Monica Denevan: Burma

Photo © Monica Denevan-All Rights Reserved

I'm glad to have found Monica Denevan's website with its gorgeous photographs of Burma and China. Trust me...you will find that her some 120 photographs are indeed luminous and gorgeous.

Monica travels with her medium format Bronica, one lens, and a bunch of plastic bags filled with Ilford Delta 400 film. She tells us that her photographs are printed from negatives in her traditional darkroom and selenium toned.

Classic photography in the full meaning of the word, and the farthest thing from the Instagram and Hipstamatic fad.

Born in San Francisco, Monica studied photography at San Francisco State University. She started visiting parts of Burma and China for many years, and always had her Bronica along. Her work was published in ZYZZYVA, Communication Arts Photo Annual, SHOTS, Black and White Magazine, The Photo Review, The Sun, and Artvas-The Photo (Korea) among others.

She is represented by Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco, Duncan Miller Gallery in Santa Monica, Capital Culture Gallery in London, and Tao Evolution Gallery in Hong Kong which produced a small catalogue of her work. Monica’s photographs are in the permanent collection of UCSF Medical Center.

Kevin WY Lee: The Return of Hundred Daughters

Photo © Kevin Wy Lee-All Rights Reserved

"...a fortune teller told my grandparents that demon gods wished harm upon their first-born son. So when my father, the only son in the family, was born, they named him Pak Noi – Hundred Daughters – to fool the demon gods."

Kevin WY Lee is a photographer based in Singapore, whose creative work was honed in Australia and Singapore for more than 15 years. He's the founder of Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA); a well known multi-faceted platform for Street Photography & Visual Journalism in Asia. He also participated as a judge for various creative and photography awards including Singapore Creative Circle Awards, Angkor Photo Workshop, and KLPhotoawards.

Kevin's just recently featured a fascinating photo essay which chronicles the return of his father to his  ancestral home in Zhaolong Li (mainland China) after a prolonged absence of almost 56 years. He was accompanied by his wife, his sisters and families as well as his only son, Kevin...who documented this incredibly touching and intimate experience, and recorded it for posterity.

Because of a fortune teller's tale, Kevin's father was named Pak Noi (Hundred Daughters), and it's utterly appropriate it's also the title of this very well done photo essay.

As I'm fond of stressing in my multimedia classes, a photo essay of that type is always successful if it has two main ingredients: access and intimacy. The Return of Hundred Daughters certainly has both.

I only wish it had an accompanying audio track to it...but perhaps not having one was a conscious decision by the photographer.

Mauriã Rodrigues Sabbado: Opera Of Sichuan

Photo © Mauriã Rodrigues Sabbado-All Rights Reserved

I was glad to see that Mauriã Rodrigues Sabbado, a Brazilian photographer and a member of my class Introduction To Multimedia Storytelling at the Buenos Aires Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, has recently updated his website with six photo galleries.

Mauriã's documentary photography is centered on Asia, and particularly on Tibet and China. I highlight his gallery Sichuan Opera, which documents a troupe whilst preparing for a performance, and the actual performance itself.

Sichuanese opera is a type of Chinese opera originating in China's Sichuan province around 1700, with Chengdu being its main home. It's well known for its singing, which is more free than the popular Beijing opera form. Sichuan opera is more like a play than other forms of Chinese opera, and the acting is very professional. The music accompanying Sichuanese opera utilizes a small gong and a two stringed traditional "violin".

Li Wei: The Earth (Mongolia)

Photo © Li Wei-All Rights Reserved

Li Wei is a freelance photographer based in Beijing, who was born in Hohhot,Inner Mongolia, and who graduated from the Communication University of China.

His photographs of Inner Mongolia are those of an insider...no tourist stuff here, nor are the photographs the type one sees in glossy magazines advertising Mongolian lifestyle.

Inner Mongolia (distinct from the country of Mongolia) is an autonomous region of China, located in the northern region of the country. It shares an international border with the country of Mongolia and the Russian Federation. Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group, constituting about 80% of the population, followed by Mongols.