Breaking News: 2011 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop


Eric Beecroft has just announced that the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will take place in mid July 2011 in beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina!

The tuition is $500 for regional students (Mexico, and all countries south to Tierra del Fuego; including Caribbean nationals, and $975 for non-regional students. Early registration is available for a non-refundable $100 via Paypal only. The early registration guarantees a spot and places the payer in the front of the line for class choice. Scholarships will be announced shortly.

The instructors' line up include:

Kael Alford
Walter Astrada
Andrea Bruce
Michael Robinson Chavez
Tewfic El-Sawy
Ashley Gilbertson
Ron Haviv
Henrik Kastenskov & Poul Madsen (Bombay Flying Club)
Jared Moosy
Maggie Steber
Ami Vitale
Adriana Zehbrauskas

Look for a Tree when you Travel

What are you looking for when you travel? Palaces? Streets? Artworks? You make an error. You have to look for big trees to understand the very soul of the residents, of the people, of the country you visit.

It is interesting that after 2000 years of monotheism, after entire lives of atheistic education etc, we all remain pagans in that place of our souls where there are our roots. Tender relations with the big trees come from there.


Our ancestors believed that deities lived in the trees. Trees themselves were images of human virtues and negativities. It's clear that the conditions of the life were criterions for the choise of the tree -there were not palms in northen catolic countries, for example, and we use firtrees to replace them.

Central- and north-European populations thought the main forces populated crowns of the oaks. Those were King-trees. So, that mani royalities had oaks in their gardens. And the ribellious, when they wanted to hit their governors, kept going at their trees even in the modern times.

In the Middle Ages, the agressors took care to go in the most important for the country places like churches etc where, strangely enough, grew the big trees, to annihilate those trees.

Oak was center of the Universe, Ideal world, world itself.

Свидетель былых времён
«Свидетель былых времён» на Яндекс.Фотках

If the oak was personification of the power, manhood, strength, Pines were a kind of antenna, axis, connecting this world with that celestial. A symbol of ethernity (evergreen) and longevity. Pines were used for funeral fire.

В гордом одиночестве
«В гордом одиночестве» на Яндекс.Фотках

I omit other trees like birch, symbol of youth, spring and verginity, for not too mach place in a post, to pass to a personification of the bad (not negative) forces. Even for pagans "black and white" were only sides of entire fenomenon. Aspen. This tree's sawn end becomes blue and it signify death. And the deity of the death lived in the crown of this tree. That is why it was forbidden to hide under it. But it protected from evils of all kinds. Included insects (fen-cricket) that could destroy the gardens (making a fence from asp around it).

Даль туманная....
«Даль туманная....» на Яндекс.Фотках

Far from us cultures had similar behaviour. I did not find information about the deestruction of the trees of the enemies, maybe my friends from Asia coul help me with their tales. For Muslim, planting mulberry tree or plane tree was very appreciated by Allah action.

So, if you visit an other country, look what trees are venerated by the population to understand their soul.
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Want to become a reporter assignment and to partecipate on the inauguration of the biggest cruise ship? Send your video till October 10. Details in "The Marvelous World of Travel"

There are some free cabins else with the discounts till $630 for those who dreams to visit Southern Caribbean (02/26,2011; 03/12,2011; 04/16,2011; 11/06,2011), Pacific Northwest (05/03,2011, 05/14,2011,) and Alaska (05/20,2011; 06/03,2011; 06/05,2011; 09/16,2011; 11/06,2011). If you are interested, contact me (liudmila@lazy-yogi.com or writing a comment here) -it's an exclusive offer and you will not find it in other places.

NYT's One In 8 Million Gets An Emmy

I was very glad to read that The New York Times’ multimedia series One in 8 Million won an Emmy Award in the “new approaches to documentary” category a few days ago, and that its producers and all those involved were deservedly recognized and honored.

For those who don't know,  the series is a collection of stories told with audio and photography that portray everyday New Yorkers. Unfortunately, it was only featured for 12 months...presumably because the creators didn't want it to go on any further, but I never found out the reason behind that.

Why would I devote a post on this, instead of just a Tweet? Well, apart from thinking it was extremely well produced, I used One in 8 Million as a teaching tool during my Introduction To Multimedia class with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali (India) and in Istanbul.

I used the series as an example to stress to my classes the need for simplicity (the "keep it simple" doctrine), the need to humanize the story and the need for brevity.  Whichever one of the series that the class attendees watched, they unanimously agreed that these were inspirational.

From reading the interview conducted by James Estrin with the staff photographer Todd Heisler, the senior multimedia producer Sarah Kramer, and the photo editor Meaghan Looram, I learned that the audio was recorded before the photography took place..I didn't know that, and I am certain to share this interview with my future classes.

A very well deserved recognition!

Candace Feit: Orissa's Tribals

Photo © Candace Feit -All Rights Reserved  
Candace Feit is a photojournalist currently residing in New Delhi, and was featured on the pages of The Travel Photographer blog a number of times.

Her photographs of West Africa  (she was based earlier in Dakar, Senegal) appeared in the The New York Times, Le Monde, Le Figaro, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and Time magazine, among others.

Candace has recently published more Indian photo stories, including this one on the Adivasis of Orissa.  Orissa has one of the largest concentrations of tribal population in India, and according to a government census, they number around 7 million.They are neglected by the central government, and suffer from extreme poverty.

This has given rise to a fertile environment for the Naxalite anti-government movement, which exploits the vulnerability of the tribals, and forces then to take sides. In turn, the Indian government is battling this separatist movement, and the Adivasis find themselves in the middle of the conflict.

Jeffrey Campbell

I'm in the mood for less expensive shoes, but still fabulous shoes. Look at these shoes below, don't you think they're amazing? They definitely made it into "My A list of fabulous shoes in my closet." This is an example that you don't have to spend lots of money to have fabulous shoes. Thank you to Solestruck and Freepeople website. But, if you want to spend to the max for higher end designer brand shoes and your pocket allows you to do so, then why not go for it. My thinking about fashion is all about spending what you're comfortable with, having fun, being happy and confident...
These Jeffrey Campbell Lita boots are from Solestruck. They're ridiculously comfy, definitely high and so hot. Love it!

And these Miramar straps Platform wedges are from Freepeople, also Jeffrey Campbell. I love the straps. The shoes are amazingly light, comfy, and awesome. I love Jeffrey Campbell shoes!

HOME-COOKING.

In Vietnamese cuisine, there is a dish called "Bo tai chanh", it means beef carpaccio cured with lemon juice. One day, I was tired of beef and wanted something different, but I wanted the same flavor as Bo tai chanh. Here is what I came up with: Fresh salmon carpaccio cured with lemon juice.

Here's what you need: sweet-sour fish sauce, 1 sliced red bell pepper, 1 sliced orange bell pepper (you could use any color bell pepper that you like), 1 medium side sliced red onion, a handful of cherry tomatoes (sliced them in half), a handful of chopped cilantro, a handful of chopped rice-paddy herb (called Ngo Om in Vietnamese), minced a handful of unsalted roasted peanuts, 8 oz of fresh lemon juice (I used about 6 large fresh lemon), a thin bed of mixed green salad in a large plate, and I sliced fresh sockeye salmon about 3 cups. The preparation as you see in the pic below. First, put sliced fresh salmon in 8 oz fresh lemon juice for 10'. During this time, you mix sliced bell pepper and sliced cherry tomatoes with 2 tablespoons sweet-sour fish sauce. Then, you even out this mix on top of the bed of mixed green salad. Pour over this bed the fish sauce which you use for the mixing as in the picture below.

After 10', you drain out the salmon from the lemon juice (to make sure it's comply drained). Transfer the salmon into a big bow. Now, add 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon concentrated fish sauce, sliced red onion, chopped peanuts, and 1 tablespoon sweet-sour fish sauce. Mix. After that, pour evenly over the top of the green salad-bell pepper-cherry tomatoes bed as you see in the picture below. There, you have a delicious, healthy salad. Enjoy it with a glass of white Burgundy!! Let me know how it turns out for you :) To make sweet-sour fish sauce: 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon concentrated fish sauce, about 3/4 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoon water. You could add more water depending on if you want it less or more salty. I use Viet Huong-Three Crabs brand fish sauce.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments! Wishing you all a wonderful day!! Hug...Hanh :)

ps:I try to post once a week. I'll update to share my looks, food, places, etc...daily on twitter-lifeintravel. I'm thinking about facebook. I'll let you know if I have one :)

David Myers: City of The Dead


The City of the Dead is produced by David Myers, a part-time photographer who lives in Maryland and works in Washington DC.

The City of the Dead is a four mile long cemetery (a necropolis would be a better word to describe it) which extends from the northern to southern part of Cairo. It's called el-arafa by Egyptians, and is an area of tombs and mausoleums where people live and works amongst the dead. Its foundation dates back to the Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 AD, and has grown with time until it reached the equivalent of a fully functioning residential suburb of Cairo.

I watched this short photo essay, and it brought back childhood memories when, once a year during the Eid festival, I had to accompany my father to pay respects to our ancestors and forebears who were interred in our family's mausoleum. I still recall it being as large as a couple of basketball courts, with two house-like structures sheltering a number of mausoleums, made of marble or alabaster, and intricately carved with verses of the Qur'an. It is under one of those that my father rests, alongside his forebears. The marble gateway to the mausoleums is carved with the name of my grandfather...which is like mine.

This brought back the smell of dust to my nostrils...the Egyptian dust that is tamped down by hosing it with water...the green-grey color of the palm tree leaves...and much more.

I've been to many Islamic countries and heard the adan in all of them...but few of them come  close to beauty and purity of the Egyptian adan. Perhaps I am biased....

Esther Havens: Ethiopia

Photo © Esther Havens-All Rights Reserved

It's very easy to like and admire Esther Havens. She is a humanitarian documentary photographer who focuses on social-awareness campaigns with Non Profit Organizations around the world, and spent the past two years capturing stories on water projects in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Haiti and Central African Republic.

She traveled to over 40 countries and, as she says "...seeks to open hearts and minds to see the third world conditions in a way that might challenge them to make a difference".She's especially supportive of charity:water, which she urges everyone to support.

Her website has many galleries of her travels to Ethiopia, Uganda, CAR, Iraq, Rwanda, Mozambique, Jordan, Nicaragua, India and others in Asia and South America.

The above photograph is from Esther's Ethiopia gallery.

My Work: Bali: Ngaben (Cremation Ceremony)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Here's the first of a number of audio-slideshows of Balinese traditional events which I worked on following my return from my Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition

Ngaben: Cremation Ceremony is a thematic multimedia photo-essay of black and white stills and ambient sound of a cremation ceremony for 6 villagers held on August 11, 2010 in Blahbatuh. The actual cremation was almost a whole day event, and was preceded by a ceremony of remembrance at one of the villagers' homes during which food and drinks were partaken by the families, villagers, friends, neighbors and whoever else wanted to share in the occasion.

While Balinese Brahmins and its wealthier class cremate their dead as soon as death occurs, the poor need to accumulate funds to do the same for their dead...and frequently organize group cremations to spread the costs. This means that years can pass before their dead are finally cremated. The Balinese Hindu tradition calls for bodies to be cremated in order to free the soul from all worldly ties, and as such the cremations are usually bitter-sweet occasions, since it provides closure to families.

During this event, some bodies were exhumed just before the cremation, bones and skeletons were washed...and these remains were put in coffins placed in sarcophagi fashioned in the form of bulls. These are called wadah or lembu that are made of bamboo, papier mache and cotton fabric. The climax of Ngaben is the burning of the structures and the bodies.

During other cremations I've attended, fire accelerants were used to speed up the process. On this occasion, I didn't see any.

The audio slideshow is also iPad-compatible.

Andreas Burgess: In The Courtyard of the Beloved

Photos © Andrea Burgess -All Rights Reserved

 I am thrilled to have stumbled on Andrea Burgess' magnificent In The Courtyard of The Beloved, a visual and aural "portrait" of the Dargah of Nizam Uddin Auliyah, a Sufi shrine in Delhi. The shrine is for the revered Hazrat Nizam Uddin, a famous Sufi saint of the Chisti Sect in South Asia, whose main tenet is in drawing close to God through renunciation of the world and service to humanity.

The title of the documentary refers to the title given to Nizzam Uddin by his followers; Mahboub Ilahi or beloved of God. In fact, the qawwali ( style of Sufi devotional music) songs performed at the shrine in his remembrance and praise address Nizzam Uddin as mahboob ilahi.

The "portrait" is made from over 18,000 still images and ambient sounds which were recorded on-site by Andreas... 18,000 still images!!!! Imagine the amount of editing that Andreas had to do!!! It was produced by Sadia Shepard.

The Dargah of Nizzam Uddin is one of my favorite places to photograph in Delhi, and I have a ton of images made in the area, and Andreas' work has given me fresh impetus to spend even more time there when I'm next in Delhi.

I guarantee you'll agree that this is high quality inspirational work, and I strongly recommend it to readers of The Travel Photographer blog, particularly to those who, like me, are interested in multimedia, South Asian Sufism and Indiaphiles. I already sent the link to participants of my forthcoming In Search of Sufis Photo~Expedition™

Very well done, Andreas and Sadia!

Kashmir: Will 2011 Be It ???

Photo © Altaf Qadri/ AP Courtesy SacBee's The Frame-All Rights Reserved

 I read with interest that the Indian government announced it would start releasing jailed protesters, ease security in Kashmiri towns and cities, reopen schools and universities, and offering financial compensation to the families of those killed since the protests in June.

I've been keen to go to Kashmir for a number of years, but was stymied by political unrest in the region, by conflicting time constraints and other destinations. I certainly kick myself for not taking the opportunity of being in Manali with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in 2009, and travel to Srinagar as some in the workshop did.

So the possibility of a solo-trip (or even a group photo-expedition) to Kashmir is once again rearing its head because of this announcement...only time will tell if the Indian government is serious with this new policy, or whether it's just a public relations stunt before the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

I'm eager to photograph in Kashmir...and its rich and unique Islamic traditions. In all my years of traveling in India, I have not made it yet. Something tells me that 2011 will be it... Inch' Allah.

Next Week on The Travel Photographer


I'm starting a Sunday feature in which I announce some of the posts in the pipeline for the rest of the week. Most of my posts are scheduled ahead of time but there are exceptions, which occur when I stumble on an interesting portfolio, website or issue..

I've also been frequently complimented on my POVs...and especially those containing rants. I will try my best to come up with those as soon as I can.

For the week starting Monday September 27, I have posts on:

1. A fantastic multimedia project involving Indian Sufis. You will NOT want to miss this one!
2. The work of a talented photographer involved in NGOs.
3. The work of another talented photojournalist featuring tribal life in Orissa.
4. A movie by a British journalist featuring prostitution in India.

I'm also going to release an audio slideshow of my work in Bali during the week. It documents a cremation ceremony.

Oh, and by the way...so far, I've written about 2000 posts for The Travel Photographer!

My Work: Balinese Dancers

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

As some participants in my photo~expeditions seek to return with a diverse portfolio, I try to organize alternative styles of photography events during the trip...and although the primary focus is always on merging travel photography with documentary photography, I provide such opportunities to those who join them...depending on the destination.

One of the pre-arranged photo shoots during my recent Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™ was held at the studio of a dance master specializing in the traditional dances of the island. I asked for three Legong dancing students, and one Baris dancer to be made up, costumed and willing to pose for us. Nothing photo-journalistic was intended from it, except perhaps during the make-up preparations, but the objective was fundamentally similar to a fashion photo-shoot.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Notwithstanding, I couldn't resist to make some non-posed photographs such as the one of the Baris dancer with the young daughter of the make-up artist. I always prefer shooting in a landscape format (to get more elements in the frame...and tell more of a story), but I also had to resort to a vertical format to shoot the Baris and Legong dancers in a traditional pose. Both of these images have their uses, and I'm not saying one is better than the other...but the landscape format lends itself better to my kind of shooting style.

30 Days In Muslim America

 Courtesy of Boing Boing

With The New York Times and others reporting discrimination against Muslims in the United States just yesterday, I thought it would be opportune and timely to feature here 30 Days In Muslim America, a photo essay published in the well-known Boing Boing blog, by Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq.

Naturally, discrmination against Muslims has spiked recently as a consequence of the so-called Ground Zero Community Center stupidity and Terry Jones' odious Quran-burning farce, so it's no surprise that The New York Times reported this:
There’s a level of hatred and animosity that is shocking,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney of the E.E.O.C.’s Phoenix office. “I’ve been doing this for 31 years, and I’ve never seen such antipathy toward Muslim workers.
I don't think the photographs featured by Boing Boing are designed to allay the racism, fear and suspicion that face American Muslims, but it's one of the tiny steps that hopefully will add up. Muslims in America, as President Obama said, are not they...they are us.

Eventually, perhaps the traditional Islamic way of life will be accepted (and respected) in the United States as that of the Hasidim in Brooklyn and the Amish in Lancaster...but I'm not holding my breath.

easyJet shares mobile success at Google's Think Mobile

Think Mobile, Google's annual event dedicated to the mobile advertising (R)evelution took place recently at the Royal Opera House in London. If you didn't make it in person, fear not! You can find the presentations on the
Think Mobile YouTube channel.

As we've said in other blog postings, we keep hearing great mobile success stories from Travel advertisers. One such story comes from easyJet, which saw a return of $11 for ever $1 spent on mobile; this is higher than their return on desktop search ads.

In the video below, easyJet UK Marketing Manager, Katie Stitson, speaks about the approach, testing methodology and results achieved.



Wink Willett: Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat

Photo © Wink Willett -All Rights Reserved

Wink Willett was on the participants in my Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition, which took place earlier this year between January 23 and February 7, 2010. Due to conflicting time demands, it took a while for him to upload his photographs of the trip, but he finally got them on his website. Here are those I chose to showcase:

To kick the post off, the above photograph is of an elderly Gujarati Rebari with his wife in the background. This is a spontaneous portrait, made whilst the man was greeting someone else.

Photo © Wink Willett -All Rights Reserved

The above environmental portrait is of two Wadha girls with their goats. The Wadha tribe near Bhuj are traditionally involved in the production of wood charcoal, and are extremely poor. Yet, they take enormous pride in their homes (mostly huts with thatched roofs), the cleanliness of their living quarters and use brilliant colors to spruce them up.

Photo © Wink Willett -All Rights Reserved

The photograph above is of two traditional Rabari shepherds which was made in the south of Rajasthan. The Rabaris are nomadic shepherds, cattle and camel herders, and the men commonly wear white, golden earrings, white or red turbans and carry a big stick in the hand. They wear dhoti and  short double breasted waist coat.

Photo © Wink Willett -All Rights Reserved

During the photo~expedition, we spent a few days in South Rajasthan to photograph at the Baneshwar Mela; an annual religious gathering when event tribal people indigenous to the area converge to the confluence of two rivers. It is there that they remember their dead and cleanse their sins by bathing in the ice-cold water.

Wink Willett is an international banker, and brings to his photographic style the lessons he learned from his many overseas senior postings. Check his website for more of well composed travel photographs.

POV: iPad Re-examined

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved

Well, I've played with it for about a week now and I still am of the opinion that the iPad is a more of a wonderful display-toy-gadget rather than a useful tool. And I think this is exactly what Apple intends it to be. I also read that new features are being worked on to include Apple’s Facetime video chat capability.

I also have seen articles predicting that most portable computer devices in the coming few years will have touch-screens and if so, the iPad was certainly the precursor.

I currently use it to peruse news websites, play time-wasting games (mostly sniper games), and that's it. The only photography-related app I think is really fantastic is the one by The Guardian called The Guardian Eyewitness app for iPad. I have yet to see another as good. If anyone knows of similar apps, please let me know.

The good news is that SoundSlides (my favorite audio-slideshow making software) now has a beta version of program which is iPad-compatible (it auto detects iPads, and using this version allowed me to view my audio-slideshows on the iPad.

Some of my audio slideshows have also been uploaded to my Vimeo page, and I can watch these on the iPad as well. The resolution is not as great as the Soundslides though.

Bottom line: the iPad is cool.

The above images is on the opening frame of my new (and still unreleased) slideshow of Balinese cockfights.

S&F™ Lowepro: MultiMedia Photographer


Here's what is fantastic about being ad-free and not beholden to any manufacturer (or retailer)...I am free in liking or disliking any product I want, and mention my opinion on my blog. I'm not paid to flog a particular product and ignore others that I like. I can use a product from ABC and another from XYZ...I have no particular loyalty to any manufacturer (unless it produces exceptionally good products), nor do I follow a fad...nor another photographer. I like what I like...period.

Now, I happen to like some of the Lowepro products, and I've used a couple of them myself. I use a Top Loader Pro bought in 2000 or 2001 that still works perfectly well, except for one of its zippers that doesn't work any more...it's been badly abused for the past 10 years, and it's grubby...but that's how I like my stuff. I also have a Lowepro backpack and a Stealth Reporter shoulder bag that I seldom use now, but in their heyday, they were great.

I suppose Lowepro realized it had to come up with a separate line of products for the growing number of multimedia photographers, perhaps following Think Tank which also has an interesting product line, and has recently launched the S&F™ Lowepro for the Multimedia Photographer products, which consist of S&F™ Technical Harness with S&F™ Light Utility Belt, S&F™ Slim Lens Pouch 75 AW & 55 AW, S&F™ Audio Utility Bag 100, S&F™ Laptop Utility Backpack 100 AW, S&F™ Lens Exchange Case 200 AW and S&F™ Transport Duffle Backpack.

I am only interested in the S&F™ Audio Utility Bag 100 at this stage, so I'll probably pop in one of the two photography retailers closest to me, and check it out.

I am still enthralled by my The Travel Photographer Pouches, so it'll be difficult to pry them from my hands...but one never knows.

Paris -panoramic photo

We have many fantasies about the world we can't reach. From our school years we know about the legendary cities, empires, events and rithuals that every good educated person has to visit, to see, to partecipate. The life passes and we are still here. We have not seen Paris, we have not drink beer during the Octoberfest in München, we did not climb Everest neither Mont Blanc... It's sad if we think about it from one side. Than, from other point of view, could you imagine that ALL those "good educated" persons climb Everest? What a mess would it be... Poor Everest. It's so good that not all those who dream about it could climb it...

When I begin to think about this unjustice of my destiny, I remember always my favourite German song that tells: my fiancee that's name is Marianne, wants to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon, but I can't accept it because there is not beer there. Here is a nice video with the song. By the way, do you "dance" like Germans when you sing? I like it very much!



If you still want to visit Paris but have not this possibility, here is a nice panoramic photo of this city with splendid song accompaining it:
Paris, panoramic photo

Jørgen Johanson: Kham & Amdo (Tibet)

Photo © Jørgen Johanson -All Rights Reserved

Jørgen Johanson went on his first trip to Asia in 1982, and completed the Annapurna circuit in Nepal. He was hooked from that moment on travel, photography and on Asian cultures.

He's a software development engineer for companies Norwegian companies, and recently took a 2-3 years sabbatical just to travel. Most of his travel has been trips to Asia, but also made some trips to Africa, where he photographed in Ethiopia and Niger. He's also enamored of India and China...but it's the Tibetan culture and the Himalayas that really fascinate him.

Take a look at Jørgen's Kham & Amdo photo galleries (he's got two on his website), and explore the other galleries which include Myanmar (some good shots of the fishermen of Lake Inle) and Bhutan (stop by the lovely photograph of Wangdi Phodrang Dzong in the mist).

Jørgen also self-published a book "Kham And Amdo" which is available on Blurb, which you can preview in its entirety.

Nguyen Thanh Hai: Hanoi

Photo © Nguyen Thanh Hai -All Rights Reserved

Nguyen Thanh Hai is known as Maika Elan, and is a young Vietnamese freelance photographer based in Hanoi whose work is just delightful.

Maika was a selected participant in the Creative Economies workshop at the Asia Europe Forum for Young Photographers in Malaysia, and at the 2010 photojournalism workshop with the Indochina Media Memorial Foundation (IMMF), where she received awards for the best photo essay and best single photograph.

I was initially drawn to her gallery of classical drama, and then to her photographs of Inside Hanoi...which I strongly encourage you to peruse. Maika's sense of color and compositional skills will impress you. I also urge you to visit her Lomography section, which she lets her color affinity loose.

In my view, Maika has an extremely bright future in photography.

Ralph Childs: Bali Island of Odalan

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved

Ralph Childs is a five time participant in my photo~expeditions, and is the seventh to submit samples of his work made during the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™.

The above photograph, which I view as one of the best ones in his Bali portfolio, is of a devotee in a trance during a melasti ceremony at Masceti beach. These trances are not play-acting by any means, and are genuine manifestation of religious fervor which may reach a peak during such important celebrations and rituals.

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved

The above photograph was made during a traditional procession on the same Masceti beach on the Balinese eastern coast during one of the melasti ceremonies we photographed. Melasti is the purification of the Pratima deity and other symbols at a beach, and is a fundamental ritual of a temple's anniversary.

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved

This is one of the candid photographs that Ralph seeks whenever he's traveling. He pursues the theme of "father & son", and this one of the young boy and his father (under the spring's spout) was made at Pura Tirta Empul, where hundreds of devotees come daily to bathe in the temple's sacred springs.

Photo © Ralph N. Childs -All Rights Reserved

The above photograph is of Kecak dancers in an unusual pose, which I believe is towards the end of the performance. The Kecak dance is a comparatively modern Balinese dance, and is also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant. It is performed by a circle of many performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms.

Chicago-based Ralph Childs maintains the blog RNC Photography where he posted more of his Kecak photographs. He also photographs local assignments during week-ends, and works for one of the largest American aerospace and defense technology company.

United States -- neglected Jewish cemeteries are also an issue

Sue Fishkoff has written an important article on JTA highlighting the plight of abandoned Jewish cemeteries -- not in Eastern Europe, but in the United States. Brava Sue!

The plight is far worse in Europe, where thousands of cemeteries lie abandoned in the wake of the Holocaust. But it is important for North American Jews to recognize that there is a similar issue exists "at home," wherever Jews have moved away or moved on. Sue cites the Jewish Cemetery Project of the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies as listing at least 1,375 Jewish cemeteries in the United States and 72 in Canada. (There are about that many Jewish cemeteries in Hungary alone, most of them abandoned.)


Shouldering the burden of forgotten cemeteries

By Sue Fishkoff, · September 20, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- The old Jewish cemetery in Eufaula, Ala., hasn’t been used in years.
“The monuments are just crumbling,” said Sara Hamm.
She and her family are the last Jews living in this once-booming cotton and railway town on the banks of the Chattahoochee River.
The Jewish cemetery’s first burial dates from 1845, when German Jews began arriving as merchants and dry goods salesmen. They bought a synagogue in 1873, but sold it in the early 1900s when their numbers dwindled to several dozen. The cemetery, with its 84 burial plots, fell into disrepair.
In the mid-1980s Hamm’s grandmother Jennie Rudderman began restoring it, righting headstones and clearing away brush. After she died in 1999, Hamm took over as volunteer caretaker. But the job is wearing her down.
“It’s been left to its own accord now, like everything else in small-town America,” she said.
Similar stories repeat across the land, from the rust belt of western Pennsylvania to the Bible Belt in the South.
As factories closed down and populations shifted westward, once-thriving Jewish communities declined and synagogues shut their doors. The only thing left behind, in many cases, were the cemeteries -- with no one, or almost no one, to take care of them.
“The Jewish community knows there is a problem of abandoned cemeteries, but they feel it’s someone else’s problem, or the problem of the descendants of those buried there,” said Gary Katz, president of the 4-year-old Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries, or CAJAC, which spearheads efforts to clean and maintain distressed cemeteries in New York City. “But throughout Jewish history, cemeteries have been a communal responsibility.”
 Read full story at JTA by clicking HERE

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Czech Republic -- interesting web site with photo galleries

Jewish cemetery in Ledec nad Sazavou, with the tombs of Gustav Mahler's grandparents at the rear. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

I've just come across this ample web site, zidovskehrbitov.cz, with  photo galleries of several dozen Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic, as well as other information. The name of the site means "Jewish cemetery."

The web site is in Czech -- but you don't need the language to look at the pictures, which provide general views of cemeteries as well as detail of some of the beautifully carved epitaphs and decoration on individual tombstones.

Random Family Pictures in Provence // Seillans Village

Thank you everyone for the love. I don't have a final decision yet. It's not a bad idea to post once a month, twice a month, or whenever I have time, as many readers suggested. I know for sure, though, that I won't close the blog. It'll be there for you and me as a great memory. I actually learn a lot from the blogworld. You all are my inspiration. You show me the sweetness, the honest heart, and care for people. I truly feel like I know you more and more through your comments in each post. I feel like you all are my friends that I can share everything. It's one of the great feelings in life. Now on with the blog!

Now, look at my big girl! I can see her growing up to be a fine young lady. She's sweet, thoughtful child. She loves reading and science. I'm very proud of her. Love!
Here is my little girl. She's easy going, sweet, and humorous. She loves drawing and wants to be an artist when she grows up. She loves numbers and think that numbers is easy for her. It's nice to hear that :) Oh, she also loves the camera. She makes my day delightful :) Yes, she loves to eat- healthy food.
They are my sunshine :) I'm very proud to be their mom.
With my nephew and his fiance.
We love to play games and make up our own games to play on our trips. It's a great way to entertain the kids while waiting. It's fun. We laugh...Sweet memories! Smelling-game was made up, because there was rosemary and lavender everywhere at our hotel in Provence. We closed our eyes to smell and tell.
The kids and me at Fayence village.
At the hotel.
I wanted to bring this wild cat home from Seillans village, although I'm not a cat person. I love her all white hair, just beautiful.
We went to Seillans village for dinner when we stayed in Provence. Seillans village is a small village. It has small, narrow, up-down hill allies like the rest of old villages in Europe. One thing about it,there are a lot of beautiful wild cats here. I mean a lot! It has two beautiful restaurants in middle of the village with a very romantic setting. The one that we dined is called La Gloire de Mom Pere. It has a star in the Guide Michelin 2010. The food was absolutely delicious. There was a charming old guy playing violin that was a perfect romantic touch for the evening.

Kids's clothing from Crewcuts-Jcrew.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments! Wishing you all a great day ahead! Hugs...Hanh :)

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