the price of this hotel at that time is around 800-1200 baht per night but today the price is around 2800-3900 per night (This price is still reasonable for the year 2008 as compare to other 4 stars hotels). Even though, there are many new and comfortable hotels in Hau Hin but i still love this hotel for its own privacy beach. As the changing for this hotel is the new salt water pool which look luxury.

The first impression for Sailom hotel is its own beach with beautiful seaview. Secondly, the rooms are very clean but the most outstanding issue for Sailom Hotel is its restaurant. Sailom hotel are most keen on its restaurant because the food are very fresh and delicious with reasoable price as you must try its frsh and delicious seafood. Moreover, the restaurant is situated near the sea which you may feel the great atmosphere of Hau Hin beach.

Charles Meacham: Hemkund Sahib

Image © Charles Meacham-All Rights Reserved
Charles Meacham was born just outside of Philadelphia, and his first major travel experience was a year trip touring the U.S. in a 1971 Volkswagen camper. Overheating and bursting into flames, the van died along a highway in Arizona, but his interest in travel did not.

He specializes in projects involving Sikhism, and he has recently documented the festival in Nanded, one of the biggest Sikh festival. The pilgrimage to Hemkund, whose site is a glacial lake surrounded by seven peaks located in the Himalayas at an elevation of over 15,000 ft (4,600 m), is in Uttarakhand state of India, and at a distance of 275 kilometers from Rishikesh. Charles tells me that he was the only professional photographer at the festival.

Meacham's photographs of the Sikh Nanded festival are nicely color-saturated and well editited, so that I could easily imagine what the trek felt, especially that the last section of 5 kilometers involves a steep climb from 10,000 feet to 15,000 feet.

Sikhism was founded in the 16th century Punjab district, and was founded by Guru Nanak and is based on his teachings, and those of the 9 Sikh gurus who followed him. It is a monotheistic religion which stresses the importance of doing good actions rather than merely carrying out rituals.

Charles Meacham website

NG's Traveler: 2008 Photo Contest Results

The National Geographic Traveler announced its annual photo contest winners. The photo contest received over 14,500 entries from 4000 "amateur shutterbugs" (The Traveler's terminology, not mine).

Traveler's Photo Contest Winners

Not to diminish the quality of the winning photographs, but had I been the judge, the above photograph would have won first prizes.



Separately, in the National Geographic International Photo Contest, the Viewers Choice (which is picked by viewers, not by judges) is the above photograph which seems to have been manipulated to add the clouds' reflections.

Update: NGM.com just posted a statement on the above photograph, which essentially says that it appeared altered, which is against the rules of the contest. It has now been taken down.


The Winners of the Viewers' Choice

Mustafah Abdulaziz: Patagonia Cowboys

Photograph © Mustafah Abdulaziz-All Rights Reserved
When you finish viewing his portfolio (especially his new Patagonia Cowboys series), you'll agree with me and many others...Mustafah Abdulaziz is a damn good photographer. Not only is he good, but he realizes the power of large images which populate his website, and it's quite an experience to be able to enjoy his craft through them.

Born in New York City, Mustafah is self-taught (always a huge plus for me), and worked as a freelancer for three years before moving to Philadelphia, his current base. He photographed for the Tribune newspapers, The Morning Call, Newsday, Baltimore Sun, and worked for a myriad corporate clients to include Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Olympus Cameras and others.

He attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City in June where I was teaching a multimedia class and, as I was flying back to NYC with some of the rest of the instructors, the consensus was that Mustafah would reach the pinnacle of his profession soon.

Canon 5D Mark II: DxO Lab

(Credit: DxO Labs)
CNET's Underexposed, a blog by Stephen Shankland, has posted an article with a bunch of interesting news on the Canon 5D Mark II. For instance, it reports that the camera's sensor ranks very high on DxO Labs' test of sensor performance. This is especially significant since there's been an ongoing debate as to whether the $2,700 5D Mark II performs better than the $6,500 1Ds Mark III, which has the same resolution of 21.1 mps.

Although the DxO tests give the edge to the 1Ds Mark III based on its better color and dynamic range, the 5D Mark II has a better low-light performance. In my view, this is particularly welcome news considering that the price of a 1Ds Mark III is 2.4 times that of 5D Mark II.

The blog post also mentions the black-spot issue reported afflicting some of the new 5D Mark IIs. It also reports that Chuck Westfall of Canon will make an official comment on the issue.

Detailed image quality measurements for the Canon 5D Mark II: (DxO Labs)

As an aside, I was shopping at B&H today, and noticed a few things:

1. During my visit, the customer traffic at the cashiers' lanes were light in comparison to others occasions I was there. I didn't have to wait for a salesclerk to help me.

2. There was quite a crowd surrounding the Nikon island, where new models are on display. In contrast, the Canon island had a much smaller number, mostly around the point & shoots (ie the G10).

3. If I'm to believe the salesclerk, B&H had no 5D Mark II in stock and had even ceased taking pre-orders via email since there were too many.

Moises Saman: Machu Picchu

Photograph © Moises Saman-All Rights Reserved
I noticed that The New York Times' featured a slideshow of Machu Picchu's photographs by Moises Saman, who's better known as a conflict photographer, having covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The slideshow is titled The Lost City of the Incas while the accompanying article is written by Simon Romero.

The article's premise is that while Hiram Bingham (a model for the fictional Indiana Jones) has always been credited with discovering the Incan city of Machu Picchu in 1911, evidence has emerged that a German adventurer may have preceded him. Some records show that the German adventurer bought land in the area in the 1860s. It's an interesting read for those who feel (like I do) that many countries' heritage and patrimony have been pillaged by colonizing Western powers (especially European). For instance, I read that Ethiopia is now demanding that Britain’s museums return some of its most significant religious treasures and artifacts, including the Ethiopian royal crown, 140 years after they were looted by marauding British troops.

As for Moises Saman, he became a staff photographer at New York Newsday from 2000-07, and is currently a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. His work received many awards and recognitions, including in the 2007 World Press Photo contest and the UNICEF Photo of the Year awards. He also received a World Press Photo award for his coverage of the presidential elections in Haiti, as well as being named Photographer of the Year by the New York Press Photographers Association.

WSJ: Phil Borges

"When Phil Borges learned of the perks that came with being a dentist, he switched his major from engineering to orthodontics. But his first love -- photography -- would eventually become his second career."

And so begins the recent Wall Street Journal's article on a peerless photographer; Phil Borges. For over twenty five years Phil has lived with and documented indigenous and tribal cultures around the world, and with his work he aims to create a deeper understanding of issues faced by people in the developing world.

The article tells us that Phil, now 66, says it would have been easy to stay in orthodontics. "I would have had a comfortable life," he says. "[But] I wanted to be fulfilled, and whenever I picked up my camera, I was doing what I wanted."


And he did.

[Previous posts on Phil Borges on TPP can be found HERE and HERE]

Canon 5D Mark II: Black Spots?

The blogosphere is jumping with the buzz that some users of the new Canon 5D Mark II have reported that photos taken with it can be "blemished with dark spots near areas with very bright highlights".

While some users have said that there is a simple fix for it, Canon appears to be aware of this report, and is looking into it...it's possibly a firmware issue.

I have two thoughts on this: Firstly, I never buy a just released new camera from its first batch, and always wait for the second, or even third, batch until all its kinks (if any) are resolved. Secondly, if this avers to be a real issue and Canon fumbles it, it'll have significant product credibility problems on its hands.

CNET's Crave Black Spots Afflict Canon's New SLR

Rodrigo Cruz: Migrants

Photograph © Rodrigo Cruz-All Rights Reserved
I'm very pleased to feature the excellent work of Mexican photojournalist Rodrigo Cruz on TTP. Rodrigo was the energy behind the success of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico in June 2008, and without his unstinting assistance, many of us would not have been able to produce the work we did.

Rodrigo is an extraordinarily talented independent photographer (and videographer), whose main body of work is with non-governmental organizations in Mexico and elsewhere. His work has been awarded innumerable recognitions, including First Place (Migration category) in the 14th Latin-American Contest of Documentary Photography 2008, First place in the International Photography Contest on Indigenous People Human Rights in 2007, and First place in the News category of the National Geographic's Latin America contest "Luces de America".

Rodrigo Cruz's Multimedia Migrants is a powerful example of how multimedia can be harnessed to document a social issue, without resorting to the artifices of "eye-candy" and irrelevant add-ons.

PDN's POTD: More Large Pictures

PDN has recently joined the list of large-image blogs with its Photo Of The Day. As posted earlier on TTP, some of the others are the Boston Globe's The Big Picture and WSJ's Photo Journal, and the Sacramento Bee's The Frame.

PDN's entry is somewhat different than the rest, since it appears that it intends to feature a collection of various photography styles: documentary, fine art, portraits, etc.

I'm glad the large-image format is adopted by many newspaper websites across the country. I still don't know how these will be monetized other than through accompanying adverts, but they certainly are an excellent platform to show off work by deserving photographers.

Tangkahan, The Hidden Paradise

You could enjoy a range of adventures in the hidden paradise, Tangkahan, the ancient rainforest of North Sumatera in the mount Leuser where you will discover Indonesia's best kept secret. You will be amazed with the views of canopies and incredible wildlife, rivers with pure and clear water and various tropical flowers.

Tangkahan is located next to Gunung Leuser National Park about 105 km from Medan City or it takes time about 3 to 4 hours by vehicle. You can go to Tangkahan by renting a car or by public buses (Pembangunan Semesta) from Pinang Baris Bus Terminus directly to Tangkahan. Buses run three times a day, started at 08.00 am, 01.00 pm, 03.00 pm or with the following route; Pinang Baris-Simpang Robert and then two wheelers from Simpang Robert to Tangkahan.

The followings are what you'll get in the hidden paradise.

Forest Trekking
You could learn more about flora and fauna in the rainforest while enjoying your trekking inside the heart of the paradise. You could hike over mountains and across rivers to encounter the natural wonders of the rainforest. There are some fasilities that are provided for full day trek+caving+tubing.

River Cruising
Experience the River safari by tubing along the Batang Serangan River while taking pleasure in watching around, see the long tailed monkeys, wonderful rainforest vegetation, various birds, and if lucky you will meet Kedih (Presbytis Thomasi) an endemic primate in Gunung Leuser National Park. You can also swim in the clear blue water and then drift yourself away back to Tangkahan shore.

Camping
If you want to experience staying at the camp, there also available a camping ground area between the jungle and the river, sufficient for 30 tents. Feel the rare occasion living in harmony with nature.

Caving
This is a kind of adventure trek and you must be fit and healthy enough to walk through the ancient rainforest and crossing a lot of rivers, streams and hilly areas. You need 3 hours to reach the Bat Cave. A skillful guide will accompany you. To return back, you have a choice of tubing down the fast flowing river, or walking through the fruit trees in the Orange and Durian groves.
(Pathway through the jungle)
Elephant Trekking
It is an exciting package as you could experience the sensation of riding over an elephant's back for an exploration by using the Conservation Response Unit's patrol elephants. These elephants help to monitor the forest from any crimes and at the same time could accompany you to explore the forest.


Accommodation
Visitors could choose four comfortable accommodations next to the park, namely Jungle Lodge, Bamboo River, Mega Inn and Green Lodge, designed for family, standard and deluxe. The restaurants provide Traditional Karonese food & beverage, Indonesian food and western food and beverage.
(Restaurant)

POV: If Only....

Photograph © Jb Reed/NYT-All Rights Reserved
I'd like to start the week with a story that appeared in the New York Times' City section yesterday. After the mindless mayhem in Mumbai, stories such as this one are to be treasured and remembered.

An Indonesian Muslim, Dinar Puspita is a 17-year old exchange student currently attending school in Riverdale, New York. This is an increasingly Jewish Orthodox neighborhood with many synagogues, but no mosques. This made it extremely difficult for Dinar to perform her prayers as required by her faith, until her host contacted Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt of the Riverdale Jewish Center asking if Dinar could pray there since her school prohibits religious prayers.

The Rabbi agreed, and eventually surprised by the attention of the media, said "I never understood what the big deal was. Somebody’s child from halfway around the world needs a place to worship.”

In my view, Rabbi Rosenblatt and Dinar Puspita are the true representatives of their faiths.

Now if only the Muslim worshipers in Denpasar could read this, and atone for their angry indignation when I entered the mosque...only to find out later that I had as much right as they had to be in this Muslim place of worship, and realize how right I was when I chastised them for their offensive behavior.

If only the illiterate self-appointed "guardians" at the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi, who wave me -and others- so insolently out of the mosque when it's prayer time, could read this and see how a young Muslim girl was welcomed to worship in a Jewish synagogue.

If only the so-called keepers at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul would read this, and realize that telling non-Muslims to enter the mosque from a small side door, is ridiculous...and not in keeping with Islam's tenets. Dinar entered the synagogue by its front door.

If only...


ps. I was justifiably taken to task by my friend and fellow photographer Asim Rafiqui by being too harsh (politely, he inserted the word "inadvertently" to minimize the criticism). He is right. The large majority of Muslims are good, kind and decent people, with unsurpassed generosity, unequaled hospitality and immense tolerance despite their many travails.. The examples I cited, while disturbing, are nevertheless aberrations, and I should have stated this with more clarity.

Katie Orlinsky: Muxe of Juchitan

Photograph © Katie Orlinsky/NYT-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times features a photo essay by Katie Orlinsky titled A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico. In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca state, a muxe is a physically male individual who dresses and behaves as a woman. These individuals are generally regarded by Mexicans as a third gender, and live their lives as women, choosing men as sexual or romantic partners. The word muxe is thought to derive from the Spanish word "mujer".

The accompanying article (by Marc Lacey) tells us that while Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality, "nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca".

Katie Orlinksy is a photojournalist who divides her time between photographing news in New York City and southern Mexico where she works on long term projects. She has been published in the New York Times, LIFE, Newsweek, Time, Le Monde and various other global publications.

Katie was previously featured on TTP here in connection with her being awarded a Foundry Photojournalism Workshop scholarship in June 2008.

(Registration by The New York Times may be required)