My Look on Citizen Couture

Few weeks ago, I was in NYC and had a chance to meet Jason who is behind an amazing blog, Citizen Couture. As I've imagined, he is very sweet, extremely charming, and easy to talk to. It was a pleasure to meet Jason. I'm glad that we've finally met.

Thank you Jason for featuring me on your fabulous blog. Your pictures are always beautiful and your blog always impresses me.

My readers, please check out my look at Citizen Couture.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments! Wish you a wonderful day! xoxo...Hanh :)

Portofino -a Luxury Relax

Portofino is a kind of Paradise for those who looks for luxury relax in Italy. There are different places everybody knows they are from this level here: Capri as an other example. If Capri is more "alive" with it's 2 towns and some brethtaking sightseeings, Portofino seemed to me decisively more isolated from the life. The right place for those who is tired by the great crush of the cities.


«Портофино, кусочек рая на земле» на Яндекс.Фотках

I was in Portofino when I came in Italy as a tourist, and it's about 20 years ago, there was this little village probably built to serve the owners of the villas over it (they tell about Roman origins). The village is lent to the rocks from one side and has a seafront where you can walk (about 300 m long, I think) and sit in one of the cafes.

You can come there with a car and leave it in a garage, too (as we did). Than you can have an excursion. Behind the houses, there is an antique street -very spectacular for those who likes such walks- and you can reach that villa over there (it was the municipality, if I remember it good).


«Набережная Портофино» на Яндекс.Фотках

The little port was full of big and not too big yachts when we were there. People like to pass some time there.In fact, this port is not only isolated from the land but the only road of access is not always open for visitors, too. At least it was so when we were there.

From time to time Italy is shaked up by the stories that happen with the families living in the luxury villas in Portofino, and if you want to write a book, it's probably the best place where to pass a productive vacation. I assure, you will have many inspirational moments when you stay there.


«Бухта Портофино» на Яндекс.Фотках

 If you want to visit Portofino as a tourist, the best decision is to come there with a cruise ship: one day stay is enough to explore the place. You have to choose luxury cruise lines because they have relatively little ships that can enter such little ports.

The View From The Top

We normally go skiing in Colorado every year. However, this year was our first time skiing in Lake Tahoe. It's a picture-perfect image of a winter wonderland. I love the lake view the most, overlooking the incredible blue waters of Lake Tahoe. It is just breathtaking. I stopped and took a picture every time I was at the top. "Mama, that's enough. We should keep going, come on!" Yes, my kids complained that we had enough pictures, but I felt I didn't. It's just because the pictures don't do it justice. Really, the feeling on top of the mountains, around you with all the beautiful white snow, and with the lake view, it was like a dream. My camera couldn't capture my feeling, neither the view that my eyes captured. But, I tried my best to photo it. Here are the pictures of the views, mostly it is the lake view.

From the mobile phone. That day was warm that you can see no snow on the trees.

This is from the mobile phone through my ski goggles. I took this when it was the end of our last day of skiing.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments! Wish you all a lovely weekend! xoxo...Hanh :)

Medieval Feast in Antique Benedictine Abbey

Benedictine Abbey of Cava dei Tirreni (not far from Salerno and very comfortable to reach from Naples) celebrates it's Millennium this year. This very interesting place I've just wrote before (Reinforce Your Spirituality in an Antique Monastery) has an interesting story to tell to those who likes Medieval Feasts and "alive" shows. In 1092, this monastery was visited by Pope Urban II who consecrated the church built by S.Alferio. Urban II together with duke Roger of Salerno and his court came to the monastery at feet.



In the first weekend of September, today, you can assist a very interesting representation of this important for the Abbey event, when you can see all the residents of the village Corpo di Cava that was built to serve the necessities of monks and pilgrims showing not only the event but the style of live of the population at the time when Normanns ruled the region.



Flag flyers show their art, trombonieri (trumpet players) and jugglers, and -clear- many many tasty things fruits of this earth.



If you are interested to visit the Abbey, you can contact me (liudmila-@hotmail.it) or directly the guides of Badia (Abbey -www.badiadicava.it). You can stay one day or more there or in one of the B&B-s or other structures of the zone. Write me and I'll help you to plan your trip in Italy.

The photos are kindly offered by the guides of Badia di Cava dei Tirreni.

A New Dawn In Egypt?

Photo © Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

It's surreal to be at the cusp of starting on a photo~expedition while my country of origin is experiencing an unprecedented massive popular uprising to get rid of the current regime of Mubarak, the Egyptian president....who announced that he would remain as its leader but sack its government.

There are a number of thoughts that come to mind. This is a real organic grassroots popular uprising in Egypt against an extremely unpopular and corrupt regime. The Egyptians participating in the uprising are secular, young, educated and less so, and are technological-savvy. There are no signs of religious ideology, of Islamist influence, in these demonstrations.

I sensed that many of the Western pundits are shocked (and possibly disappointed) that there is no whiff of Islamic extremism in the demonstrations...this pulls the rug from under the Western (and the current Egyptian leadership) interests who would like to characterize the uprising as another Iran.

While Mubarak signaled his decision to stay in power, it's not up to him any longer. It's the Egyptian youth who will decide the course of the nation...as it should be.

It's an unparalleled opportunity for the United States to support the Egyptian people in its quest for democracy, and eliminate all anti-Americanism feelings in the whole region by doing so. Imagine if the US administration unequivocally declares its support for the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt!

Incha' Allah there will be a new dawn for Egypt and its people.

(Posted from Delhi)

Krakow -- looking toward Festival of Jewish Culture

People often ask what it's like at the Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow... this Polish television video from 2004 of David Krakauer, Josh Dolgin (So-Called) and group captures the atmosphere at the marathon final concert held the last Saturday night of the festival.

I was there, down front -- as the picture below (which I took) bears witness!

Final concert, Krakow. 2004. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Comme Des Garcons Deconstruction

Comme des Garcons has the most deconstructed designs, as well as Junya Watanabe and Tao CdG. They create unusually structured clothes, asymmetrical shapes. With most pieces, you might not know what it will look like while they're on the hanger. You must try it on first. It's surprisingly fabulous. Yes, it takes some time to figure out how to put it on. Unbuttoning, buttoning, and twisting the piece, it unexpectedly gives you a different look. You definitely have fun playing with it. Every piece is an investment, a work of art in your closet. Because the design is distinctive and characteristic, it's never out of style. Rei Kawakubo, Junya Watanabe, and Tao Kurihara are geniuses.

Their designs play with the imagination. What do you think about this top, by Tao CdG? How does it look to you?

Pierre Hardy shoes. NhaKhanh thumb hole mesh top.

Untied the front. It looked like I had a scarf on.

Rajvi Vora ring. They said it's a Indian frog. It looks like a gecko to me. Vintage Comme des Garcons bag.

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

The Clouds

When I was a little girl, I liked to look up to the sky and imagine the clouds in many different shapes such as cute animals, pretty angels, beautiful flowers, or gentle waves...I loved it, especially when we made a trip with my father or brothers to the rice field in the countryside. It felt like the sky was so low that I could touch it. My feeling was so cheerful and happy, that's when I learned that just simple things in life make us happy. It depends on our mind. Yes, whenever I've thought about these childhood memories it still makes me happy.

Sometimes now, I still like to look up to the sky at the pretty clouds with my children. I also like to look out of the window to watch the clouds when I fly in an airplane. It's just amazing how beautiful it is and it looks like layered marble.

These pictures were taken when I flew in an airplane.

The pictures below were taken by mobile phone.

Don't you think it would be awesome to have a Tshirt or a dress with the cloud print. I maybe design one for me :)

Thank you everyone for visiting! Wish you all a wonderful day! x0x0...Hanh :)

ps: Thank you everyone for your comments on my new hair cut!! I love it!!

An Essay On Photojournalists' Scarves....Or Not

This essay on scarves was written and sent to me by a photographer-photojournalist who wants to remain anonymous. Complaints, thoughts and remarks can be sent to him/her. I've edited, reworded and excised parts to keep it shorter.

"The first reason for photojournalists wearing scarves is that these instantly and with certainty identifies you as a PHOTOJOURNALIST, and removes you from the pool of suckers known simply as "photographers", especially "art" photographers.

The second reason photojournalists love scarves (especially those of ethnic origin) is that it tells non-photojournalists know that we are exotic, and that we do exotic, non 9 to 5, non traditional type things.

The third reason is that wearing the ethnic scarf will make other people instantly assume the photojournalist has a deep connection with, has spent time living with, has created a powerful but yet unseen photographic essay about, the ethnic group that wears that particular scarf.

The most popular, but lacking in credibility is the Keffiyeh. It has become stylish, fashionable, and carries with it a strong hint of activism. It's out of favor except for newbies. It's one thing to wear it around the neck...which is barely passable, and quite another having your picture wearing it as a turban (think Yasir Arafat) on your website bio or Facebook page...this signals the world you're a miserable ass...and that you're prematurely bald.

The second type of scarf is the Cambodian Krama. This particular scarf shows you have worked in the conflict ridden regions of Cambodia (also known as Angkor Wat), and most probably Thailand's southern beach wars as well, and that you suffered from malaria and bouts of sunburn, and dangerous girls on the battlefields of Koh Samui.

The third is the African scarf- the Tagelmust. Worn by Tuareg nomads in the Sahara, these scarves are worn by the old school of photojournalists- those who have covered the north African conflicts, tragedies like Darfur, the Western Sahara, the Polisario, Algeria, even Southern Sudan! This is the Ferrari of scarves."

By the way, if you haven't seen and bookmarked Shit Photojournalists Like, you ought to. I don't think it has mentioned scarves, yet...but it will have to sooner or later. You'll see.

Jackie Alpers: Food Photographer

Photo © Jackie Alpers-All Rights Reserved

What is a food photographer doing on the blog of The Travel Photographer, you ask?

Well, it's a case of mistaken identity from Jackie's side. You see, I saw a message yesterday in my tweet feed from Jackie Alpers saying that she was thrilled to have been featured on The Travel Photographer's blog. Since I was flying over the Atlantic at the time, and unaware that I had posted any new posts since leaving New York City earlier that day, I was puzzled.

Not for long though. I clicked on the link on her tweet and saw that it led to a "travel photographer"...a generic kind of blog giving no photographer name, no personal identity and seemingly just a sort of website to sell stuff....or something.

I was initially excited to see that someone may have had the silly idea to ape my blog and risk legal headaches...but it soon waned when I realized what it was.

Jackie sounded so thrilled in her tweet that I decided to feature her work on the REAL The Travel Photographer blog. May it bring her luck and exposure.

Jackie Alpers is a food, culture & cuisine photographer based in Tucson, Arizona who specializes in photography for cookbooks and magazines, among others. Her biography is quite interestingly illustrated, and I recommend you drop her website.

Exhibitions -- Epstein show in Kiev prolonged

Just a note -- Leonid Finberg advises that the Mark Epstein exhibit at the National Art Museum in Kiev has been prolonged until Feb. 17. I posted on the exhibit a couple of day ago.

Geoffrey Hiller: India

Photo © Geoffrey Hiller-All Rights Reserved

I've recently received an email from Geoffrey Hiller with the link to his dedicated India website with photo galleries of its various cities and areas. The one that caught my particular attention, since I've announced a photo expedition to Kolkata during the Durga Puja, was his work in Kolkata . The rest of his galleries are of Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai.

You'll see that Geoff's photographs of this quintessential Indian city is a mix of environmental portraits and classic street photography, including a few shots made during the Durga Puja too.

To my knowledge, Geoffrey Hiller is one of the first photographers who embraced multimedia, and I recall his work on Burma which introduced me (and certainly others) to this medium. His photography has been published in the United States, Europe, and Japan in such publications as Geo, Newsweek, Mother Jones, and The New York Times Magazine. His photo-essays have covered Asia, Latin America, Europe, and West Africa, and his multimedia projects about Vietnam, eastern Europe, Ghana, Burma, and Brazil have earned recognition from Adobe, the Soros Foundation, Apple, The Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today.

(Posted From London)

Finally the outfit post...

Finally, the outfit post is here. Wearing: a Rick Owens jacket, Dolce & Gabbana polka dots top, Rag & Bone thumb hole black top (wore underneath) and leggings, Guiseppe Zanotti leopard wedges, Margiela clutch, and The Woods necklace. Did you notice that I got my hair cut? This is the length when I was dating my husband. Well, It was actually about 1 inch shorter. Now, my kids and I have pretty much the same hair style :-)

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

On My Way: Some Thoughts And My Gear

I'm poised for next week's In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition™, and have now readied/cleaned my cameras and lenses, reformatted all the CF cards, and recharged all batteries. I find this task to be one of the most tedious (but pleasurable at the same time) things I have to do before traveling on a photo expedition or assignment. It's a comfort kind of thing, a kind of reassuring thing to do, a ritual of sorts if you will, but it's still tedious...I don't know how else to describe it....and I don't know how all my stuff finally fit in my bags (not those in the above picture!).

On the other hand, one of the pre-departure tasks I don't mind doing at all is to review the itinerary I've developed, while trying to anticipate what may go wrong during the trip...my 10 years of leading photo-expeditions have prepared me for snafus, but each photo-expedition and itinerary can bring its own set of challenges.

I always look forward to a new photo-expedition, but this is also accompanied by a smidgen of anxiety. After all, I'll be meeting new photographers who've joined it, and while we've developed an online relationship with emails and links of mutual interest for the past months, a "face to face" is different. Neither of us knows what to really expect from each other.

As for those of you who are interested in gear-talk, here's the list:

Photo Equipment:

Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 7D (which replaces my trusty old friend the Canon 1D Mark II)
Canon 70-200mm f2.8
Canon 24-70mm f2.8
Canon 17-40mm f4.0
Canon 24mm f1.4
Canon 580EX II Strobe
Lumix GF1 with 20mm


Audio Equipment:

Marantz PMD620
ATR6250 Stereo Microphone
SONY Headphones

A F-3X Domke shoulder bag

13" MacBook Pro

2 Iomega hard drives (500mb and 1TB).

And my krama scarf. The most important item!

As I wrote a few times, I can't wait for the time when cameras such as the Lumix GF1 (the so-called EVIL cameras) perform as well as the current crop of digital SLRs...and reduce the enormous load factor that I'm obliged to carry on these trips.

I will try to post as much as I can...no problem from London of course, and perhaps none from Delhi except for availability of time. Once I'm in Gujarat though, it'll be silence from The Travel Photographer.

Candlesticks on Stone -- Videos added to web site

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I have added some videos to my Candlesticks on Stone web site -- click HERE for the link.

Leslie Mazoch: Escaramuzas

"We're not just pretty things anymore".

Charreria is Mexico's most traditional equestrian sport, and was dominated by males for many years. However, the presence of skilled female equestrians performing dangerous and synchronized exercises while riding sidesaddle led to the creation of escaramuzas (the Spanish word for scuffle) charras. These women train tirelessly for the chance to show off their equestrian choreography.

Escaramuzas is a "photo-movie" produced by Leslie Mazoch of her black & white stills and ambient audio, which includes a beautiful poem in Spanish (with English sub-titles). It could have been titled Mexican Amazons, since it documents Mexican women who take up this noble sport, and who ride their horses sidesaddle. From what I gathered from the slideshow, the escaramuzas was an accidental tradition that started in 1953, and was influenced by the gypsies of Spain.

Leslie Mazoch is a photographer and photo editor for the Associated Press in Mexico for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Candlesticks on Stone -- HBI announcement of my fellowship

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Here's the link to the page on the web site of the Hadassah Brandeis Institute announcing my fellowship as scholar in residence -- click HERE

While at the HBI, Ruth will be working on (Candle)sticks on Stone: Representing the Woman in Jewish Tombstone Art (begun in 2009 with an HBI research grant), which centers on a photographic documentation of the often elaborate tombstones of women in the historic Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe, mainly in and around the Bucovina region of northern Romania -- including the Jewish cemetery in Radauti, where some of her ancestors are buried. Focusing on the remarkably varied sculptural representation of candlesticks on these tombs, the project fuses visual documentation and photographic art with research, reportage, reflection and memoir. It encompasses issues of gender, identity and tradition and explores how tradition is (or is not) transmitted. The project is centered on a public web site and blog, but will also result in more traditionally published works.

The Candlesticks web site is http://candlesticksonstone.wordpress.com

Eyes - Breathing - McQueen

In the last post, I mentioned about my niece's friend, Ignacio. Ignacio Torres is a young, talented fashion photography artist. His work has been exhibited in the Dallas/Ft.Worth metroplex and was awarded the Cora E. Stafford Scholarship for an emerging photographer in 2010. Ignacio is currently working in personal projects that explore the magical and supernatural through the use of photography and animation. He currently lives and works in New York City. Please, check out his work at his website. It's definitely fascinating. Now, I'd like to share a few of his movement photos. The model is my beautiful niece, Pauline.

EYES. Pauline and her friend. They had on Rick Owens gray mesh jacket and Ann D black top.

BREATHING. Pauline had on Ann Demeulemeester 14 buckles belt, Alexander McQueen leggings, and Givenchy boots.

Alexander McQueen knuckles clutch.

Thank you everyone for visiting and comments! Wish you all a wonderful day!! xoxo...Hanh :-)

Ukraine -- Mark Epstein Exhibition in Kiev

From National Art Museum web site.

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I gladly pass on information received from Leonid Finberg in Kiev about a current exhibition at the National Art Museum there of the work of the avant garde Kiev painter Mark Epstein, who was active in the 1920s. (THIS LINK to the museum web site provides information in Ukrainian.)

The exhibition presents works of the Kiev period of Epstein's life and represents Epstein's first solo show. It opened in mid-December and runs til the end of January.

 The Kiev Judaic institute has published a book on Epstein to go with the exhibit, Mark Epstein. Return of the Master, that includes illustrations of approximately 60 of Eptein's works, most of which are published here for the first time. 

Dr. Finberg adds:

Mark Epstein was a notable figure in the artistic life of Kyiv during the 1920’s. In 1928, having just finished the Kyiv Arts College , he immersed himself into the progressive arts movement of that time. He attended O. Exter’s art studio where his newest creative ideas were polished. Mark Epstein’s cubic-futurist works of the beginning of the 1920’s – Violoncellist, Family, Tailor, The Two, A Woman with a Yoke – have become part of the history of modern Ukrainian art.

Epstein was one of the founders of the artistic section of the Culture League – an association whose aim was the development of Jewish culture. Members of the section also included O.Tishler, El Lysytsky, J. Chaikov, S. Nikritin, and others. Marc Chagall, N. Altman, R. Falk, and D. Sterenberg also cooperated with the Culture League. In their effort to create new Jewish art, members of the Culture League synthesized images of traditional art with Ukrainian avant-garde ideas.

Epstein took an active part in this work. Unfortunately, only the graphic works of Epstein have been preserved from the 1920’s; representations of his sculptures have survived only as photos, while his paintings have been totally lost.

The work of the Culture League was terminated in the middle of the 1920’s. In 1932, Epstein had to move to Moscow . He took practically no part in exhibitions there, but worked a great deal. However his attempts to adjust his talent to the requirements of the times bore no evident fruit.

Proenza Schouler Spring 2011

Proenza Schouler has defenitely become one of my favorite labels lately. I'm so in love with with the Spring 2011 collection. The colors and the style of all the pieces are just simply beautiful. LOVE!

Wish you all a wonderful day!! xoxo...Hanh :-)