Victoria Alexander: The Gurukul Newspaper

"I’m happiest with a camera in my hand, photography keeps me fresh, when creating or making something, anything, a home, cooking or writing."- Victoria Alexander.

Here's The Gurukul Newspaper; an audio slideshow by Victoria Alexander, whose resume is not only lengthy, but extraordinarily varied, multi-layered and complex.

Victoria was a fashion editor for Vogue and Cosmopolitan and a freelance stylist and art director for stills, film and television commercials. She established the television production company, The Film Business, and a small boutique hotel, The Russell, in Sydney, and built The Bathers’ Pavilion restaurant and café in Balmoral. She also completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) at the National Art School.

She's also the author of three books: The Bathers Pavilion Cookbook, One, and Colour. Colour is due to be released in England, New Zealand and Australia on 1st November. She's a photographer, and a home making consultant, and an inveterate traveler...to India, Bhutan, Cuba, Ethiopia, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Namibia, Vietnam, Laos and Bali to name but a few.

I encourage my readers to log on to Victoria's blog, and explore her multi-faceted talents directly from her posts.

Her lastest (to be released in November) 300+ pages book Colour is described as "Lyrically written and thoughtfully illustrated with photography by Victoria Alexander (stylist, fashion editor and passionate traveller), Colour is interspersed with poignant reminders on how to use colour to transform your mood and brighten your life."

Asia Society: Princes And Painters In Muhgal India

The Asia Society Museum in New York City is to show Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707-1857, an exhibition showcasing Delhi's rich rich history of art, artists and patrons who flourished during this critical period.

The exhibition will focus on the reigns of the last four Mughal emperors — Muhammad Shah, Shah Alam II, Akbar Shah II and Bahadur Shah II Zafar. The latter emperor is the subject of William Dalrymple "The Last Mughal"...a captivating biography of Bahadur Shah Zafar, a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur the Great, and of the city of Delhi around the time of the Sepoy Rebellion.

The Sepoy Rebellion was eventually put down with great brutality by the British in a series of bloody battles, and Old Delhi was virtually ransacked. For those of us who know it, the Red Fort and the Jami Masjid were within a hair's breath of being razed, but were saved through the intercession of a high ranking British military commander. Imagine Old Delhi without these two architectural and historical gems?!

Bahadur Shah Zafar was sent into exile in Burma, where he died. He was banished not so much for what he did during the Rebellion, but because the Victorian Evangelicals were determined to replace his influence with that of Christianity. Zafar, having a Hindu mother, and an observant Muslim, appealed to India's major two religions and that couldn't be tolerated.

Researching the subject for this post, I read in a 2009 issue of the Telegraph that efforts were made to trace Zafar's descendants. It seems many have fled to Kolkata and Aurangabad, while others live in Burma and Pakistan.

Note to Publishers and Agents: I do not feature book reviews unless I read and like the books I write about or mention. So do not waste your time emailing me to publicize your book(s) on this blog. I will not.

Kolkata: Book In Progress

Photos © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

A few weeks ago, I featured a poll in which I asked my readers to choose which photograph I ought to use for my work-in-progress book on Kolkata.

Out of 270 votes, 78% (or 210) chose the wide-angled photograph of a rickshaw puller because it compositionally has more depth and is more "Kolkata" location-specific, while the close-up of another rickshaw puller was deemed more attractive...presumably because he's smiling.

I have listened to my readers, and have happily gone along with the results of the poll. However, I've made a few changes; I chose a different typography and location for the book's title, and decided that the portrait of the rickshaw puller would be horizontally flipped, and be the back cover of the book.

I am currently working (taking my time, I ought to admit) on the book, choosing from the tons of photographs I returned with from my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition/Workshop. I am hoping that the book will be approximately 80 pages.

Sandy Chandler: Videos & Book...Kolkata & Durga Puja

Sandy Chandler has been busy the past few months. No, make that real busy.

She participated in my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™ in October, and having produced a highly commendable black & white audio-slideshow (at top) during the workshop, also returned home with a trove of images and audio tracks recorded live during the two weeks in Kolkata.

Back home, she produced a more light hearted view of the festival which views it from what she calls "Another Side of Durga Puja", and features its mixture of spirituality and commerce.

As she describes it, "the annual Durga Puja festival in Kolkata celebrates Durga, archetype of Great Goddess Mahadevi of the Hindu Pantheon. The festival sees huge, elaborately crafted sculptures installed in homes and public spaces all over the city. At the end of the festival, the idols are paraded through the streets accompanied by music and dancing and then immersed into the Ganges river."

Sandy is currently working towards her MA in Art & Religion at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (Graduate Theology Union) in Berkeley, and these slideshows are part of her projects for this degree.

Others would be resting on their laurels, but she also self-published an 80 pages book titled Durga Puja which can be bought from Blurb.

Sandy Chandler is an award-winning and passionate travel photographer. Her photography captures the souls and spirit of the land, its culture and people.  Her previous photography books are Carnevale: The Fantasy of Venice and Calling the Soul:The Spirit of Bali Cremations.

Poll: Which Cover Is Best?

Which Cover Should I Use For My Forthcoming Book On Kolkata?

Top Image  Bottom Image

pollcode.com free polls

I am thinking of self-publishing a photo book on Kolkata, which will group photographs of the Durga Puja festivities, along with environmental portraits and street photography of this iconic Indian city. My first preference is for the photographs to be black & white, although I may decide for color once I have them all lined up.

I thought of asking for my readers to vote on which cover they prefer...the two suggestions above are just quick dummies. The final cover and typography will be better produced.

My thanks to all who take the time to vote.

Book: Eric de Vries: STREET

By the time this post is published, I should be flying to Siem Reap (via Abu Dhabi then Bangkok) arriving on the 17th November around midday. So it appears timely to introduce a photo book on Cambodia by Dutch photographer Eric de Vries. Perhaps he'll be attending the Angkor Photo Festival as well.

STREET is all about street photography. All pictures were taken during Eric's courses, private tours and workshops in 2011. The photographs are mostly in black and white except for the complete series 'Darkness of the White Building'. This is Eric's fifth book (220 pages, landscape) and is part one of the trilogy THE WORKS OF ERIC DE VRIES.

Eric de Vries lives and works in Cambodia, the country he’s been travelling to since 2000. He is currently working on two long-term projects called ‘Still Life in Khmer Style’ that covers landscapes, temple scenes and buddha statues and ‘Hello Darling’, which is about the girlbars in the towns of Cambodia.

Interestingly, Eric's website lists Hanuman Tourism Cambodia, which is affiliated to the hotel I am staying at in Siem Reap. It also organized some of my photo shoots when I led a photo expedition to Siem Reap in February 2006.