POV: No, I Can't....

"If you take a picture of a human that does not make him noble, there is no reason to take this picture. That is my way of seeing things." - Sebastiao Salgado.

And that is my way too.

I've waited until the murderers of Charlie Hebdo's cartoonists were done with to express my personal view on this blog.

Readers of this blog, people who know me either personally or through social media, know of my interest in documenting world religions, unusual religious ceremonies and cults....the more esoteric the better.

 I am completely irreligious, and yet I'm profoundly interested -from a visual, intellectual and cultural standpoint- in these manifestations of faith. And it's for these exact reasons that I am not going to join the "I Am Charlie" flood.

I respect all manifestations of faith...whether I agree with them or not. How can I not, if I photograph them every chance I get?

During the horrible events in Paris, the concept of freedom of expression and of the press have been bandied about in the media, and many individuals have understandably been quick to express their support by commenting and displaying various avatars in support.

I'm one of the many who believe that freedom of expression ought to apply to all faiths, religions, beliefs...spiritual or secular. To select one and not the others is -to me- a form of discrimination and racism. 

But I also believe that scatologically smearing a group’s race, identity and beliefs (whether Muslim, Catholic, Jew or Hindu, etc) is an unreasonable thing to do, and is not the mark of a civil society.  I don't care if Charlie Hebdo's satire is a French "tradition" that even precedes Voltaire, the satirical polemicist who, by the way, was a strident anti Semite. If wielded with a heavy hand, it leads to hate.

And while I'm on Voltaire, he is incorrectly credited in having said "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." These were the words of his biographer. Check this to make sure.

Criticism of any religion can (and ought to) be done using intellectual and thoughtful discourse...rather than using pornographic/crass lampooning as was done by Charlie Hebdo. 

That is -in simple terms- why I am not, and will never be Charlie.

POV | 2014's Highlights | The Travel Photographer

Your Year In Review (or something like that) is a new trend on Facebook that allows it to pull any user's 2014 activities, and create a personalised timeline of the highlights of the year complete with photos and statuses.  Users can customise their  timelines as well, with Facebook allowing users to add up to four photos for each month in the year.

Since I have no intention of letting Facebook getting involved any more than necessary in my timeline, I thought it to be an idea to do my own...briefly listing some the highlights of my photographic timeline of 2014.

From a technical standpoint, I think my decision to reduce my reliance on the heavy Canon DSLR system I have been using for over 15 years to the lightweight mirrorless system in the form of the Fuji X Series (X-Pro1 and X-T1) and the Leica M9 is one that's at the top of the list.  I was particularly impressed by the X-T1's performance during my September photo expedition to Vietnam.

The two photography expedition-workshop that I led to India (to cover Holi festival) and to Vietnam were by and large very interesting but very different. The former was very technically challenging, while the latter was not.

On a personal level, teaching at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is always a phenomenal experience. This year in Antigua, I had the pleasure of working with 8 talented photographers of diverse backgrounds and experience.

The memory of getting literally hosed with cold and colored water during Holi was one that will remain in my subconscious for quite a while, but the pleasure in meeting lovely people in Ha Noi's Hoan Kiem lake will remain for far longer.

Finally, discovering, and then researching and documenting, obscure religious rituals performed in Northern Vietnam's Red Delta region which will hopefully be included in my 2015 photo expeditions.

So I hope I was prophetic in my earlier message...may the next year be filled with superb light, exotic travel, colorful festivals and new (and even better) photo-taking devices!

POV: The Pehlwani | The Kushti Wrestlers

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

One of the scheduled photo shoots during my recent The Sacred Cities: Varanasi & Vrindavan Photo Expedition-Workshop was at an akhara, which is a Sanskrit word meaning training area for traditional Indian wrestlers, known as pehlwanis. This traditional Indian wrestling is known as kushti, and was developed in the Mughal era by combining native wrestling and Persian techniques.

These two pehlwanis were the most photogenic of the group that was training when we visited early in the morning. The wrestler in the top photographer is yielding a nada,  a heavy round stone attached to the end of a meter-long bamboo stick. This training implement is associated with Hanuman.

The bottom wrestler is using heavy Indian clubs, exercise clubs introduced by the Mughals and originally used in the Near East, especially in Persia and Egypt.

I wasn't thrilled about the quality of light in the akhara, as the area combined extreme harsh sunlight and deep shadows....and most of the background was of unfinished concrete walls. A difficult photo shoot. However, the wrestlers largely compensated for this, especially when they had daubed themselves with soft clay

For some of the wrestlers, the day starts as early as 4 am and their practice lasts into the day. Technically there's no age limit, but some wrestlers can begin their training when they're as young as four years old. To protect themselves from wound infections,  the wrestlers add lime, oil, milk, ghee, camphor, neem leaves, butter milk, and turmeric to the clay on which they practice daily.

POV: Fuji X-T1 Goes To Vietnam

Fuji X-T1/Zeiss 12mm f2.8-Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

"It is the photographer, not the camera, 

that is the instrument."- Eve Arnold

Well, this is the first time I travel on a photographic expedition without a DSLR (or two or three) since I started them in 2000 (or even earlier).

Yes, I traveled for almost 3 weeks to Viet Nam with two Fuji cameras and a Leica M9...and a bunch of lenses. I wrote about that in fuller details in a post titled The "Unbearable" Lightness of Fuji X Series. On my return, I tallied an estimate of my usage statistics, which are as follows:

Fuji X-T1 + Zeiss Touit 12mm f2.8: 75%
Fuji X-Pro1 + Fujinon 18mm f2.8 : 10%
Leica M9 + Voigtlander 40mm f1.4: 15%

And asked myself if I missed my Canon 5D Mark II and my panoply of primes and zooms?

Not once was the answer.

I've been a loyal Canon user since I've started photography, and I have nothing but praise for its cameras. I shall still retain my Canon 5DII and a bunch of lenses for as long as I can. However, I realized that my style of photography has evolved during the past few years...prompting me to splurge big time on a Leica M9, and not too long ago on a Fuji X-Pro1.

The evolution of my way of seeing, the lightness of these two cameras and the quality of their images laid the foundation for my being ready and very receptive for a DSLR replacement. Traveling to photograph Holi in India earlier this year, and having to hold the 5DII at shoulder-length to photograph inside temples and avoid color powder/water bequeathed me a short-lived tennis-elbow like pain, but it made me realize that DSLRs are really heavy computers with lenses attached to them.

And I only used a fraction of its menu settings. 

The arrival of the Fuji X-T1 on my radar screen was timely. As I said, I was ready, willing and able to replace the DSLR with a smaller tool...and there's no question in my mind, especially after my using it in Viet Nam, that it is a DSLR-killer for me. 

I am not a fan boy of anything. Cameras are nothing but sophisticated tools. I used Canon cameras, I use a Leica M9, a X-Pro1 and now a X-T1. They're all good cameras...there are no bad cameras in this day and age. They're all technologically very advanced, and it's largely a matter of choice, familiarity, and ergonomics what works for you and what doesn't.

Fuji X-T1/Zeiss 12mm f2.8-Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I won't get technical in this POV. There are tons of bloggers more qualified than I am who have dissected the pros and cons of the Fuji X-T1, and from what I read, the large majority agree that the X-T1 is a game changer.

During my Viet Nam photography expedition, I've worked with the X-T1 on a daily basis. Shooting normally or shooting from the hip in the streets, it performed extremely well. The quality of its built is excellent, and it feels just right...its weight, its controls and its ergonomics are right.

I always say that the Leica M9's overall feel is just right. It's a thoughtful camera. So is the X T-1. Totally different cameras of course...but both are well built and well thought out.

It feels like cheating to be able to frame a scene, twiddle the exposure compensation knob (placed on top of the camera), and see what happens to it in the utterly brilliant LCD. Everything I need is on top of the camera. Yes, there are small annoying quirks...some are due to operator error, and some are of  the "it is what it is, so work with it" kind.

I sort of rolled my eyes when I learned that the X-T1 had a tilt-screen. Trust me, I don't do that anymore. It's quite useful for low shots and for shooting in the streets. The shutter is quiet. I was shooting with people who had Nikons...and they sounded like Big Berthas.

The CH is about 8 frames per second, and while there seems to (occasionally?) be a sort of grey-out between shots at that speed, it didn't bother me. I doubt if it's really 8 frames per second, but it's fast enough for me.

Fuji X-T1/Zeiss 12mm f2.8-Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

The auto focus needs to get used to. The AF-S is pretty good. Maybe not as good as the Canon 5DII, but I learned to live with an occasional lapse. I have not used the AF-C yet, but my understanding is that it needs to be fiddled with in the camera's settings. 

What else? Ah yes. The battery life sucks. The LCD just sucks the juice out of these small batteries. So I was quiet happy to invest in a battery grip, and work in the field with two batteries in the camera. I had to rely on the "back-up" battery when I was out all day shooting...and I had an extra battery stashed away just in case. I also saved juice by turning off the display, and keeping my chimping to the absolute minium.

The X-T1 is weather-sealed. I photographed in the rain (steady rain-drizzle...not a monsoon downpour) and it was fine. I just wiped off the drops with my scarf and that was it.

The humidity was intense all through the trip, and I lost tons of water...but despite it all, the X-T1 didn't feel slippery. Really good grip...and good solid knobs (except for the four-way pad on the back).

I found that I had to really make sure that battery compartment in the grip was locked properly. It sometimes didn't...but it might also have been my error.

I'm not going to get sucked in a debate about the merits of full frame versus cropped sensors. Would I prefer that the X-T1 be full frame? Perhaps, provided the lenses still remained light and compact....and I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. And from what I've seen, the IQ of the X-T1 is really formidable, and its high ISO capabilities are impressive. So that debate is not for me.

I used the Zeiss Touit 12mm f2.8 lens on the X-T1 most of the time. Occasionally, I used the Fuji 18mm for street work, and the 18-135mm was only used during the fishermen photo shoot, and one time around Hoan Kiem Lake.

I very much like both the prime lenses I own. They're sturdy...workhorse kind of lenses, and they reflect my shooting and framing preferences. The 18-135mm zoom lens -while quite good and responsive- is nowhere close to the prime lenses as far as I'm concerned. Perhaps I've moved away from zooms. It's a very useful lens to have, and some may consider it the only lens they need for travel. I don't disagree that it is all that...but personally, I'm into prime lenses.

So far, much of my post-processed work from the Viet Nam photo expedition was in monochrome. I shot in B&W with the M9, and color with the X-T1 (and then both processed/converted to B&W using Silver Efex).

These photographs are featured on Hanoi Noir. Try guessing which are Leica and X-T1.

And the audio slideshow below is of the same photographs.

POV: Why Wasn't I Thrilled With Holi? Why No Fuji X Pro1?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

On my return from The Sacred Cities Photo Expedition-Workshop last week, a handful of readers asked me these questions:

1. Why wasn't I more thrilled with photographing the Holi festivities in Vrindavan and Mathura?

2. Why haven't I used the Fuji X-Pro1 more often (only an estimated 10% of the time)?

Well, I certainly was excited to photograph Holi, particularly as the pink/fuschia, yellow and neon green powders being thrown in the air, smeared on people's clothes and faces made for compelling color (and possibly monochrome) photography. However, something was missing....and I knew that that something would be missing much before traveling to India.

The large majority of my photo expeditions are event-specific; whether it's to photograph the mind-blowing annual death commemoration of Sufi saint Moin'uddin Chisti in Ajmer, the bloody rituals of Velichapadus in Kerala or large Ngaben (cremations) in Bali. These events are usually religious and spiritual, and masses of people attend them to express their devotion and faith.

The festival of Holi had little evidence of that. Holi is a festival of Spring, of reconciliation, of exuberant fun, to celebrate the advent of a new season. Its religious 'ancestry' has been largely forgotten, and secular festivities have taken it over. While the throwing of colors seem to have some original religious significance, it's now an opportunity to 'frolic' as some of my Indian friends describe it.

Avoiding excessive colored gulal being thrown directly at me prevented from entering in what I call my "deep zone".. This the frame of mind that I get into when I photograph...sort of being sucked into a different dimension where I only see what I want to photograph....a sort of complete immersion. That was generally not possible during Holi. Only for a few moments in the 'mosh pit' of Vrindavan's main temple, Bank Bihari, did I achieve that...oblivious of the chaos around me, and focusing on what I wanted to photograph.

Outside of the Banke Bihari temple's courtyard, where expressions of faith and devotion were aplenty, I saw no religiosity whatsoever...aside from tapestries depicting Krishna and Radha, and devotional songs blaring from roadside shacks.

That's why I wasn't thrilled photographing Holi as much as I was buzzed to photograph the religious events I mention earlier. As I said in an interview, "it's religious rituals and ceremonies that attract me the most for my photographic work because it’s where people are at their most authentic, where there are no artifices and no make-believe. It is at these events that one connects with humanity at its basic denominator, and with the nobility of the human spirit … and it is that that nourishes me, and I try to share that with others."

It's that simple.

As for not using the Fuji X-Pro1 more often. It's a good question. I thought about that, and conculded it was a combination of needing the speed of the DSLRs and their being better sealed. Before traveling, I fashioned a waterproof cover for the X Pro-1 out of a Zip-Lock bag, and while it seemed to be more than adequate, I was reluctant to put it to the test.

It's that simple.

What I do regret very much is that I didn't use my iPhone during Holi...I didn't want to risk it being stolen in the crowds.

POV: Size (And Content) Matters

It's been quite a while since I've posted about photojournalism-related matters. I'm not a photojournalist but I haven't come across really seminal photographic work for at least a year; work that could have encouraged me to shake off the blahs.

But the recent feature Life In The Valley of Death published by The New York Times did just that. It's about the aftermath of the Bosnian war, and the ongoing efforts to find the mass graves containing thousands who disappeared during that conflict, and how the remains of those killed in the genocide keep turning up, unsettling the reconciliation between Muslims and Serbs.

The photographs are by Paolo Pellegrin, and the well written article is by Scott Anderson.

While both the photographs and the story are certainly powerful, I was initially drawn to the feature by its 'packaging'. The large sized photographs, the article's layout and the haunting title all pulled me in, and pushed me into delving more deeply into the feature.

On reflection, I would've added audio clips of the main protagonists such as Amor Masovic, Fazila Efendic, and Robert Zomer. These would've added an aural texture to the feature, making it more tactile and palpable, bringing home the nuances of their voices, accents and expressions. Alternatively, short video clips of interviews with these people would've worked very well.

I believe that this format is one of the future directions for photojournalism, travel, documentary, human interest stories, weddings....any and all photo narratives. It's one of the formats that photographers would be foolish not to use...either via some of the already existing platforms (see below), or via their own blogs and websites structured to look like these photo narratives.

I have used a number of platforms that provide a similar format such as my own travel-documentary essays in Exposure, Storehouse, Maptia and to some extent Cowbird. I have enjoyed creating these photo narratives, it's easy, effective and well worth your time.

POV: Leica M9 Monochromes "Outta De Box"

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy/Leica M9+Voigtlander 40mm

Let me say it up front so there's no misunderstanding: I'm not a "fanboy" of any camera beyond considering them as utilitarian tools I use to make photographs. Some are better suited for particular photographic work, others are better ergonomically suited to my hands and way of thinking, etc. I have the exact same attitude to cameras as carpenters have to their hammers or pliers.

That out of the way, I have an admiration for the Leica M9's monochrome image quality. I frequently use a setting that allows it to shoot a monochrome jpg and a color DNG at the same time, and I am quite amazed at the quality of the monochrome jpgs right 'out of the box'. The  above photograph is an example...nothing but in-camera conversion.

Yes, the majority of the monochromatic jpgs out of the Leica M9 are -at least to my eyes- just right. Unless I specifically want to enhance these jpgs by adding some vignetting or burnt edges, there's no need for spending any time on Silver Efex, Photoshop, Lightroom presets...nothing. Boom!

Does it mean that the Leica M9 (and a quality prime lens) is my primary camera? No, it isn't, but when I need (and feel like it) to shoot monochromes, I choose it over my other cameras. When I was in Sa Pa a few weeks ago, I deliberately chose it with a Voigtlander 40mm for a bout of monochrome photography in its streets and market. I did the same in Ha Noi.

There are many aspects of the M9 that are, in comparison to the X-T1 and the X-Pro, outdated...even primitive. It's widely recognized that its ISO is almost unusable above 800, that its LCD sucks and its battery life is a little better than abysmal. However, its CCD sensor (when coupled with quality glass) churns out admirable jpg monochromes.

I gripe about the M9...but despite its annoying limitations, it has become analogous to the well-balanced well-worn hammer that fits in the hand of the carpenter as if it always belonged there.

Ah! If only it had auto-focus! But using -when possible- the zone focus system resolves this to a certain extent, provided the ambient light allows the use of f8 or f16.

I'm not as sanguine about the M9's color images though. I realize I'm amongst a tiny minority perhaps, but I'm not as enamored with the color images I've seen out of the Leica M9. The images produced by the Fujifilm X-T1 are -to my taste- superior in color rendition than what I'm able to get with my M9.

Seeing where I am photographically at this time, I would buy the Leica M Monochrom if I could, and use it whenever I needed to produce monochrome images, and then rely on the Fuji X-Pro1, and X-T1 for color...or on the Canon system that's been gathering some dust in my closet.

POV: Style Evolution

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Having just returned from Guatemala, I thought of revisiting the photographs I had made during an earlier trip to La Antigua (and some other towns and villages) during the 2002 Semana Santa, and comparing these to my most recent photo gallery Between The Three Volcanoes.

I rarely -if ever- photographed in monochrome at that time, relying on color (whether digital or film), using a 70-200 zoom lens for most of my shots, and essentially shooting for stock and magazines...as the top photograph (with space for text on either side of the subject) clearly is for. Storytelling or street photography wasn't part of my DNA at that time, and although I was mindful of Costa Mano's advice to shoot more complex images, I was still enamored with simple travel portraits.

Over the years, I witnessed the slow and progressive shift in my aesthetic vision (vision as in seeing rather than its more abstract meaning), and a desire of telling more in one image. Whether I succeed in "complicating" every photograph I make or not is open for debate, but I do try my best in achieving this goal...as in the lower photograph from my latest effort in La Antigua during a festive day.

It is only natural that one's craft should evolve over time, and hopefully improve with practice. But these two are different sides of the same coin. My style could've remain static, and I could've kept shooting for stock and simple travel portraits for all these years, and with time, I might have become really good at it.

Alternatively, I am much happier that my style has evolved to being a hybrid of travel-documentary photography, or as someone told me a style where "travel photography meets photojournalism". I still shoot travel portraiture on occasion, as I would shoot street portraiture, but my heart and visual acuity is now much more attuned to the 'complexity' of the lower photograph.

I may not be able to tell a story with every photograph or set of photographs, but the intent is there...bubbling under the surface, and sometimes the photographs fit together like a jigsaw puzzle...and a story is told.

POV: A Favorite Staged Photograph

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

It's not often that I stage a photograph, and that it also becomes one of my favorites. But it's exactly what happened during my just completed The Sacred Cities: Varanasi & Vrindavan Photo Expedition-Workshop.

Walling back from a free-for-all photo shoot on the banks of the Yamuna river in Vrindavan, I saw brilliant and powerful ultramarine colored house walls, happily clashing with the remaining drab gray concrete walls of the neighborhood; reminiscent of the houses of Jodhpur's Brahmpuri area, the houses in Chefchaouen (Morocco), or even Reckitt's Blue Laundry Bluing (a traditional laundry whitener).

An elderly widow passing by prompted me to ask her to pose for us,  and showing no hesitation whatsoever, she almost hopped on the side step and sat there...patiently waiting for us to finish taking her photograph. I didn't need to prompt as to how to sit...doing so generally results in people looking awkward, and telling aged people how to pose sometimes causes them discomfort...so I refrain from doing that. My initial thought was that the pose did seem awkward but on reflection, I realized that many elderly women in  India adopt that very pose...the hand over a hip, and the rest of the arm forming a sort of triangle...almost at right angle to the body.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Some time later, an attractive woman (presumably the lady of the house) came over to investigate the commotion outside her home, and while extremely graceful and gracious...she didn't have the photogenic ingredient that the widow had. At least, in my view.

Yes, it does happen...age trumps youth and beauty.

POV: Shooting Thru The Lens Cap

Photo © Shane Green-All Rights Reserved

I've posted this hilarious photograph on various social media, including my Facebook Timeline, with the hope it goes 'viral'...or something like that.

The simple and short backstory to the photograph is this:

During my recent The Sacred Cities Photo Expedition-Workshop to Varanasi and Vrindavan, our first stop during the Holi week was in Barsana, and Shane Green (one of our group members, and a great guy) pointed his camera at me, and I immediately reciprocated with my lens cap on. Some of us were covered with gulal, the colored powder used during the festival....but I had escaped unscathed with just a trace of it on my clothes.

I've learned through my years in international banking that humor, and the ability of poking fun at oneself, plays an important role in one's "branding" and in marketing services, products and whatever else one is offering...so this photograph is heaven sent, and I will use it in all possible ways to extend my reach in marketing my expeditions-workshops.

No vulgarity, obscenities or acting like a clownish juvenile...humorous and subtle self-deprecation goes a long way...a very long way .

POV: In Praise of The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (Again)

Photo © Adriana Zehbrauskas

As this blog's followers and readers know, I attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in La Antigua Guatemala just over two weeks ago. It was my sixth workshop as a faculty member; having missed Sarajevo out of the workshops held in Mexico City, Manali, Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Chiang Mai and now La Antigua,

Once again, while it is the students and instructors who are in the limelight during the workshop, it's the unsung heroes of the Foundry's staff,  its administrators and the local volunteers who consistently make them such wonderful successes. This particular workshop in La Antigua was particularly challenging in view of its venue (the conference rooms at the Casa Santo Domingo) being so dreadfully expensive to rent.

As always, Eric Beecroft, as the visionary force behind the Foundry Workshops, deserves singular praise. He had the  idea of creating such a workshop some 7 or 8 years ago, and made it a reality despite enormous obstacles. Eric, the staff and local volunteers worked around the clock, and deserve enormous credit for the success of yet again another wonderful Foundry.

I've often suggested to my class participants that attending a Foundry workshop is not only about enhancing their craft with advice of some of the best (and certainly selfless) photographers/photojournalists in the business, or about the class they've chosen or even about their own stories and image-making, but it's also about rubbing shoulders with other participants, whether these are peers, or just starting their photography careers, or veterans, and with all sorts of other styles of image-making....it's about augmenting their exposure to different worlds, about exposing themselves to divergent thought processes, to varying points of view, and in doing so...grow as human beings (and yes, as photographers too).

In my previous POV post, I refer to my personal photographic evolution...and there's little doubt in my mind that my involvement in the Foundry since 2008, meeting and viewing the work of my fellow instructors, as well as that of the students, has inspired a shift in my travel photography trajectory...and caused an evolutionary progress in my way of seeing...from the narrow focus on stock travel photography to a more documentary type of travel photography.

I'm quite certain of this, and I'm equally certain that many students, and possibly other instructors, have had their their own photographic evolution influenced by the osmotic phenomenon of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops.

So when the next Foundry Photojournalism Workshop is announced (either Indonesia or East Africa...maybe), grab the opportunity and register.

POV: Is That For Real, Leica?

I've mentioned this on my Facebook page, but I thought I just had to mention it (for posterity, you know) on my blog.

Here's what it's all about: "Leica has officially announced a new limited edition “Correspondent” version of the Leica M-P digital rangefinder, designed by Lenny Kravitz. The musician, actor, and designer came up with a styling for the camera that offers a luxury product in an artificially aged package."

But easy things first. I have no idea who Mr Kravitz is; I never heard of him nor have I seen his photographs...so his input insofar as a camera is concerned is totally lost on me.

Reading the press release, I stopped at this gem of prose: "The Leica M-P ‘Correspondent’, a desirable collector’s piece in the style of legendary reportage cameras, was created in collaboration with the artist. Thanks to deliberate, carefully executed wearing by hand, it appears as if it had been in constant use for decades and would have countless stories to tell."

I am pretty much convinced that no self-respecting photographer (even those able to fork out the $24,000 price tag on this baby) would want to be seen with this "artificially aged camera." They'd be the brunt of endless jokes and jibes.

I wonder what type of person would buy the LEICA M-P ‘CORRESPONDENT’? The legend is that orthodontists are the main buyers of high-priced Leicas, but I think in this case it'd be collectors with money to burn. Possibly Russian oligarchs, Chinese real estate tycoons, oil sheikhs...and the like.

That said, if these characters are interested in buying a well-used naturally aged M9, I have mine to sell at a price a little less than the $24,000 price tag of the Kravitz' model.

POV: Moribund Google+ ?

A recent article in Slate about the future of Google+ caught my attention largely because it reflects pretty much what I feel about that social network, and about its photography community in particular.

I ought to have positive things to say about Google+ seeing that my profile received in excess of 436 million views so far. This is certainly a glitch, but seeing that number every time I log on to my profile is a tremendous ego boost.

But first things first...The New York Times pointed out recently that Google+ is useful to Google as an identity service by which the company can better track users across services like YouTube, Gmail and Google Maps. In other words, it's data mining like so many other social networks (Facebook for example).

Late last year, I joined a number of Google+ photography forums/communities, and posted whatever I write on my blog and on Facebook. To be honest, I never felt connected. It just didn't feel comfortable. Yes, photographs look much better on Google+ that any other social network, but it left me cold.

I suspect it's because 99% of my network of 'friends' on Facebook consists of photographers I either know personally and of others who know them...a sort of two degrees of separation. For instance, the number of friends' requests I receive on Facebook jumps just before, during and after the annual Foundry Photojournalism Workshop....so there are real human connections behind many, if not all, of these.

Not so for Google+.

Moreover, I'm really not a community/forum kind of guy... and expecting comments on photographs I post, saying that how "delightful the expression is", how "extraordinary is the light that dissects the scene" or if the photograph is better in color or monochrome...etc is not a turn on for me. Naturally, if I get a compliment, I respond with my sincere thanks....but I'm not ready to expend so much time to read, respond and reciprocate the commentary.

Perhaps it's because I'm not really that interested in such feedback from people (despite the fact some are very talented photographers) in that particular type of social interface/forum. Face to face feedback (or from someone I already met and know) is different, because it's verbalized and is done in person, and there's much more to gain and offer.

I know others exult about Google+ as being the bees' knees for photographers, but to me, the value of joining the photographic communities is not worth the required time expenditure.

I'll remain as I am on Google+, and will retain my activity level at what it is...but not more than that. And if and when it really dies or withers...I won't care.

POV: The Task I Like Best (Well, Almost)

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Collecting information, and then scouting, for a future photo expedition-workshop, is a challenging task that is time-consuming, and requires reliable contacts...and one that takes patience, cerebral stamina and luck.

During the past 2 to 3 weeks, I've been researching and gathering information for a particular self-assignment project in Viet Nam; one that seems to be quite tough to nail down from New York, but would have been reasonably easy if I were in Ha Noi instead.

This particular project is like unraveling seemingly endless rubber bands of a golf ball, one strand by one strand, with the added frustration of sometimes coming to a dead end, or unearthing a promising lead but receiving no response to emails and/or Facebook messages. Sure, there's a sense of accomplishment when I get a lead; especially one that leads to another lead,...but there's a lot of disappointment when it turns all to nothing, or even worse, when there's no response.

I often wonder what did we do before the advent of the internet, email, and the various social media? Photographers and photojournalists had to rely on local information supplied by friends, fixers, and various other contacts and sources...and that took time to arrive and be verified. We now have it much easier...but it's still an uphill struggle to get what we need. I enjoy the challenge, there's no question about that. It's a sort of information sleuthing; one that needs to be checked and double checked.

For this current research, I trawl Vietnamese websites and, while I appreciate Google Translate and/or the browser's translate option, the results are often hilarious and unreliable. Trying to accurately pin down festival dates based on the Lunar calendar is tantamount to nailing Jell-O to the wall. I'm already imposing on Vietnamese friends and contacts for translation and advice, but there's a limit on how many times I can ask for help.

Probably the most disappointing so far is the no-reply to my emailed request for assistance (contact sharing) from a USC professor who specializes in the type of religious festivals I'm seeking. One would think professors would gladly share information on subject matters that are important to them. Not that one.

Aside from the Vietnamese websites, I check every promising location on Google Maps, calculating the distances and directions from Ha Noi, or wherever my hub will be at that time.

I'd compare this research to erecting a spider's web. All strands will eventually (hopefully?) lead to the center. Writing the results in long hand in a Moleskin notebook seems to help me focus much more than using a computer or an iPad.

Once the information is sifted and verified, the actual physical scouting will occur along with making travel plans, setting up a budget, etc.

I really can't wait for that phase.

Ah, well...enough of this. I must go back to the hunt.

POV: Street Photography | Should It Be Furtive?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

“Of course it’s all luck.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

This POV is prompted by a number of recent posts expressing soul-searching angst from various quarters, as well as various photographers expressing some discomfort in utilizing 'guerrilla' (their term...not mine) tactics to get candid photographs of the street.

It seems that a hands-on review of the Fuji X-T1 by the photographer Zack Arias in Marrakech included some of his tips and tricks in capturing unguarded moments of street life, and a number of photographers questioned the ethics of furtive street photography.

I don't have this issue. To me, street photography is furtive in its very essence...and there is no presumption of privacy for individuals in a public place. By definition, street photography is making photographs on the sly.

When I'm pounding the New York City pavements with a M9 or a X Pro-1, I shoot from the hip about 90% of the time. This technique -if you can call it that- ensures that the people I photograph are totally unaware that I am making a photograph of them...and frequently, unaware that I'm even there.

Street photography is -to my mind- synonymous with candid photography. The latter "...is achieved by avoiding prior preparation of the subject and by either surprising the subject or by not distracting the subject during the process of taking photos". (Source: Candid Photography:Wikipedia).

We all know the father of candid photography was the iconic Henri Cartier-Bresson, whose book Images à la Sauvette was published in 1952, was the master of candid photography. Setting aside that his photographs were mostly of unguarded moments, the very title of his book is French for 'furtively'...and not The Decisive Moment as his publisher translated it.

I recall Costa Manos exhorting us in a Havana workshop that successful street photographs ought to have no one looking at the photographer or noticing the camera. It may not have been accurate, since there are many examples of terrific street photography images in which the subjects look directly -and even pose- for the photographer.

When I photograph in religious spaces such as Sufi dargahs or Hindu temples in India...or wherever I am mingling with people going about their daily life, I much prefer photographing furtively and shooting from the hip. This is to capture candid expressions, unposed body language and unplanned layers.

It's impossible for me to avoid attention wherever I travel. A foreigner with a camera is always a focus of attention, and I have to use all sorts of stratagems and 'techniques' to grab frames as I can...ranging from the "I'm a lost tourist in NYC...and I'm looking for street names/landmarks/addresses" while shooting my iPhone...to the gazing in another direction or pretending to be talking on my iPhone whilst shooting my rangefinder from the hip...yes, there are myriads of ways to play the dumb tourist, sightseer or a disinterested photographer.

The iPhone image of the two musicians going for a hug was made by (1) anticipating what they were about to do, and (2) holding the device in my hand as if I was looking at a map. The other image of the Indian men having a snack near the shrine of Nizzam Uddin was made by shooting my X Pro-1 from the hip whilst pretending to be talking on the iPhone. Had I planted myself in front of them with a camera to my eye, they would've stopped eating and awkwardly froze to pose for the picture.

Remember, I'm not photographing to capture people in awkward or embarrassing moments...that's not my interest. My interest is capturing scenes where people are at their most unguarded, at their most normal and candid moments. If one of my frames accidentally depicts someone picking his/her nose...or a man scratching his crotch, the frame gets deleted.

To those who take that as being furtive, sneaky or sly...I say to each his own.

POV: The 'Unbearable' Lightness of Fuji X Series

Well, time does fly and I'm preparing to leave for Hanoi to start my The People of Tây Bắc Photo Expedition-Workshop in a few days.

This trip is something of an important chapter in my timeline as a travel photographer, as it'll be the first time that I leave my heavyweight DSLRs home. I've traveled before with just a Leica M9 and the Fuji X Pro-1 (as to Guatemala last month), but this is the first photo expedition-workshop that sees me DSLR-less.

I've tested the Fuji X-T1, the new addition to this group of non DSLR tools, in the streets of New York City and over the past two weeks, found it reliable and responsive, and I believe it'll perform well in replacing my aging Canon 5 Mark II. The Fuji X-T1 has its drawbacks and quirks, but from my past experience with the X Pro-1, these are mostly caused by my being unfamiliar with its minor idiosyncrasies.

What will accompany me to Vietnam is this: (from the top left) Marantz PMD 620 audio recorder,  a Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4 (Leica mount), Leica M9, Fuji X Pro-1, a Fujinon 18mm 2.0, a Fuji external flash EF-X8 (for fill-in if needed), a XF18-135mm f3.5-5.6 and the Fuji X-T1 with a Zeiss Touit 12mm f2.8.

I roughly calculated that the combined weight of all these is a little over 6 lbs. or 3.0 kilograms at most. Feather weight in comparison to what I used to schlep before. All of which will fit very comfortably in my small Domke F-8 shoulder bag, along with two 2TB hard drives...and other paraphernalia.

So it'll be an rangefinder (M9) for portraiture, a hybrid (or pseudo) rangefinder (X Pro-1) for street photography, and the mini DSLR (X-T1) for travel-documentary photography. 

For the X-Series cameras, I'm bringing along 5 batteries (3 back-ups/spares) which will be charged every night.

On my return, I'll be in a better position to relay my impressions and experiences with the Fuji X-1 and the various lenses.

PS. Yes, I cover the brand names of my cameras with black gaffer tape.

POV: Daily Mail & Captions

Photo © Eric Lafforgue-Screen Grab: Daily Mail

The work of the highly respected Eric Lafforgue has recently been featured by the Daily Mail, a British daily tabloid newspaper and the second biggest-selling daily newspaper after the infamous The Sun.

One of Eric's recent spreads has been his photo essay on last year's Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, and whose headline reads "Inside India's Kumbh Mela festival where holy men (and women) reach the gods with a little help from some marijuana and technicolour make-up".

Ah well, I say to myself...some acceptable poetic license to attract readers is not uncommon for newspapers, and The Daily Mail is certainly one of the more creative in that regard.

However, my scrolling down comes to a screeching halt when I come to the above photograph and its caption which is "A young 'black Sadhu' who takes care of cremations. They a (sic) rumoured to eat the human flesh of corpses".

I don't know for sure who the writer of the captions are, but I assume it's Katy Winter of The Daily Mail, and writer of the article itself who let her fertile imagination go wild.

After all, she's the author of intellectual gems like "Talk about tending to the flock! Female farmer juggles looking after 2000 acres and 1000 sheep with raising her SEVEN children in remote village".

Just because this young man has a broken tooth doesn't make him a member of the fearsome Aghoris...the sect whose members are described by Wikipedia as "... known to engage in post-mortem rituals. They often dwell in charnel grounds, have been witnessed smearing cremation ashes on their bodies, and have been known to use bones from human corpses for crafting skull bowls (which Shiva and other Hindu deities are often iconically depicted holding or using) and jewelry.

No self-respecting aghori would allow himself to be photographed by any photographer...even by the great Lafforgue. And sadhus do not perform cremations...the cremations are carried out by a certain caste, and there's no deviation from this tradition.

Of course, the only 'real" aghori I've ever seen is the one and only "Black Mamba Cobra Boom-Boom" who quoted me $80 for a picture in Varanasi.

UPDATE:  I've received an email from Eric, who having read this POV post, affirmed that he was told the two men he met were black sadhus, and that one of them had, a long time ago, consumed human flesh that remained after cremations.