Asia Society: Princes And Painters In Muhgal India

The Asia Society Museum in New York City is to show Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707-1857, an exhibition showcasing Delhi's rich rich history of art, artists and patrons who flourished during this critical period. The exhibition will focus on the reigns of the last four Mughal emperors  Muhammad Shah, Shah Alam II, Akbar Shah II and Bahadur Shah II Zafar. The latter emperor is the subject of William Dalrymple "The Last Mughal"...a captivating biography of Bahadur Shah Zafar, a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur the Great, and of the city of Delhi around the time of the Sepoy Rebellion. The Sepoy Rebellion was eventually...

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Sandy Chandler: Videos & Book...Kolkata & Durga Puja

Sandy Chandler has been busy the past few months. No, make that real busy. She participated in my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop in October, and having produced a highly commendable black & white audio-slideshow (at top) during the workshop, also returned home with a trove of images and audio tracks recorded live during the two weeks in Kolkata. Back home, she produced a more light hearted view of the festival which views it from what she calls "Another Side of Durga Puja", and features its mixture of spirituality and commerce. As she describes it, "the annual Durga Puja festival in Kolkata celebrates...

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NPR: Tibet 100 Years Ago

Photo Courtesy Bonhams NPR's The Picture Show recently reported that a part of Tibet's history recorded through old photographs was auctioned in London. The photographs (consisting of 70 platinum prints and 2 folding panoramas) were taken by British political officer John Claude White during a 1903 British mission to Tibet, and were sold for 38,400 (or about $60,000). I love news like that because it fuses history (military), Asia, adventurism and photography. John Claude White was part of the British expedition led by Francis Younghusband who, under orders from George Curzon, was to settle disputes over the Sikkim-Tibet border. In reality,...

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John Stanmeyer: Bali Island of Spirits

Excerpted from VII's press release announcing John Stanmeyer's new book Bali: Island of Spirits:Spirits are everywhere in Bali. Balinese spiritual culture has its roots in Indian Hinduism, Buddhism and ancient animist beliefs, first originating in East Java. Centuries-old ceremonies with deeply layered rituals are very much alive today. John Stanmeyer spent five years living in Bali, creating this reportage through the uninhibited and timeless lens of a Holga. His photographs capture practices from decades past, transcending the temporal as they live on today and into the unforeseen future. Details on the reception and book signing:Artist reception...

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Book Event: 100 New York Photographers

The 100 New York Photographer book, in which my biography and four of my travel photographs of Ethiopia, Bhutan, and Burma are prominently featured, will be the subject of a book signing event at Rizzoli Bookstore at 57th Street in New York City on January 22, 2010.The book's author Cynthia Maris Dantzic and special guests (presumably some of the photographers in the book) will be at the event. Unfortunately, I will be in India at that time, so I had to convey my regrets to the publishers.The book groups the work of 100 New York celebrated photographers to include Vincent Laforet, Jay Maisel, Mary Ellen Mark, Joel Meyerowitz, Annie Leibowitz,...

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Book: Dalrymple's Nine Lives

One of my favorite haunts when I'm in London is Stanfords, the travel bookstore close to Covent Gardens...and one of my favorite authors is William Dalrymple. So when both come together in an event to be held at the Royal Geographical Society, I am ready with my credit card to buy a ticket. However, as I will still be in Bhutan on October 7, I will miss the event, but look forward to buying the book when I am in London.I posted about Nine Lives earlier on T...

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Private: The Other Side of India

PRIVATE is a self-described quarterly international review of black and white photographs and texts, and an "independent and itinerant publication that offer its photographic journey since 1992".Its website, Private Photo Review, is showcasing a special issue titled The Other Side of India, with black & white photographs by Indian photographers, such as Srinivas Kuruganti with Coal India Limited, Saibal Das with Circus Girls, Bijoy Chowdhury with Bandwallahs, and others.I wish Private Photo Review could have shown us a sample of these photographs in a larger format. As they are, they're too small for us to really appreciate. For instance,...

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Justin Guariglia: Planet Shanghai

Justin Guariglia's latest book, Planet Shanghai, is his attempt to preserve the city's unique culture, traditions and its people. The ICP will be having a book signing event with Justin Guariglia on Friday, May 23 (6:00 pm - 7:30 pm) at its store on 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, NYC.Here are some samples from Planet ShanghaiFrom the New Yorker magazine:It�s amazing how much you can accomplish in Shanghai while wearing pajamas. In recent years, Shanghai newspapers have worried that this sartorial habit will give the city a slovenly image, but it seems that many natives see little divide between public and private space. Justin...

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Douglas Menuez: The Orphans of Uganda

Douglas Menuez began his career photographing for the Washington Post, then moved to Time, Newsweek, Life, People and Fortune Magazine and many other publications worldwide over the past twenty years. He�s covered major news stories including the famine in Ethiopia, the destruction of the Amazon, the AIDS crisis, drug wars, presidential campaigns, the Olympics, five SuperBowls and the World Series. Transcendent Spirit: The Orphans of Uganda follows the journey of 20 orphans who overcame tremendous hardships to form a dance troupe and become cultural ambassadors for their troubled country. They have brought their intense energy and joy to audiences...

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Jessica Dimmock: The Ninth Floor

I have to preface my review of Jessica Dimmock's powerful book, The Ninth Floor, by describing its photographs as raw, unflinching, many of which are frightening and that have dragged me into the depths of a world heroin addicts, for whom there's seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. In a way, I'm glad to have been given the chance of reviewing that book because it forced me out of my"comfort zone", both personally and photographically-speaking.Jessica's forceful photographs document the drug-addled lives of residents on the ninth floor of a Manhattan's flat-iron district apartment building. For almost three years, she follows these...

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Unsung: Extraordinary People

Image Copyright © Mahesh Bhat-All Rights ReservedSince TTP is a non-commercial blog, I do not post about books unless I've read and enjoy them, however this is an exception. UNSUNG is an inspirational book about Indians with ordinary backgrounds who have made extraordinary contributions to their communities. The book tells the stories of nine of such people from places across India, such as Ladkah, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Orissa.It seems that the book was about 5 years in the making, and published despite many odds. It features B&W photographs by photographer Mahesh Bhat and text by journalist Anita Pratap,...

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WIP

Image & Design © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights ReservedWatch this space....

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Geographic Expeditions: Simon Winchester

An invitation from Bridget Lackie of Geographic Expeditions landed in my email inbox a few weeks ago, announcing a literary event at the Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln Center, in which the incomparable Simon Winchester would talk about his upcoming book on China.The event was held on the evening of Wednesday Sept 26th, and was extremely well attended by invitees who -to my mind at least- seemed to fit a certain profile: globetrotting travelers, Sinophiles and avid travel book readers. The talk was preceded by cocktails where everyone mingled and shared travel stories.As background: Simon Winchester is a best-selling British author, and a journalist...

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