Merry Xmas & Happy Holidays!

The Travel Photographer's 2010 Favorite Image Makers (Part 2)

Following yesterday's post, here are the second 5 of the 10 travel and/or documentary photographers (listed in no particular order) whose work was posted on this blog, and whose photographs were my favorites during 2010.

As I said, deciding which is a visual favorite amongst the hundreds of photographers I've shown here in this blog is a highly subjective and personal choice...nothing more or less. Every single photographer whose work was featured on my blog is worthy of praise and admiration.

1. Jamie Williams:

Photo © Jamie Williams- All Rights Reserved

This photograph is part of Jamie Williams' Tibet series, and is featured in his gorgeous website. I posted on Jamie Williams here.

2. Kieron Nelson:

Photo © Kieron Nelson-All Rights Reserved

This photograph of a Zhuang fisherman is part of Kieron's Guangxi gallery. I posted on Kieron's Vanishing Cultures photographs here.

3. Andrea Pistolesi:

Photo © Andrea Pistolesi-All Rights Reserved

This photograph of a Cambodian dancer is part of Andrea's gallery of Cambodia. I had featured Andrea's reportage work on the Rohingya refugees here.

4. Diego Verges:

Photo © Diego Verges-All Rights Reserved

This photograph is one of the latest of Diego's projects which are featured on his website. I featured Diego's work in a number of posts...this particular one is here.

5. Jørgen Johanson:

Photo © Jørgen Johanson-All Rights Reserved

Although I posted Jørgen's work on Tibet, I also encourage you to visit the rest of his galleries, including the one of Ethiopia, where I've seen the above photograph.

The Travel Photographer's 2010 Favorite Image Makers (Part 1)

First, let me render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s...this post was suggested by travel photographer Paolo Evangelista. He suggested I ought to post some of my favorite photographers whose work I've featured on this blog over the year....great idea!

So here's the first 5 of the 10 travel and/or documentary photographers (listed in no particular order) whose work was posted on this blog, and whose photographs were my favorites during 2010. The remainder (Part 2) will be posted tomorrow.

As I always say to whoever is interested; deciding which is a visual favorite amongst the hundreds of photographers I've shown here in this blog is a highly subjective and personal choice...nothing more or less. Every single photographer whose work was featured on my blog is worthy of praise and admiration.

I decided against grouping these photographs in a slideshow, so this is going to be a rather vertically long post:

1. Matjaz Krivic:

Photo © Matjaz Krivic-All Rights Reserved

This photograph is part of Matjaz's gallery of the Pir-e Shaliar festival in the Kurdish area of Iran. I posted Matjaz's work here.

2. Raphael Nguyen:

Photo © Raphael Nguyen-All Rights Reserved

This photograph is part of Raphael's gallery of super saturated photographs of Hoi An. I posted Raphael's work here.

3. Chico Sanchez:

Photo © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved

This photograph is part of Chico Sanchez's audio-slideshow of Flamenco dancers. I posed Chico's work here.

4. Jehad Nga:

Photo © Jehad Nga-All Rights Reserved

This photograph is part of Jehad's Turkana exhibit at the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in NYC, and was also included in the Daily Telegraph article on his photographs. I had posted Jehad's work a number of times here.

5. Richard Murai:

Photo © Richard Murai-All Rights Reserved

This photograph is by Richard Murai, who recently won the Travel Photographer of the Year contest in the World in Motion category. I had posted an image by Richard Murai here.

Soham Gupta: The Down & Outs of Howrath

Photo © Soham Gupta-All Rights Reserved

 Following my post of yesterday on my forthcoming Kolkata Cult of Durga Photo-Expedition, I thought it timely to feature Soham Gupta's work on the homeless of Howrah. Soham is a Kolkata-based humanitarian photographer, who specializes in documenting social injustice and works with disadvantaged children. He started as a writer, but later realized that he had the ability to tell stories in a better way, through photographs.

The Down & Outs of Howrah is a haunting photo-essay on some of the destitute who live near the world-famous Howrah Railway Station. Howrah is situated on the west bank of the Hooghly River, and is linked to Kolkata by the famous Howrah Bridge. It is a twin city of Kolkata, and is the second largest city of West Bengal in terms of both area and population. Its railway station is the busiest and second-oldest station, and one of the largest railway complexes in India.

Soham tells us that most of these homeless individuals are drug users, and have developed mental disorders. Some of them carry the HIV virus because of shared syringes.

I encourage you to visit his website, and explore his other galleries. He documents the Bishnois, the Rajasthani gypsies and the Pushkar Fair. I consider his edgy and high contrast black & white photograph to be influenced by what I call the "Bangladeshi" school. You be the judge.

Kolkata's Cult of Durga: New 2011 Photo Expedition

I'm pleased to announce details of my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition™ scheduled from September 29 to October 13, 2011.

Kolkata's Durga Puja is the most important religious festival of West Bengal, celebrating the Hindu goddess Durga. Due to its importance, it's the most significant socio-cultural event in Bengali society of the year. It's during this annual spiritual event that I shall conduct a photo expedition/workshop.

The purpose of this photo~expedition is to photograph the innumerable rites associated with the Durga Puja festivities; and since Kolkata offers a diverse, gritty, and a visually compelling environment to photographers, it'll also be a "street-photography-heavy" workshop, with a multimedia component.

For details, drop by Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition™

The 'Best' 2010 Images Of The Travel Photographer

Following the lead of many of the big picture blogs and news outlets such as The WSJ Photo Journal, Boston's Globe's The Big Picture, The Denver Post's PBlog and Reuters' Full Focus, amongst many others, I am featuring what I liked best of my own photographs made in 2010.

Many of you will be relieved that it's a silent slideshow...we already have too much cheesy Xmas music, jingles and whatnot around us to drive us aurally insane as it is!

It's also available at The Travel Photographer's Vimeo Channel.

Wendy Marijnissen: A Year In Pakistan

Based in Antwerp, Wendy Marijnissen is a freelance documentary photographer from Belgium, who has a career in looking for, and reporting on, stories with a social context. She completed a long term reportage in Israel and Palestine, using music to show a different part of daily life in this stressful and violent region. She's currently working on a new project about childbirth and maternal mortality in Pakistan, of which some of her compelling photographs can be seen in the above movie.

Another of Wendy's compelling photo essays is on the dai. A dai (or dayah in Arabic) is a traditional midwife or birth attendant in the Middle East, and Pakistan. Midwifery skills are usually passed on from generation to generation and most practitioners have had no formal training.

The unhygienic conditions in which the dai work, their lack of education and the delayed referral to hospitals in case of complications are the major cause for the high maternal mortality rate in Pakistan.

Fernanda Preto: Cowboys of Pantanal

Fernanda Preto is a Brazilian photojournalist currently based in Sao Paulo, and after living in the Amazon area for three years, has worked in environment and social reportages. She obtained degrees from the Panamerican School of Arts in Sao Paulo and from the Tuiuti University of Parana.

Her short film is about the Cowboys of Pantanal, which she produced using a Canon 5D Mark II. Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland in the world. Its largest area is in the state of Matto Grosso do Sul, with the rest being in Bolivia and Paraguay. It's considered as one of the last 37 natural wilderness areas in the world. The cowboys working in the area have survived for more than 100 years, doing the same task as the fathers and forefathers did, drive cattle to the highlands before the floods.

You can also see Fernanda's very well composed still images of the Pantanal Cowboys on her website by hovering your cursor over Features.

Next Week on The Travel Photographer

What's on tap for the week starting Monday, December 20? Take a look:

1. The work of a Brazilian photographer/photojournalist featuring her work on Brazil's cowboys.
2. The portfolio of a humanitarian and cultural photographer...with a focus on South Africa.
3. The work of an Indian photographer on the homeless of Kolkata.
4. And speaking of Kolkata...I'll be releasing the details of my photo~expedition/workshop in October 2011. It already has been announced yesterday to my newsletter's subscribers who are given priority.

Plus the usual "shooting from the hip" post. I didn't have the time last week for a meaningful rant..but you never know.