Live From Oaxaca

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
After suffering the trauma of temporarily losing my checked-in luggage between Newark, Mexico City and Oaxaca, I was delighted to be reunited with my belongings a mere 4 hours later. Not too bad Mexicana Click!! Of course, I jumped the gun and bought toothpaste/toothbrush and some other essentials (even a t-shirt) just in case, but that story ended well.

So here I am typing/blogging away in the patio of the delightful Hotel Aitana in the Centro Historico de Oaxaca, after a morning replete with photo ops in the two main markets of the town. We were glad to photograph a Guelaguetza rehearsal of young boys and girls at the Zocalo, who were prepping for a main event next Saturday.

We are waiting for one more member to join our group this afternoon, and we will then start the afternoon session. In the meantime, here's an image of a Oaxacan laborer. I can't tell if it sharp, or well processed as I'm using my Acer netbook...but it'll do for now.

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Kirsten Luce: Kashmiri Family Portrait

Here's a new portfolio by the talented Kirsten Luce titled A Kashmiri Family Portrait; a family living with the ghosts of their loved ones.

Kirsten is a freelance photojournalist working in New York City. Her work was published in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Time, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald (International Edition), AP, Bloomberg News and CARE International.

Apart from gleaning various awards, she was a key staff member of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali last summer, which is when she continued on to Srinagar to produce these soulful and sensitive Kashmiri images. Many of those images are beautiful with lovely light, but my favorite image is that of the young girl combing her hair.

An interview with Kirsten was published on TTP here.

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Kashmir Rumbles

Farooq Khan/European Pressphoto Agency-All Rights Reserved
The New York Times features an article today on the current civil unrest in Kashmir, where it seems that the bitter dispute between India and Pakistan has reappeared. It all started with a dispute over a 99-acre piece of land, which has for more than two months been encouraged by both separatist leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir and Hindu nationalists elsewhere in India.

It is sad that this festering wound has not healed. During the first few months of the year, tourists were flocking to Dal Lake in Kashmir. Eric Beecroft and I were so encouraged by the improving political and civil situation that we announced a wonderful Kashmir: Paradise On Earth Photo Workshop.

In late April, we decided to postpone it following explosions in Srinagar's main markets, and at the advice of our fixers and agents who believed the situation would get worse. Nevertheless, both Eric and I still hope that calm will prevail, and an accommodation will be sought and achieved between the two sides of the conflict allowing us to schedule the same workshop next year.

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Benoît Marquet: Fishermen of Kashmir

Image © Benoît Marquet-All Rights Reserved
Benoît Marquet is an independent photographer based in New Delhi, who specializes in news and documentary photographic assignments from South Asia.

He has worked in Kashmir, and his website showcases a photo essay (Kashmiri Fisherman) on the fishermen who ply their trade on Dal Lake. The life of a Kashmiri fisherman is no different from other fishermen all over the world. Waking up before dawn to fish and returning home just after sunrise, the Kashmiri fishermen have a difficult time making ends meet. It's probably a dying profession, with his children working in other occupations.

Srinagar is said to have been founded by the Buddhist Emperor Ashoka during the third century B.C. Dal Lake, the Jhelum River, and a looping canal that joins the two effectively make an island of Srinagar's busiest section.

Dal Lake is surrounded on three sides by mountains, and it is the home to houseboats and gondola-like shikaras. These provide transportation the lake and its floating gardens. It's estimated that there are 602 houseboats on Dal Lake, supporting a population of nearly 60,000 people. An interesting factoid about the houseboats: During the Raj, the ruler of Kashmir did not allow the British to build homes on Kashmiri territory, so to circumvent the law, they built houseboats.

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Kashmir: Photo Expedition & Workshop

I'm pleased to announce that a photo expedition-workshop in Kashmir (India) is planned for July 27-August 9, 2008. The Kashmir: Paradise On Earth photo workshop-expedition is set in this beautiful mountainous area of India, set deep within the Himalayan mountains on its frontier with Pakistan, China and Tibet.

The floating city of Srinagar is the workshop-expedition's base, and the initial days in India will be spent photographing Delhi's Islamic character.

This workshop-expedition will involve extensive fieldwork shooting stories in Delhi and Srinagar (and beyond), one on one portfolio reviews, nightly slideshows, panel discussions, and working dinners.

Eric Beecroft and Tewfic El-Sawy are leading the Kashmir: Paradise On Earth photo workshop-expedition. Both have extensive experience in leading workshops and photo expeditions to India, South East Asia and elsewhere. The workshop is supported by Soundslides, and other corporate support is currently being arranged.

To log on to the photo workshop-expedition website for further details, go to:

Kashmir: Paradise On Earth

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