Thank you American Airlines
We have even more time to read and spy search compliments of mysterious mechanical issues with our flight. Five hours of flying time turns into 15… We will get there yet. Fingers crossed.
So far American Airlines has been disappointing at best.
Pura Vida… soon.
Jenn paints Fiona’s nails to pass the time and keep the animals from becoming restless. It’s working so far.
Costa Rica – Midway
Gary Morgan leads the way in Dominical, Costa Rica.
Costa Rica bound
I’m off to Costa Rica, covering a story about a group of local students that are part of a developing online curriculum at Walnut Hills High School. They’re working with Gary Morgan and the Morgan Jungle Lodge to study cultural and eco-diversity in the Osa. Should be a great story, with a few surprises to come (I hope), including a story about an indigenous tribe living in the rainforest and now are threatened by logging. I’ll update the blog as wifi becomes available. Hopefully that will be sooner than later.
MPMF 2010
A Place to Bury Strangers performing at the Contemporary Art Center during MidPoint Music Festival - Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010
My edited gallery of all three nights of the festival can be viewed on my website. Check it out here.
Here comes Santa Claus – sneak peek
I had a great time with the myriad of Santa’s during the Cincinnati Santacon 2009 festivities this past Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009.
CityBeat is publishing the piece next week, but I got the “OK” to publish a sneak preview of the piece for anyone interested. Click here to see the audio slideshow.
To purchase images — prints and digital downloads — click here. Enjoy.
Northern Images
I enjoy photographing street life. People in their everyday groove, doing what they do, going about their business. Of course my presence alone is enough to alter the moment. It’s such a game. I don’t stand much of a chance of blending in and I’m certainly not going to hide or sneak up on people, so I usually work with boredom. If I hang out long enough people lose interest and move on. Maybe they think I’m inept and can’t operate my camera? Who knows?
Along with street images, I’ve focused a great deal of my time and energy on the skilled workers, primarily traditional crafts people, in each region documenting differences and similarities in process and product. It’s been quite the education. I have to credit Bishaka, our wonderful travel companion, for the majority of that education and access. Without her help I would never have seen or met many the crafts people in my photos.
Having seen the Southern saree weaving process and product in detail, the opportunity to contrast and compare the famous Northern Banaras Saree was a must. They’re made primarily in the Muslim areas of Varanasi and seem to have more flash and dimension than the Kanchipuram textiles, which are lovely in their own right. The silk is beautiful and the weaving, dying and design process is impressive. Unintentionaly (to some degree) we also gained the opportunity to witness the what is becoming the death of the hand-crafted saree: Chinese automated saree weaving machines using synthetic materials. A traditional saree takes about 9-11 days to produce and requires a team of skilled workers. The machine saree take about an hour, pumping out 8-12 per day and needs only two technicians to run the operation. They’re cheaper and the marketing behind these synthetics is strong. How can the traditional producer compete? It’s a question that we continue to discuss, with little expectation of a good answer. Experiencing the mechanized process was important.
This morning was spent walking the streets of Mumbai, including the Arabian Sea coastal drive. It’s a giant cosmopolitan center with an overly-apparent Western influence. Although it’s a humid heat in Mumbai, the 92 F heat is a welcomed 25 degrees cooler than Varanasi. Yes, we were enjoying 117 F degree days in Varanasi. At that point you don’t care if it’s “dry” or “humid” you just burn. We’ll shoot a little bit more this evening and then prepare for the long series of flights home.
An American in Mumbai
It’s all hitting now. We’ve seen so much in such a relatively short amount of time. Eight flights in 16 days, go figure. Now that we’ve landed in Mumbai it all needs to come together. It’s not that easy. I’m editing images and checking facts which is all good, but there’s really no explaining what I’ve felt or experienced to this point. It just needs to simmer.
Like many of the people that I’ve met over the past 16 years in Cuba, India is full of beautiful people, comfortable with the way they are living and working – it’s refreshing and gives great perspective. They just make it work.
I’m editing photos right now. I’ll get a few together and post them soon. Thanks for sticking with me – images are coming soon.
A quick note from Varanasi
(updated with images) Tuesday, June 16th, 5:30 p.m. (8 a.m. EST), Varanasi, India
- In the final week of our trip, we land in Varanasi, one of India’s holiest cities. Every stop has been unique and this one pulls no punches. The streets are small and winding, with just enough room for about three people side-by-side, so naturally people drive their motorcycles on them. Watch your step. A walk along the Ganges nets about a thousand questions (about me) and just about the same number of photos. It’s beautiful, mysterious, majestic and not so clean. It is truly the heart and soul of this city and in some regards all of India.
I will be posting some catch-up images from Kancheepuram and Jaipur along with a few new ones from today. We took a boat ride on the Ganges around 5 a.m. That was amazing. So much so, that we’re taking an evening ride at 6 p.m. One more full day in Varanasi after that and then we head to Mumbai, midday Thursday. More to come.
A rush to post photos
I’m taking what may be a final opportunity to post images before I reach Mumbai on Thursday evening. This is just a sampling covering a little bit of my time in Chennai and Jaipur. Simple street life images. They’ve been added as a gallery to my previous post (The middle of the road). Please check them out when you get a chance.
The middle of the road
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- Vendors selling food, drink and toys on Elliot Beach in Chennai, India.
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- Carnival games on Elliot Beach in Chennai, India.
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- Gitto herself – a smart, savvy and very talented individual. Jaipur, India.
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- Beautiful textiles are hand block printed in the Gitto facilities. Jaipur, India.
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- A block used in the printing process. Jaipur, India.
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- Street life in the southern fishing city of Kochi (Cochin), India.
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- A shoe-watchman in Kanchipuram, India.
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- Children playing in the courtyard at the Hotel Diggi Palace in Jaipur, India.
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- Peahens and peacocks are all over Jaipur. These are at the Diggi.
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- One of several gateways to walled pink city inside of Jaipur city proper.
Chennai, my first official stop, is a bustling, near-tropical large city. As an American, the density of people, traffic and housing is initially a bit shocking, but it all seems normal now. I think.
The highlight of the 24 hours in Chennai was a beach carnial-meets-market. The people were responsive and kind, and quite curious. This was also a good break-in period before we hit the road. The deeply religious southern city of Kancheepuram was next.
Karthik arranged for a room in the hotel were his grandfather works. He was a wonderful man – sweet and funny. He and Jon got along particularly well. In the three days in Kancheepuram we experienced incredible crafts, especially sarees and stonecutting and carving. In fact we were able to access the grounds of a temple being built, year eight of a 13 year process. The work was amazing and the conditions they worked under made it even more impressive. The other two highlights, amongst many shoots, was the home factory work on sarees and the opportunity presented by a famous Swamiji to record (for the “first time ever” according to the Swamiji) the formal Pooja. It was impressive.
From Kanchi we returned to Chennai to catch a night train to the south western region of Kerala in the city of Kochi.
The Kerala region is lush, tropical and in the midst of the monsoon season. We didn’t get hit too hard. Aside from photographing the chinese fishing net techniques of the Fort Cochin fisherman we primarily traveled to Kerala for Karthik’s brothers (Hari) wedding. It was beautiful and we were honored to be invited. It was also wonderful to meet Karthik’s friend Giri who guided us around and laughed at our silly questions while Karthik was busy with the wedding. Following several days of festivities Jon and I split from the group and headed off on our own to Jaipur on the morning of the 12th.
When we landed at the Jaipur airport it was 107.6 degrees. Lovely. Bishaka, a former student at the NID school and specialist in textiles is joining us for our remaining stint in the north including Varanasi. She is wonderful – well travelled, smart and fierce. We’ll get along quite well. More to come as the adventure continues. Perhaps some pictures (I have about 4000 to choose from right now) if I can get this janky, slow internet connections to work. We’ll see.
The five day countdown
As I prepare for a “break” in India, my thoughts return to the excellent work that my photojournalism students produced during the course of this quarter in my pj workshop. A short stint with adoptive kids was enriching, but the photo stories gathered at CCM, in the studios at DAAP, a coffee roaster in nearby Northside and the life stories during the final days of hospice patients really had a strong impact on me. The assistance of Katie Syroney at CCM and Jill Grissom at Vitas Hospice made this quarter’s projects possible. Beyond photojournalistic story-telling techniques, students learned an important lesson in persistence, planning, compassion and communication – or at least they should have learned said lesson. I think they did.
In the meantime, Jon has shipped a gaggle of Tri-X film from B&H to Karthik’s fathers house in Kerala, India. This seems to be the best solution to the black and white film saga. For some reason the world has given up on film, especially black and white. It’s not just the U.S. Through the kind help of friends I’m wrapping up the final pieces to my photo puzzle too. See what you think:
• Kenny is supplying my back up Nikon D90 battery – many thanks.
• Matt is hooking me up with a (slightly less ancient) D-version of my 35-70/2.8 lens – many thanks.
• A D3 and D90 with 17-35/2.8, 35-70/2.8, 135/2.8 and 35/1.4 lenses. Throw in a back-up Lumix LX-3 and I’m set.
• Family support. Thank you.
As the “story” develops I realize the the successes and struggles that I will encounter are important stories – published or not. I’m over the fact that we’re not traveling on assignment, simply because so few people are unwilling to assign anything in advance these days. I’m confident that our photos will be solid – hopefully amazing – and we will have good, meaningful stories. This is what I sell at work and this is how I like to live. I love it. Thank you for all of the support.
The 25 day countdown
Karthik and I are still working out the flow of in-country work and travel, but we’re getting close. Keeping things fluid, to a certain degree, is important. In my effort to educate through immersion I’m about six hours into the nine hour Story of India audiobook by Michael Wood. The girls and I have started the six hour video version of the same name. I’ve recently finished reviewing the GlobeTrekker series of India travel shows too. I’m not fooling myself or anyone else with the suggestion that my media adventure before hand will prepare me for the real deal ahead of me. At least I’ll be familiar with cultural norms, city names and digestive do’s and don’ts.
My usual test subjects passing time at Melt in Northside.
I am indeed taking a Nikon D90 as my “second” body primarily as a back-up, but the option for video and the flexibility of having long glass on one camera and wide on the other makes so much more sense. It’s how I’ve really always worked. I’m posting a pic (above) of the girls shot with my old AF-Nikkor 20mm/f2.8 lens. ISO 800 is usable, but it’s no D3. Just some test shots. So far, pretty good.
The Map, so far
This is an initial map for the project in India. Changes are being made every couple of days.
View Larger Map
Status report – five weeks to go
Plans are going well. Most of the equipment is in place. I’m testing out windows on a dell (forgive me, please). The netbook option seems reasonable considering weight and size restrictions. We’ll see how it holds up. The bundled Nikon software is ok at best. Bill Bullock has offered to lend me his time, help and external cd/dvd drive to install my copy of Lightroom. That along with any drivers I might need for my back-up hard drives and card readers should probalby be installed and tested soon.
Jennifer and I joined my parents and Preeti for lunch on Friday. Preeti is a friend of Karthik’s and an extemely sweet, smart and helpful student at the university. We met at an Indian restaurant in Roselawn (Amma’s Kitchen) that specializes in southern cuisine. We took the time to get to know one another better while discussing Indian culture. It was wonderful. We’ll meet at least one more time with Preeti, perhaps for tea, before we leave.
The start of something new… for me.
This may be short-lived or long lasting. Who knows? My interest in sharing thoughts and insight into my photographic, let alone personal life is not a priority – not something that I long to do. Let’s try it anyway.
In about six weeks I will be traveling to India. Almost three weeks of travel throughout the country, primarily in Kerala but really a rather ambitious schedule covering about six different locations. I might as well start off with a dream plan or “ideal schedule,” yes? Yes.
Karthik, along with help locally from Preeti, are clearly committing a great deal of time, energy and consideration to the process. I’m lucky and excited. Plans are being made. Packs are being fitted and weighed. This should be fun.
The idea is to produce several stories – as many as possible. I will gather audio, video (probably via a Nikon D90 – we’ll see how that works out) and stills. I will add more info on the specifics as they develop.
