John Stanmeyer: Volcano Gods

Photo © John Stanmeyer-All Rights Reserved

No one connected to the world of photography and photojournalism is not familiar with John Stanmeyer's work and career. He's a photojournalist whose career is dedicated to international social and political issues, and is a co-founding member of VII Photo Agency. Working regularly for National Geographic Magazine, he was on contract with Time Magazine for over 10 years and had garnered countless awards.

John lived the Far East for over twelve years, documenting changes that affected the entire region. He has also focused on the plight of refugees from the Ugandan civil war, spent months chronicling the effects of the 2004 Tsunami and documented the mental healthcare crises in Asia. He also covered the conflict in South Sudan, Eastern European social change after the fall of Communism, as well as numerous visits to Haiti to record the social tragedies plaguing the island nation.He has documented the spread of HIV/AIDS through every country in Asia.

It was tough to choose what to feature of John's work because all his work is truly spectacular, but I decided on his Volcano Gods, which he shot for the National Geographic.

The photographs as displayed on his website are large monitor-sized and are breathtaking in their composition. I'm not much of a landscape fan, but these volcanoes are just stunning. The gallery mixes these landscapes with the mysticism of the ancient Balinese rituals which are held to this day to appease the volcano gods.

John is also a "musicphile", and perhaps a ethnomusicologist...you can read all about his love for world music in his blog entries. Bookmark his blog...if you're like me, you'll visit often.

Paolo Evangelista: Stone Town (Book)

I've previously featured Paolo Evangelista's work of Zanzibar on The Travel Photographer, but he has just self-published a book of his photographs of Stone Town, the ancient city and cultural heart of Zanzibar, where little changed in the last 200 years, so I thought it would be of interest to my readers who are curious in that tiny but authentic part of Africa.

Stone Town is a 142 pages book, currently available on Blurb, and is very well designed. I think Paolo's best color photographs are those spread in a double truck, like the one of a young girl running in the rain or  the one with a women in red with a young girl in a frilly white dress. I also liked some of the quotes used by Paolo; "God made the country, and men made the town", and "God made women to be loved, not understood". You can have a preview of the book here.

The backdrop of these photographs are the narrow alleys of Stone Town, whose houses were built in the 19th century when Zanzibar was one of the most important trading centres in the Indian Ocean region. It is a place of meandering alleys, bustling bazaars, mosques and impressive Arab houses.

Tom Bourdon: Dayakan Dance

Tom Bourdon was recently in Java, Indonesia where he photographed a traditional Dayak dance near Borobodur. He captured the ambient sound with the new and popular Zoom H1, and put together this audio slideshow. You can also view it here.

The Dayak are the native people of Borneo, who live principally in the interior of Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture. Dayaks also live in Indonesia, and have their distinct culture as Tom Bourdon documented.

The Dayak were animist in belief, however many converted to Christianity, and more recently to Islam. Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million.

Tom is a documentary travel photographer specializing in recording cultural festivals & celebrations across the globe. His work has been published in the national & international press as well as guide books & numerous online locations.

I thought I'd add this review of the Zoom H1. It's by B&H, and while it's short and to the point, it gives a reasonable appraisal of the device.

Prantik Mazumder: Kolkata (Calcutta)

Photo © Prantik Mazumder-All Rights Reserved

I am on the look out for street photography out of Kolkata in anticipation of my forthcoming Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo Expedition™ scheduled from September 29 to October 13, 2011.

Although I've already featured the work of Prantik Mazumder on The Travel Photographer's blog last year, I re-visited his website and discovered his Calcutta gallery which has a number of very well composed street photographs...vibrant colors, and lots of shadows. The combination of these colors, especially the red and orange, and the deep black of shadows really make these photographs stand out.

Prantik is a self-taught photographer, and is originally from Kolkata, India. He is now settled in Ithaca, New York, pursuing a career in scientific research.

Here's another of Prantik's photographs to show off his shadow play, which is from his PBase photo website.

Photo © Prantik Mazumder-All Rights Reserved