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POV: In Praise Of Foundry Photojournalism Workshop

As this blog's followers and readers know, I attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires as a faculty member, and decided I'd jot down my thoughts as to how it progressed and developed.

I attended all four Foundry workshop (Mexico City, Manali, Istanbul and now Buenos Aires), and it was by far the best in terms of organization and infrastructure. Whilst there may be a difference of opinion among faculty members as to the strength of the students projects as presented during the workshops, we all agreed that the organization, the behind-the-scenes work and the two venues (Motivarte and Arte y Arte) were terrific.

The photographers in the faculty were lauded for generously sharing their knowledge and time, but I think the unsung heroes of Buenos Aires' Foundry were its staff, administrators and the local volunteers who made it a wonderful success.

Eric Beecroft, as the visionary force behind the Foundry Workshops, deserves singular praise. He had an idea 4-5 years ago, and made it a reality despite enormous obstacles. As they say, Eric pushed water uphill, and made it to the top. With him, and deserving many kudos for the success of the Buenos Aires workshop are Mansi Midha, Kirsten Luce, Gabriel "Morty" Ortega, Tiffany Clark, Jen Storey, and Hugo Infante. They are excellent photographers in their own right, and you can see their individual biographies here.

Despite their various bouts with tenacious flu, exhaustion and long hours, the staff and local volunteers worked around the clock, and deserve enormous credit for the success of this year's Foundry. Here's to you...and a standing ovation for a well done job!

The students' presentations were shown on the last evening, and having strict time limits for each made it much easier to appreciate. The audience was delighted to have seen such powerful, compelling, creative, imaginative and in a couple of cases, tongue in cheek work.

I will only mention the faculty by saying that, as usual, all instructors exerted tremendous efforts to share their technical knowledge with their classes and beyond. There were incredibly interesting panel discussions, and I, for one, was stunned at some of the instructors' candor in describing the toll their jobs have had on their lives...and yet, they participated in this workshop just because they want to give back.

Finally, a word about Buenos Aires...the combination of the best beef, lamb and chorizos (especially at Glumy and Criollo on Serrano square) in the world, excellent wine, bewitching tango music, and the seductive milongas...as well as some of the most attractive women (and I'm told, handsome men) I've seen, also contributed to it being such an unforgettable experience.

The 2012 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held in Southeast Asia....Viet Nam is on top of the shortlist. Keep your eyes and ears open for the eventual details...and be part of it. You won't regret it.

Terri Gold: Into The Mists of Time

Terri Gold joined my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™ last year, and is now showing her terrific infrared images about life in Guizhou (China) in an exhibition entitled “Into the Mists of Time", of which the above image is part of.

Julie Keyes is curating and presenting the exhibition at 4 North Main Gallery, which is located at 1 North Main Street in Southampton, New York, and will be opened for viewing on July 30th, 12-7PM and July 31st, 12-5PM.

From the exhibition's press release:

Terri Gold’s lifelong body of work “Still Points in a Turning World “focuses on Asia’s vanishing tribal heritage and has been widely published and exhibited. Recently, she was featured in aCurator Magazine and Lenscratch and was a winner in the Planet Magazine and London International Creative Competitions. Gold’s work is interpretive in nature and incorporates the use of infrared light and the invisible light spectrum. She is interested in the myriad ways in which people find meaning in their lives, how an individual explores his or her existence through their traditions.

So if you're in the Hamptons this week-end, don't miss it! Teri's images are unique and well worth your time.

Buenos Aires: The Tango Dancer Is Waiting

Well, we're midway through the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, where the food and wine are remarkable, the women are gorgeous and the music is superb. A photojournalism workshop with intense classes given by top photographers, and interspersed with forays into the night life of this non-sleeping city! It can't get any better.

A group of us went last night to the Salon Canning on Scalabrini Oritz, where we witnessed some of the finest tango musicians, and impressive dancing from the patrons of the establishment.

Although I photographed the dancers, this image of a woman waiting to be asked to dance is the one that remains with me from last night.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop Is Live!

I've been on Buenos Aires since Friday morning, and I've already seen tango street performers, as well as spent many hours at a genuine milonga observing the traditional rituals and procedures that govern the tango, the national dance of Argentina.

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop 2011 has just been inaugurated by a lunch for the faculty, and approximately 130 students are converging towards Motivarte, where the official introduction of students-instructors is scheduled in an hour or so.

Eric Beecroft, in the manner of the Roman emperors, declared the workshop open by saying 'let the games begin'. He didn't really say that...but his speech was infinitely more eloquent.

I ought to get ready to meet my students.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop: Multimedia Class

I'm caffeinated at flying to Buenos Aires tomorrow evening to teach at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (which this year is in Buenos Aires) in just a few days. I will be teaching, along with Rodrigo Cruz (and with Jessica Pons' assistance), a multimedia class that allows its participants to concentrate on the story, rather than on the application. It's structured to show photojournalists how to make quick work of slide show production, using their own images and audio generated in the field, to produce a cogent photo story under the simulation of publishing deadlines.

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is designed photography and emerging photojournalists hone their skills, have a chance to work with some of the world’s best shooters in the field, on real reportage projects, to create multimedia, to see some of the best work being done today, to collaborate, to make contact, plan future projects, develop your own vision and leave the workshop energized, exhausted, and more committed then ever to concerned photography, storytelling and to documenting the world through the lens.

If you're in Buenos Aires, interested in photojournalism and haven't enrolled yet...you'll be missing a unique opportunity! So get going!

Anders Ryman: Rites of Passage

Anders Ryman is a Swedish photographer and writer who has been published in a wide range of international magazines, including Animan, GEO and National Geographic Nordic. He specializes in people, travel and ethnic cultures.

The New York Times featured news of Rites of Life an exhibition of Anders' photographs in a development on the south bank of the River Thames, through September 6.

The photographer spent more than seven years on the project, and it won the support UNESCO. The article tells us that "images from Ethiopia, Spain and Micronesia illustrate birth customs; others, from Turkey, Thailand, Norway and South Africa, show various sorts of initiation ceremonies; still other highlight weddings in Nepal and Morocco. Finally, end of life rituals are captured Bolivia, India and Madagascar."

"I decided to focus of rites of passage as it is something which unites us as humans."-Anders Ryman

Also available through the Rites of Life website is Anders' 560 pages book which is for sale. The book portrays more than thirty rituals from all corners of the globe. The rituals include the blessing of a newborn in a small village in Spain to a girl’s initiation into womanhood among the Apaches of Arizona; from the Xhosa male initiation ceremony in South Africa to the communion with the dead during Todos Santos in Bolivia; from a woman’s first chilbirth in Palau to the wedding ceremonies in the Shinto shrines of Tokyo.

It certainly looks like an exhibition I will try to visit when I'm next in London. I would like to see these photographs in large format...unfortunately, Anders' website does not render enough justice to his photographs.

Fourth Of July....

In observance of the Fourth of July, I thought I'd feature a photograph of the barker at the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. After all, the fellow stands under the American flag and has the gift of the gab; a valued talent in the land of the free.

He's probably even busier today...the 2011 International Hot Dog Eating Contest is scheduled in Coney Island, Brooklyn, for the 4th of July. And its thousands of spectators will surely gravitate towards the Sideshow sooner or later.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Delhi Photo Festival: Nazar Foundation

The Nazar Foundation, in partnership with the India Habitat Centre, is organizing the Delhi Photo Festival on 15 to 28 October 2011.

The Delhi Photo Festival is a non-commercial venture, and entry will be free to ensure popular and wide-reaching participation. Through Nazar Foundation, the festival is the brainchild of Prashant Panjiar and Dinesh Khanna, both well known photographers, and for mentoring young photographers and propagating photography. Nazar Foundation was launched with the aim of institutionalizing what these two photographers are already been doing so on an informal basis.

The core attraction of the festival will be exhibitions of photography from India, Asia and other international work.

This promises to be quite an event, and will include workshops and seminars. I am excited to have been asked to teach an Introduction to Multimedia class on the afternoon-evening of October 15.

More details will be available in due course, and a schedule for submissions and the process will be announced soon.

Matthew Goddard-Jones: Way of Sorrow

I don't know much about Matthew Goddard-Jones, except that he's from Perth, Australia and that he's a damn good photographer/photojournalist. And there are many reasons why I say that, but the one that especially worked for me is because he managed to capture a unique expression on a woman in NYC's Chinatown. You'll have to visit his Chinatown gallery to see it though, since this post is not about his street photography but about his recent photo essay on the Way of Sorrow...made during Holy Easter Week in Jerusalem.

The Way of Sorrow or The Via Dolorosa is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, which is believed to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion.

Matthew's Way of Sorrow is well paced, and the audio soundtrack is sober and appropriate. You'll see some lovely images of Ethiopian pilgrims, shafts of light in churches as well as motion blurs (my favorites). You can also watch it on Vimeo instead.

Very nice slideshow.

Travel Photographer Of The Year At The RGS

I am envious of my readers in the United Kingdom as they get the opportunity of attending The Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society which runs until 10 June 2011. Well, I hope to be in London a day or two before its end, and see it myself...fingers crossed.

The best entries from The Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) 2010, along with some of the best of the society's own archive images, are at the exhibition but those who can't attend it in person can view a fantastic BBC audio slideshow.

TPOTY has signed a five-year agreement with the RGS to hold exhibitions at its 1 Kensington Gore (London) location.

Katharina Hesse: Human Negotiations

Katharina Hesse is a damn good documentary photographer, and here's one of the many reasons why I say that:

She and her colleague, Lara Day, are requiring support for a worthwhile photographic book project Human Negotiations. It's on Kickstarter, and is an independent, self-funded documentary, exploring the lives of a community of Bangkok sex workers through both images and text.

Human Negotiations is not a journalistic account of the sex trade, but instead is a personal interpretation of a line of work that is frequently misunderstood.

To date, the project has garnered international support and was shown at numerous spaces and international festivals. Pledged funds will go directly towards printing costs so that Human Negotiations can be published as a book to coincide with an exhibition in China's foremost space for contemporary photography and video art.

So do consider to help Katharina and Lara with your pledges! It's really a worthwhile project and will encourage other documentary photographers to bring similar projects to the fore.

Katharina Hesse is a Beijing-based photographer who has lived in Asia for nearly two decades. Her photography focuses primarily on China’s social concerns among them youth, urban culture, religion and North Korean refugees.

Lara Day is a writer, editor and photographer based in Hong Kong and Bangkok whose work has appeared in leading publications including TIME and Travel + Leisure.

Eric Lafforgue: SoHo Loft Gallery Exhibition

I'm very pleased that Eric Lafforgue's photographs will be on exhibit at the Soho Loft Gallery in New York City with weekend events scheduled for May 7 and 8. I will try to drop by on either of these dates to see them by myself.

Eric Lafforgue is a French photographer who started photography in 2006. Magazines and newspapers from all over the world began using his work for illustrations on North Korea, Papua New Guinea, the tribes of Ethiopia, etc. His work also appeared on multiple National Geographic covers and featured in The Economist, CNN Traveler and many other travel magazines worldwide.

He is part of the European leading agency Rapho and works both digital and film using Hasselblad H4D-50, Canon 1Ds Mk III, 5D MK II, Leica M6.

I consider Eric Lafforgue to be one of the best ethnologist-photographers, and I posted on his work a few times here. Apart from his stunning website, he also posts much of his work on Flickr, and I never understood the reason since by uploading images to it, he is granting the site a non-exclusive, royalty free license.

Note: Eric just advised me that a significant portion of his sales of photographs originate from his Flickr account. For him the formula works perfectly!

Holy Week Celebrations

Photo © Alvaro Barrientos-Courtesy Photoblog MSNBC

Photo © Alvaro Barrientos- Courtesy Denver Post

Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter, and provides remarkable opportunities to photographers to capture the various religious festivals, rituals and pageants that are scheduled, particularly in Catholic communities, during the period. The week includes the religious holidays of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Some of the featured rituals in Spain, Portugal and Italy include the processions of hooded flagellants during Lent, as well as self-crucifixion in the Philippines considered as a form of devout worship.

In the top photograph, a masked flagellant is comforted by a colleague at the end of his penance during the 'Los Picaos' brotherhood Good Friday procession in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, northern Spain. The second photograph is of a penitent dragging his chains at the same venue. Both photographs are by Alvaro Barrientos, and I think they're some of the best amongst featured by the various photo blogs.

Flagellation is not restricted to Catholicism, but is also practiced in other religious traditions, notably in Shi'a Islam during the Day of Ashura. Much older religious tradtions, like the cult of Isis in Egypt and the Dionysian cult of Greece, practiced their own forms of flagellation.

Apart from a Holy Week spent in Guatemala in 2002 photographing the processions, I haven't photographed Catholic religious traditions (except for a short photo shoot at a small festival in Oaxaca), and I ought to plan for 2012.

Of course, it depends if the 21st of May doesn't turn out to be the end of the world as a demented US preacher predicts....then I (and the majority of us) would've missed the chance.

But something tells me we needn't worry.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

Ed Kashi At The World Financial Center

Purely by happenstance, I stumbled on Ed Kashi's two exhibitions at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery. Ed's large photographs of his work Madagascar (in color) and Aging In America (black & white) were hung in two connected galleries on the second floor of the magnificent building in NYC's Battery Park. The exhibits are free to the public, and are sponsored by American Express and a bunch of the financial institutions.

Leaving aside Aging In America (a social issue not within this blog's purview), I liked a number of photographs in the Madagascar exhibit which "delves into environmental concerns, documenting the delicate balance between economic development and ecological preservation in the lush island nation."

The one photograph that appealed to me the most is the one illustrating this post. Its many layers and shadow are framed just perfectly. It's of a water collection point on the island. Another one (I couldn't find it on Ed's website) is of a banana stand; the fruit protected by an umbrella, and a woman vendor in a flowery dress.

Ed Kashi is a well known photojournalist, who's represented by VII. He's been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop: 3 For 2

Seriously...I don't know what anyone is waiting for...Foundry Photojournalism Workshops are extending its "three-for-two" deal until May 15th.

As announced by Eric Beecroft, the rules are:

1. Deal is good now thru May 15, 2011.
2. You get THREE FULL TUITIONS/student slots for the PRICE OF TWO.
3. You MUST have three persons sign up together.
4. You must pay for the two at the same time, via PAYPAL (preferred) or Western Union.
5. Latin American Tuition- $950 for 3 students (instead of $1425).
6. All other students- $1950 for 3 students (instead of $2925).
NO MIXING AND MATCHING- locals sign up with locals only, non locals with non locals.
7. We need all three person’s NAMES and EMAIL ADDRESSES to get you registered- send them with payment, at the SAME TIME.
8. If you like, you can use The Foundry's Facebook Page to make a request to find partners to get this deal.

The Travel Photographer's 2011 Tripbase Award

www.Tripbase.com

The Travel Photographer blog was selected for a Tripbase 2011 Blog Award for Photography! Tripbase's panel of judges reviewed hundreds of sites selecting the best ten for each travel category, and my site is one of those.

An excerpt from the Tripbase website:

"Listed below is a comprehensive list of the best blogs dedicated to travel photography. They exhibit beauty and creativity as well as a plethora of knowledge for the new and experienced travel photographer. They tell stories of where they have been the amazing sites they were able to see."

Let the good times roll!

New Sponsor: PhotoShelter

Regular readers of The Travel Photographer blog may have noticed the small PhotoShelter ad on the right sidebar. Yes, PhotoShelter has become a sponsor of this blog because I believe its products are tremendously useful to photographers and photojournalists and this is reflected by its impressive list of clients....some of who are friends and acquaintances.

I, too, have now joined PhotoShelter not because I needed another website, but because I wanted an online archive and lightboxing system, and a sales mechanism for my images. I know that the many photographers and photojournalists who constitute the bulk of my readership will benefit by joining and using PhotoShelter if they haven't already.

The PhotoShelter ad will appear in the sidebar of this site, any paid signups that occur through links on The Travel Photographer will generate a commission**, and I will occasionally write a post about how and when PhotoShelter has worked for me. The site will remain editorially and fiercely independent as always.

If you’ve ever considered signing up for online archive and purchasing system, click on the link on the sidebar. It only costs $1 to get started on PhotoShelter on a 2-week trial. You will be doing your photography business a favor.

** All commissions will be donated to the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, and aimed right back at helping emerging and aspiring photojournalists.

POV: Analyzing Photos of The Egyptian Revolution

First, let me share this anecdote from the 2010 Istanbul Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. Mohammed "Mikko" Hassan, the late young Egyptian photojournalist, told me he had to borrow a lens from a friend so he could produce the kind of imagery expected of him at the workshop. Yes, young photojournalists in Egypt who work for local newspapers have to share lenses when covering assignments because they can't afford to have their own. This is not unheard of amongst non-Western photographers.

I remembered Mikko's words when I saw BagNews Salon was hosting an online panel this coming Sunday to discuss the media’s visual framing of Egypt's revolution. I expected and hoped it would involve the work of some of the young Egyptian photojournalists who are Mikko's peers, and who covered it for the local Al Masry Al Youm, Al Shorouk newspapers to name but a few.

Regretfully, this didn't seem to be the intent of the organizers.

As Michael Shaw of BagNews writes in response to my comment on its website:

"Instead, we looked to those with particular cross-cultural media expertise (Michelle Woodward of Middle East Report is certainly that) as well as others with deep experience reading media photos with cultural sensitivity (Campbell), as well as visual academics with an eye on on visual semiotics, in general, to articulate how the (largely Western) media created its own narrative of the story."

Perhaps a bit too heavy-handed on the defensive prose there, but fair enough. On the other hand, does it seem too "clubby" to only showcase the work of photojournalists who are already reasonably internationally well-known, and not include the photographs from those who work for Egyptian newspapers, who borrow cameras and CF cards from each other because they can't afford it otherwise, and who were beaten when they covered any anti-government demonstrations......including their revolution?

To be fair once again to Mr Shaw, he took the time to explain he didn't think the event would be the optimal venue for such photographs, but suggested that the BagNewsOriginals section might be a better fit for such work. Perhaps he's right...and it's certainly his prerogative to keep the public event within the panel's Western comfort zone.

In any case, my readers can make up their owns minds by visiting BagNews Salon and The British Journal of Photography.

Having said that, I must say I'm discomfited. Not by Mr Shaw's stance, but at having received no reaction from a couple of Egyptian photojournalists whom I asked to submit work to BagNews in time for the event. If they're unwilling to stand up and make their presence known, how can they break into "the club"?

On the plus side, I hear efforts are being made by generous photojournalists like Michael Robinson Chavez (and others) to bring the work covering the revolution by young Egyptian photographers to Visa Pour l'Image in Perpignan.

I hope they grab the opportunity.

Foundry Photojournalism Workshop: 2011 Scholarships

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, which is scheduled for July 17-23, 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina has just announced the winners of this year's scholarships.

The Ricoh Scholarships for Latin American Photographers:

Miguel Andrade (Mexico), Lucia Baragli (Argentina), Juan Barrero (Colombia), Ivan Gonzales (Venezuela), Sofia Lopez (Argentina), Romina Hendlin (Venezuela), Omar Lucas (Peru), Cristobal Olivares (Chile), Leonardo Ramirez (Venezuela), Santiago Serrano (Ecuador).

Full Tuition Scholarships Provided by The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop:

Julio Aracil (Spain), Willeke Machiels (Netherlands), Mae Ryan (USA/Canada).

Congratulations to the winners!

See you in Buenos Aires!

Rubin Museum of Art: Thomas Kelly's Sadhus

I readily admit to having fallen out of love with the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in NYC. Perhaps it was on account of its email newsletters, which for the most part are not terribly informative and are designed to bring you in to see movies and such....giving me the impression that it has lost its way and had become over-commercialized. I know, museums have to make a living, but that's how I feel.

So walking by it yesterday morning, I was glad to see its exterior panels advertising Body Language: The Yogis of India & Nepal, an exhibition of color photographs by Thomas L. Kelly. It certainly seems to be interesting event I hope to visit soon.

I had no idea who Thomas L. Kelly was, but a quick search revealed that his resume is extensive. He first came to Nepal in 1978 as a USA Peace Corps Volunteer, and has since worked as a photo-activist, documenting the struggles of marginalized people and disappearing cultural traditions all over the world. He has been recording the lives of sex workers and the traditions of prostitution across South Asia, and worked for UNICEF, Save the Children Fund (USA), Aga Khan Foundation, amongst others, while his editorial work appeared in the New York Times, Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, and The Observer.

My view on sadhus is a jaundiced one. I've met countless of these vagabond ascetics over my many photo trips to India, and I'm of the view that most of them are charlatans. They are not much better than spongers...exploiting the generosity and gullibility of people who see them as holy men, which they are not. Even those I saw and met at the gigantic Maha Kumbh Mela, and certainly those in Pashupatinah (Kathmandu), are of that ilk. I did encounter real ascetics on a few occasions. One of these occasions was in Varanasi. Not on the ghats (always a magnet for flim-flam artists scamming tourists), but rather at an ashram for elderly sadhus. Here were men who had renounced their worldly belongings, and had opted to live in complete abnegation. Some had been doctors, engineers and accountants. In contrast to the ambulant pseudo sadhus, no stimulants of any kind were used at that ashram.

From a photographer's perspective, these pseudo-sadhus are colorful, exotic and photogenic...the weirder the better...and their way of life and their ganja habits make excellent photography. Whether they are true ascetics or not is not really relevant to us photographers...however it's worth knowing that who we photograph is not really what they purport to be.

The Rubin Museum's blurb on the exhibition has this: "Sadhus renounce worldly life, earthly possessions, and social obligations in order to devote their lives entirely to religious practice and the quest for spiritual enlightenment, making them an important part of the Hindu cultures of South Asia."

While the blurb is perhaps theoretically correct, only a fraction of sadhus really observe that sort of renunciation...but it makes for good reading.

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