2:00 AM
Anthony Pond is hardly a stranger to The Travel Photographer blog, as Kathakali, The Story Dance of Kerala is the newest one of his many audio slideshows I've already featured.
In this latest one, Tony has very ably merged stills, ambient audio with video clips to produce a 3 minute multimedia look into the backstage preparations for a Kathakali performance, and then the performance itself.
Tony was a participant in The Oracles Of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop during which I had arranged a private photo shoot involving the performers of this ancient art form. The 3 hours make-up session, and the 2-1/2 hours performance took place at the Kalatharangini Kathakali School near Cheruthuruthy. The performers' intensity was incredible, and I recall mentioning that earlier on this blog that...
Showing posts with label Photo Tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photo Tours. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Kris Bailey: Red Rivulets (The Oracles of Kodungallur)
Apart from being an attorney in Northern California, Kris Bailey is a photographer who's keenly interested in South and South East Asia, and is particularly attracted to unusual rituals and religious festivals. She joined my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop, which was her second expedition-workshop with me; the first being Kolkata's Durga Puja.
On her blog and Vimeo page, Kris describes herself as "Inspired by the stories of a young adventurer with a french accent and a cheap wooden guitar, Kris ran home from school one day and announced that she was going to live in Europe. Eight months later, wearing a cowboy hat and white bell-bottom jeans, Kris boarded a DC-10 bound for Brussels. She was 15 years old."
No longer with a hat and white jeans, she has just produced her...
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
My Work: The Art of Kathakali
One of the highlights of my Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop this past March was spending half a day at a Kathakali school near Thrissur, and documenting the preparations and performance of this ancient art. It was totally distinct from the usual superficial performances shown at the various tourist hotels, and the professionalism of the performers was breathtaking. Apart from the talent of the performers, I was especially struck by the singing which you hear on this "photo-film".Kathakali is one of the oldest theatre forms in the world, and originated in Kerala. It's a group production, in which actors-dancers take various roles in performances based on themes from Hindu mythology, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.The elaborate make up sessions often take longer...
Monday, April 30, 2012
Charlotte Rush-Bailey: Blood & Turmeric
Charlotte Rush-Bailey is a photographer who migrated to the world of photography from a corporate career that covered three decades of marketing and communications positions in a variety of global industries including energy, financial services, media, conservation, technology and professional services. This gave her opportunities to work with people all over the world, and to learn to appreciate cultural nuances and the influences of socio-political forces.
She has just produced her audio-slideshow Blood And Turmeric of her stills and ambient sound recordings made during the festival of the Oracles in Kodungallur whilst participating in my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop.
So hold on to your seats, you'll get sweaty palms perhaps...but I'm certain you'll be bowled over...
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Anthony Pond: 10,000 Verses
Anthony Pond has just produced another audio slideshow of black and white photographs made at the Vadakke Madham Brahmaswam Vedic Institute in Thrissur, Kerela, India where young novices spend five years learning Vedic chants.
It was made during my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop when I arranged a photo shoot at this ancient Vedic gurukul (a training and boarding school very similar to Buddhist monasteries for its novitiates, or Muslim madrasas) in Thrissur, where we were allowed to attend demonstrations of this way of teaching and reciting sacred Vedic scriptures.
One of the suggestions I make during my workshops was that essays produced by its participants ought to have intriguing titles. I certainly think Anthony did well with his...
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Verdict: The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop
Photo Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
"...the uniqueness of this photo expedition-workshop..."
That's how one of the group members started to express his satisfaction in having attended The Oracles Of Kerala Photo-Expedition-Workshop while bidding goodbye to me and the rest of the group.
Uniqueness! It's precisely what I strive for when I structure my itineraries and programs for my photo expeditions/workshops. Are all of those based on unique itineraries? Of course not...but most of them are. The Oracles Of Kerala Photo-Expedition-Workshop was based on two main Hindu religious festivals: Thirunakkara...
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Teerayut Chaisarn: In Search of Sufis Movie
Teerayut Chaisarn is an emerging photojournalist/photographer from Chiang Mai in Thailand, and participated in my In Search of the Sufis of Gujarat Photo Expedition in January 2011. He recently completed a 14 minutes movie of his experience during the photo expedition, and posted it on YouTube.
Teerayut started photographing about 5 years ago, and is largely self-taught. He started work as a photographer on the magazine staff of his hometown, but preferred to become a freelance photographer. He also applied his Photoshop post processing expertise to assist various Thai professional photographers, and processes their portfolio...
Friday, February 10, 2012
Tony Smith: Kolkata's Cult of Durga (In Motion)
I'm glad Tony Smith has now produced an audio slideshow of his work during the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop. The software he used to produce it is ProShow Producer, rather than SoundSlides that I normally use on my workshops. His audio slideshow is divided into chapters or segments which coincied with the different phases of the Durga Puja festival.Tony is an Associate member of the Royal Photographic Society, and he traveled to Nepal, Bhutan, India, France, China, Spain, Morocco the USA and Canada and the West Coast of Ireland. He has attended Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Gypsy religious and secular festivals.. He worked quite hard during the Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop to produce his audio slideshow on the festival; however and much...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
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...
Monday, October 24, 2011
Zara Bowmar: Kolkata's Pandal Mania
Zara Bowmar is one of the participants in my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop, and produced a remarkably compelling documentary of the Durga Puja festival.
A native of New Zealand now living in Sydney, Australia, she is the founder of ZeeGlobe, an independent travel site featuring stories and photography, which highlights adventures in new places and cultures in off the beaten track locations or old favorites in new ways.
As featured in her audio slideshow (converted to an mp4 movie) above, Zara was one of the first participant to complete her project in Kolkata. You can view it in black & white above or in vivid color...
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Durga Puja: The Idol-Makers Of Kumartuli
Photo Dibyangshu SarkarAFP/Getty Images
It's less than a month to my forthcoming photo-expedition/workshop Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop, whose primary aim is to photograph the innumerable rites associated with the Durga festivities, documenting some of the ornate pandals (platforms on which the deities are displayed), and ultimately their immersion in the city's Hooghly river.
Coincidentally, Time's LightBox featured the above photograph of artisans work on semi-finished clay statues of the Hindu goddess Durga in Kumartuli, a neighborhood of Kolkata famed for its clay idols. It seems that ongoing monsoon...
Monday, September 13, 2010
Bali: Odalan at Pura Desa Sapat
Photo Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Here's the first gallery of my own work whilst I was leading the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition™ last month.
It's a linear photo gallery of about 20 large color photographs made during an important anniversary of a Balinese Hindu temple, and it's titled Odalan: Pura Desa Sapat. It's more photo journalistic in style than travel, and there are graphic photographs of animals being sacrificed, which may be disturbing to some.
This was one of the two most intense photo-shoots during the whole photo~expedition...not only because of the time spent photographing, but also because of the...
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Travel Photographer: Updated Website
I updated The Travel Photographer website with a new slideshow of more recent photographs made during my 2009-2010 trips, and added details of my planned In Search of Sufis Photo~Expedition™, which will be the first scheduled for 2011.It's well on its way to being sold out, as I am restricting it to only 5 photographers.The In Search of Sufis Photo~Expedition™ is not for first-timers to India, nor is it for photographers expecting choreographed photo-opportunities. This trip will be the quintessential fusion of travel photography and photojournalism, and aims to merge the visual with the intellectual.It's structured for photographers interested in multimedia story-telling, interested in exploring the existing syncretism between Sufism and Hinduism, interested in documenting traditional ways...
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Graham Ware: Bhutan
Graham Ware joined The Travel Photographer's Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition, and has produced an audio slideshow in QuickTime format of some of his various images made during the trip, coupled with live audio recordings gleaned during the tsechu festivals, religious pujas, the Sangha debates of the monks and a Bhutanese folk song. A medical technologist based in Chandler, Arizona, his interest in photography started in 2000, with most of his focus at that time on wildlife and landscapes. However, he admits to have discovered photojournalism in 2004, and it is then he joined the "dark side". Last January he joined Gary Knight and...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Alia Refaat: Theyyam & Kathakali Exhibit
As I hinted earlier, another participant in my Theyyam of Malabar photo~expedition is about to step into the limelight. Alia "Coucla" Refaat is putting the final touches to an exhibit of her photographs of Theyyam ceremonies and Kathakali performances, and has issued the following press release:
The Art of Kathakali & The Rituals of Theyyam, an exhibition by Alia (Coucla) Refaat, an award winning and internationally recognized and exhibited commercial and travel/documentary photographer will be open to the public Thursday 18th June 2009 through Sunday 28th June 2009 at The Cairo Opera House, Music Library. The exhibition along with a...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Canon 5D II Does Theyyams (VIDEO)
Here's a short snippet of raw video captured on my Canon 5D Mark II during one of the many Theyyam ceremonies witnessed during my Theyyam of Malabar photo expedition in Kerala (India). The camera used was the new Canon 5D Mark II...Nothing fancy. I just pointed and pressed the button. I still have quite a few others that are lengthier which will be worked on using iMovie etc. Audio was captured via the camera's microphone. However, I've recorded excellent audio with my new Marantz PMD-620 which I'll use for forthcoming projects.Theyyam rituals are indigenous to north Kerala, and the actor-dancers incarnate local deities to foretell the future...
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Bhutan Photo Expedition: Le "Chimping"
Photograph � Gavin Gough/All Rights ReservedHere's a Soundslides candid behind the scenes look at the going-ons during the Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition. All photographs are courtesy and copyright of Gavin Gough (those of him are obviously not...unless they were self-taken).As can be seen from the above photo capture, we were singularly adept at the art of chimping during the Thangbi Mani tsec...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Kashmir: Photo Expedition & Workshop
I'm pleased to announce that a photo expedition-workshop in Kashmir (India) is planned for July 27-August 9, 2008. The Kashmir: Paradise On Earth photo workshop-expedition is set in this beautiful mountainous area of India, set deep within the Himalayan mountains on its frontier with Pakistan, China and Tibet. The floating city of Srinagar is the workshop-expedition's base, and the initial days in India will be spent photographing Delhi's Islamic character. This workshop-expedition will involve extensive fieldwork shooting stories in Delhi and Srinagar (and beyond), one on one portfolio reviews, nightly slideshows, panel discussions, and working...
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Bali: Photo Expedition July 14-29, 2007
Image Copyright ©Tewfic El-Sawy - All Rights Reserved In anticipation of my forthcoming photo expedition to Bali (sorry, but it sold out a few days from my announcing it last December). I put together a short Soundslides gallery of various photographs and audio taken at Odalans (temples' anniversaries), and Melastis (purification rituals). For advance notice of my photo expeditions, you need to register on my websiteHere is the Bali slideshow: Bali: Odalans and Melas...
