Columbus Travel Insurance: 2010-10-10

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Gary Knight: New Website

Gary Knight has recently launched his personal website, appropriately titled Gary Knight Photography which features his portfolios, workshops, multimedia (soon) and his current academic involvement in Tufts and Harvard universities.

Gary Knight started working as a photographer in Southeast Asia during the 1980s at at the time when its countries were slowly recovering from bitter wars. He then moved to Europe when Yugoslavia was collapsing, and where he documented the siege of Sarajevo through the fall of Kosovo. Following 9/11, he worked in Afghanistan and two years later independently followed U.S. troops into Iraq. Notwithstanding his conflict photography involvement, his focus is on the survival of the world’s poor and human rights issues.

Knight is founding director of VII Photo Agency. He established the Angkor Photo Festival, is a board member of the Crimes of War Foundation, a trustee of the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation and Vice President of the Pierre & Alexandra Boulat Foundation.

All this is public knowledge, but I also have a personal connection with Gary. In 2005, I attended a workshop in Bali with him and John Stanmeyer at the latter's lovely home and studio in Cannggu. At the time, I was keen to move away from the traditional travel photography (stock images et al) and wanted to get involved in more story-telling and documentary/editorial photography...so I jumped at the chance of getting guidance from these two top photojournalists. And when I look back at where I was then and where I am now...I clearly see their fingerprints.

Alia Refaat: Bali Island of Odalan

Here are work samples from Alia Refaat, the final participant in the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ . It is Alia's second travel photography expedition, and she plans a series of exhibitions in Cairo of her photographs.

Alia is a commercial photographer from Cairo, Egypt. Alia studied Mass Communications, and trained at Spéos Paris in commercial, portrait and studio photography.

The above photograph is of Balinese devotees returning from the ocean having purified their temple's deities. The all day ceremony was performed near the famous temple of Goah Lawah.

The above intriguing photograph is of Balinese playing Kocokan. This is a sort of roulette in which the players put some money on a vinyl mat decorated with six different pictures of cartoon version of Hindu gods, demons or animals. Surprisingly, this gambling is allowed during a temple odalan.

Cremations are one of the most sacred events in Balinese culture. In this photography, Alia was quick to notice the rather macabre juxtaposing of the body's exhumation and the t-shirt worn by one of the cremation's attendees.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Beautiful Images of Koh Chang, Thailand

Hello World,

Thank god it Friday. For you guy in Bangkok, Thailand, you just faced the very terrible traffic jam today because of heavy rain in the evening. I don't know why heavy rain must come together with heavy rain. Now, i think all of you should arrived at home. So, Sit back and relax because today i will show you some images that i have taken from Koh Chang during my vacation last summer. I would like to tell you that, my plan is to post images from my trip every Friday night and this week, let see some beautiful images from Koh Chang below:

White sand beach panorama image taken by Sony DSC-WX1

The Beach in front of KC Grand Hotel

View from Koh Chang viewpoint

Panorama images of this island viewpoint

Swimming pool of KC Grand Hotel

KC Grand Hotel

Hope you like my images. See you Then, BYE!

My Work: Old Delhi's Khari Baoli

Khari Baoli is reputed to be one of Asia's largest wholesale spice market, and is accessible from Chandni Chowk Road in the heart of Old Delhi. It's one of my favorite haunts whenever I'm in Delhi, and it's a wonderful area for some serious street photography. Of course, going there is also an excuse to stop by Kareem's for its famed kebabs.

The area is full of explorable narrow alleys, while porters hurry with massive jute bags of spices jostle passer-bys. The atmosphere is almost medieval, with the spice and rice traders carrying on the business of their ancestors. Nothing has changed much over the years.

In a small cubicle under a store, one of the area's chai-wallahs is straining the concoction into glasses. Chai or masala chai is a blend of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper, mixed with a rich black tea, milk, and a sweetener.

The spice market's feverish activity of carrying or unloading of huge sacks of spices and goods from manual trolleys is occasionally interspersed by laborers resting and smoking their sweet-smelling bidis .

I am definitely in the midst of a black & white phase. When I was producing my Bali: The Trilogy audio slideshows, I thought it was a contrarian reaction to the surfeit of color I've witnessed in Bali. Perhaps it was...but I looked at the above photographs in color, and sensed they'd look better in monochromatic tones. Perhaps I wanted to convey the grittiness of Khari Baoli, and black & white does that better.

Whatever it is, I'm enjoying it a lot.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

MediaStorm For CFR: Pakistan

Here's Crisis Guide: Pakistan (click on image), a magisterial multimedia production featured by The Council of Foreign Relations and produced by MediaStorm.

As we all know, Pakistan is critical, if not the most critical country, to the national interests of the United States, and yet it's misunderstood and viewed through a prism of apprehension and, from some quarters, of distrust.

The concern over its stability with the current escalation of drone attacks on its tribal areas, the horrific human toll following the recent floods and its geographical and ideological positioning underscore its importance. The New York Times reported last night that international lenders estimate that the floods in Pakistan caused $9.5 billion in damage to its infrastructure, agriculture and other sectors.

According to MediaStorm's web page on the project, it was challenged to create an immersive website, which allowed the user to focus on the complex history of Pakistan and the issues facing the country.

One of the CFR interviewees makes the point that Pakistanis fault the United States' support of Afghan insurgents to battle the Soviet in the 1980s, who fled to neighboring Pakistan when the US invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the 9.11.2001 Al Qaeda attacks.

I found this is a production that cannot be assimilated, nor reflected on, in a single sitting...it's best viewed over time...bookmark it....it's worth keeping it and returning to it every now and then. Having said that, no production (whether immersive or not) can really explain the complex intricacies that are at play in Pakistan. It's facile for pundits (whatever their political and ideological agendas) to postulate their views...but these will still fall short of reality.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Fantastic viewpoint from the Top of Koh NangYuan

Hello Everybody,

Back to post again. As i promised, today i'm gonna bring all of you to the viewpoint of Koh Nang Yaun. After i finished my scuba diving at the seaside of Koh NangYuan, my next destination is to see sunset at the beautiful viewpoint of this island as image appeared in many favorite travel magazines. The time is around 17.00 in the evening which is perfect time to start walking to the top of Ko Nang Yaun as we may arrive at the top of mountain before 18.00 in order to see scenery of sunset.

The pathway to the viewpoint of this island is very convenience for travellers and you will see the scenery of gorgeous blue sea along the way to the hill. After taking some images of beautiful seaside scenery, the time is around 17.15 and now i arrived at the starting point to walk to the top of Koh NangYuan. Travel magazines and resort staffs said that it will take around 30-40 minutes to walk to the viewpoint.

As you see from the image, the way to the viewpoint of this island look easily for walking. In my experience, it is easy for the first 10 minutes after that the pathway rise precipitously. Of course, i feel really tried and my body is covering with sweat but i can't stop and have to reach to the summit point. Then, the hardest part is over and i arrived at the outstanding viewpoint of Koh NangYuan after 40 minutes of trekking the mountain.

The scenery at the viewpoint is very beautiful and attractive more than my imagination. In my opinion, the scenery that i have seen by myself is more attractive and gorgeous than i have seen in the travel magazine or television. This place is like heaven on earth and i recommend that if you have a chance to visit Koh NangYuan, the place that you can't be miss is the viewpoint of this island which i can guarantee that this place is one of the most beautiful natural scenery in Thailand.

At last, i want to share some image that i have taken from the viewpoint of this island to all of you but as i told you earlier, the real scenery is more attractive than my images below, then, you may list Nangyuan island to your holiday vacation now and you will know the meaning of real relaxation.

Viewpoint on the top of this Island

Panorama Scenery of NangYuan Island Viewpoint taken by Sony DSC-WX1

Thank for reading, See you then.

My Work: Traversing The Kachchh Part Two

I've uploaded around two dozen of new photographs unto a still gallery titled Traversing The Kachchh Part Two. These photographs were made during my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition ™ earlier this year.

As the title suggests, this is the second of my still galleries of photographs made in that area; the first was Traversing The Kachchh.

Both galleries are precursors to my forthcoming photo-expedition In Search of Gujarat's Sufis to south Gujarat and the Kutch.

The In Search of Sufis Photo~Expedition ™ was sold out a week or so from its being announced.

Rich-Joseph Facun: Darshana Ganga

Rich-Joseph Facun is a documentary, lifestyle, travel, commercial, editorial and portrait photographer based in the United Arab Emirates.

He recently published a personal project titled Darshana Ganga which documents the daily life, culture and heritage along the Ganges River over a number of trips to India. The latest trip saw him in Haridwar, an important pilgrimage city, Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world and Devprayag, where two rivers converge to form the Ganga.

Darshana is a Sanskrit term signifying "visions of the divine", and is the central act of Hindu worship, and Rich built his photo essay around the reverence that all Hindus have to the Ganges. He also interspersed it with some excellent photographs of street life scenes in Varanasi...have a look of the one titled Shiva Music House.

It's been quite a while I haven't been to Devaprayag. It's there that the confluence of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi forms the Ganges, and where the river is as translucent as a California swimming pool. I know it's hard to believe that when one encounters the Ganges' toxic waters in Varanasi, but it is emerald green in Devaprayag and beyond.

Canon 7D Is Here...Well, Almost.

I've finally decided to replace my trusted and loyal (but ageing) Canon 1D Mark II with a Canon 7D. I hummed and hawed about whether to get the Canon 1D Mark IV, but balked at its price ($4900ish) and its weight....I thought of getting a second Canon 5D Mark II but wanted a much faster fps rate...and seeing a Canon instant rebate of $100 on the 7D, I jumped at it and now have it.

Well, I should say I almost have it, since although it's physically here I can't touch it for another few days. It's technically a birthday gift so it's in the no-touch zone until then.

I think I took the right decision in choosing the 7D. It's light in comparison to the 1D models, and its smaller sensor doesn't really bother me, especially since I have the 5D Mark II's full frame when I need it. The fast fps rate of the 7D will come in handy during festivals, religious rituals, ethnic celebrations...wherever there's action.

Next step? It might be either the Zacuto Optical Viewfinder or the more affordable LCD Viewfinder LCDVF. Santa will decide.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Hamid Sardar: Mongolia

Hamid Sardar-Afkhami is a photographer and a scholar of Tibetan and Mongol languages with a Ph.D. from Harvard University. After moving to Nepal in the late 1980’s and exploring Tibet and the Himalayas for more than a decade, he traveled to Outer Mongolia, and determined to document its nomadic culture by setting a mobile studio ger camp in Mongolia. With his arsenal of cameras and different formats, he mounts yearly expeditions into the Mongolian outback to document her nomadic traditions.

Apart from the two movie documentaries (these are not short, and run for almost an hour), take a look at Hamid's photographic gallery titled Dark Heavens, which has color and platinum portfolios.

Impressive, huh? Especially since Hamid is able to combine the two imagery disciplines so well.

I was introduced to Hamid Sardar's work and website through The Empty Quarter Gallery newsletter.

Storyboard Doodles

Planning a multimedia photo essay or audio slideshow needs a sort of bird's eye view of the project as a whole, and that's what storyboards are essentially supposed to do. Storyboards help to pre-visualizing the photo essay's sequencing, and act as blueprints for the project.

The above photo shows my rather elementary storyboard for one my recent Bali audio slideshow Ngaben: Cremation Ceremony, which has the sequencing of images and audio clips, timing, etc.

Naturally, it would have been more professional/efficient to use a proper storyboard template downloaded from the web, but where's the fun in that!?

Monday, October 11, 2010

Amira Al-Sharif: Call For Photo Backers

Amira Al-Sharif was born in Saudi Arabia and currently lives in Yemen. Both of these are extremely conservative societies, and being a female photojournalist is practically unheard of. Amira has had to struggle for an education, and is the first person in her family to graduate from university.

She attended The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul last June, and was the only representative of her native Yemen to be there. She not only loves photography and photojournalism, but is a talented photographer. She attended Stephanie Sinclair's class...possibly one the toughest of the workshop, and did well.

She has just been accepted at the International Center of Photography in New York City, and will soon begin a photography project there documenting lives of young American women seen from her perspective.

Through Kickstarter, she needs backers to fund her project...will you please be one of them?

It doesn't have to be much...and you'll feel really good when you back her up.

Reem Al-Faisal: The Holy Cities

An email newsletter from The Empty Quarter Gallery introduced me to Reem Al-Faisal who's a Saudi photographer. She started her career in 1994, and has exhibited her work in various galleries in Saudi Arabia, showcased at the Opera House in Cairo and at the University of Art and Design in Beijing. She also showed her works in various galleries in Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands, and in exhibitions at the Arab World Institute and the Galerie Agathe Gaillard in Paris.

Her photographs are in various public and corporate collections such as The National Museum of Seoul, Korea, and Sakakin Center in Ram Allah, Palestine.

Interestingly, Al-Faisal is also one of the first women to be granted permission to photograph in the holy cities of Makkah and Al-Medinah. This is certainly an unusual privilege.

Many of us involved in the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop lament the dearth of Arab female photographers, and being introduced to the work of Reem Al-Faisal is very welcome.

Luminous Lint also has many of Al-Faisal's photographs.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Cathy Scholl: Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat

Cathy Scholl is a photographer and a participant in my Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition, which took place earlier this year between January 23 and February 7, 2010. She has traveled to India no less than 13 times, as well as to Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma.

Her photographs were exhibited in galleries throughout Southern California. In addition to winning awards, her work was selected to hang in juried exhibitions curated by leading experts in the field of photography, such as Arthur Ollman, founding director of the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego.Cathy is also an active member in the Burn magazine community, which is curated by David Alan Harvey

Following her participation in my photo~expedition, Cathy continued to Haridwar where she also photographed at the Kumbh Mela. I chose these photographs made during the photo~expedition from her blog More Than Just A Pretty Picture...an appropriate title as Cathy's style is more inclined towards documentary travel photography, and she eschews cookie-cutter travel photographs.

The top photograph is of a Gujarati villager and her child, made in one of the countless villages we visited during the photo~expedition. The middle photograph was made in Baneshwar, during a pind daan ceremony which extends for about a week, and during which the tribal people of Rajasthan and Gujarat come to remember their dead....notice how Cathy framed the characters in this photograph.

The third photograph was made in a grain distribution room in the village of Poshina, where tribals and villagers receive their subsidized rations.

Next Week on The Travel Photographer

I had to rejig my posts this past week to diversify the posts a bit, so I omitted some I had originally planned to feature.

For the week starting Monday October 11, I have posts on:

1. A poignant multimedia project involving the treatment of Women In India, which I planned to post last week.
2. The work of a documentary photographer featuring daily life along the Ganges, that I also wanted to post last week.
3. The work of a Saudi Arabian female photographer, whose work (and herself) shatters all stereotypes.
4. The very interesting work of a photographer and a scholar of Tibetan and Mongol languages on Mongolian cultures.
5. A photo essay on the Tibetans living in India.