The Travel Photographer's Việt Nam Vignettes

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

I realize that following my photo expedition-workshop to Vietnam, my blog has been perhaps overly focused on this wonderful country but that's what happens when things click, doesn't it? Whether photographically, culinary, culturally and people-wise...when a country clicks with me, it clicks.

No apologies whatsoever for the overloading...it's just that Vietnam was wonderful.

It's no secret at all that India is my favored photo destination, and that Bhutan and Indonesia come close...but Vietnam is now joining these two longstanding contenders.

So here's another photo gallery titled Vietnam Vignettes...the photographs are in color this time, and with an Alien Skin's Exposure 4 treatment. I used its Polaroid 669 film simulation, applied some added creamy effect and enhanced some vignetting.

It's essentially going back to my roots...sort of. All are travel photographs in the purest sense, with a few street photos included. No documentary photography...and no "travel photography meets photojournalism"...in these photographs.

And yes...one of the photographs is The White Honda & The Red Dress...one of my favorite street photographs of Hanoi. It's the third in four frames shot with the X Pro-1, and the woman's pose is just perfect.

They were mostly made with my Canon 5D Mark II and a 24-70mm 2.8 lens, but a few were made with the Fuji X Pro-1/Fujinon 18mm.

To view my Leica photographs of Vietnam, you may want to drop by my other blog The Leica File, and for black & white photographs made in Sapa and Bac Ha, you can view them on The Indigo People.

POV: The Gotipua And Style Evolution

Photo ©Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I wrote how time flies in my yesterday's post, and that remark brought me back to 2004 when I traveled to Orissa via Chhattisgarh, and stopped for a short while in Raghurajpur, a small village near Puri.

This village is quite famous for being the centre for training Gotipua dance troupes. In the local language, “goti” means “single” and “pua” means “boy”, and this folk dance of Orissa has been performed for centuries by young boys who dress as females to praise Jaggannath and Krishna. The acrobatic movements in the dance is performed by the young boys, who are inspired by the life of Radha and Krishna. More information can be found here.

Looking through my image files of the time, I noticed how I still favored verticals back then. I now know that 90% of my photographs are shot in the landscape mode, principally because they lend themselves much better to multimedia storytelling.

In 2004, I used a Canon 10D (remember those?) which was my first digital camera. I used the venerable Canon 1D MarkII as my workhorse film camera. This image of this young gotipua must've been made with a 70-200 f2.8 lens...it was my favored lens back then. I seldom use it now.

I state the obvious but yes, time flies and personal styles evolve. I'm certainly not alone in this. On most of my photo expedition-workshops, I have photographers who are in the midst of their own evolution cycles. Some favor their 70-200 lenses, while others have already gone wider...and others are in the middle of the cycle.

I encourage the former to leave their heavy lenses back at our hotels, and use wider zooms or primes, and get closer...sometimes they listen..sometimes they don't.

In 2004, would I have thought that 8 years later I'd be principally using a Leica M9 rangefinder and a Fuji X Pro-1 on my travels? I don't think so.

Evolution comes slowly...at least for me. But one thing for sure...time flies.

The Travel Photographer's Hát Tuồng

© Tewfic El-Sawy (click to enlarge image)

One of the cultural highlights during my Viet Photo Expedition-Workshop was the Hát Tuồng performance we attended at the Vietnam National Tuồng Theatre in Hanoi.

The Hát Tuồng theatre came from China in the 13th Century when Vietnam was warring against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. It's said that a famous actor named was imprisoned by the Vietnamese, and the imperial court asked him to spread his knowledge of Chinese theatre to the children of the elite, thus its origins were in the royal court. It was subsequently adapted to travelling troupes who entertained commoners and farmers.

Regrettably, there were only 12 or 13 spectators during the hour-long performance, out of which 10 were the photographers in my expedition-workshop. It's rather sad that Hát Tuồng, which is certainly an important part of Vietnam's rich cultural heritage, is not more popular amongst the Vietnamese themselves, as well as tourists. The performers are all proud professionals, and I believe are employed by the state which wants to retain this culture alive. That said, its music is somewhat of an acquired taste.

In any event, I had a ball photographing some of the troupe members using my Fuji X Pro-1/Fujinon 18mm f2.0 whose low-light capabilities are really astounding.

All the photographs were made without flash, at f2.0 and the iso set at 3200.

The rest of the photographs are on my Hat Tuong Backstage gallery.

POV: The Travel Photographer's Vietnam Mourners

click image for larger version

click for larger version

All Photos © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

It's always a difficult decision to photograph moments and scenes of personal (and even public) sorrow for me (and certainly other photographers as well). 

Traveling in our bus during my Vietnam Photo Expedition-Workshop on our way back to Hanoi, and passing a small town, I saw a funeral by the side of the road and asked Maika to inquire whether we could photograph it. I made the decision to do so in a few seconds, principally because the funeral seemed to be public, not enclosed in a private space or in a home.

"The photographer in me wanted to stay as long as possible..."

The head of the family readily agreed provided I lit an incense stick and presented my respects to the memory of the deceased. This I did, and planted the stick at the shrine. The deceased was born in 1925, and his name was Cu Pham Van Bao. That done, I invited the rest of our group to join the congregation. Some did photograph, while others thought it would be too intrusive and didn't.

I was invited to drink green tea, and sat amongst the head table along with our host. The funeral rite is called le dua tang, and the mourning garb seemed to be made of very coarse white gauze...sort of what surgical bandages are sometimes made of. The women wore the cloth wrapped around their heads with straw crowns and a sash. The male mourners used walking sticks made of bamboo and acted as if they were limping and could fall without the stick’s support. These are indications of how overcome the mourners are.

I was surprised that there was a funerary band...and one of them seemed to be a professional wailer.

The photographer in me wanted to stay as long as possible...(had I been alone I probably would have), but while being allowed as a group into their midst by these Vietnamese mourners was immensely gracious, I also knew we were a distraction, and that our time was up after 15 minutes or so.

The Travel Photographer's Vietnam Daguerreotypes

Here's the second of my Vietnam-related projects following my recent photo expedition-workshop....Vietnam In Daguerreotypes. This one is a gallery of stills, modified with Alien Skin Software to look like daguerreotypes. I recently installed the software and I'm amazed at its versatility and range of options.

I expect processing photographs with this software comes with some destructive element to it, but according to my very brief research, there are web tutorials that show you how to process photographs and keep their integrity intact.

The photographs were made with a Canon 5D Mark II (mostly with a 17-40mm), a Leica M9 (with a 40mm Voigtlander f1.4) and the Fuji X Pro-1 (18mm f2.8 XF Fujinon).

Very labor-intensive, the (real) daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. Exposure times for the earliest daguerreotypes ranged from three to fifteen minutes, making the process nearly impractical for portraiture. Modifications to the sensitization process coupled with the improvement of photographic lenses soon reduced the exposure time to less than a minute. 

In comparison, the processing of a still photograph using the Alien Skin Software takes less than a minute, if that.

My first Vietnam project is an audio-slideshow titled Hill Tribes In The Mist, which is on my Vimeo Channel.

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.

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.

My Work: I'm Getting Serious Now....Muay Thai

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I was very glad to have attended a late night Muay Thai at the Loi Kroh dingy and grubby boxing ring. I had access to wherever I wanted to go, which included chatting up the bar girls (and the ladyboys) who work at the bars and drinking spots surrounding it. The most incongruous was a store selling Muay Thai paraphernalia such as gloves and shorts at the entrance of the area, and owned by a veiled Muslim woman. She didn't seem to be fazed by the going ons at the abutting girlie bars.

I had my Fuji X Pro1 fitted with the 18mm lens, and used it whenever the fighters came close to the edges of the ring such as the one above. I also had my Canon 7D with a 70-200 as reserve when I needed the reach.

I am buzzed by the scene in that area....the hardness of the Muay Thai fights and the "softness" of the bar girls...two extreme, and probably motivated by the same thing; the need to make money.

You Like Red?

I've added a couple of galleries to my recently published website: www.telsawy.com. One of the galleries groups photographs of The Sufis, while the other has a grouping of Theyyam performers.

Red is the color of fire and blood, and associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, courage, desire, and love. And it's used in many religious rituals and festivals in India, and worn by religious practitioners such as the Theyyam of Northern Malabar and the Vellichapads (or Oracles) of Kodunggallur.

Theyyam is a living cult with several thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs, it includes many of the castes and classes of the Hindu religion in the Malabar region. The word Theyyam is a corrupt form of Devam or God. People of the region consider Theyyam itself as a god and seek blessings from them.

Another of my Theyyam photo essays is Theyyam: Incarnate Deities.

As for the Oracles of Kodungallur, they celebrate both Kali and Shiva at an intense festival that lasts about a week.In their thousands, these red-clad devotees perform self mortification acts by banging on their heads with ceremonial swords repeatedly until blood trickle down their foreheads, and daub the wounds with turmeric. A photo essay titled Agony & Ecstasy documents the Oracles religious event.

And yes, I do like the color red.

My Interview on Auto de Fe Is On The Web

"Tewfic El-Sawy is a blogger, travel photographer and champion of increasingly popular photography expeditions. He talked to Auto de Fe about what photography means to him, the much discussed death of photojournalism and what the future holds for lovers of the still image."

I am gratified that Auto de Fe magazine has featured my In Focus interview on its website, after launching its very first issue for the iPad a few days ago.

So have a read to find out what I think of the so-called 'death of photojournalism', the democratization of photography and how I came to set up my photo expeditions-workshops.

Auto de Fe describes itself as a cross-platform magazine of inquisitive journalism and intelligent photography. It showcases compelling writing, investigative reporting and visual documentary projects from around the world.

Note: This is a very quick post as I'm working on my images from yesterday's Coney Island's Mermaid Parade.

Auto De Fe & The Travel Photographer On The iPad

I am very pleased to appear as the first photographer for the In Focus feature in Auto de Fe's magazine for the iPad.

The feature carries an interview with me, along with some of my favorite photographs that I made over the course of my 12 years career. The interview was conducted with Jack Laurenson, the magazine's Executive Editor.

What is Auto de Fe? Well, it's a cross-platform magazine of inquisitive journalism and intelligent photography. It showcases compelling writing, investigative reporting and visual documentary projects from around the world. ADF is a unique magazine for the 21st century and is available as a fully interactive digital app on the iPad. Other devices will follow. It'll also be online and in print. Its digital & print format will allow many mediums of storytelling and bring some truly spectacular reportage.

I've downloaded the Auto de Fe's App from the Apple Store, and it's truly magnificent on the iPad. I don't have the new iteration of the iPad with the Retina display, but I know people who have it, and they say it's eye-popping! So get it!!!

I would be remiss if I don't mention the photojournalists/photographers whose work appear on the inaugural issue of Auto de Fe. These are Sean Power with 40 Commando, Meredith Alexander with London's Olympic Shame, Sean Hawkey's reports from the mines of Guatemala and Nicaragua, Carole Alfarah's Waiting For Change and Lisa Wiltse's The Charcoal Kids.

Finally, I urge emerging photojournalists and visual storytellers to view Auto de Fe's raison d'etre, and consider the opportunity that it offers as per its "What Do We Offer Our Contributors".

New!!! The Travel Photographer's New Website

Well, as it was raining almost all day in New York City, I managed to finish the first phase of my new personal website (www.telsawy.com).

It's flash-based, iPad and iPhone-friendly and I think it looks really cool with a very large image of a Kathakali dancer, whose put-on scowling face is a perfect fit for welcoming viewers! 

More seriously; I've started the website with 5 galleries...The Oracles of Kali (my latest photo essay), Canang (Bali), Kolkata, Tsechu (Bhutan), and The Kutch. The images chosen for these galleries are a mix of documentary photography and pure travel photography. 

The website's opening spread also has direct links to The Travel Photographer's blog, my Twitter feed, my Facebook page and my Vimeo multimedia page.

I will start the second phase of the website in a couple of weeks.

This new website is separate from The Travel Photographer which features my photo expeditions and workshops, photo essays, multimedia, and books. 

So bookmark both if you're interested, and keep an eye open for more galleries in the weeks to come!

My Work: The Art of Kathakali

One of the highlights of my Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop this past March was spending half a day at a Kathakali school near Thrissur, and documenting the preparations and performance of this ancient art. It was totally distinct from the usual superficial performances shown at the various tourist hotels, and the professionalism of the performers was breathtaking. Apart from the talent of the performers, I was especially struck by the singing which you hear on this "photo-film".

Kathakali is one of the oldest theatre forms in the world, and originated in Kerala. It's a group production, in which actors-dancers take various roles in performances based on themes from Hindu mythology, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The elaborate make up sessions often take longer than the performances themselves, and follow a certain ritual.

I chose to process the photographs in sepia (DxO Labs), which were made with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Leica M9, with the ambient audio recording on a Tascam DR40.

You can also watch it in HD on Vimeo.

The Travel Photographer's The Vedic Disciples

This is the second of my multimedia (audio slideshows) projects of stills, audio and video made during my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™. It's of the activities at an ancient Vedic 'gurukul' (or training/boarding school; very similar to the Buddhist monasteries for novitiates), where we were treated to a demonstration of this way of teaching sacred Vedic scriptures.

It is an ancient Indian educational system, which is currently being rejuvenated with the assistance of the Indian government. The young boys who populate the Vedic school usually belong to a caste of Keralan Brahmins, who are responsible to carry on the age-old tradition of chanting Vedas during religious rituals or functions. The chanting is learned by practice, and nothing is written down.

The rhythm of the Vedic chants is followed by the young boys' moving their bodies in cadence to the verses, which reminded me how the Buddhist novices recite their mantras, or how the Islamic students recite the Qur'an at their madrasas.

You can watch The Vedic Disciples on Vimeo as well.

Poll: Which Should Go On My Wall?

Living in New York City means that space is at premium, and while my office walls are literally covered from ceiling to waist-level with my photographs, paintings, etc., I still have a spot where a 20x24 inch frame can fit....but it has to be a vertical frame!

People who photograph with me know that I much prefer landscape/horizontal format, but a vertical space is all I can find on my crowded office walls. I like the above photographs equally so I need your involvement in choosing the one.

The top photograph is of a posed full length portrait of a Kathakali artist, while the lower one is of a trio of Oracles who I persuaded to stop their trances, and pose for us. Both were made during The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™.

I plan on having the elected photograph printed commercially on Kodak Professional Glossy paper then in a dark wooden frame...either black or dark brown depending on the photograph.

Thirunakkara Utsavam Festival

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

 I barely have the time to post this today since the internet connection is somewhat iffy, but the day's photo shoot was at the Mahadeva temple for the Thirunakkara Utsavam festival. This is where I spotted this family of pilgrims. I'm uncertain of which sect they belong to, but I'll find out and edit this post shortly.

Note: These are members of a family on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala Temple, some 150 kilometers from Kochi, and they're adherents of Ayyappa.

POV: Passion & Enthusiasm

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

"hello sir,

i'm a 18yr old from india

i've dropped my college for my passion of travelling ,writing n photography!

your work have quite inspired me continue it!

n just wanna thank you!

your blog is quite a source of inspiration for me!

thank you"

It's a leap year, and what better way to end this February's 29 days!

This wonderful email from a young Indian woman was waiting in my inbox...and while I frequently get complimentary emails on my photography and blog from readers, this one was so enthusiastic, and so full of hope for the future, that I had to feature it here.

Naturally, I urged her to remain in college, get a degree and pursue her passion at the same time. I hope she does.

I occasionally meet with young people seeking my advice as to how to forge a career in travel photography. It's always a difficult task to balance youthful aspirations and hard-core reality...but one of my principal pieces of advice is to stay in college (if they don't have a degree...and get one), and take up a profession that can pay the bills for a while.

The Travel Photographer Is On Cowbird!

I've just uploaded my first Cowbird story titled The Sufi Itinerant of Qutb Uddin.

While working on the photograph of Miskine, the Sufi in my post of yesterday, I realized I had a recording of him briefly telling me his life story. Coincidentally, I was invited to join Cowbird, which describes itself as "...a small community of storytellers, focused on a deeper, longer-lasting, more personal kind of storytelling than you’re likely to find anywhere else on the Web."

Cowbird seeks to feature incredible stories by some of the world's finest storytellers, and present them in the most beautiful storytelling environment on the Web. Its community consists of journalists, photographers, writers, artists, filmmakers, designers, explorers, and many others.

"incredible stories by some of the world's finest storytellers"

It allows members of its community to produce multimedia stories, incorporating text, photos, sound, subtitles, roles, relationships, maps, tags, timelines, dedications, and characters, thus mixing elements of traditional storytelling with elements of technology.

I'm excited to have joined Cowbird, and will upload new single image stories as time permits. I've seen that Aaron Huey, a fantastic photographer has also joined Cowbird, and already has a number of stories on it. This one of Zahoor is especially wonderful!

Readers of this blog who feel, as I do, that this is an exciting venue to display their storytelling talents, request an invite from Cowbird...as I did.

The Travel Photographer Has His "The Big Picture"!

I had neglected my Tumblr blog for a while, and recently realized there was a lot more themes available. One of those is HD Exhibit free theme which is, frankly speaking, just gorgeous and displays large sized (1200 pixels by 800) photographs really beautifully.

So I've worked quite diligently during the past two days to rejig my The Travel Photographer's Tumblr blog which now features some of my own favorite travel photographs. From here onwards, it will be the repository of some of my photographs (more travel than documentary) which I have archived over the past years, as well as those I intend to make on my forthcoming trips and workshops.

So follow my The Travel Photographer's Tumblr blog for your fix of travel photography!!!

5 Weeks To 'The Oracles of Kerala' Photo Workshop

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Only 5 weeks to the start of The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition & Workshop™!!!

All participants flights and arrival times in Kochi (where the workshop starts) have been set, hotels rooms are booked, itinerary rejigged, and my multimedia presentations are currently being updated...

The participants in this photo expedition/workshop (7 in all, which is my ideal group size for such a workshop) are from the United States, Ireland, Bahrain and Australia...an international mix I am certain will prove to be quite interesting, since each will probably bring a varying point of view.

I am eager to start the workshop off with a couple of days of intense street photography amongst the spice godowns and alleys of old Mattencherry...The street activity of the area is a virtual live theater, with bazaar-like alleys, traditional godowns and stores stocked with all types of rice, dark brown nutmeg, red and green chillies, earthy ginger, black pepper and other spices. Not only people photography of traders, merchants, porters, but also we'll photograph details, age-old textures, peeling wall colors (or discolored) of indigo blue and ochre...etc.

I am eager to return to Mattencherry, especially after I revisit my Traders of Kochi gallery.

I mentioned Holy War before on this blog, and I am pleased it turned out to be well suited for this forthcoming adventure. It's a chronicle of Vasco Da Gama's voyages to reach the Indies; and seize its markets in spices, silks and gems from Muslim traders in Calicut and Kochi. Perfect!