In London I've watched the French movie Il y'a Longtemps Que Je T'aime (or I've Loved You So Long), and was totally enthralled by the virtuoso performance of Kristin Scott Thomas. I don't want to divulge anything of the plot, except that her performance deserves an Oscar and, along with Couscous, this film reignited my love for the cinema.
Why can't Hollywood produce cinematic gems like these two instead of its usual fare of infantile "blockbusters"? This, of course, is a rhetorical question since most of us know the answer.
The NY Times has a review of I've Loved You So Long.
Eric Beecroft and his team have just announced that the second Foundry Photo Workshop will be held in Manali, Manali-Kulu Valleys, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalaya from 26 July - 1 August 2009.
This second Foundry Photo Workshop will follow the extraordinarily successful workshop which was held in Mexicio City in June 2008.
Many of the original instructors have confirmed their participation. These are Mike Robinson-Chavez, Andrea Bruce, Tewfic El Sawy, Adriana Zehbrauskas, Ben Rusnak, and more to come.
I had the pleasure of meeting Praful Rao in Thimpu, Bhutan which he was visiting at the same time I was there. Praful is a self taught photographer whose passion for photography spans his lifetime. He describes himself as a generalist, choosing to capture whatever catches his eye or creating photographs from impromptu themes conjured in his mind. While most of his photography is of people and nature, he has also gotten involved in minimalism, still life and still enjoys doing B&W work.
Here's a lovely multimedia slideshow: Of Monasteries & Men produced by Praful. Some of the photographs are of the enthronement ceremony of the third reincarnation of Domo Geshe Rimpoche, in Tharpacholing Gompa in Kalimpong (a part of the district of Darjeeling in West Bengal). Following the ceremony, the young lama was whisked away to Mysore for further theological studies. Some photographs were also made at the Tongsa Gompa, the oldest Buddhist monastery in Kalimpong, and others are of Bhutan. I particularly liked the above image for its shadows and saturated color...a compelling composition by Praful.
Praful tells me that the background music is by a young Nepali flautist, called Manose Singh. The track was traded for a photograph by Praful that'll be featured on the artist's forthcoming album.
An earlier post on Praful Rao and his photography was published by TTP here (link).
A month ago, as I was retrieving my checked-in bag at Heathrow (I've stopped over in London from New York, en route to Bangkok then on to Paro, Bhutan), I thought something wasn't quite right but in a hurry to get a cab, it's only later that I saw that my TSA-approved lock was missing.
I unzipped my bag and saw that someone had opened all my zipped-up pouches holding chargers, batteries, cables, a sound recorder and a couple of hard drives. Nothing was missing so it wasn't a thief...but it was someone who checked every electronic item in the pouches, to the extent that the tiny SONY microphone I use with the audio recorder was removed from its little bag, and was found on top of my socks...just like that. There was no note from the TSA...nothing to indicate that it was the TSA which had done that. Since nothing was taken, I assume it was their staff that opened the lock, failed to return it, and thoroughly rifled through my electronic stuff.
Ralph Childs, a participant in my Bhutan photo expedition, had the same experience on his flight from Chicago. The TSA-approved lock was also missing, with no note from the TSA. In his case nothing was taken and his belongings weren't rifled through.
While it gives me comfort that the TSA seems to be really screening bags, and appreciating that its staff is under-trained and overworked, I am still taken aback that Ralph and I (flying from different US airports) lost our combination locks, and there was no note indicating that the TSA had been through our bags. In my case, I'm just annoyed that electronic items were strewn around in the bag...losing an item would've been a nuisance, although I could've replaced it in London or Bangkok.
Moral of the story: Keep every item you depend on for your work in your carry-on luggage...and remember that TSA locks are great if and when the TSA staff have the ways to open them (or take the trouble to)...if not, you can kiss them goodbye.
Editor & Publisher has just announced its 9th Annual Photos of the Year winners. Shiho Fukada, won the grand prize for her work in The New York Times covering the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China. The Travel Photographer offers its congratulations to Ms Fukada for the well-deserved award.
An outstanding photographer, Shiho Fukada has been featured many times on The Travel Photographer. Here are some of the links:
Lourdes Segade is a Spanish photojournalist, based in Barcelona. Her work is often seen in Spain, where she publishes in Sunday newspaper supplements such as La Vanguardia Magazine or El Semanal, and in other magazines such as Yo Dona or Revista, of La Vanguardia newspaper or other publications, like DAMn, The New York Times and the IHT.
She has shown her work in screenings at several festivals, including the International Meeting of Photojournalism in Gijón and also the Albarracín Photo and Journalism Seminar, both in Spain. She's a member of the French collective, PictureTank, and is a co-founder of the EVE Photographers, a collective of emerging women photographers.
I feature Lourdes' portfolio titled Nepal & Bhutan: A Glimpse, as I'm already experiencing serious withdrawal pangs from my Bhutan photo expedition. I particularly liked the photograph of the dancer's skirt at the Punakha dzong during Losar...a wide angle shot, with just a touch of blur.
A week long celebration of photography is scheduled for November 15-22, and will mark the launch of FotoWeek DC, the first annual gathering of a diverse and wide-ranging photography community in the nation’s capital, including photographers, museums, universities and all those involved in the profession across the metro D.C. area, including Virginia and Maryland.
FotoWeek DCseeks to bring together all photographers and imaging professionals from every discipline to join with the public in celebration of the medium.
More information is available on FotoWeek's blog, which I'm glad to see is using the same color scheme as The Travel photographer.
