the news. the views. the juice.
The best of reportage work from Bangalore, done in the year gone by, will exhibited in a 3-day photo exhibition “Frozen Memories ‘08″ conducted by the Photojournalists’ Association of Bangalore from today. The venue is the Chitrakala Parishat on Kumara Kripa Road.
It’s easy to forget, but phone sex operators are real human beings, too, with their own hopes, dreams, desires, fears, ambitions, motivations—and reasons for what they do to earn a living.
Mother Jones has a fine photo essay of some of them pouring their hearts out for Laura McClure, Gary Moskowitz, and Mark Murrmann. These pictures are included in the book Phonesex, which will be published in September by Twin Palms.
“My first night, there was a gentleman who called himself Bob.
“He explained that he had no one he felt comfortable telling his desires to, and I felt a strange intimacy between us.
“I think it’s easier to release repressed desires to a non-judgmental, fictional person, because there are no consequences in the outside world.”
View the entire photo blog: Phone sex operators
Photograph: courtesy Mother Jones
This photograph by Arup Ghosh, of a barber shaving a customer, has won the first prize in the amateur category at the inaugural Sony World Photography Awards, which will be held in Cannes from April 21 to 25.
Ghosh, who studied medicine, has been an amateur photographer since 2002. He was walking across the barber shop with his daughter and was impressed by the deep concentration with which the barber pursued his work. He wanted to capture the intensity of this seemingly dull task.
As the top amateur winner, Ghosh will receive $5,000 (Rs 200,000) in prize money and a trip to the award exhibition in Cannes. The inaugural festival received almost 26,000 amateur submissions, and more than 45,000 images from professional photographers.
Photograph: courtesy Arup Ghosh/ Sony World Photography Awards via Der Spiegel
View the entire gallery of 57 pictures here
The life of photographers and videographers in India has become hell thanks to the relentless media boom, with dozens of them jostling for space, nudging each other, often coming to blows with each other, all to capture a frame which the reader may not notice, and sometimes not even care.
The problem multiplies manifold when top Indian leaders with their tight security requirements are around.
When police denied access to lensmen at Pompai church in the coastal town of Mangalore, during Congress member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi’s visit on Wednesday, they went on a flash strike to draw attention to their woes.
Photograph: Karnataka Photo News
While media mavens feverishly debate whether journalists should abandon their professional duties and lend a hand in moments of crisis, a three-year-old Afghan girl born with a deadly skin disorder that could claim her life if left untreated, is being operated by Western surgeons, thanks to the efforts of an Italian photojournalist, reports the BBC.
Shabana (in picture), afflicted by neurofibromatosis, was spotted by Gabrielle Torsello in 2005 while he was shooting pictures in Kabul. He organised her first operation in the City when she was just nine months old. Now, she and her father Janat Gul have flown to Rome for further operations.
“It is a blessing in disguise. When God wants to help you, He provides all the means,” said Janat Gul, who works loading and unloading trucks in Kabul. “I am a poor person and I couldn’t dream of this happening to us. I wish we had all these facilities in our own country.”
Read the full story here: Shabana’s story of hope against the odds
This breathtaking black-and-white photograph of yoga artistes from the yoga capital of the world (Mysore), shot by Tomasz Gudzowaty and Judit Berekai of Poland at an akhada in the religious capital of India (Benares), has just won the third prize in the World Press Photo Contest 2008 in the “Sports Features-Single Photo” category.
The intercontinental project was coordinated by freelance sports journalist C.K. Muralidharan who also plays cricket for Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Mysore.
Here, he describes how the project came about; how the award-winning picture was shot at the “Sri Akkada Murchali Birbaba”; and how three artistes—artists, really—of the Maruthi Yoga Kendra (S. Suhas, K.V. Anantha Kumara and B.S. Nikhil) became a part of photography history.
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It is a matter of great joy and satisfaction that a picture shot with yoga artistes from Mysore in Benares has won one of the world’s most coveted photography awards. It is a tribute no doubt to the photographic artistry and work ethic of Tomasz Gudzowaty. But it is also a richly deserved salute to an ancient Indian art form on the international stage.
My association with Tomasz began in 2003 through the portal www.mysoresports.com launched by me and my friend Yashasvi Shankar (a former Mysore University and State shuttle badminton player now settled in USA). I had written about nadu kusti, the traditional wrestling style of Mysore and Tomasz evinced interest in photographing it.
In November 2005, with the help of L. Manjappa, the Mysore University wrestling coach, and Shankar Chakravarthy, the KSP wrestler who has won the Dasara Kanteerava title, we visited nearly 20 garadis. Tomasz chose six locations, returned the following month with his associate Judit Berekai, and shot around 5,000 black and white photos over three days with wrestlers from the University and the garadis in action.
The main sequence, shot at the Gopala Swamiawara garadi on Nala beedhi, won the third prize in the World Press Photo Contest 2006 in the sports features category. The wrestlers involved were Shankar Chakravarthy, Prahlad, Hemanth Kumar, Harish and Kumara. Manjula sound system of Sunnadakeri supported us with the light and generator back-up for the shooting.
I was sponsored by Tomasz’s company Yours Gallery to attend the award ceremony in Amsterdam. It was a great experience seeing a slice of Mysore being served up to a global audience. And it was even more touching to be mentioned by Tomasz and Judit in their acceptance speech.
My heart swelled with emotion that I could do something for Mysore’s wrestlers.
The award-winning picture became part of an exhibition that went to 24 different countries and it was also displayed in the UN headquarters in New York. During the Festival of India in France in 2006, a French company called Manison de la Photographie brought out a Photo Book called “Indianscope” which had the picture of Hemanth Kumar on the cover.
Once they came to know that their photographs had won international acclaim, the wrestlers were very happy and thankful to Tomasz and his team. In turn, Tomasz was kind enough to give some financial assistance to all the garadis he worked with, and to all the wrestlers too.
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In December 2006, I floated an idea for a second project: Kalari Payattu, the traditional style of martial art practiced in Kerala. I and my BEML team-mate S. Ramachandra (who has a passion for photography) visited Kollam and took the pictures of kalari artistes in action in different locations and sent them to Tomasz.
Tomasz liked what he saw but wanted a different background.
He came to Kollam. With the guidance of the Kalari Gurukal Shivakumar, of CVN Kalari, we shot Kalari Payattu. The artistes were Shivakumar, John and Monichan. They demonstrated the flip, fighting with the sticks, balancing on the beam, summersault, fighting with sword, hanging upside down, and other forms of exercises. A series of 12 photos were wanted by Tomasz and shot accordingly.
The second day saw the kalari artistes perform on an artificially made bamboo wall and Tomasz captured them in action along with Judit. Around 3,000 black and white photographs were taken. From the fourth day, we shifted to the Lal Bahadur stadium, where action photographs of women boxers in the ring (both sparring and boxing), were taken. Different positions with different combinations of boxers were shot with the help of coach Chandralal the SAI boxing coach who won the Dronacharaya award in 2007.At the stadium, we also had a extended session with the artificial boxing ring positioned outside and Tomasz shot from the top of a crane to get the picture from a good height. Kerala’s women boxers are the second best in the country after Manipur, with P.C. Lekha, the world boxing champion, amidst them. They were in-charge of coach Chandralal.The photograph of C.V. Ashwathymol relaxing after her bout in the ring won the “Award for Excellence” in the Pictures of the Year contest conducted by the University of Missouri, USA. “The Story on Kalari” (12 photographs) also won the “Award for Excellence” in the Pictures of the Year contest.
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Sometime last year, Tomasz suddenly contacted me and said he would like to do a photo feature on yoga. As he was doing a project in China, initially he wanted the location to be in China. He wanted me to find yoga artistes who could travel to China. So, I had in mind Jalendra Kumar of Maruthi Yoga Kendra in Mysore whom I had known for a long time.
As there were students of his in China, I thought it would be a wise move to get in touch with his wards so that they could help us in the project. He sent me photographs of yoga artistes in action and asked me to get the artists to do the same poses.
After I sent the photographs, Tomasz informed me that we could do the project in Benares and if the locations there did not suit his requirements, then we could hop over to Nepal.
I contacted Jalendra Kumar and apprised him of the situation. I asked him to select the best of his boys and arrange for a photo session. Myself and photographer Gopinath shot the yoga artists in action at JSS high school in Metagalli.
We shot pictures of Jalendra Kumar, Jagadish, K. Adarsh, K.V. Anantha Kumara, B.S. Nikhil, S. Rakesh, Komal Raj, Mahendra, Shivakumar Nayak, K. Raghu, S. Suhas and Suresh and sent them to Tomasz to check if this is what he was looking for.
He mailed back saying that he needed a minimum of 12 people and that they should travel immediately to Benares on November 4, 2007. He would join us the next day. Accordingly, I informed the boys’ parents who were a little apprehensive initially to send their young wards so far.
I explained to them that I would ensure their safety and also take care of all the expenditure of travel, boarding and lodging.
We left in two batches of six and eight members respectively on November 4 and 5. We went by train to Bangalore and took an Indian Airlines flight to Delhi. From thereon we caught the connecting flight to Benares. (I also took my mother along on this trip!)I had a Mysore connection in Benares, Suryanarayana Sastry who hailed from Talakad. He and his family had settled down in the holy city over 40 years back and I had contacted him prior to my departure and asked for his help during our visit.
He had booked hotel rooms for 14 of us at Hotel Siddarth and once we arrived we were received by Sathyanarayana Sastry, Suryanarayana’s brother. The rooms were comfortable and everyone had a day’s complete rest. Tomasz soon arrived, and he called me to meet and discuss the shooting schedule.
We spent a whole day choosing the locations. Tomasz and I, along with Sathyanarayana, went round finalising the venues. We zeroed in on: 1) Ram Singh akhada, Dhaniabad, 2) Sri Akhara Murchali Birbaba (Ganshu pahelwan), 3) Guru Gaya Set akhada, 4) The old house roof at Swasananda Ashram, Bengali Bhavan, and 5) The ghats near the Ganges.
We had to take the permission from the police to shoot pictures at each of the ghats and we had to cough out Rs.10,000 each for the licence for the eight ghats. I had to arrange for the lighting and back-up spot boys. A generator van was also arranged.
Initially, the boys had a full day’s rest and were asked to practice on the asanas which Tomasz had preferred. He wanted the hand stand, the head stand, the Mayurasana, and the split to be perfect, and he wanted them to be seen in action the next day before commencing the shooting on November 6.
He saw the artists in action on the evening of November 6, and was only satisfied with the performance of Mahendra, Jalendra Kumar and Anantha Kumara. He asked the others to work hard for getting the needed perfection.
November 7: We did shooting at the Ram Singh akhada with Mahendra in different asanas. Suresh also performed certain weight training warm-up exercises which were shot. The day ended with only one venue covered and the next day’s programme was fixed at 7 am at Guru Gatya set akhada.
November 8: At 5.30 in the morning, I woke up everyone and took them in a taxi to the venue and asked them to get warmed up before the shoot. The artists had to wear dhotis and perform warm-up exercises in tandem, which would be shot.
The lights and generator van arrived an hour late, and Tomasz was irked at the impunctuality which resulted in his not being able to use the early morning sunlight for shooting. Mayurasana and Shirasana were performed by ten yoga artistes and around 100 black and white photographs were taken in different sequences.
Around 9 am we packed up and went to the next venue, the Sri Akkada Murchali Bhirbabad in Katvapura. Here a portrait picture of the yoga artistes with the Gurukal was taken in banians and dhotis.
Then, the prize winning picture (above) was shot. For this I purchased four pipes, inserted them into the wall each at an interval of four feet, and plastered them. 14-year-old S. Suhas performed the Mayurasana, while K.V. Anantha Kumara performed the split on the bars. B.S. Nikhil stood by the side of the wall.
The same shot was photographed at least 50 times by Tomasz in different angles and one of them proved to be the prize winner!
Next, we went back to the ghats and shot on the banks of the Ganges and also at the passage in the Birla ashram.
November 9: We shot on the roof top of the house belonging to Suryanarayana Sastry. Around 500 photographs of the boys performing asanas in different postures were taken. The boys were then asked to come to Swasananda Ashram where the hand stand and other exercises were picturised.
We shot at the roof top and also came down to the Ganges for shooting besides the background of the temples at the ghats. Photographs of Mahendra in different poses were taken.
November 10: The day was full of shooting at the Ram Singh akhada and shots were taken of Mahendra and Suresh. In the evening, everyone departed from their hotel to catch their flight at 4.30 pm to Delhi.
Thus ended the week-long shooting spree in Benares which was combined with work and pleasure. It’s a wonderful feeling that the hard work put in by the younger lot has yielded such results. Like a true leader, Tomasz didn’t just up and leave; he was kind enough to help the yoga artistes financially.
Also read: Yoga may be good. Not always, not everywhere
CHURUMURI POLL: Is yoga only for Hindus?
Pardon us, is yoga becoming a bit of a scam?
Marichasana on Madison Avenue; Trikonasana on 34th Street
K. PATTABHI JOIS: The second most famous Indian in the world?
Fifty-six Thirty-five years ago, an Associated Press photographer called Huyng Cong Ut, then 21, shot a picture of Phan Thi Kim Phuc (above), a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl running naked towards the camera shouting “Nong qua, nong qua (Too hot!, Too hot)!” during the Vietnam War.
The picture, originally rejected by AP editors because it showed frontal nudity, was eventually circulated, won Ut the Pultizer Prize, and played a role in hastening America’s withdrawal from the war.
In June this year Ut, now known as Nick Ut, photographed another girl in distress (above). The location this time was Los Angeles. Paris Hilton, the billionaire hotel heiress, had just been told that she would have to spend 23 days in jail for a traffic violation.
Ut says he was “very lucky” to get the picture, with 300-400 paparazzi roaming the streets of Beverly Hills, generating over 120,000 pictures a week for syndicating agencies.
A legendary photographer snapping celebrities?
“To be honest, I don’t really mind what I shoot,” he says. “I’m just grateful to have the work.”
Read the full article: Double negative
Photographs: courtesy Associated Press/The Daily Telegraph, London
Each year, UNICEF, the United National Children’s Emergency Fund, recognises photographers who portray the hardships faced by children around the world. This year’s winner is Stephanie Sinclair.
During her stay in Afghanistan, the American photographer was struck by how many young girls are married to much older men. This is a 40-year-old bridegroom and his 11-year-old child bride during their wedding in Damarda, Afghanistan.
Photograph: courtesy UNICEF via The Daily Telegraph, London
Britney Spears leaves the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills, California, with a paparazzo close on her heels.
The greed of cash-rich sports organisations in bottomless. In September, the International Rugby Board sought to impose restrictions on media coverage of the World Cup, limiting photos and video on the internet, claiming intellectual property rights.
Now, cricket has followed suit. Cricket Australia, cricket’s governing body down under, has said it owns the IPR to all text, data and photographs taken inside “their venues” and wants news agencies to pay a licence fee to be able to distribute news photographs to their client newspapers and other news media.
The news agencies declined stating that they did not pay for news coverage.
Result: the first Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka went unreported by news agencies and many Sri Lankan newspapers. With India’s cricket board backing Cricket Australia, a messy battle looms.
“From what I understand, Cricket Australia is not charging private newspapers if they send their representatives and use photographs. They are only charging the agencies which are doing a business of selling pictures and data to client media organisations,” Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said.
The question at this rate is, can news agencies cover anything?
Illustration by M. Munaf, courtesy: The Sunday Times/ Colombo
Also read: Getting the message across
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