The Travel Photographer Is On Cowbird!

I've just uploaded my first Cowbird story titled The Sufi Itinerant of Qutb Uddin. While working on the photograph of Miskine, the Sufi in my post of yesterday, I realized I had a recording of him briefly telling me his life story. Coincidentally, I was invited to join Cowbird, which describes itself as "...a small community of storytellers, focused on a deeper, longer-lasting, more personal kind of storytelling than youre likely to find anywhere else on the Web." Cowbird seeks to feature incredible stories by some of the world's finest storytellers, and present them in the most beautiful storytelling environment on the Web. Its community...

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Raw File: Wired: Assignments

RAW FILE, Wired magazine's blog, has started a new series of posts called Assignment Wired, where the magazine will hand out photo assignments to its readers, and then eventually choose some submissions to publish and critique. I thought it was a brilliant idea, and said so in an earlier post....ignoring the naysayers and the skeptics who commented on RAW FILE.Its first assignment was The Corner-Store...the goal was to document the place where you buy your Gatorade and clove cigarettes and introduce us to the people who work and hang there. And the first round of submissions for that project have be in, and a few were selected to be shown on...

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Once Magazine: Photojournalism For The Mobile Age?

As I'll be on my way to Buenos Aires this evening for the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, I thought of posting this potential photojournalism opportunity about Once Magazine.Once Magazine claims that it will publish three stories of about twenty-five full-screen photographs with captions, an introductory text essay, and interactive features. The magazine will allow photographers to tell their stories by using the iPad as one of the mobile platforms. The magazine will split all subscription revenue directly with photographers, and its stories will be chosen for their "narrative appeal, journalistic insight, and photographic quality." For further information and to submit stories and projects, take a look at the magazine's About page.I wish Once Magazine's team success. I can't foretell its...

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Erica McDonald: DEVELOPphoto

Erica McDonald is an institution. Yes, you read that correctly. She's an institution for a number of reasons; primarily because she's a damn good photographer/photojournalist, and also because she recently and single handedly initiated DEVELOP Tube, an educational resource on photojournalism. If you need proof of her photographic talents, just drop by her website, and take a good look at her New York City Portraits, amongst her many galleries. You'll immediately agree with me.And when you finish doing that...drop by DEVELOP Tube on YouTube and on VIMEO.DEVELOP Tube features interviews, profiles, lectures, films about photojournalism, fine art,...

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POV: Photo Assignment RAW FILE

Photo  Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved Through Twitter, I've noticed a post by RAW FILE, Wired magazine's blog, which is starting a new series of posts called Assignment Wired, where the magazine will hand out photo assignments to its readers, and then eventually choose some submissions to publish and critique. WIRED's expertise and interest is in reportage and photojournalism, and it expects its participating readers to get quotes, do some writing, do some research and take emotive photos. "We want gritty, real and human stories. We want to throw you into new situations and give you a chance to sink or swim." It actually just...

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Reuters Does Big: Full Focus

Photo  REUTERS/Carlos Barria -All Rights Reserved Reuters has joined the other news media in featuring large photographs on a blog. Full Focus, a large format showcase of Reuters award-winning photography, tells global stories. The agency seeks to use this imagery to foster a deeper understanding of current events and social issues, and Full Focus provides an opportunity for its readers/viewers to offer perspectives on the photographs and the topics they address. The lovely photograph by Carlos Barria and is part of the Haiti Revisited photo essay, and is of expecting women waiting for tent distribution near the presidential palace...

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Udaan School of Photography

Dhiraj Singh and Arko Datta have just announced the launching of Udaan, an independent photography school in Mumbai.Udaan's students will be tutored by leading working professionals such as Singh, Datta, Ritam Banerjee and Yogesh Bhandary. The courses in Udaan have been designed to meet the needs of photography-enthusiasts at different levels of learning and expertise. The school will cater to both photojournalists and commercial photographers, and will encourage and cultivate individualistic thinking and a creative vision. Award winning independent photographer Dhiraj Singh has focused on human stories evolving in India and regularly works for...

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A Wonderful Concept: PhotoPhilanthropy

PhotoPhilanthropy's stated mission is to promote, support and connect photographers to non-profit organizations around the world. It has created a community for photographers, photo enthusiasts and non-profit organizations to network, to tell their stories, show their work, exchange ideas, find opportunities and financial support for their efforts.It also encourages student, amateur and professional photographers to publish photo essays designed to educate and engage people in a wide variety of social campaigns. Interestingly, it has also created The PhotoPhilanthropy Activist Award; an annual endorsement of excellence for professional, amateurs,...

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The Black Snapper

As my readers know, one of The Travel Photographer blog's objectives is to assist emerging photographers in getting better known, and contribute in introducing their work to a wider audience. Many other blogs and web magazines do this as well. Burn, 100Eyes, Verve Photo and others are showcasing the work of emerging and creative photographers extremely well, and have done much to introduce new talent into the limelight. A newly formed web magazine The Black Snapper has joined in this commendable task on August 1st 2009. The Black Snapper daily presents a photographer selected by one of its guest curators, and the expectation is to present...

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GAIA Photos

Gaia Photos is a platform and an opportunity for photographers to showcase their work to a broad audience, and it seeks to be a place to explore and discover the issues facing the diverse population and locations of the world. It also seeks to be where professional photo buyers will find international, in-depth, quality reporting from a vast pool of professional photojournalists who can also be contacted directly for commissioned work.One of its declared objectives is to promote quality and diversity in documentary photography, especially in a time of dwindling editorial budgets.Some of the photographers working with Gaia are Lisa Hogben, GMB...

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Justin Jin: 100Eyes Magazine

Justin Jin worked for more than than a decade as an independent photojournalist with leading magazines and newspapers, specializing in documenting people in hidden, harsh and sensitive situations, such as authoritarianism in Russia, exploitation in China or illegal immigration in Europe.Based for the last four years in Moscow, Justin is doing reportage andcorporate assignments in Russia, China and beyond. While some of his projects are commissioned, others are self-initiated. The beautifully produced 100Eyes Magazine features Justin Jin's edgy photo essay Made In China-Blues After Midnight which documents how workers in Chinese factories toil...

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Robin Hammond: Street Children of Delhi

Here's Namaste Delhi, a photo essay on the street children of Delhi, India's capital city, by Robin Hammond, who presents his work in a flip book format. He has also written an essay on these children, so his photographs are arranged in magazine format, which is very attractive.He tells us that most of the street children in Delhi are originally from Bihar (one of the poorest states in India), and that they're running from poverty, abuse and neglect. One of his photographs is of 12-year old Husina, who makes around 500 rupees a day from selling herself, is haunting. She wears earrings and a ring, probably bought with her earnings, but it's her...

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7dot7 Magazine

Photo  Alfonso Moral-All Rights Reserved 7dot7 is an online photo magazine, and a project of the collective of photographers called RUIDO Photo in Barcelona. Its objective is to become a a repository for an independent, social, critic and committed photojournalism. One of its interesting features in its initial publication is the work of photographer Alfonso Moral with his photo essay on the heroin addicts in Afghanistan. Alfonso studied journalism in Valladolid, and photography in Barcelona. He har worked in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Afghanistan. His photographs has been published in Newsweek, The Sunday Times, El Pas...

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Aurora Novus

Aurora Photos has launched a new company, Aurora Novus, to cater to the needs of clients' demand for video, motion picture and interactive content, and for storytelling.The new company seeks to offer a "one-stop visual solution" to such clients. It's not a new approach, with Media Storm being a well-known industry leader in this particular field.Another reason to check out Aurora Novus' website is to watch Ivan Kashinsky's photographs of the lives of Bolivia's women wrestlers. The story is based on the September 2008 National Geographic story.Here are more of Ivan's photographs of Las Cholit...

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Burn Magazine

burn was launched as an online magazine/journal on December 21, 2008 by the legendary David Alan Harvey and a team of emerging photographers. Its intent is to provide a platform for such photographers both online and in print. In my view (and in the view of many), David Alan Harvey is a role model for all established photographers...he gives, he teaches and he mentors...he relates to younger photographers who benefit from his experience, from his expertise and his knowledge. If there's such a thing as a Nobel prize for photography, David Alan Harvey would be on my short list of candidates.I encourage you to bookmark burn, to visit it often and...

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Lunatic Magazine #3

Here's issue #3 of Lunatic Magazine, a bi-annual online photo magazine which seeks to give photographers the opportunity to promote original stories and images. It also aims to provide space for creative work within photojournalism. The magazine presents new work from known and unknown talented photographers from all around the world. The magazine is very nicely presented, and very well edited by Karl Blanchet and Eric Hilaire.One of the eye-catching features is Take Me Home by the talented and award winning GMB Akash of Bangladeshi free-riders on the trains that criss-cross this vast and impoverished nati...

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Does Size Matter? Yes It Does.

Photograph Joseph Rodriguez-All Rights ReservedRealizing that viewers/readers are enamored with large photographs, two national newspapers have recently featured large photographs of current events. The size of these photographs are in the range of 1000 x 650 pixels (which is the favored size for displaying my own images on my web galleries, and certainly for my multimedia slideshows). The response to the Boston Globe's The Big Picture is phenomenal, and if you haven't visited it yet, you should. Interestingly, the staid Wall Street Journal has followed suit with its equally attractive Photo Journal which features a photo essay on Katrina stories...

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Vewd: A Documentary Photography Mag

According to its website, Vewd is a "documentary photography magazine aiming to continue the tradition of storytelling through a visual medium. We bring these important essays from up and coming, but largely unknown, photographers."Vewd was started by Matt Blalock, seeking to provide a venue for new photographers to share their documentary essays. Two of the latest essays caught my eye, and although I encourage you to explore the rest as well, there two are very good. Platform 22 is an essay by Nathan Golden documenting the street children who roam Howrath rail station near Kolkata, and the other is Why Go Home by Morgan Haggar, a photo essay...

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The Travel Photographer on Photoshop TV

I'm thrilled to see that The Travel Photographer blog was featured on PhotoshopUser TV, which is brought by NAPP (the National Association of Photoshop Professionals). Both Matt and Dave are industry icons, and present their weekly informative television episodes to an appreciative public.My thanks to both Matt and Dave, the hosts of the program.The episode is PhotoshopUser TV Episode 140 (June 30, 20...

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VUVOX

I'm always on the lookout for easy and innovative ways to showcase my photography on the web, and recently stumbled on VUVOX.This is an easy to use production and instant sharing service that allows you to mix, create and blend video, photos and music into a visual display, be it on a website or a blog. Provided you're a Flickr (or other similar photo-sharing sites) user, you can create a simple slideshow in under 5 minutes. The nice thing about VUVOX slideshow is that it allows for full screen view, although one has to use higher resolution photographs so as to have them display properly.There are some other neat examples of very interesting visual displays on VUVOX's website, including collages made into slideshows.I've done some ferreting around, and found that VUVOX is used by the multimedia...

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