Tom Bourdon: Varanasi Holy Man

Photo © Tom Bourdon -All Rights Reserved
I thought that Tom Bourdon's photograph of a sadhu offering water to the sun on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi would be a perfect choice to end my blog posts for 2009. It projects the optimism we ought to feel today while we are at the cusp of welcoming a brand new year.

Tom Bourdon is UK born, and is an award winning international travel photographer who specializes in photographing religious and cultural festivals/celebrations across the globe. To my knowledge, he's one of the very few who specialize in documenting festivals, and if I'm not mistaken he might be traveling to the Kumbh Mela this year in Haridwar. If he does, you can bet he'll have splendid images to show.

Happy New Year to all my readers...and looking forward to see you again next year!

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NGS' Traveler: Best of 2009

National Geographic Traveler's Editor-in-Chief Keith Bellows presents his favorite pictures published in his magazine throughout 2009. The audio slideshow features 14 photographs made by various photographers in countries ranging for Malaysia to Peru.

I'm always intrigued how photo editors choose the photographs that are published, but I haven't learned much from Bellows' narrative. This collection actually mystifies me...sure, there is a bunch of lovely photographs but many are pedestrian and unimaginative, to say the least. The photograph of the four women on a bench in Shanghai is one of those. I looked at it for a while, trying to figure out the reason(s) for its inclusion here, but honestly couldn't.

I don't know if this was rush job put together by novice interns, but it's certainly not a shining effort by the National Geographic.

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Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer

Photo © Mathias Braschler/Monika Fischer -All Rights Reserved
Vanity Fair magazine has featured the work of Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer, who dedicate themselves to documenting in portraiture the human cost of the climatic changes.

Schlepping large-format cameras from Timbuktu to Siberia, and from Australia to the Alps, Braschler and Fischer visited 21 countries during 2009, and have photographed the inhabitants of deserts, mountains, forests, and glacial valleys....thus documenting examples of accelerating environmental changes.

Both photographers were nominated in Vanity Fair's Hall of Fame for their work.

Via Photojournalism Links

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New York Times' 2009's Travel Photos

Photo © Justin Mott/NY Times -All Rights Reserved
Continuing the wrap up of the "Best Of" for the year, here is The New York Times' best travel photographs as picked by their own photo editors, and which were published in the newspaper's Travel section during 2009.

The photographers whose work is shown in the feature are Chris Bickford, Peter DaSilva, Lalo de Almeida, Josh Haner and Todd Heisler, Andy Isaacson, Michael Kamber, João Pedro Marnoto, Kevin Moloney, Justin Mott, Michael Nagle, Jeff Pflueger, Susana Raab, Scott B. Rosen, Brian Sokol, Vanessa Vick and Dave Yoder.

I was surprised at the statement made in the feature that 19 photographs are the maximum number for The New York Times slide-show player, and wonder why that is so.

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American Photo: Images of the Year 2009

American Photography Magazine is featuring Images of the Year 2009 . Rather predictably (but deservedly) Ed Kashi is the Photojournalism Category Winner with his essay documenting the Trans Amadi Slaughter, an abattoir in Nigeria that had sprung up after petroleum-related pollution destroyed local fisheries.

Photo © April Maciborka -All Rights Reserved
Other winners in the Photojournalism category are Larry Louie, Ed Ou, Andrew Biraj, April Maciborka, and Achille Piotrowicz. I thought that April Maciborka's work (above) documenting shrimp farmers in India was the best. Her toned photographs are really impressive.

I featured April Macibroka on this blog earlier this year, in which I thought that her work exemplified the essence of what a travel photographer is, or should be. The post can be found here, so I'm glad she earned the recognition that she did.

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NYT: 2009 The Year in Pictures

Photo © Tyler Hicks/New York Times -All Rights Reserved
The newspaper version of the New York Times's Week In Review yesterday was a real fillip for photojournalism. The totality of the first page was of Tyler Hicks' superb blurry photograph of a US soldier in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, and much of the section was filled with the remarkable photographs by Emilio Morenatti, Moises Saman, Jehad Nga and Rita Castelnuovo.

On the section's second page, I paused at the editor's decision to publish two photographs by Tyler Hicks of the utter devastation of the Gaza Strip and the terrific loss of innocent lives, and the nearby positioning of a third photograph by Rita Castelnuovo showing a group of Israeli soldiers grieving over the loss of a colleague. I imagined the editor's cerebral gymnastics as to how to present a "balanced" view of the Gaza atrocity with a couple of photographs. Ah well...

As I said, the Week In Review section this week is a job well done. You can see it as a slideshow on the NYT's website.

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Unearthing Asia Magazine

Unearthing Asia bills itself as a travel 'zine focusing on culture, lifestyle and attractions all around Asia.

It was started by Nikolas Tjhin and Michelle Lee, whose initial idea was to publish a travel related real-life publication, but as the costs were prohibitive, decided to publish it online. It's available online and downloadable in PF format.

If my understanding is correct, it can also be found in paper form in South East Asia.

It may be an interesting addition to travel photographers who seek new venues for their photographs.

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