Amy Helene Johansson: A Lost Revolution?

"My heart is beating for this project and it would be wonderful if as many people as possible see it and get enlightened about the situation. " -Amy Helene Johansson

Prior to the boom in the garment industry, almost no women in Bangladesh worked outside of their family or marital homes, and had few opportunities to earn money. However today, the female garment workers are the backbone of the Bangladeshi economy in an industry that generates billions of dollars each year. It should be a women’s revolution, but is it?

While academics and economists agree to some extent that Bangladeshi women are in the midst of a revolution, they are still not empowered financially or socially. And are not strong enough to demand a fair remuneration. Multinational companies such as Nike, Levi Strauss and H&M are generally unaware of the life situation of sewing machine operators; their housing conditions, family structures, and food provisions.

Amy Helene Johansson is a photojournalist who studied film and theatre theory before earning a BA in fashion design. However, after a decade of working for H&M as a fashion designer, she discovered photography. Her work has been published in leading broadsheets and magazines in the UK and Sweden, including the Sunday Times UK, Dagens Nyheter and Sydsvenska Dagbladet. Her work has been awarded Asian Geographic Magazine ‘Faces of Asia Award’, the Foundry Emerging Photojournalist Award and the Swedish Picture Of the Year ‘Multimedia Category’ and been shortlisted for ELLE commission award and a National Geographic award.

She's also a Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (Manali, India and Istanbul) alum. A Lost Revolution was produced in collaboration with the Bombay Flying Club. 

Mark Carey: Muay Thai In Black & White

Photo © Mark Carey-All Rights Reserved

Here's a gallery of monochrome photographs of Muay Thai training made in Bangkok by the talented Mark Carey. These appealed to me as they were photographed away from the glitzy lights of the top Muay Thai arenas in Bangkok, but show the rather edgy side of the sport...as I tried to do in my recent photo essay of the Muay Thai ring in Loi Kroh Road in Chiang Mai. 

Mark Carey is a London-based documentary photographer, who tells us he never had an interest in photographing posed or set-up shots, whether for his wedding photography or during his travels. I think he somewhat bent his rule with some of the frames of the non Thai fighter in the Muay Thai series, but these are the exception and are well worth adding to the gallery...the fellow looks absolutely fierce.

Muay Thai is a combat fight practiced in Thailand, and referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs" because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight "points of contact".

By the way, I credit Mark's Vietnam gallery (which I posted about earlier this year) as being one of the catalysts for my forthcoming/imminent Vietnam Photo Expedition-Workshop.

Roger Anis: The First Stone

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." 

Roger Anis is a photojournalist at the Egyptian daily newspaper Al Shorouk, and is based in Cairo. He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts, and was awarded a scholarship for the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, during whch he attended Hemrik Kastenkov's Storytelling For An Online Audience class.

His project is titled The First Stone, inspired by the passage in the Bible in which Jesus confronts the Pharisees over whether an adulterous woman ought to be stoned. 

The project was filmed and photographed in Loi Kroh Road, a well known area in Chiang Mai where bar girls can be seen plying their occupation, providing company (and more) to Western tourists. The story is of Un, a 36 year old bar girl, who agrees to be featured in Roger's project and opens up about her life and her future.

I find it remarkable that Roger was able to gain the trust of Un and others to make this project in such a short time. Filming, photographing and editing this 5 minute movie was made over less than a week...in less than ideal conditions, and under constant pressure. It's a testament to the dedication and perseverance that Roger, and the rest of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop attendees, bring to it...and succeed.

Roger is thinking of smoothing some of the frames in The First Stone, and even translating it to Egyptian Arabic. That would be interesting! I think the title of the project is particularly smart...the perfect title. 

Miguel Candela: Living In Darkness

Photo © Miguel Candela-All Rights Reserved

“If I could go to another place, marry someone who would know nothing about my past, maybe I could escape this shame that I feel”

In Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River, is Faridpur. It is here that the largest brothels in the country thrive. The sex workers have usually been kidnapped by gangs, sold by their families or step families or tricked with promises of good jobs. It's estimated that there are 100,000 women selling sex in Bangladesh despite Muslim strictures on sex outside marriage.

Brothels: Living In Darkness is a photo essay by Miguel Candela, a Spanish documentary photographer currently based in Hong Kong.

One of the most touching captions underneath an equally compelling image of a sad young woman is this "Society has forced them to live in darkness while men love them and hate them in equal measure, demanding their services while trying to get rid of them permanently."

Miguel Candela is interested in documenting the human drama of life, and to that end has traveled extensively to various countries in order to photo-document the people and their community way of life in Mali, Kenya, the Philippines, Bangladesh and across China, and in his current base of operations in Hong Kong.

His photographs have been published in CNN, CNNGo, South China Morning Post (SCMP), Grupo Vocento, Piel de Foto, La Voz de Galicia among others.

David Lazar: South Asia Collection

Photo © David Lazar-All Rights Reserved

It's not the first time that I post about David Lazar's excellent work on The Travel Photographer's blog. Far from it. But he has just revamped his website, and it has vastly improved the layout of his many collections.

He suggested that I feature his new Kenya gallery which he titled Wildlife & Warriors which has photographs of Masai tribal people, but since I have recently had a post about the Masai, I thought I'd choose his South Asia Collection gallery to headline this post instead.

David is a travel photographer and musician from Brisbane, who is drawn to locations with rich cultural backgrounds, and is especially interested in portrait and landscape photography. His work is frequently published in photography and travel magazines, and in 2012 he won the Travel category in the Smithsonian Photography Competition.

He has been travelling annually since 2004, the year in which he became interested in travel photography.

No two ways about it....this is travel photography in the very sense of the word!

Ian Terry: Bangkok Offerings

Here's Bangkok Offerings, a short movie (with very nice time lapses) by Ian Terry, a Seattle-based documentary photographer and journalist, as well as an alum of Henrik Kastenkov's multimedia class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop*.

Alms giving ceremonies around Bangkok involving thousands of monks are held to celebrate certain auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar. However, on regular days monks take to walk along the streets of towns and villages on their alms round. This is done throughout the year whatever the weather.

You may also want to view Ian's photographs of a cockfight in Mae Khue, a small town in rural Thailand. According to his entry, the fights he witnessed were not to the finish, and ended when one of the roosters either lost interest or was too exhausted to continue the fight. This is different from those I've seen in India or Bali...where cockfights end with the death of one of the combatant birds.

* Bangkok Offerings wasn't produced for that class.

Muar Assam Fish (林记蔴坡巴东亚叁鱼) at Restaurant KK, Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru.

Restuarant KK (林记蔴坡巴东亚叁鱼) (N1.53038 E103.79861) is located along Jalan Rosmerah 3/1 of Taman Johor Jaya, the street is easy to find if you know the T-junction in front of Public Bank at Rosmerah area. The restaurant is similar to the normal Chinese restaurant without any grand deco or renovation...

We visited the restaurant for our dinner and our orders...

*  The Muar Assam Fish

*  Steam clams

*  Dragon tougue (type of fish)

*  Fried eggs (it has a unique Chinese name - 炸蛋)

*  Vegetables

Muar Assam Fish

Steam clams

Dragon tougue (fish)

Fried eggs (炸蛋)

Vegetables

The Assam Fish was Delicious! Taste similar with my favorite restaurant at Muar - Merlin Restaurant which is spicy and sour enough! The clams were fresh and others dishes taste above average! The owner of the restaurant was friendly and he serve us one of the new dish for free! Which I forgot to photograph...

The total Damage : RM119.00 for 4 adults and 4 children included drinks. Reasonable price!

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner from 10am-10pm. Close on Thursday two weeks once. It's crowded during weekday lunch and dinner time...Do drop by if you are Muar Assam Fish lover! :)

Restaurant KK

47, Jalan Rosmerah 3/1,

Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru

Tel : +6-016-7833191 / +6-07-3532819

Location map of Restaurant KK (Muar Assam Fish) at Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru.

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Sasson Haviv: The Jewish World

Photo © Sasson Haviv-All Rights Reserved

Sasson Haviv is an Israeli photographer, currently living in New York. He is passionate about people and their life stories, and delves into rarely seen cultures and religions through his lens.

His website galleries include photographs made in the bars of New York, of the Occupy Wall Street movement, A Sikh community kitchen, an Orthodox Jewish family, and The Jewish World; a collection of images which Sasson describes as documenting the unique Jewish Orthodox world.

In this gallery, he sought to capture the intense spirituality and beliefs of the Orthodox people, and using a mix of fine art and documentary styles, these photographs depict the traditions of an extremely devout and spiritual community. The images were taken both in Israel and New York.

NB: It's pure coincidence that my recent posts were of monochrome photography. Color will shortly return!

Christina Malkoun: 'Loun' Steve

Christina Malkoun is another graduate of my Multimedia For Photographers class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop held in Chiang Mai, and possibly influenced by the successful multimedia series One In 8 Million of the NY Times, she produced an exceptionally touching human interest story titled Loun (Uncle) Steve during the workshop.

The audio slideshow is a personal insight into the life of an American expatriate living in Chiang Mai, afflicted by Tourette disease and Huntington's Disease who, because of these genetic diseases, is unwilling to have children on his own, and consequently adopts a local family.

Getting up close and personal in the short time given to the participants on the Foundry Workshop is singularly tough, but Christina was able to do so very successfully with Steve and his family. It's not easy for anyone to be so open as he was, especially in circumstances such as his. This 'connection' is how and why human interest stories attract us as viewers.

Christina is Art Director at ELLE Magazine in Beirut, and is a graphic designer with over 7 years of art direction experience.

You can watch 'Loun' Steve on Vimeo as well.

The Leica Monochrome...And Other B&W Thoughts

Through the PetaPixel blog, I viewed the video of Chris Niccolls from the Canadian camera shop The Camera Store who was able to test a pre-release Leica Monochrome M, and which shares his thoughts on the camera. He also reveals a new feature in the Leica MM which delays the shutter sound camera for stealthier street photography.

For further technical specifications, there's also DPReview's webpage.

This gives me the opportunity to share brief thoughts on the monochrome capabilities of the Fuji X Pro-1, and compare these to the Leica M9's color photographs converted to black and white. As the Leica M is rumored to be released at the end of this month, I don't know how the monochrome photographs generated by the Leica MM will compare to those altered by the traditional post processing, nor to those made in-camera by the Fuji X Pro-1...but I thought I'd post two monochrome photographs made during my recent trip to Chiang Mai.

One of these photographs (the top one) was made with my Leica M9, and post processed in monochrome in Photoshop, while the bottom one was made using the Fuji X Pro-1, and using its B&W film simulation setting, then sharpened (with some added contrast) in Photoshop. Click on the photographs to enlarge.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I pass no judgement at this stage on the merits of the Leica Monochrome, and whether its $8000 price tag is justified or not. For a few photographers, it will be...for the majority of us, it certainly isn't.

However what I can say is that I'm extremely pleased with the Fuji X Pro-1's film simulation settings, as I am pleased with the Leica M9's images when converted to monochrome. I found shooting monochrome with the X Pro-1 to be a cinch, and enjoyed every moment I used that setting. I didn't think I would before doing so in Chiang Mai's streets. But seeing the monochrome images on the X Pro-1's screen helped my visualization process, and reassured me that my camera settings were correct.

Nicolas Lotsos: The Masai Typology

Photo © Nicolas Lotsos-All Rights Reserved

"Photography is my motive for travel."

The Masai Typology is one of the many gorgeous photo galleries of Africa by photographer Nicolas Lotsos. I'm not much of an African wildlife aficionado, but his fine art galleries of photographs of the handsome Masai, of Zanzibar, or of the African slums and townships are lovely exemplars of monochromatic imagery.

Nicolas Lotsos is  a fine art photographer (and in my view, a travel photographer as well) and a basketball agent. He co-runs a sports agency representing some of the top sports figures in Europe. He has been a photographer since he was 16 years old, and specializes in photographs of wild life and nature.

He also won an impressive number of awards, to include Gold Winner at the 2012 Grand Prix de la Photographie, Outstanding Achievement at the Spider Award 2012, the 2012 Veolia Wildlife Photographer Award, including two awards by the Travel Photographer Of The Year (TPOTY), amongst others.

A Nilotic group in East Africa, next to the Indian Ocean, the Masai society is patriarchal, and elder men decide most major matters for each group. A full body of oral law covers many aspects of behaviour. The Masai are monotheistic, worshipping a single deity.

Multimedia Or Make Up Your Own Audio In Your Mind?

As my readers know, I've been privileged to attend the annual Foundry Photojournalism Workshop for the fifth consecutive time, every year teaching Multimedia For Photographers class.

But for those who don't know; the purpose and aim of this class is to show photojournalists how to make quick work of slide show production, using their own images and audio generated in the field, to produce cogent photo stories under the simulation of publishing deadlines, rivaling other multimedia forms in terms of quality.

At the end of Workshop, the instructors and staff gathered to discuss and suggest ways to improve it. The length of the multimedia presentations was one of the issues that came up.

As background, the majority of the remaining classes involved visual storytelling in one form or other, only two during the Workshop were actual 'multimedia', meaning they required photo (or video) essays AND field recordings gathered by students.

That said, this post deals with my class only..so back to the discussion.

One of the suggestions dealt with the length of my multimedia class presentations during the final evening of the Workshop. Although only averaging just over 2-1/2 minutes per project, it was felt by some that this was unfair, as the remaining non multimedia presentations were much shorter, causing the students not enrolled in either of the two multimedia classes to remark that they were shortchanged (that's my own interpretation) by being given less time to show their still photographs.

Looking back at the conversation, I have a couple of thoughts about this.

1. Setting aside other obvious differences for now, but audio slideshows (my kind of multimedia, and which is what my class is all about) provides much more 'magnetism' to photo essays/projects produced by my class participants. The audio carries the still photographs in a way that still photographs on their own cannot...especially with a large audience such as the presentation evening had. I certainly sympathize with the photographers who worked hard to present their very best photographs, but whose impact was lessened because of the absence of a meaningful aural accompaniment...an absence I call a "vacuum". To be honest, a part of me silently screamed my disappointment when I viewed a wonderful photo story with no sound to move along its linearity.

I highlighted the word meaningful in the preceding sentence...and that's a key word. There's an immense difference between the impact that ambient audio, as an accompaniment, adds to a photo essay....and just any kind of audio plucked from iTunes or elsewhere. I've viewed many wonderful photo essays spoiled by incongruous soundtracks that have absolutely nothing to do with the still photographs...and when that happens, my first reaction is always "huh?" then "noooo!".....certainly not the reaction the authors-creators of these projects hope for.

For presentations to a large audience, as the Workshop's last evening was about, I believe the projects with ambient audio will always steal the show. Being accosted by no less that two dozen photographers after the presentations, and told that they wanted to put their still photography work into a multimedia format and start ambient audio recording, not only reaffirmed this belief, but was also personally gratifying.

2. As for the duration of the audio slideshows, it has to be understood that it's determined by the story arc and/or theme...and by the logical pace of the project. It'd be foolish to force the pace of a story...and snip the audio down to a collection of incoherent babble clips just because the multimedia projects had to fit a cookie-cutter time frame. Editing an audio slideshow with no careful regard to the logical and measured pace of the project would be self-defeating, and impractical....and that is not going to happen in my class.

As I wrote in an earlier post: multimedia (whether as audio-slideshows -with ambient sound- or more elaborate productions) is the future, and photographers must hop on its train if they want to remain on the cutting edge of their industry, and retain the attention of viewers.

Unless, of course, they prefer to follow Yoko Ono who famously said: "All my concerts had no sounds in them; they were completely silent. People had to make up their own music in their minds!"

The Art Of 8 Limbs With the Fuji X-Pro 1

Photo ©2012 Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Before going to Chiang Mai for the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, I researched locations and venues for muay thai (the Thai kickboxing), and the most prominent ones were unappealing for what I had in mind.

Despite its ancient history as a self-defense martial art akin to kickboxing, I had read that muay thai had gone through a rough patch. It was revived some years ago as a popular glitzy sport activity and held in large modern arenas...but it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted the bouts that had been relegated to seedy areas, surrounded by gambling and other nefarious activities. It was this side of muay thai that I had in mind.

It wasn't difficult to find what I wanted...the area known as Loi Kroh Road was the setting: a rundown gym with a decrepit ring amidst a "mall" of girlie and ladyboy bars, the boxing ring patched up with duct tape and tarted up with adverts for Jack Daniels Whisky, play-acting fights, the actual smell of sweat and the ambience of the sex for hire, ...and of course, shady nak muay, as the sport's pugilists are known.

I bought a front seat row for my first evening there, and subsequently discovered I could have a drink at one of the bars instead, walk a few steps to the ring and photograph at will. At some point, I wasn't very popular with a half-sober and rather beefy European spectator, who (rightly) claimed I was in his (and his -possibly underage- girlfriend's) line of vision, but the tense moment soon passed.

So here's The Art Of Eight Limbs, a collection of monochrome photographs made at the Loi Kroh arena, and made with the Fuji X Pro-1.

I've said it earlier, but I'm very pleased with the Fuji X Pro-1's performance, especially under the conditions I was shooting under. As one can imagine, photographing a fast-paced sports such as muay thai in dim conditions and under uneven lights is tough for any camera, but the X Pro-1 didn't let me down, except for an occasional slip with its slow focusing or because its auto-focus was fooled by the action.

Anthony Pond: Faith, Frenzy...

Readers interested in unique religious and cultural events will like this. I guarantee it. Not the faint-hearted though.

Following his participation in my The Oracles Of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop in March, Anthony Pond has been a frequent contributor to The Travel Photographer blog, and his Faith, Frenzy multimedia essay is the most recent of his many audio slideshows I've already featured.

Not only is it his most recent, but I wager it's his best production so far. Tony used a Canon 5DMk2, audio recordings were made with a Zoom H1, and was edited in Lightroom, Audacity, and Final Cut Pro. I'm not a huge fan of merging stills with video footage, but Tony succeeded in merging these two mediums quite seamlessly.

The Oracles of Kodungallur celebrate their festival in the Bhagawati temple, which usually occurs between the months of March and April. It involves sacrifice of cocks and shedding of the Oracles own blood, to appease the goddess Kali and her demons who are said to relish blood offerings.

Anthony Pond worked for more than two decades in the criminal courts in California as an attorney for the Public Defender’s Office. Now pursuing his passion for travel and photography, he travels repeatedly to South East Asia and India, amongst other places, to capture life, the people and the culture.

Lisa Kristine: Bhutan

Photo © Lisa Kristine-All Rights Reserved

Lisa Kristine has been in the news with her recently published book Free The Slaves, and her talk at TEDxMaui about her photographic work. She has worked over the past 28 years documenting indigenous cultures in 70 countries on 6 continents around the world, and involved with Free the Slaves, an organization whose goal is to end slavery.

Notwithstanding the undeniable virtues of her involvement in using her photography to document the scourge of modern day slavery, I feature instead her lovely work of Bhutan which is representative of the best of  ethnographical fine art photography. Toned to perfection, these images are just superlative and were made with a large-format 4″x5″ field view camera.

2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest Finalists

Photo © Cedric Houin-All Rights Reserved

In Focus, the superlative photo blog of The Atlantic, features the winners of the 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest in a much more satisfying format than the National Geographic. The finalists' photographs are shown in a 1280 pixel size; a size that will fill the largest monitors.

The winners consist of a group of 10 photos plus one Viewer's Choice winner. These images were chosen from more than 12,000 entries submitted by 6,615 photographers from 152 countries. The winners are from four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, and Spontaneous Moments.

First place went to Cedric Houin with the above photograph of the inside of a family yurt in the Kyrgyz lands of the Wakhan Corridor. We are told by the photograph's caption that the tribes living in the area are weeks away from any village by foot, and although located at an altitude of 4,300 meters in one of the most remote areas of Afghanistan, solar panels, satellite dishes and cellphones are prevalent.

It's not often that I agree with results of photography contests, but the judges' choice in this one is spot on. The richness of the reds of the yurt's interior, and the facial expression of the main protagonist along with the smaller details make a story out of that photograph. 

Cedric Houin is a French & Canadian documentary photographer, and a visual storyteller.

As for the Wakhan Corridor, it's an area of far north-eastern Afghanistan which forms a land link between Afghanistan and China. It's a long and slender area, roughly 140 miles long and between 10 and 40 miles wide. It also separates Tajikistan in the north from Pakistan in the south.

Sneak Preview of LEGOLAND Malaysia at Iskandar Johor. (Part 2)

Continue from the previous post of LEGOLAND® Malaysia...

After the last ride in the park, we were invited to the Market Restaurant for the Ramadan Buffet Dinner...along the path, we passed by the Miniland. Yes! This is what I'm looking for!

"Miniland, is known as the heart of all LEGOLAND® worldwide. There are five LEGOLAND Parks in the world with locations in the United Kingdom, United States, Denmark and Germany. In this particular area of the Park, clusters are recreated using thousands of LEGO® bricks. The newest LEGOLAND Miniland pays special tribute to Asia. There are 17 areas including one dedicated to Singapore."

Let me show you some photos of the miniature LEGO sturcture in Miniland...
First, the PTP Port of Johor.

The Administration Office of PTP

There is a Cruise parking behind the building...

The Cruise parked at PTP (above), can you recognize the cruise?

The close up detail of the Cruise

One of the street at Kuala Lumpur, can you figure the name of the street?

The close up of the photo shop along the street at Kuala Lumpur

The Twin Tower of Malaysia

Follow by the miniatures of Singapore...

The Riverside Point of Singapore

Does it looks like Clark Quay of Singapore?

Can you recognize these buildings?

The Singapore Flyer (in Miniland of LEGOLAND)

The Taj Mahal of India

The Forbidden City of China (not complete yet...)

The motorize Dargon in the Forbidden City

The area has so many buildings and it was totally not enoug time for me to snap all! The best time to take photograph at the Miniland is before 12 noon, my advise. I will definitely come back to the Miniland, and soak myself in the park for at least 3 hours! I like it Very Much! :)

"Once fully operational the Park will also feature a wide variety of food and beverage outlets. Three restaurants, three food-stands, and 10 food-carts serving freshly prepared food will be available to visitors.
 Aside from the above, visitors can also look forward other outlets such as Pizza Mania and The Cafe. All three restaurants have an average seating capacity of 150 – 500 people. The average adult meal costs from RM10.50 to RM23 and the kid’s set meal deal which includes a main, a side and a drink is just RM15."

The General Manager (Mr Siegfried Boerst) and the F & B Director (Mr Zain Azrai Azhar Simin) were waiting for us at the entrance of Market Restaurant...they were really Friendly!

The GM and the F&B Director welcome us to the Market Restaurant

The Lego model at the restaurant...

Well, the restaurant is big enough to cater for the huge crowd during the park open, the photos below...

The internal decoration of Market Restaurant

There are some Lego models on top of us...do you notice it? :)

Queue up for the foods....and we were served by the friendly staffs in the restaurant...

Everyone queue up to get their foods...

The 'Friendly' staffs of Market Restaurant of LEGOLAND MALAYSIA

The foods were Awesome! I got myself a piece of Pizza, nice chicken and the fried Udon noodle for the 1st round...:)
Satisfied!

Delicious foods from the restaurant

We were having a Great time while havng our dinner, I had a good chat with the Management staffs of Legoland.
Once everyone finish the dinner, the Q & A session started...Mr Siegfried Boerst and Mr Zain Azrai Azhar Simin answer every questions from the Press relaxly....

Mr Siegfried Boerst

Mr Zain Azrai Azhar Simin

We had a group photo of the staffs of the restaurant...

The group photo of the staffs of Market Restaurant

Did you know?

"The Park estimates it will use over 500kg of rice, 6000 chickens, 10,000 burger patties and 52,000kg of ice in one month."

The combined restaurant seating of over 1400 peoples and all LEGOLAND Malaysia F&B outlets are HALAL certified.

The restaurant session end about 1-2 hours later, we walked towards the exit of the Theme park with our heavy loaded stomach...:)
Along the way, I still cannot stop myself to snap the night scene of the park...

The contractors are busy for the finishing work of the park, included this little cute LEGO model too...! :)

The middle of the park is the lake area which we didn't have chance to explore this time...I'll definitely take more photos of it on my next visit!

By that time, once we turn and look back of the park...what attracted me was the LEGOLAND giant signage on the hill...

The LEGOLAND giant signage on the hill

The LEGO Train

The tram above is going to tour you in the LEGOLAND...must be interesting! Even the park is built perfectly for family and children, I do think that's one of the good spot for photography enthusiast like me!

At last, we reach the exit of the park, the colourful lighting at the ticket counter was nice and attractive!

Colourful lighting of the ticket counter at night...

This will be the Theme Park I'm going to visit frequently! I bought the Annual pass on the next day morning, do you? :)
LEGOLAND, see you on 15th September 2012!

Related post :
*  The Miniland (photos) in LEGOLAND Malaysia, Johor.
*  Sneak Preview of Legoland Malaysia at Iskandar Johor. (Part 1)
*  Enjoy the Rides in LEGOLAND® Malaysia (Pt.1)
*  Enjoy the Rides and Fun in LEGOLAND Malaysia. (Pt. 2) 
*  Asia's First LEGOLAND open to public! 

LEGOLAND® Malaysia

http://www.legoland.com.my/

Location map of Legoland Malaysia at Nusajaya, Johor.

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Narratively: Stories Of New York

Living and photographing in New York City when I'm not traveling means that projects such as Narratively never fail to turn me on.

Narratively describes itself as a digital platform devoted to original, true, and in-depth storytelling about New York, through writing, photography, documentary video, animation and interactive media. And the best is that Narratively is on the lookout for interesting stories and talented contributors.

And this sounds especially compelling:

Each week, we’ll explore a different theme about New York and publish a series of connected stories — just one a day — told in the most appropriate medium for each piece. We might feature a longform article with portrait photos on a Monday, followed by an animated documentary on Tuesday, then a photo essay, an audio piece or a short documentary film. Every story gets the space and time it needs to have an impact. We’ll bring you weeks devoted to New York’s waterways, hustlers, sexual subcultures, obscure pastimes and countless other themes.

What's not to like? So drop by Narratively's Kickstarter's page, and if the concept also turns you on, consider supporting it.

Shooting From The Hip On LK Road

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Whilst teaching at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop the past week or so, I've also managed to set aside some time to fit some of my favorite style of photography, and shooting from the hip with the Fuji X Pro-1 has been high on my list to do, especially at night.

Here's LK Road, a collection of street photography scenes made in one of the grittiest mainstream streets in Chiang Mai; Loi Kroh Road. The photographs are grouped under the title page of Katoey Or Not?, but I chose not to title this post with that particular name to avoid having visitors being referred to it by search engines for purposes other than photography.

Loi Kroh in Thai means "washing one's troubles away", and it's one of Chiang Mai haunts for tourists principally for the preponderance of girlie bars on its approximately one-mile length...some of these bars are staffed by young women, and/or ladyboys known as katoeys.

Apart from the bars, Loi Kroh Road hosts some restaurants, massage parlors for tourists with aching legs and feet, and tattoo shops. That said, I found its ambiance a little sad and melancholic despite the blaring large screen television sets then showing some Olympics sport event, the occasional clicks of billiard balls, the forced laughter of the young women (or ladyboys) working the bars and the ubiquitous and hopeful "sawasadee...massage?" yells at every corner.

The areas seemed to me to be way past its prime...perhaps it was the off-season as well...but the bars were less than half-empty, even when there were muay thai fights held at the seedy boxing ring. Most of the fights seemed (at least to me) to be staged, with spectators generally consisting of drunken middle-aged European men.

I was asked why I chose to shoot from the hip on Loi Kroh Road, and if it was because it was risky. Not at all...although I imagine some of the bar clients wouldn't relish being photographed. The real reason is the same as whenever I choose to shoot from the hip: it allows me to capture the subjects unawares with natural expressions.

Lastly, the ladyboy in the above photograph, extroverted and very "sociable", reminded me of Ru Paul. I was super prompt in buying her a drink to get rid of her unwanted and rather heavy-handed attentions.

Finally, the Fuji X Pro1 performed extremely well at night, and I have nothing but praise for its performance. Its auto-focus let me down a few times, but its overall performance at high and very high iso is nothing short of spectacular.

Maika Elan: Ain't Talkin', Just Lovin'

Photo © Maika Elan-All Rights Reserved

Here's the work of Maika Elan titled Ain't Talkin', Just Lovin', which -in my view- is one of the three photo projects that attracted me the most during the final evening of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Chiang Mai.

Maika attended Maggie Steber's (known as "the incomparable Maggie") class The Power of Images in Today’s Media, and presented a photo essay depicting individuals living in Chiang Mai with close bonds to their animal friends. Whether these were cats and dogs, or exotic snakes, the mutual relationship and dependency between the two were brilliantly captured by Maika's lens.

While this photo essay most certainly stands firmly on its own two (or is it four in this case?) feet, I somehow wished it had been accompanied by an ambient soundtrack; perhaps a short snippet of a conversation between the young man and his cat purring...as an example. Imagine that!?

Maggie Steber used a wonderful phrase in one of our recent email exchanges...we (the photographers) need to go beyond the tyranny of the photographic boundaries. Yes, we do. Very much so. And adding ambient sound collecting to our panoply of skills is one way of doing it.

Maika will be soon working with me during my Vietnam Photo-Expedition-Workshop, and I'll make sure she's up and running insofar as multimedia is concerned.

The other two projects I particularly liked during the final Foundry Workshop presentation were Ulises Baque's Oui Nan, and Cheryl Nemazie's Night At The Naga.

Sneak Preview of Legoland Malaysia at Iskandar Johor. (Part 1)

Legoland Malaysia (N1.42483 E103.62676) is located at Iskandar Malaysia, it's approximately 15 minutes drive from Johor Bahru town and also 15 minutes Tuas Second Link Malaysia. I was invited to join the Media group to the park for the test ride and also a Buka Puasa Dinner in the restaurant.

About LEGOLAND Malaysia :-
"LEGOLAND® Malaysia is the sixth LEGOLAND to be built in the world and the very first in Asia.
Targeted at families with children between the ages of two to twelve years old, LEGOLAND Parks are based on the universally popular LEGO construction toy product. They offer families the opportunity to bond, learn and push the boundaries of their imaginations through LEGO experiences. At LEGOLAND, families can practice their imagination and creativity, have fun while learning, and
understand the importance of caring and quality. Families will be immersed in a unique mix of kidpowered rides, building challenges, spectacular LEGO models, interactive attractions, family-friendly coasters and shows that pull the audience into the action. LEGOLAND Malaysia will feature more than 40 interactive rides, shows and attractions when it opens. Other LEGOLAND theme parks across the world are situated in Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany and USA with California and Florida locations. There are LEGOLAND Hotels in Denmark and the UK; with a hotel scheduled to open in California in 2013."

The event started on 5.30pm and all of us gathered at the Administration office before the tour...

The Administration Office of Legoland

Short briefing from the management staffs of Legoland

The Media Group of the day

At first, we were brought by the LEGOLAND transports to the Main Entrance of the Theme Park...

Main Entrance of LEGOLAND Malaysia

Everyone started to take photos and short speech provided by the Director and the Management staffs...

"Work is on schedule and the Park will be fully operational when the gates open in just over a month. Over the next few weeks, the 76-acres site will be landscaped and rides are already being tested and handed over progressively to the operations team. Frontline employees have also started training. Currently, the Park has hired more than 560 staff and the team is expected to reach its target of 1,000 people by the opening of the Water Park in 2013."

"Park completion is near with final theming in progress. This includes landscaping around the 76-acres, testing and handover of rides and attractions progressively. Employee training is also in full force and to date the Park has hired 560 staff members. When completed, the overall talent force is xpected to reach 1,000 people in number including the Water Park in 2013."

The tickets counters are ready in operation

And the Phase three just next to the main entrance is still in construction, target to complete on year 2014.

"Once fully operational the Park will also feature a wide variety of food and beverage outlets. Three restaurants, three food-stands, and 10 food-carts serving freshly prepared food will be available to visitors.
Aside from the above, visitors can also look forward other outlets such as Pizza Mania and The Cafe. All three restaurants have an average seating capacity of 150¨C 500 people. The average adult meal costs from RM10.50 to RM23 and the kid¡¯s set meal deal which includes a main, a side and a drink is just RM15."

"To date up to 50,000 Annual Passes has been pre-sold and the early figures are encouraging. "People in Singapore, Malaysia and around the region have shown good support to us and we cannot wait to showcase our Park to them soon," added Mr Siegfried Boerst (General Manager, LEGOLAND Malaysia)

These early figures show promise that reaching the Park’s attendance and financial goals will be achieved in the first year of operation. Annual passes are available for purchase on the official LEGOLAND website and day tickets as well as annual passes can be purchased at Iskandar Malaysia Information Centre (IMIC), Danga Bay, every Saturday and Sunday from 2.00pm until 6.00pm during the Ramadhan season."

The Media Tour started...

Everyone was excited to explore the park, included me...

Along the way, we saw many many LEGO models...I will show you some of it...

Shopping centre and some souvenirs centre

Below are some LEGO models once we stepped into the park...

Cute little models at the main entrance...

At the tickets counter...

The unique diver in the pool...

There were 4 main rides that we going to try it on the day...AQUAZONE Wave Racers, Dargon's Apprentice, TECHNIC Twister & Kids Power Tower.
We reached the TECHNIC Twister for the first ride :-
Spin the wheel to control how crazy your ride will be.
Minimum age: 6 years (4 years if accompanied by an adult)

TECHNIC Twister

Everyone was excited with the Twist!

Next to the Twister, the Exciting ride - Project X which was not yet ready for the day...I think this will be FUN!

The Project X ride of LEGOLAND Malaysia

The AQUAZONE Wave Racers was the second thrill...
A thrilling wave surf where those watching trigger the water bombs.
Minimum age: 8 years (6 years if accompanied by an adult)

Entracne to the Wave Racers

ARE YOU READY?

Let's start the Spin!

Yeeee-Haaaaa!

I was attracted by the LEGO Yellow Submarine within the Wave Racers area...it was really nice model and I spend about 30 minutes to enjoy every parts on the model...

The Yellow Submarine at Wave Racers area

The passengers in the submarine

The Captain

Another model which caught my eyes was the Red Octopus...

The Red Octopus

Then we walk to the next spot - LEGO Kingdom

The big Einstein face by LEGO, too bad the building behind was not ready yet...

The LEGO Kingdom

And there were some interesting model around the area...

Let me take a rest...

Welcome to LEGO Kingdom

The Dargon's Apprentice was the 3rd ride, I bet this was the Most Exciting ride that we tried!

Dragon's Apprentice :-
All the thrills of a rollercoaster for the park’s younger guests.
Minimum age: 6 years (4 years if accompanied by an adult)

Ready? Get set, GO!!

Ooooohhh!!

Oh man! Excited!

The entrance of LEGO Kingdom

I will enter the Kindom on my next visit...Imagination park was the forth area we visited...

The last ride : Kids Power Tower
Prove your strength to gain a beautiful view over the park.
Minimum age: 8 years (4 years if accompanied by an adult)

Entrance of the Imagination park

Kids Power Tower

The excitement game...

Muizuddin Marzuki (Muiz) on action

The Special Guest of the day : Muiz. He is six years old was invited to the Park preview after his father wrote a letter to management about his son being a huge fan of LEGO®.

The cute rabbit model at the tower...

Everyone was so happy and excited with all the test ride, I told myself...I will definitely back to the park!

I wish I can go up to the Observation tower one day...

Continue in Part 2 post for the Miniland of LEGOLAND and the Ramadan buffet dinner that served by LEGOLAND...

The LEGOLAND Malaysia will be open on 15th September 2012 and the ticket prices are RM140 (adult) and RM110 (Children below 12 years old). You can visit the official website for more information about the Annual pass.

Related post :
*  The Miniland (photos) in LEGOLAND Malaysia, Johor.
*  Sneak Preview of Legoland Malaysia at Iskandar Johor. (Part 2)
*  Enjoy the Rides in LEGOLAND® Malaysia (Pt.1)
*  Enjoy the Rides and Fun in LEGOLAND Malaysia. (Pt. 2)
*  Asia's First LEGOLAND open to public! 

LEGOLAND® Malaysia

http://www.legoland.com.my/

Location map of Legoland Malaysia at Nusajaya, Johor.

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