Asia Society: Princes And Painters In Muhgal India

The Asia Society Museum in New York City is to show Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707-1857, an exhibition showcasing Delhi's rich rich history of art, artists and patrons who flourished during this critical period.

The exhibition will focus on the reigns of the last four Mughal emperors — Muhammad Shah, Shah Alam II, Akbar Shah II and Bahadur Shah II Zafar. The latter emperor is the subject of William Dalrymple "The Last Mughal"...a captivating biography of Bahadur Shah Zafar, a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur the Great, and of the city of Delhi around the time of the Sepoy Rebellion.

The Sepoy Rebellion was eventually put down with great brutality by the British in a series of bloody battles, and Old Delhi was virtually ransacked. For those of us who know it, the Red Fort and the Jami Masjid were within a hair's breath of being razed, but were saved through the intercession of a high ranking British military commander. Imagine Old Delhi without these two architectural and historical gems?!

Bahadur Shah Zafar was sent into exile in Burma, where he died. He was banished not so much for what he did during the Rebellion, but because the Victorian Evangelicals were determined to replace his influence with that of Christianity. Zafar, having a Hindu mother, and an observant Muslim, appealed to India's major two religions and that couldn't be tolerated.

Researching the subject for this post, I read in a 2009 issue of the Telegraph that efforts were made to trace Zafar's descendants. It seems many have fled to Kolkata and Aurangabad, while others live in Burma and Pakistan.

Note to Publishers and Agents: I do not feature book reviews unless I read and like the books I write about or mention. So do not waste your time emailing me to publicize your book(s) on this blog. I will not.

Jana Asenbrennerova: Shipbreakers of Chittagong

Photo © Jana Asenbrennerova-All Rights Reserved

“The workers look like little ants next to these gigantic ships, and they are just as vulnerable.”

Jana Asenbrennerova's work on the ship breakers in Chittagong was recently featured on the CNN Photo blog....however her photographs are better viewed on her own website.

The CNN essay also informs us that about 80% of the world's out-of-service ships are recycled in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, according to NGO Shipbreaking Platform.  The largest ship breaking yards at Gadani in Pakistan, Alang in India, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Aliağa in Turkey.

The majority of the ship breaking workers come from the poverty stricken northern region of Bangladesh where there are limited employment opportunities, with the larger proportion of the labor (40.75%) are between the ages of 18-22 years old, and children (under the age of 18) represented about 11% of the workforce.

Jana Asenbrennerova visited Chittagong’s ship-breaking yards in summer 2010 to document what life was like for the people who work there. The ship breaking yards are notoriously difficult to access, but Jana was helped by a local photojournalist.

Jana is an award-winning Czech photojournalist based in the United States. Her work focuses on Southeast Asia. After studying directing and screenwriting at Film Academy, she worked in Prague’s film and theater industry for several years, then studied photography at City College of San Francisco, and photojournalism at San Francisco State University.

The Frame: The Magh Mela

Photo © AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh- All Rights Reserved 

The Sacramento Bee's The Frame brings us more than 30 large sized photographs of the Magh Mela.

The Magh Mela is one of the greatest annual religious pilgrimages for Hindus. In Hindu mythology, the Magh Mela's origin is said to be the beginning of the universe. It's held every year on the banks of Triveni Sangam (the confluence of the three great rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati) in Allahabad (UP).

The holy pilgrimage and festival is organized every year during the Hindu month of Magh (mid January - mid February), and is a smaller version of Kumbh Mela.

One of the photographs featured by The Frame is of the pontoon bridges that allow the pilgrims to cross to the area of the Sangam, and it reminds me (so very vividly) of my pre-dawn walks on these very same bridges during the Maha Kumbh Mela of 2001. I can still feel the sensation of being in the midst of a moving "caterpillar" of thousands of people. It was an indescribable thrill of being in such an environment with a multitude of opportunities to photograph the spectacular characters who attend such religious gatherings, that I described as "ascetics, mendicants, mystics, beggars and charlatans".

Stop a moment in sympathy at the photograph in The Frame's series in which a woman weeping as she searches for her son in the massive crowd gathering of the Magh Mela. I witnessed such scenes in 2001, and they're heart-rending. However, I was told that the majority of lost children are reunited with their families.

The Gizmon iCA For iPhone

From the sublime (yesterday's post) to the (almost) ridiculous, but I just couldn't resist this!!!

An iPhone case made to look like a vintage camera...almost a Leica look-alike, and since I own an iPhone and an M9, this could make a delightful Xmas present...well, if whoever is interested in it can wait for another 11 months. The Gizmon website even has its logo that's a red dot a la Leica!!!

To be honest, this is not a totally zany idea. iPhone photography is growing by leaps and bounds, and this case would convert it to the feel of a real point and shoot.

The case is made of polycarbonate, comes in three colors ; white, black and orange. It sports an optical viewfinder, holes for straps and a functional shutter button that connects to the iPhone's volume buttons.

It costs $65, and is available via Gizmon's website.