Ron Haviv: Haiti

Let's move away from the insignificance of photojournalists conducting photo tours to Haiti (and wherever else there is human misery), and contemplate the work of Ron Haviv of VII Agency who, less than 24 hours after the earthquake hit the island on January 12, 2010, arrived in Haiti without fanfare to chronicle the ensuing devastation and human suffering.

Ron Haviv's photographs will be showing at an exhibition and fundraiser on March 4, 2010 at VII Photo Agency in Brooklyn, New York. VII is also releasing a book on the Haitian disaster. All the proceeds will go to Partners in Health.

This multimedia presentation was produced by telegraph21 and the VII Photo Agency.

Ann Demeulemeester Zipper Belts Spring 2010

Zipper belts from Ann Demeulemeester runway spring 2010.

Fall/winter 09, I got the 14 buckled belt and fell madly in love with it. It's like a masterpiece of art - something that you would see on a runway more than in practical life - but I've worn it anyway and received complements, like "Fantastic belt that you have on" every time.

I decided to have an Ann D belt collection. Here they are! zipper belts from Ann D spring 2010 arrived a few days ago. It's so exciting! I love them! I haven't actually worn them yet but will soon. These belts are easier to understand, more practical in daily life and are another fabulous creation from her.
Thank you Ann D for a wonderful gift of 10 silver rings. I love them too!

A Cold Night.
This winter in Dallas has been colder than years before. Some like it, some don't. I do. It's cold enough for me to layer my clothing and still look stylish. I would be sick if it's long, extremely cold winter like some places up north. Last night, I went out to dinner with my husband. It was very cold, but I felt like wearing this Rick Owens fur vest anyway.
Worn with Rick Owens Lilies jersey dress, Janis Javitt necklace, Guiseppe cut-out boots.
Hi everyone, I hid when my mom was taking pictures. I just wanted to come out to surprise and say Hi to everyone. Can I tell you something? My mom didn't know I was behind her, until she saw the picture! hehe...


Berry Pie.
There are many requests to post the recipe for berry pie. Here it is: roll out Pillsbury pie crust (for sale at grocery stores like Tom Thumb) dough on the baking pie pan. Fill it with 6 cups of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries already mixed, with 2 0r 3 tablespoons of sugar (you could use more sugar if you want - up to 1/2 cup), 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 2 tablespoons cooked tapioca (you can skip the tapioca, it won't make a big difference), and dot with a little butter as in the picture. Then, cover the pie with a top dough. Now, you seal the edge of the two doughs together (cut away any extra dough at the edge if it's necessary). Make sure to cut-out the top dough a few holes for steam to exit during baking. Bake 350 degree for 50-60 minutes or until it looks nicely golden. Let it cool before serving. Now, you enjoy the most healthy pie ever.
With my experience, using more blackberries and blueberries gives the pie more natural sweetness than raspberries, which give the pie more sourness. You could skip one kind of berry if you like. I've been baking this pie almost every other day for breakfast, alternating with my healthy apple pie ;-) since Thanksgiving day.
Thank you for your visiting and for your comments. Wishing you a fabulous day!!
Hugs...Hanh ;-)

Sean Gilligan: Morocco

In my experience, Morocco is one of the most difficult places for people photography. One not only needs the technical skills of photographing quickly and unobtrusively, but also have an enormous reservoir of patience. I think that Sean Gilligan managed to pull it very well with his gallery titled God, King & Country . The title is from the 3rd image of the gallery which shows a mound of dark sand in which the words God, King, Country are inscribed in white.

Sean Gilligan is a photographer based in New York City, whose objectives are to document cultural diversity, unexpected beauty, intimacy, landscape, and individuals personalities. He has a deep connection with Africa and Ireland and has, over the years, been documenting traditional life as it coexists with modern living.

His work has been featured by CNN, Wall Street Journal, Adidas, Fortune, ESPN, Forbes, among others.

His website has been recently updated and apart from his Morocco gallery, features galleries of Paris, Mexico, Namibia and Ireland.

Poland -- old Jewish cemetery in Przemysl returned to Jewish ownership

An article in the Jerusalem Post on the return of a descrated, centuries-old Jewish cemetery to Jewish ownership. Nothing remains visible at the site except the broken frame of a gate.

The cemetery, located in the city of Przemysl, near Poland's border with the Ukraine, dates back to the 16th century and served local Jews, as well as those in nearby towns such as Jaroslav, Pruchnik, Kanczuga and Dynow, for hundreds of years.

But the Przemysl municipality, which took over the site following the end of World War II, resisted calls to return it.

At a meeting last week, however, Poland's government-backed Regulatory Commission, which resolves claims regarding Jewish communal property, instructed city officials to turn the cemetery over to Jewish control.

The decision marks a triumph for the Warsaw-based Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, and especially for its president, Monika Krawczyk, who led the effort in recent years to recover the graveyard.

Hungary -- Update on Jewish Heritage Travel's Hungarian edition

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I've been informed that the Hungarian language edition of "National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel" will be launched at the Budapest International Book Festival in April. (I hope this is true, as the pub date has been postponed already a couple of times...)

For anyone in Budapest around that time, I am scheduled to give some sort of presentation at the Book Fair at 5 p.m. on April 23....The Hungarian edition is being published by the Hungarian branch of the parent publisher, National Geographic.

Each year the Budapest Book Fair honors one country, and this year it will be Israel, with special guest Amos Oz. He and I are to be among about 100 foreign authors from two dozen countries, as well as some 400 Hungarian authors who will be highlighted as part of readings, signings, talks, etc.

The Book Festival takes place in the Millenaris exhibition space.  It draws about 50.000 to 60.000 visitors annually and features tens of thousands of books.

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Review

Digital Photography Review is dedicating a massive 33 pages review to the new Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, granting it an overall rating of 89%. It garners the highest marks in build quality, features and performance (speed).

According to DPR, the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV "has the feel of a product that is determined to be as close to perfect as possible", and "From the point-of-view of the tasks it was built to tackle, there is nothing that can touch the detailed, high resolution images that it can deliver ten times a second."

I obviously have to carefully digest these 33 pages before I can make a decision as to whether to buy the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV or not, but I must say that I was pleasantly impressed by the ergonomics of the new Canon 7D. Handling them both today at B&H's Canon counter (I'm still circling around the Panasonic GF1), I felt that the Canon 7D fitted better in my hands. It's also as fast in terms of frames per second as the Mark IV, and is certainly much lighter.

At about $3300 cheaper than the Mark IV, the 7D might make a lot of sense to photographers who accept that its sensor size may not produce the highest of image quality of the Mark IV, nor has its ruggedness. I still use its predecessor, the Mark II, and I consider it a workhorse that never let me down.

Via Engadget

Ed Ou: Journey To The Promised Land

Ed Ou is a Canadian-Taiwanese photojournalist living and working in the Middle East, who covered his first big story during the Israel – Hezbollah conflict from southern Lebanon in 2006, when he was studying Arabic and International Relations in the Middle East.

Since then, he has worked with Reuters and the Associated Press covering diverse stories such as the ongoing conflict in Somalia, child soldiers in Uganda, California wildfires, faith and conflict in the Holy Land, and even fashion in New York City. He is also a featured contributor to Reportage by Getty Images.

Ed was selected by Photo District News as one of the 30 Emerging Photographers of 2008. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Guardian UK, and many other publications. He speaks English, French, Chinese, and Arabic.

I chose to feature Ed's portfolio titled Journey To The Promised Land, in which he documents some of the Falash Mura, and the surrounding controversy in allowing 40,000 Ethiopian Christians, with claims to Jewish ancestry, to immigrate to Israel.

Anamitra Chakladar: Kushti

Photo © Anamitra Chakladar-All Rights Reserved
At the outset of my Tribes of Rajasthan and Gujarat Photo~Expedition, I spent a few days in Delhi where I had the immense good fortune to meet with Anamitra Chakladar, a friend who attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali last July.

Along with Terri Gold and Wink Willett (participants in the photo expedition) we visited a Kushti akhara (a traditional Indian wrestling arena), and spent a couple of hours photographing the wrestlers.

Anamitra was born in Kolkata, and expected by his parents to be a teacher or an accounting executive/CPA (he graduated with an accounting degree), but chose to be a photographer instead.

He joined an established newspaper as a trainee photographer, then moved on to television joining NDTV, and saw more than his share of world conflicts including the first Gulf War, the ongoing conflict over Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the coups in Nepal and Bangladesh...and getting shot at during the 2001 attack by Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists against the Parliament of India in New Delhi.

Anamitra published his photographs of the Kushti training on Photojournale.

Lollypop

Seeing kids licking their lollypops is so innocent and cute. It reminds me of being a kid and loving lollypops and popsicles. It's nice to look back, and to have lovely memories of those sweet times. What was your favorite flavor? Mine was strawberry.

Alexander McQueen Flats.

Since I haven't owned many pieces from McQueen, and because of what happened to him (everyone is sad and shocked), I have started looking for more pieces to own from his line. I just wear flat shoes when I run errands, take care of my kids or travel through an airport. These are my new additions to my shoe collection.I love the silver skulls tied at the heels. Wishing you all a happy Sunday and a wonderful week ahead!!!Thank you for your visiting and comments!!!

Big hugs...Hanh;-)

Ps: don't forget to enter the giveaway gift contest that was posted in the previous post. It'll be fun! Good luck!!

POV: P As In Professional

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times' Gadgetwise blog features an interview with Harry Benson, the legendary Scottish photographer, who shared some tips on taking photos in low-light situations. It was also picked up by WIRED's Gadget Lab.

Harry Benson's tips are:

1. Use program (P) mode to get the best results and to capture detail.
2. Remain in the reasonable ISO range, and avoid setting it above 1000.
3. Use manual focus instead of autofocus in dark situations.
4. Avoid using flash which, in Benson's words, makes one lose a lot of humanity.

It's refreshing to read such advice, especially since i've come across many photographers who shudder at the thought of using the P setting on their cameras (or admit to it).

I frequently advise participants in my Photo~Expeditions to set their cameras on the P setting during the first couple of days of the trip, to compensate for the jet-lag fatigue, and for the sudden disorientation we all experience in a new unfamiliar environment, especially if it's at a bustling heart-pumping festival.

I have used, and will continue to use, the P setting on the occasions when I'm unable to achieve the look I seek from a particular scene . This may be because it's a fast moving situation or because it's a low-light, or because I'm too tired or distracted to think straight.

During my Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition in October 2009, I and the participants agreed that the P setting on the DSLRs we carried didn't stand for Program at all, but for Professional.

So my advice is when you're not getting the exact result you seek from a particular scene for whatever reason, set your camera on P and let it rip. The photograph above is an example of this. It was made during a festival in Bhutan's Jakar Valley, and I had trouble getting the right exposure using a manual and Av setting, so I just resorted to P...and I got what I wanted. Elementary, isn't it?

Harry Benson's interview via The Click

What is Kizhi?

«Кижи» на Яндекс.Фотках

Some days ago I began to write about the antique Russian church architecture. You can remember these 2 posts The Golden Ring of Russia, Russian Churches Of XII Century
where I told about very interesting examples of wooden churches and wanted to write some posts about them.

The first place is entire island -national park, Kizhi, in Karelia Russia, in front of Finnland, where you can see not only churches but different types of houses too. The church on the photo is made without nails, the pieces were made so, that they take one other.

Unfortunatelly, the church is not every day open for tourist to protect precious icons. But the visit is interesting in any case for the walk you can make through the park. And you can visit houses of the population (with guide) too.

Interesting is that all that buildings are real. They were disassembled, taken on the island and assembled once more.


«Церковь во имя Покрова пресвятой Богородицы .» на Яндекс.Фотках

My Work: The Rabari & The Charpoy

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
While in Dasada (in the Little Rann of Kutch) during the The Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition ™, we stopped by a small Rabari village to photograph. We fanned out to photograph whatever caught our eye, and whoever was willing to cooperate.

The previous evening at the Rann Riders Resort, we were shown a wonderful book of Olivier Follmi's photographs; some of which were of the area. One photograph in particular caught our attention, and it was of a Rabari shepherd asleep on a traditional rope bed called "charpoy". It was a photograph that I (and others in the group) was determined to imitate, provided I found the necessary rope-bed and a willing and able photogenic Rabari.

I easily found the charpoy, but to convince one of the Rabaris to lay or sit on it taxed my very limited Hindi and my rudimentary sign language. After some insistence (as well as having to literally drag him by the hand) on my part, the chosen Rebari cooperated and played his part...however, feeling self-conscious being watched by some of his fellow villagers, it didn't last very long at all.

Photo © Sharon Johnson-Tennant-All Rights Reserved
Sharon Johnson-Tennant, one of the group members who was also photographing this recalcitrant Rabari, captured the moment as I showed him the various photographs.

The Rabari tribals live throughout Gujarat, Punjab, Harayana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan states in India. Some also live in Pakistan, especially in the Sindh. Their principal occupation is raising cattle, camels and goats.

Adventure Tour in South America

Do you want to break free from your everyday routine? Why not try something different. Have time out and engage in leisure activities. Be adventurous. Find the perfect adventure trip and time off for you. There are many travel destinations to choose from around the world.

But if you really want to make the most of your adventure holiday, check out what South America has in store for you. South America Adventure tours offer an assortment of first-class vacation choices that encompass lots of fun, extraordinary experiences and escapades. South America is the world's fourth largest continent, and home to the most sought-after travel destinations such as the majestic Andes Mountains, the splendid Amazon River, the grand Galapagos island and the breathtaking Patagonia desert.

Don't miss this adventure of a lifetime.

Treat yourself to a great travel adventure. South America Adventure tours have all that it takes for you to enjoy an exhilarating escapade in the wilds of Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Venezuela. The tour package will definitely let you experience Latin America's finest. Its usual travel itineraries include fishing and hunting, whitewater rafting and kayaking, scuba diving, mountain climbing, mountain biking, rain forest adventure, sailing and cruise tour destinations.

Moreover, if you're looking for an unforgettable and worthwhile South American escapade, South America Adventure tours have the perfect holiday trip reserved for you. From the exciting activities, guides, travel destinations, lodgings and air travel - everything is well taken care of. Most of the services are distinctive and very accommodating. These are geared towards responding to your specific wants and allow you to get the most out of your vacation. Now, there's no hassle in planning your trip for you can access thousands of tours and travel through the Internet. Hence, amazing travel destinations to spend your leisure time are just a mouse click away.

Source by: America Tour

Rajibul Islam: The Rohingya

Photo © Sheikh Rajibul Islam-All Rights Reserved
The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group of the Northern Arakan State of Western Burma, are denied citizenship and suffer persecution and discrimination in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh. An estimated 25,000 unregistered Rohingya refugees are living in the Kutupalong makeshift camp in Bangladesh, and are being forcibly displaced from their homes, in an act of intimidation and abuse by the local authorities. Few have been granted refugee status. The majority struggle to survive, unrecognized and unassisted in Bangladesh.

Precious little on Sheikh Rajibul Islam's background is available on the internet, although he is listed on Lightstalkers as a Bangladeshi documentary photographer and film maker. Rajibul has also worked with Benjamin Chesterton of duckrabbit in Dhaka, where they have been working on a documentary about the effects of climate change on Bangladesh.

In my view, Rajibul and his powerful work belong to what I call the Bangladeshi "school" of photography...the dark and brooding style, which showcases social issues which need to be addressed. He's in good company: G.M.B. Akash, Sumit Dayal, Munem Wasif, Andrew Biraj, Tanvir Ahmed, Abir Abdullah, Monirul Alam, Shehzad Noorani, Saiful Huq Omi, Khaled Hasan, Murtada Bulbul, Mohammad Kibria Palash and Azizur Rahim Peu...and so many other talented photographers.

The Rohingya photo essay is showcased by the excellent Social Documentary. Social Documentary is a website for photographers, NGOs, editors, journalists, lovers of photography and anyone else who believes that photography plays an important role in educating people about our world.

Thanks to Benjamin Chesterton of the incomparable duckrabbit for bringing Rajibul Islam to our attention.

Charlotte Rush-Bailey: Tribes of Raj & Gujarat

Photo © Charlotte Rush-Bailey- All Rights Reserved
Charlotte Rush-Bailey is the second group member of The Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition ™ whose work is being showcased here on TTP.

As demonstrated by her photographs here, and by those on her impressive website, Charlotte's quest to explore the unknown and learn from it has always been with her. Her career covered three decades of marketing and communications positions in a variety of global industries including energy, financial services, media, conservation, technology and professional services. This gave opportunities to work with people all over the world, and to learn to appreciate cultural nuances and the influences of socio-political forces.

Photo © Charlotte Rush-Bailey-All Rights Reserved
This is no idle claim by Charlotte. I saw her engage people in the remote villages of Kutch and in the warrens of the walled city in Ahmedabad with an incredible ease, which led her to have no difficulty obtaining the photographs she wanted.

Photo © Charlotte Rush-Bailey-All Rights Reserved

Charlotte immersed herself in her passion of photography, and attended numerous workshops including those at the Palm Beach Photographic Workshops and Santa Fe Photo Workshops. She traveled to more than 90 countries, with a camera as a constant traveling companion. She believes that it was this that gained her more intimacy with people, places and nature.

Photo © Charlotte Rush-Bailey- All Rights Reserved
Charlotte's statement on her website reads:

"These explorations have enriched my life beyond imagining. Most important is the confirmation that humans – regardless of race, creed or tradition – share core values that far outweigh the differences that are so often the cause of conflict. The importance of family, community and spirituality are universal. Beyond humanity, nature has taught me complete humility and reverence. Nothing we humans do can repeal the laws and forces of nature; nothing we create can compare with the beauty, elegance and resilience of the natural world."

She's absolutely right.

Tribes of Rajasthan/Gujarat Photo Group

Photo © Kantilal Doobal-All Rights Reserved
Kantilal Doobal is the Bhuj-based photographer/guide who accompanied us on our forays in the tribal lands of Bhuj area. He photographed alongside us, and emailed us this group photograph at a Wadha village on the last day in the Kutch.

From left: Sharon Johnson-Tennant, Colleen Kerrigan, Sandy Chandler, Tewfic El-Sawy, Kim McClellan, Terri Gold, Cathy Scholl and Charlotte Rush-Bailey. The fellow in the blue turban is the village's chief. Missing are Wink Willett and Jamie Johnson.

Kantilal Doobal's Flickr stream is here.

Alessandra Meniconzi: The Roitschäggätä

Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi -All Rights Reserved
Photo © Alessandra Meniconzi -All Rights Reserved
Alessandra Meniconzi's work has graced the pages of The Travel Photographer blog on many occasions, with photographs of far-away and remote areas of the world, however she sent me some of new work made in her back-yard. Yes, literally in her back-yard in Switzerland, although when I first viewed the photographs, I took them to be from Mongolia or even perhaps Papua New guinea.

But not at all...these were made in the villages of the Lötschental valley. It's the largest valley on the northern side of the Rhône valley in the canton of Valais in Switzerland, which lies in the Bernese Alps.

The masks are worn by the Roitschäggätä, who are unmarried young men from Lötschental villages who hide behind handmade wooden masks and are clad in fur, scaring passersby and playing pranks.

Starting as early as February 2, this tradition has been repeatedly prohibited by the Church, but without much success. The Roitschäggätä roam through the valley on Maundy Thursday, while there is a masked parade in the village of Wiler on the Saturday prior to Ash Wednesday.

NPR: The Mekong, A River

Here's a wonderful multimedia piece The Mekong: A River And A Region Transformed, which is produced by NPR, as only a sterling institution such NPR would know how.

It documents the Mekong through a 3,000-mile journey from the river’s source on the Tibetan plateau to its mouth at the South China Sea, relying on Michael Sullivan and photographer Christopher Brown examine the turbulent history and uncertain future along the Mekong.

The Mekong is one of the world’s major rivers, and is its 12th-longest, and the 7th-longest in Asia. According to Wikipedia, its estimated length is 4,350 km or 2,703 miles, running from the Tibetan Plateau through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

I've traveled to most countries through which the Mekong runs, and it was at its most spectacular at Khone Phapheng, in southern Laos with its borders with Cambodia, during monsoon season.

Apple iPad & Photography

Apple announced its newest creation, the iPad, while I was in the Kutch area in Gujarat, and had no reliable internet access so I'm still pretty much out of the loop in as far as its technical specifications are concerned...but that won't stop me from expressing my knee-jerk opinion on it from what I already know.

I gather from a couple of opinions written about the iPad that the jury (from a photography standpoint) is still out. Some say that it will "save" photojournalism and newspapers, while others are more low-key and only say it will provide a new platform to display one's photographs.

I view it as the latter...a magnified iTouch. No more and no less. I initially got very excited, hoping that it could replace netbooks, but it doesn't. From what I seen, it will not enable photographers to use it as a conduit device to download contents of CF/SD cards unto external hard drives. As a portfolio display device, it will do beautifully though. I use the tiny iTouch to do just that, and must say that it's useful in some occasions. The iPad will do the same in large format, and I expect it will be dazzling.

The absence of Flash is disappointing but expected. It's a pity but I imagine that it will not be hard for photographers to convert their Flash-based multimedia photo essays to QuickTime...or some other application...and show them off that way. As for enjoying photo Flash websites, this device will not do it you.

It's been said that Apple has indeed brought us the iPad, but its success or failure will depend on the app developers. Let's wait and see...we'll know soon enough.

Fashion Blog World's Inspiration

Hello everyone,
Hope you're doing well. I just realized that I haven't had a giveaway gift for this year. Therefore, let's start it now. The "Fashion Blog World's Inspiration". I know there are many of you that are very inspired. The idea of this contest is just for fun. It would be lovely to share your style here at Life-in-Travel, and I'm excited to know more about your sense of fashion. Everyone (including international contestants) can enter this contest giveaway gift, just send me at lifeintraveling@gmail.com a picture of your outfits with your name and what you're wearing. Please, summit your one or two photos by March 3th. I will choose around 20 faces and let all the readers rate it. The winner will get $125 giftcard from the store of your choice, or cash. Have fun with your fashion creation and GOOD LUCK to you all! ;-)

Comme des Garcons runway spring 2010. Me, wearing Comme des Garcons jacket (love all the different textures, prints and fabric which make the jacket interesting. Cool styling, too), Yohji Yamamoto gray top, Club Monaco black turtle neck, the Row legging, Christian Louboutin ankle boots, F21 cuffs.

Changing the style of the collar.

Christian Louboutin ankle boots.
Wishing you a wonderful day!!! Thank you for reading!! Again, GOOD LUCK on the contest!!
Big hugs...Hanh ;-)