Venice By FKY

For a complete change of pace this Sunday, I feature a wonderful short movie on Venice produced by FKY, presumably a French videographer from Nantes.

What hooked me to watch this movie was the opening song by Charles Aznavour "Que C'est Triste Venise"...a romantic but sad song whose lyrics start:

Que c'est triste Venise,

Au temps des amours mortes,

Que c'est triste Venise,

Quand on ne s'aime plus.

Charles Aznavour is is an Armenian singer, songwriter, actor and a public activist. He's one of France's most popular and enduring singers, is known for a gravelly voice and is also one of the best-known singers in the world.

The camera used in the movie is the Canon 5D Mark II with Canon 50mm f/1.4, 100mm f/2.8L - 24-105mm f/4L  and the 70-300mm f4-5.6L lenses with a Rode Videomic pro.

POV: Encore Angkor?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

As readers of this blog know, I recently traveled to Siem Reap in order to attend the Angkor Photo Festival where one of my photo essays The Possessed of Hazrat Mira Datar was featured on its opening night.

I was greatly impressed by the Angkor Photo Festival's evenings at the FCC, and by the quality of the curating. As I mentioned in previous posts, both Francoise Callier and Jean-Yves Navel were instrumental in making a success of the event, while tireless Camille Plante and Jessica Lim made it tick. However, this is not the main purpose of this POV post.

It's been the third time I'd been in Siem Reap and to the temples of Angkor, and I am chagrined that, while Siem Reap itself still has traces of a bohemian feel to it, despite the high number of tourists invading its bars and restaurants, its temples have lost their mystique due to exuberant commercialization.

For example, both the Angkor Wat and the Bayon temple in particular are overwhelmed by hordes of tourists. The tour buses disgorge Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese tourists by the thousands each day. This not only mars the aesthetic of these temples, but also has long term negative effects on the integrity of these historic monuments. The lay nuns all clad in white robes who could be found in some areas of Angkor Wat and the Bayon are now gone, replaced by men in Western shirts and trousers who sell incense sticks to tourists. To add insult to injury, there are now groups of students who dress up in apsara costumes, and who clumsily pose for pictures with tourists (see above picture). I assume these changes are approved and "endorsed" by the Siem Reap police and tourist authorities.

In my view, the Angkor Wat temple complex experience has deteriorated over the past 5 years. Both the influx of tourists and the need to maximize revenues from this world heritage site by the Cambodian authorities are the causes for this deterioration. If any of my readers haven't visited the Angkor Wat temple complex, I advise you to go as soon as possible and perhaps choose to do so when it's off-season (monsoon season may be an intelligent choice).

If and when you do, forgo the many established restaurants for dinner and try an area where there are lots of outdoor restaurants specializing in Khmer barbecue (BBQ Lover is one), and sample the grilled squid, giant prawns and fried morning glory. The area is opposite The Red Piano  and is between Street 11 and Street 8. You won't regret it.

Naladhu Luxury Resort - Maldives

Naladhu is intended to be as acquainted as a favorite vacation home by the ocean, however with surprise hints of the islands. In its soul is that the spirit of the native Maldivian culture, drawing on the made traditions of our island paradise. it's an area where everything is because it ought to be. Where everything is acquainted – not as a result of you’ve been here before, however as a result of it's simply as you’d imagined it to be.

Mornings, contemporary as a young coconut. Days, bright as a lily. Nights, still as a painting. on a daily basis at Naladhu could be a blank canvas – we offer the palette of native color – you produce your own masterpiece.

Water Sports

Diving: 

Look below the surface for a few of the most effective views within the Maldives. Our PADI Dive Centre offers a full vary of SCUBA certification courses. With categories starting from SCUBA discovery to advanced open-water, wreck diving and even rescue dives, Naladhu residents are bound to notice an journey suited to their talents. Every day, the centre offers up to four dives at a spread of locations - really, at intervals a half-hour radius of our island, there are not any but twenty world-class dives to fancy.

Snorkelling: 

 Slip on your flippers and knowledge the famous underwater world of the Maldives. we provide a spread of snorkelling excursions to neighbouring reefs, manta ray "cleaning stations" and, of course, our own nearby reef, teeming with underwater beauty. Embark on an journey via catamaran, dhoni or Naladhu  luxury speed boat to locations close to and much - and see that the journey may be as lovely because the destination.

Waterskiing:

Carve through the waves with the trade winds in your hair and therefore the heat sun at your back. With the mirror-like lagoon at our doorstep, there is in all probability no easier place to fancy water skiing. the parents at the Water Sports Centre have a good vary of skis for all talent levels and ages.

Windsurfing

Experience the fun of catching the wind in your sails and gliding across the lagoon. For beginners, a basic lesson provided by our team at the Water Sports Centre can enable you to fancy the wind and waves in an exceedingly new and difficult means. For seasoned execs, the Centre incorporates a choice of boards and sails, and our instructors are going to be happy to assist you work out that one is best for you.

Kayaking

Ease into water sports adventures with Naladhu's complimentary kayaks. Paddle through the gorgeous and calm lagoon.  Kayaks are on the market on a first-come, first-served basis, however they are typically on the market, thus be happy to walk on over and take to the waters.

Kitesurfing and Surfing

Fly sort of a leaping dolphin over the water once you attempt kite surfing at Naladhu.Surfers from everywhere the globe are discovering that these sparkling islands supply ideal surfing conditions - with a read of the sets from Naladhu itself. the most effective months to surf are from April to October, with the common height of waves being 1-2.5 metres.

Facilities:

Naladhu provides a soothing paradise that feels a lot of like an island house with a pool - all to yourself. together with your alternative of 2 romantic house varieties – the Beach House with Pool and therefore the Ocean House with Pool – every provides its own distinct vantage purpose on the island, whereas providing identical amenities and opulent comforts. each home is outfitted with WiFi to stay you connected, whereas a Bose home theatre system and LCD satellite TV are the right accompaniment to laid-back evenings at home. And if the lapping ocean waves are not enough, produce your own soundtrack with the in-room iPod and surround-sound stereo system.

Dining:

Indulge yourself with our in-house dining choices. The chefs of the front room will cater to your each whim, right within the privacy of your space, at with regards to any time day or night.Satisfy tastes starting from the classic to the eccentric. Our chefs conjointly supply a spread of set dinners for each craving, as well as Thai, Indian, Maldivian and Western.

Spa

Lime and ginger salt scrubs. The healing pressure of a Thai massage. Deep respiratory and yoga stretches. Unwind together with your alternative of luxury spa therapies designed to pamper and restore. Our team of spa professionals – trained in Ayurvedic, Thai, Balinese, Western and alternative holistic healing traditions – attracts from the most effective of Naladhu's island surroundings to bring you treatments and therapies that exquisitely complement your Maldives vacation expertise.

Ed Ou: The Egyptian Youth

Photo © Ed Ou-All Rights Reserved

The news that "Islamists" seem to have won a majority in Egypt's first Parliament since the ouster of Mubarak is being reported by the US media in disquieting vocabulary, especially since it came at the expense of the liberal parties and youth activists who set off the revolution.  Many secular Egyptians are expressing alarm and anxiety at the result of the initial round of Parliamentary elections, while others shrug off these results by predicting that the Muslim Brotherhood (as one of the factions described as Islamists) may well have a majority, but will either choose or be forced to exert its political clout in a moderate fashion.

Ed Ou has covered the momentous events in Egypt ever since the start of the revolution, and has recently featured his work in progress of The Egyptian Youth.

Ed is a Canadian photojournalist who has been working in the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Africa, and the Americas. He started his career as a teenager, covering the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and the fall of the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, Somalia. He worked for Reuters and the Associated Press, and was also an intern at the New York Times.

He is the recipient of a Global Vision Award from POYi, a 1st Place Contemporary Issues award from World Press Photo, and other recognition from the Overseas Press Club, Ian Parry Scholarship, Best of Photojournalism, PDN Photo Annual, UNICEF, among others. He has been selected for a Getty Images Editorial Grant, PDN 30 Under 30, and took part in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. He was recently awarded the City of Perpignan Young Reporter Award.

via PhotojournalismLinks