RAMAYANA TATTOOS

I had a jolt yesterday morning when leafing through The New York Times' Magazine. The double truck on pages 46-47 was Paolo Pellegrin's photograph of Egyptian migrants waiting to leave Libya at the Tunisian borders.

The jolt was because I had chosen it as the most powerful photograph in Pellegrin's photo essay that had appeared on the NYT's website on March 10...a few days before its publication in the hard copy of the magazine! As I wrote in my blog post of that day:

"I chose Pellegrin's above photograph to feature along this post because, in my view, it's the most powerful of the lot. Perhaps it's the sight of the Egyptian passport in the hand of the migrant that influenced me. After all, I had one just like that years ago."

It's most certainly coincidental that this particular photograph impressed the magazine photo editor(s) as much as it me, but it's still an awesome confluence of minds!

Paolo Pellegrin's Scenes From the Libyan Exodus.

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Labels: Photojournalism

Photo © Sandra Chandler -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Sandra Chandler -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Sandra Chandler -All Rights Reserved

A fourth-time participant in my photo-expeditions (The Gnawa in Morocco, Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat, Bali Island of Odalan and in my just completed In Search of Sufis of Gujarat), Sandra Chandler is a photographer and interior designer based in San Francisco. She tells us that color, smells and sounds drew her to world travel. Her city's Asian culture first enticed her to China in 1978 when the People’s Republic first opened. She then continued her exploration of Asia by traveling to Bhutan, India, Japan, Singapore, Nepal, Thailand, Tibet, and on to South America and Europe.

She's the second participant to send me samples of her work during the photo`expedition. The top photograph was made at a the dargah of Sayid Mira Datar, a Sufi saint martyred in a battle with a Bhil warlord in the 1400s, and who's reputed to heal and exorcise evil spirits from visiting supplicants. It's of pilgrims/devotees inhaling the special sacred incense to purge tevil spirits from their bodies.

The middle photograph is of niqab-wearing Muslim women in Sarkhej at the dargah of the Sufi saint Hazrat Ghatu Ganj Ahmed Shah. I think these women are members of the Tabligh sect; an orthodox Muslim sect. As much as I tried to cajole these women (and they spoke English perfectly), they would not allow me to photograph them.

The lower photograph is a candid portrait of a sadhu; a Hindu self proclaimed holy man. It was made during a photo shoot at the foothills of Junagardh's Girnar mountain. He had probably just woken up.

Sandy also published two books ‘Carnevale, Fantasy of Venice' of her beautiful photographs of Venice and its magical Carnevale, and Calling The Soul, a collection of photographs of the intricate Balinese cremations.

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Labels: India, Photo Tours, Photographers: Travel

The British Journal of Photography has just featured a hands-on review (not an in-depth one yet) of the FujiFilm X100. 

It appears that the FujiFilm X100 is extremely well designed, handles well (although a bit on the lightweight side according to the photographer using it), with good image performance, and very easy to use.

On the negative side, there's a shutter lag which may or may not spoil the "decisive moment" street photographers lust for, and while it may be part of a pro photographer's kit...it would not be his/her main camera.

It's really expensive in Britain, and moderately expensive in the US....and as I wrote in my earlier posts, I don't think the price is justified at all. I've looked at the initial image samples (via BJP's website) and I'm not too impressed.  As I said before, I believe the Panasonic GF1 (which I have and use) beats it hands down in terms of image quality, price and lens interchangeability.

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Labels: Hard Gear