Tyler Hicks: War In El Atatra

© Tyler Hicks/NYTimes-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times (perhaps in a spasm of conscience) has published a slideshow of Tyler Hicks' photographs showing the absolute devastation of a village in Gaza.

The War In El Atatra presents raw images of what Tyler saw and documented of this unfortunate village, and tells a piece of a story that will resonate and haunt those who've kept silent about the Gaza massacre.

For those of you who have the courage to look at the images, you'll see a photograph of a donkey shot by Israeli troops (was it a Hamas fighter in disguise?) thereby depriving its owner from a livelihood, a 70-year old Palestinian woman weeping and hiding her face in shame because she's digging a stump to use as firewood, and of a woman scrounging for potatoes, among other heartbreaking scenes.

However, the first panel of the slideshow demonstrates how tone-deaf the caption writer at the NY Times is. It reads in part: " Life there is difficult for Palestinians in the wake of the Israeli military incursion which destroyed much of the town".

Difficult!? The caption writer ought to attend school and read history to learn how war crimes are described.

The accompanying article is by Ethan Bronner & Sabrina Tavernise (with contributions from Taghreed El-Khodary and Nadim Audi).

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Ethiopia's Saint by Cyril le Tourneur d’Ison

© Cyril le Tourneur d’Ison/LightMediation-All Rights Reserved
From the Lightmediation Photo Agency comes this very interesting photo story by photographer Cyril le Tourneur d’Ison. It's this kind of photographic storytelling that merges ethnography and religious traditions which interest me the most in travel photography, and this subject matter is particularly captivating because it's virtually unknown...at least to me.

The sacred remote shrine of Sheikh Hussein is in the desert of Bale Province in south-eastern part Ethiopia. Similar to the marabouts of Morocco, or the Sufi saints in India and Pakistan, Sheikh Hussein was renowned for his miraculous powers. For the past 700 years, his shrine has become the site one of Ethiopia's most extraordinary pilgrimages where on a bi-annual basis, up to 50,000 pilgrims, most coming from Ethiopia's remote villages, make an arduous journey to pray at the shrine.

The more I come into contact (either directly myself or through the work of other photographers) with all kinds of religious traditions, the more I realize that all are similar. The above photograph shows pilgrims prostrating themselves on the way to the shrine, reminding me of the Tibetans doing the same around the Potala Palace, on the way to Mount Kailash or circumbulating the Swayambunath stupa in Kathmandu.

It's a real shame that the photographs are not displayed in higher resolution, but I suppose it is what it is because of Issuu's high compression. It's even a greater shame that this photo essay is not produced as an audio slideshow!

To open the document, click on the page below:

Get your own - Open publication

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TTP's Twittering & on Duckrabbit's Island

The Travel Photographer's posts are now on Twitter!!! As many of you know, Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

Not only that, but should duckrabbit multimedia be stuck on a desert island and could take one blog along with them, it would be the Travel Photographer!

Benjamin Chesterton, the force, creative director and now poet, behind duckrabbit multimedia generously wrote this:

"Proving that great, concerned travel photography and photojournalism are often indistinguishable. Written with generosity of spirit, The Travel Photographer is a conductor of Wanderlust, a Magna Carta of diversity and above all else a celebration of hope. Be in awe."

If you haven't visited and bookmarked duckrabbit for your multimedia fix, you must.

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Foundry PJ Workshop 2009: Scholarships!!!

Eric Beecroft, director of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, has announced scholarships for emerging photojournalists to attend the workshop in Manali, India.

The scholarships are from The Travel Photographer and REDUX Pictures.


The terms and conditions of The Travel Photographer scholarship are:

1. Full scholarship of $450 for a South Asian photojournalists. (South Asian countries include India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Tibet.)

2. Partial scholarship of $450 for a photojournalist of any nationality.

3. The scholarships are only available to photojournalists who have 5 years or less of full or part-time work experience.

4. To apply for The Travel Photographer’s scholarships, email 5 of your photographs to fpw_ttp at yahoo dot com with your email header “FPW-TTP scholarship”, including a short biography and a brief statement as to what your work objectives are. The photographs should be no more that 500 pixels on their long side and a resolution of 72 pixels/inch.

5. The application process starts on February 3 and closes on April 3, 2009. The two winners will be announced on April 15, 2009.


The REDUX Pictures scholarship covers tuition for two photojournalists (one South Asian, one from anywhere else).

Eligibility: Any photographer in the first 5 years of their career (no matter their age) or, if South Asian, any photographer (no limit on time spent in field).

How to Apply:

Send an email with the following EXACTLY AS SPECIFIED BELOW:

1. subject line- your name and the words “Redux Scholarship” in the subject line.

2. A LINK to 30 of your images, either singles or a cohesive photo-story/essay
(do NOT attach the photos or send them in the body of the email).

3. One to two paragraphs about your photography background, career goals and international ambitions in the photojournalism field.

4. The deadline for submissions is February 28. Winners announced March 15, 2009.

Email all of the above to: foundryphotoworkshop at hotmail dot com

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Paolo Pellegrin: Guantánamo

From Magnum Photos' In Motion comes a photo essay by Paolo Pellegrin on Guantánamo. This certainly is a topical issue since President Obama announced his administration's decision to close the controversial maximum security camp.

The United States Supreme Court ruled that prisoners held as “enemy combatants” in Guantánamo could file habeas corpus petitions in US district courts challenging the legality of their confinement. Most have been held in the camp under brutal conditions, enduring solitary confinement and torture, for more than six years. None has ever had the merits of his case reviewed by a court of law.

There is talk that some of the prisoners ought to be transferred to Alcatraz, which would be rebuilt, and equipped with the most advanced security systems.

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One Shot: Sandra Chandler: Carnavale

Photo ©Sandra Chandler-All Rights Reserved
As Venice Carnavale will be celebrated in less than two weeks (mid-February 2009); essentially starting two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ending on Mardi Gras or Fat Tuedsay, here's a lovely (and an award-winning) photograph of a masked reveler by photographer Sandra Chandler.

Sandra 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.

I know where Sandra is heading in June. It's to document the Gnawa festival in Morocco.

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WSJ Photo Journal: Magh Mela

Photo ©Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP-All Rights Reserved
The WSJ's Photo Journal published this photograph of Hindu devotees offering prayers on Mauni Amavasya, or new moon day, the third and the most auspicious date of bathing during the annual month long Hindu religious event of Magh Mela in Allahabad, India which begins begins on January 11 and ends on February 23, 2009.

The Magh Mela is held on the banks of the Sangam ( the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers and the mythical Saraswati) in Allahabad. The main ritual involves immersiong oneself in the Sangam on auspicious dates. This is said to wash out sins and lead to moksha, the ultimate aim of Hindus.

My photo essay on the Maha Kumbh Mela is at The Sadhus of the Kumbh Mela.

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