WP: Rain in Angkor

Image Copyright © Stephen Brookes-All Rights Reserved
The Washington Post brings us an 'aimed at tourists' slide show feature on Angkor and Siem Reap.

Stephen Brookes went to Cambodia to see the famous temples of Angkor in July at the peak of monsoon season. Seasoned travelers warned him that going during the monsoon rains would be madness and that he would face more than 50 inches of rain, waste his time being stranded in your hotel, and swatting at mosquitoes.

He shares my contrarian idea that the monsoon is the best time to see Cambodia because there are few tourists (comparatively), and the rain rarely lasts more than an hour or two. The rain is usually refreshing, and the landscape turns lush, and colors take on richer hues. During my photo-expedition to Angkor Wat, we avoided the crush of tourists by photographing at the temples and ruins at the break of light, benefiting from cool mornings, and excellent light.

I think that Stephen's assertion that the monsoon season is the only time to go to Cambodia for photographers is somewhat of an exaggeration, however it's certainly a great time to go. I traveled to Laos in August and my experience was similar to his...excellent light, saturated colors and rain that lasted 2-3 hours at most.

The Washington Post insists in prefacing its multimedia shows with hideous advertisements...I bet many people just refuse to watch them, and either miss out on the features altogether, or go catatonic while they play until the feature starts. I just turn off the sound and look elsewhere for 30 seconds.

WP's Gallery: Pray For Rain in Angkor

WP's Article: When It Rains, You Score

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Posted in: Cambodia,Multimedia,Photojournalism

NY Times: Bourbon & Bluegrass

Image Copyright © Susana Raab/NY Times-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times combines Kentucky Bourbon and the wonderful music of bluegrass to bring us a multimedia feature with photographs by Susana Raab.

The accompanying article is by Steven Kurutz who fashioned the itinerary "in the style of a bluegrass song: a defined structure but with ample room for improvisation."

The first part of the trip was spent on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, visiting seven distilleries open to the public. The final stop was at the 6th annual Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration in Rosine, the birthplace of Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass.

A delightful little piece of Americana...and great live music.

Multimedia feature: Bourbon & Bluegrass

Article: Bourbon & Bluegrass

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Posted in: Multimedia,Photographers: Photojournalists,Photojournalism

Steve Bloom: Africa

Image Copyright © Steve Bloom-All Rights Reserved
Steve Bloom is certainly among the top ranked wildlife photographers in the world...an artist who specializes in evocative images of the natural world. He was born in South Africa and moved to England in 1977, where he worked in the graphic arts industry for many years. In the early nineties, during a visit to South Africa, his interest in wildlife photography emerged, and within a short time he had swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer.

Steve usually sets his own assignments, confident that images produced from the heart will ultimately be rewarding. When not traveling the world photographing wildlife, he works in his high-tech digital studio where he sometimes spends long periods fine-tuning individual images before printing them.

His photographs are seen around the world in calendars, posters, advertising, editorial features and a multitude of other products, and his books have been published in 15 languages.

I chose to feature Steve's admirable slideshow "Africa" project, which captures the raw energy of the people and animals of Africa. Particularly interesting to me are his photographs of the tribes of Ethiopia.

Incidentally, Steve's sister, Susan Storm, is equally talented...a photographer, a published travel writer and a superb jewelery crafter. Her work can be seen on Maya Gems

Steve Bloom's Africa gallery

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Posted in: Africa,Photographers: Travel

Praful Rao: India

Image Copyright © Praful Rao-All Rights Reserved
Praful Rao was born in Kalimpong, India, and after serving in the Indian Air Force for 23 years as an air traffic controller, he returned to his home town to run an internet café and concentrate on his photography. He is also involved in social causes like consumer movement, anti drugs and AIDS work and environmental issues.

He is a self taught photographer whose interest in photography spans almost a whole lifetime. Having been introduced to photography as a teen, he has used a variety of film cameras for his work, yet the advent of digital cameras has given new emphasis to his photography.

He specializes in no particular field, choosing to capture whatever catches his eye or creating photographs from themes in his mind. Though most of his photography is of people and nature, he has done some serious work on minimalism, still life and still enjoys doing black & white work.

Praful Rao's People Gallery

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Posted in: India,Photographers: Travel

Beyond The Frame: Bhutanese Novices

Image Copyright © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
During my 2006 Bhutan Photo-Expedition, I was photographing at the Jambey Lhakhang, one of the oldest monasteries in the country, a few hours before its annual festive tshechu, and came across these two novices horsing around with toy-guns. I guess boys will be boys, but seeing two Budhhist novices possessing such toys was still a surprise....after all, Buddhism teaches non-violence, no? I took some solace in the presumption that when these toy guns were found by their teachers, they'd be confiscated.

After decades of fighting off outside technological influences like television, the King of Bhutan allowed transmissions to commence in the Kingdom for the first time in June of 1999. This has had a fundamental change over the people of Bhutan. To me, it's clear from the pose taken by the novice on the right that he's imitating something he's seen on television.

Another noticeable change in Bhutan is in women's hairstyles. Before the advent of television in 1999, the majority of Bhutanese women had their hair in pageboy style (I was told then that Bhutan was the only Asian country where this was the norm)...however, women are now influenced by Indian Bollywood stars, and wear their hair long.

You may think this is a rant...but it's not, honest. It's just an observation. I'll use my rant quota at a later date when I write about the "toxic" side effects of globalism on travel photography...such as the Balinese rice-farmers who wear NY baseball caps...or Virginia Is For Lovers T-shirts.

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Posted in: Beyond The Frame,Bhutan

Kate Holt: Bangladesh

Image Copyright ©Kate Holt-All Rights Reserved
Kate Holt's first solo trip was to Romania, following the fall of Ceausescu in 1991, and may have shaped her career. News of the horrific conditions in which Romania's unwanted children were being kept were in the British headlines and she decided to see what she could do to help. Her year working in Romania's orphanages had a profound effect on her and she returned many times to help.

She turned to journalism and photojournalism, and traveled to Bosnia in the wake of the war and on to Albania to document the refugees who flooded over the border from Kosova in 1999. She also spent over a year uncovering the exploding sex slave trade - young girls trafficked from Romania, Moldova and the Ukraine who were bought and sold as commodities.

Kate works as both an investigative reporter and photographer, and returns to Africa and the Balkans frequently. She combines this with photographing for NGO's, helping to publicise their work through articles, lectures and exhibitions.

Reminscent of my own work on the widows of India, I chose to feature Kate's work in Bangladesh, which focuses on the elderly in this impoverished nation. Her website also list the various charities and NGOs she works for, as well as their websites.

Kate Holt's Bangladesh's Elderly

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Posted in: Bangladesh,Photographers: Photojournalists

G M B Akash: Gordon Parks Center

Image Copyright © G M B Akash-All Rights Reserved
I was pleased to learn that G M B Akash has won first place in the 2007 Gordon Parks International Photo Competition with the above remarkable photograph of a young girl on a train in Bangladesh. Akash tells us that because of Bangladesh’s large population, inadequate number of seats on trains, and inherent poverty, many people are stowaways. This often results in terrible accidents.

I've posted about Akash's photographic talents on TTP here, where in contrast to other mindless agenda-driven blogs, I chose to adopt a less venomous approach to his photograph of a chained Muslim child in a Bangladeshi madrasa.

The Gordon Parks International Photo Competition has been conducted by Fort Scott Community College since 1990. More than 3,100 individuals from around the world have participated in this annual program that, inspired by the photography of Gordon Parks, reflects important themes in life such as social injustice, the suffering of others, and family values.

G M B Akash's Website

Gordon Parks Center's Contest Results

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Posted in: Bangladesh,Events,Photojournalism