The Revolution Thru The Lens of Lobna Tarek, An Egyptian Photojournalist



I've started to feature the work of young Egyptian photojournalists working for the local newspapers, who not only documented the Tahrir uprisings, but who also participated in the revolution.

For why I'm doing this, you can read my earlier post The Revolution...This Time Through The Lenses Of Home-Grown Egyptian Photojournalists.

This is the third part in the series, and is the work of Lobna Tarek, an Egyptian photojournalist who just started to work for El Shorouk Newspaper a few months ago. She holds a degree in Communications from Cairo University, and at just 22 has taken up photojournalism as a full time career.

Imagine having just joined the profession and being plunged in a historic and momentous event within weeks of starting her career!

For each slideshow in the series, I chose the popular "Enta Omri" or "You Are My Life" from the repertory of the legendary Um Kulthum, the Egyptian singer who was the incomparable voice of her country. I owe the idea to a wonderful multimedia essay titled Spring by Shirin Neshat in the New York Times, who also used it as a metaphor for the revolution.

My Work: The Jains of Palitana


The Jains of Palitana is an audio-slideshow on the Svetambara nuns who walk the 3800 steps to the Jain temples on top of the Shetrunjaya hills in Gujarat, as well as scenes of a Jain puja at the topmost temple.

The still photographs were made during my recently completed In Search of Sufis of Gujarat photo~expedition, during an overnight stop in Palitana. There's a cluster of over 1000 Jain temples densely packed together on the hillside overlooking the town. These temples date back to the 11th and 12th centuries, and are the focus of Jains' pilgrimage or tirtha. From the foot of the hill to the top there are about 3,800 stone steps, and it is these steps that Jains have to climb to reach the main temple on top of the hill.

Some Jain nuns and monks walk up and down these 3800 steps continually for at least three days while abstaining from drinking and eating. The Jain temples of Mount Satrunjaya are considered to be the holiest of all pilgrimage places by the white robed Svetambara community.

I posted on my experience walking up and down these steps here.

The Travel Photographer's 2011 Tripbase Award





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!

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