Kenzaburo Fukuhara: Blurb Book

This is an unusual post as I'm publicizing a book that I haven't read nor seen yet. However, I like what photographer Kenzaburo Fukuhara put together in a self-published book.

PAR HASARD is a collection of black & white portraits of peoples who passed by the photographer on his journeys on various Asian roads, starting in Osaka to Shanghai, to Lhasa, Mt Kailash in Tibet, to Kashgar, Dunhuang on the Silk Route and in a Yunnan minority village, as well as on the journey from Laos to Thailand.

Kenzaburo Fukuhara is a freelance photographer residing in Beijing, China. After having lived 5 years in Japan, he arrived in China at 2007. His work on the social and cultural subjects in Japan, are often published in European newspapers such a Le Matin, and La Liberation, and in magazines like ELLE, Médias, BILANZ, Figaro among others.

Planet Magazine Photo Contest

PLANET Magazine describes itself as a leading global culture lifestyle magazine blending the latest in contemporary art, music and fashion with coverage of distant cultures, unique travel experiences, and global awareness. It is announcing its 1st annual Global Travel Photo Contest, with a Grand Prize of a round-the-world ticket, open for one year (or $1000 cash prize), with a 10-page portfolio assignment.

According to the photo contest's blurb, it offers photographers the"opportunity to share their vision of travel, life, people, and sub-culture with our top editors and a distinguished panel of judges culled from the highest levels of New York’s international photography community."

Planet Magazine Photo Contest's terms and conditions are here.

My thanks to Asim Rafiqui for the tip.

***
Note: As a general comment, and as in the case of all such contests, make sure you carefully read the terms and conditions, especially that misunderstandings between organizers and contestants sometimes occur.

The Big Picture's Olympics

Photograph Mike Hewitt/Getty Images-All Rights Reserved
The Boston Globe's photography blog The Big Picture has published extraordinary images of the opening ceremony today for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The ceremony, held in Beijing's National Stadium known as the Bird's Nest, was attended by thousands, and watched by millions more on television.

This one (click it to see in full size) is probably the most spectacular.

Heather Anne Linquist: Tibet

Photograph © Heather Anne Lindquist-All Rights Reserved
Heather Anne Lindquist is a documentary photographer and photojournalist based in Chicago. In 2001, she founded Eyefoto and subsequently established a studio in Tucson, Arizona. She's currently at work on a book project showcasing her work in Tibet and China. Her travels have afforded her the opportunities to photograph people, places and events including underwater photography on Fiji, Mexico and Australia.

Her website has various galleries of her type of work, but what interested me is her travel portfolio which mostly showcases images of Tibet and China.

small Folio: Websites For iPhones

smallFolio claims that it's "a wicked-simple website solution for the iPhone and iPod Touch". It's essentially a service to create a web presence for photographers and other creative types that is specifically adapted for mobile devices.

smallFolio must have its benefits, but I'm skeptical that photo editors, for instance, will use their iPhones or iTouches to view photographers' websites...to do that, wouldn't they be better served at their desks facing a large monitor? As for a portable marketing tool, I'd prefer loading my portfolios through iPhoto/iTunes on my iTouch, and show them to buyers, clients and others that way.

I've written up the benefits of having one's portfolios on the iTouch in this earlier post.

Penni Webb: An American Past

A selection of photographs from Penni Webb’s The Beauty of Aging series are to be shown at Smith Andersen North Gallery in a solo exhibition shown as diptychs with a black and white photograph and a hand painted version of the same print side by side.

These photographs were taken on Penni Webb’s travels during the last twenty years. Her work has been exhibited in the Bay Area; Aspen, Colorado; Taos, New Mexico and Tucson, Arizona. She received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Arizona and worked on her Master’s degree in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute. Between 1995 and 1998, Penni Webb created etchings and monotypes at the Kala Institute in Berkeley. Her work has traveled to museums and art centers in Colorado and Arizona supported by the Western Commission for the Arts. In 1999, she was artist in residence at Magnolia Editions in Oakland where she worked with a master printer on lithographs from her photographs.

I have previously featured Penni's photography here

Penni Webb. An American Past.
Hand Painted Black and White Photographs from the Beauty of Aging Series:
August 19 - September 16, 2008.
Artist Reception:
Saturday, August 23, 6:00 - 8:30PM
Smith Andersen North, San Rafael

Bangladesh Indigenous Women: Mahmud

Over 50 different indigenous societies live in Bangladesh, and women are the most excluded from the rest of society. Mahmud, of MAP Photo Agency, has photographed these populations for the last decade. This exhibition of his work, co-hosted by ActionAid and the Bangladesh Indigenous People’s Forum will be held at Drik Gallery on August 7-13, 2008.

Venue:
Drik Gallery
House 58, Road 15A (New),
Dhanmondi Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Tel: (880-2) 9120125, 8123412, 8112954

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find Mahmud's work on the web, but his image of the woman above is indicative of his talents.