Showing posts with label Bhutan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bhutan. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Robert van Koesveld: Bhutan
Robert van Koesveld is a retired psychotherapist living in Perth, Australia. His biography tells us that he delights in meeting with people from all walks of life, and describes as travel's best moments as those in which he encounters these people.
Robert is also about to publish his book Bhutan Heartland, (Fremantle Press, October 2010) which he produced with his wife, Libby Lloyd.
You can also watch the Bhutan Circumambulation video in large QT format here. Some nice bokeh in the movie.
Circumambulation of temples is an important Hindu ritual, and is similarly performed in most religious traditions; from Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I like how circumambulation sounds when it's uttered...but it's a word I can never spell it correctly.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Jørgen Johanson: Kham & Amdo (Tibet)
Jørgen Johanson went on his first trip to Asia in 1982, and completed the Annapurna circuit in Nepal. He was hooked from that moment on travel, photography and on Asian cultures.
He's a software development engineer for companies Norwegian companies, and recently took a 2-3 years sabbatical just to travel. Most of his travel has been trips to Asia, but also made some trips to Africa, where he photographed in Ethiopia and Niger. He's also enamored of India and China...but it's the Tibetan culture and the Himalayas that really fascinate him.
Take a look at Jørgen's Kham & Amdo photo galleries (he's got two on his website), and explore the other galleries which include Myanmar (some good shots of the fishermen of Lake Inle) and Bhutan (stop by the lovely photograph of Wangdi Phodrang Dzong in the mist).
Jørgen also self-published a book "Kham And Amdo" which is available on Blurb, which you can preview in its entirety.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Dede Pickering: Bhutan
Dede Pickering has just returned from Bhutan with a collection of new photographs, which she posted on her Bhutan Gallery. She traveled in that Himalayan country from its west to its east and trekked in the rarely visited Sakten Valley.
I chose Dede's lovely photograph of the unfurling of a thongdrel for this post. The thongdrel is a large tapestry typically depicting a seated Guru Rinpoche surrounded by holy beings, the mere viewing of which is said to cleanse the viewer of sin. During tsechus, it's unrolled before dawn and rolled up by morning.
Having retired from the corporate world, Dede became a world traveler and photographer. She has traveled to Antarctica, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, China, Cambodia, Peru, Patagonia, Kosovo, Albania, Rwanda, New Zealand, Guatemala, South East Asia and has made multiple trips to Africa and India, but her passion is the Himalayan Region.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Nori Jemil: Bhutan
Nori Jemil is a writer, photographer and a teacher who joined The Travel Photographer's Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™, and she has produced a broad body of work during the trip's two weeks' duration.
The above photograph of a novice was made at the Wangdicholing Palace, which had served as the principal summer residence of the first and second kings of Bhutan, but currently houses novices and monks.
This vertical photograph was made at the ancient Ura Goempa. The normally quiet temple was bustling with monks when we arrived, as a prominent judge had just died in the Ura area, and funerary rites were being held in its small ceremonial hall. The photograph captures the wisps of smoke rising from incense sticks, next to the head monks who were officiating the ceremony.
The above photograph of a novice throwing his cape over his shoulders was also made at the Wangdicholing Palace and monastery.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Nori was commended for her entry in the Travel Photographer Of The Year's New Talent 2009 - A Traveller's Tale competition with a series of four narrative photographs on an island in Chilean Patagonia.
She was also the runner-up in the Landscape category of the 2008 Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition with her photograph of the Cerro Torre and Monte Fitz Roy mountains in Patagonia.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Graham Ware: Bhutan
Graham Ware joined The Travel Photographer's Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition, and has produced an audio slideshow in QuickTime format of some of his various images made during the trip, coupled with live audio recordings gleaned during the tsechu festivals, religious pujas, the Sangha debates of the monks and a Bhutanese folk song.
A medical technologist based in Chandler, Arizona, his interest in photography started in 2000, with most of his focus at that time on wildlife and landscapes. However, he admits to have discovered photojournalism in 2004, and it is then he joined the "dark side". Last January he joined Gary Knight and Philip Blenkinsop on a photojournalism workshop in India, and professes to have been totally hooked. Some of his photographs from this India workshop are on his website.
Graham's panoply consists of a Canon 5D mark II, a Canon 1D Mark III, a 24-70 L 2.8, a 35 L 1.4 prime, and a 70-200 IS L 2.8 lens as well as a Sony PCM-D50 recorder.
An extremely agreeable travel companion, with a keen sense of cultural curiosity, Graham is hoping to help schools and hospitals in Bhutan.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Dan Bannister: Bhutan
Dan Bannister is a commercial, industrial and editorial photographer based in Calgary, Canada, who joined my recent Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™, and I'm pleased to feature a selection of his fabulous work that he is showcasing in his Bhutan slideshow.
A consummate professional, Dan's work spans the world from travel stock and magazine features to oil and gas annual reports, advertising imagery and environmental portraiture. He regularly travels the world capturing interesting, high quality travel photography to add to his travel stock photos portfolio. He has a wide selection of royalty free and rights managed travel pictures in his travel stock photos portfolio from destinations in Canada, the US, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, China, the Caribbean and other destinations.
Dan's travel work has appeared in The New York Times, Canadian Geographic, Our Canada, Connecticut Magazine, Rough Guides travel guides and numerous airline in flight magazines. His commercial client list includes some of the biggest oil and gas and industrial companies in Canada.
One of the important benefits of photographic trips is the informational synergy that accrues to its participants from rubbing shoulders with each other during photo-shoots. We all learned quite a lot from Dan during the Bhutan trip, especially as to his lighting techniques and stylistic approaches...while debating our occasional divergent points of views on photography was always useful and interesting.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
My Work: The Dancers of Tamshing Goemba
Here's a gallery of new photographs made during my recent Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition™.
The gallery is a collection of photographs of various performers at the tsechu at Tamshing Goemba near Chamkar town, in the religious heartland of Bhutan.
The performers range from the jovial jokers who wave wooden penises around, and whose principal role is to distract spectators, to the more austere Black Hat dancers who are defenders of the "dharma" and who battle enemies of Buddhism.
Tamshing Goemba was established by Pema Lingpa in 1501, and is the most important Nyingma temple in the country. Its external murals (as seen in the photographs) are badly damaged by the elements, but those inside the Goemba are magnificent.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
My Work: A Bhutanese Nun
Here's one of my favorite portraits made last month during my Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition. I met this nun while she was circumambulating the Jambhey Lhakhang goemba in Jakar, spinning the many prayer wheels in its walls.
Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu ritual. It is also practiced in Buddhism, as in this case here. In Islam, circumambulation is performed around the Kaaba in Mecca in a counter-clockwise direction.
The Jambhey Lakhang is one of 108 Buddhist temples built in the 7th century by the Tibetan king, Songtsen Gampo, and it's revered as one of the oldest landmarks of the arrival of Buddhism in Bhutan, explaining the number of pilgrims who visit it all day.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Multimedia Work: Debates At The Sangha
I'm pleased to share a multimedia gallery of new photographs made during my recent Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul Photo Expedition.
The "Debates At The Sangha" slideshow is of photographs (and audio) of the weekly Buddhist debates at the sangha of the Kharchhu Monastery near Chamkar town, in the very heartland of Bhutan.
The Lhodrak Kharchhu Monastery is a recent addition to the Bhutanese pantheon of monasteries, and its venerated abbot is Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche. Over 300 monks and novices live at the monastery, and animated debates are held twice a week to hone the mental skills of the qualified monks.
Most of the debates are held in the open air, and are expressed in Sanskrit through loud vocalization of the various points of view and punctuated by hand slapping for emphasis.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Coming Soon: Bhutan Galleries!
I'll be soon posting two galleries of some of my work made during my Bhutan Photo~Expedition a few weeks ago.
One is a multimedia photo gallery of Monks' Debates at the Kharchhu Sangha in Bumthang (which has already been seen by subscribers to my newsletter), while the other will showcase some of the dancers at the Jambhey Lakhang tsechu in Chamkar.
So watch this blog!
My Work: Bhutan Monks, A Cat & TV
This photograph (click it for a larger version) was made at the Wangdichoeling Palace in Jakar, Bhutan. Built in 1857, it served as the principal summer residence of the first and second kings of Bhutan; Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck (1862-1926) and Jigme Wangchuk 1905-1952). Virtually dilapidated, it is now occupied by monks and novices who use some of its rooms.
It's within a stone's throw from the Bumthang Amankora Resort, whose daily rate for a single suite is $1300!
This photograph (click it for a larger version) captured two novices clandestinely watching a Bollywood movie at the Chimi Lakhang. The temple is dedicated to Lama Drukpa Kuenley, who is colloquially referred to as the Divine Madman, and is popularly considered to be a temple of fertility.
Footnote: I'm immensely gratified to have been mentioned in Lou Jones' excellent Marketing Travel Photography: Portfolio and Identity on Photo.net.
Under the paragraph titled Editorial Portfolio, Lou writes:
"Take a look at Magnum’s David Allen Harvey online magazine. He has some of the best talent working in the genre represented on his web site. Tewfic El-Sawy’s thetravelphotographer.blogspot.com has a unique vision with his site."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
My Work: Debate At The Sangha
Just a short post today to share the above image (still undecided as to the placement of the title) from a project I'm currently working on.
Debate At The Sangha will be a gallery of photographs made during two of the weekly debates at the Kharchhu monastery in Chamkar (Bhutan). I've also recorded the animated debates as they were occurring, along with the traditional hand-clapping and the sound of the prayer beads, so it'll probably end as a multimedia essay.
Friday, October 16, 2009
"Toothpick" Photo Expeditions
One (or possibly two) of the sharp wits on the Bhutan Photo-Expedition decided to rename (or name) it as in the above photograph. In Bhutan, each tour group has to have a paper nameplate on dining tables, and these are carefully and dutifully written by the tour guide.
Unhappy with the formality and simplicity of the rather boring "Tewfic's Group", one of my group's participants thought that Tewfic rhymed awfully well with toothpick, and added it to the nameplate...along with a real wooden one.
Haven't I said that this group included some comedians?
Notwithstanding the musicality of Toothpick's Photo Tours, I think I'll keep using The Travel Photographer's Photo Expeditions after all.
Note: As I will be away this weekend, I'm adding another group photo to this post.
From left: Tewfic "Toothpick" El-Sawy, Jenny Jozwiak, Kim McClellan, Nuray Jemil, Graham Ware, Kayla Keenan, Carlos Amores and Dan Bannister.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
My Work: Tsechu Drummer In Bhutan
Here's what is largely a grab shot of a Bhutanese tsechu drummer on his way to join the rest of the musical group that accompanies the traditional dancers in Tamshingphala Lakhang in Bumthang.
I've been to Bhutan 4 times so far to photograph during the tsechus season, and I can only recall one overcast day. The bright sunshine and the resultant shadows make it very difficult to photograph these festivals; this difficulty is compounded by the need to isolate the dancers from the background crowds which requires photographers to become either contortionists, or use long glass at a very shallow aperture.
Having noticed this fellow because of his green satin tunic and demeanor, I grabbed a shot (this is the only one) of him as he walked across the courtyard of the monastery where the dancers would shortly whirl and twirl, carrying his ancient leather drum.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Bhutan: Pow (Shamanism)
My recent field reports on the Bhutan photo-expedition generated much interest as to our shaman (known as "pow" in Bhutan) photo shoot, and since it will take me quite a while to edit my photographs, here's one of the images while he pow performed his exorcism.
In Bhutan, traditional households will frequently call on the healing powers of a pow when a member of the family falls sick or is suspected of being inhabited by evil spirits. I was told that in this case a young boy had been taken to the local hospital because of his lack of appetite, but the doctors couldn't find anything wrong. His parents then decided to call on the traditional healer to rid him of what they perceived were evil spirits.
The event was held in the front room of the modest house, and most of the family's neighbors and friends attended the preparatory ritual, and the exorcism itself. The ritual involved trances, various implements (such as a drum and small leafy branch), along with incantations.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Bhutan Photo Expedition: The Verdict
On completion of every photo expedition I undertake, I publish a verdict on what worked and what didn't. I'm probably the only travel photographer and photo expedition leader who does that so publicly, but it's a transparency ritual in which I believe very strongly. It's designed to assist those who intend to visit (in this case) Bhutan, and provides an insight at how and what my photo expeditions are all about.
Bhutan: The Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition was designed to provide its 8 participants with photo opportunities during the early fall festivals, or tsechus, which required us to travel from Paro to the west to the Bumthang region, its central heartland over a time frame of about 15 days.
Festivals: We attended and photographed a number of these festivals. Here I have to stress that I designed the itinerary of the photo expedition to include local and regional festivals only, bypassing the largest tsechu in Thimpu, which is held in a stadium-like area. The smaller tsechus offered us an enormous amount of photo opportunities, as I made sure we were in the very heart of the activities as well as behind the scenes.
The Wangdue tsechu was spectacular as always, and we were perfectly placed to photograph the dancers and performers coming out of their dressing areas. We also photographed them in these areas. I also consider the smaller Tamshingphala festival in Bumthang to be the most accessible in terms of photographing behind the scenes, and it has virtually no restrictions on what and where we could photograph.
While the Gangtey Goempa (temple) was on our itinerary, it was pure serendipity that our visit coincided with its annual consecration. This involved hundreds pilgrims streaming into the courtyard, seeking to be blessed by the presiding young lama. One of the rituals performed by the lama was breathing into small jars proffered by some of the pilgrims, who then sealed these jars to preserve the breaths.
Due to a mix-up in the Buddhist calendar (even Druk Air magazine got it wrong!), the Thangbi Mani tsechu actually took place a day later than we expected. This error confused many travel agents who had set their itineraries accordingly. We nevertheless managed to attend about an hour, after I delayed our departure from Jakar for a while. Here again, just like last year, we photographed the dancers' preparations and had total access to whatever we wanted to photograph. However, we missed the main dances of the Thangbi Mani tsechu due this Buddhist calendar anomaly, and because our itinerary called for us to depart the area on that very day.
Monasteries: Many monasteries were included on the itinerary I set for this photo expedition. Some of them involved uphill treks such as the obligatory Taktshang Goenpa in Paro (strenuous), the Thimpu Tango Goenpa founded by Lama Gyalwa Lhanangpa (strenuous), the Chimi Lakhang (easy) and the Ugyencholing palace (strenuous). Apart for brilliant landscapes, the latter trek is not worth it.
Other: We attended and photographed various other events; some of which were serendipitous and others planned.
1. Buddhist monks debates. We spent many hours photographing (photo-journalist style) two Buddhist monks' debates at the Kharchhu monastery in Chamkar. Apart from us, there was no other visitors and we had unfettered access to photograph the debates that are held in Sanskrit, and are accompanied by hand-clapping to punctuate the points made. None of us had seen such debates before, and we were thrilled to crouch and stoop to capture the action as it unfolded. Around 300 monks meet in the Kharchhu monastery's main courtyard and heatedly debate philosophical issues of the Buddhist tradition.
2. The Sacred Thread ceremony. By pure chance, we attended a funerary ritual at the Ura monastery. It appears that a prominent judge in the Ura valley region had died, and funerary rites were being held at the ancient monastery and goempa, as we arrived. Having secured the permission from the head monk of the temple, we trooped in the main chamber along with around 30 monks, who started chanting. The ritual was the first of its kind that I've witnessed in Bhutan. It involved monks stretching a sacred string from the altar where the holy statutes are kept to the seat of the head monk. This string is designed to facilitate the transmission of the deceased soul to the heavens.
We were told that we were the first photographers to document this ritual, but I take this with a grain of salt.
3. The pow (or traditional exorcist). In the general area of Thimpu, we had arranged to photograph during a traditional exorcism held in a farmhouse. The pow was called in to exorcise evil spirits out of a child and a middle-aged woman, and we were within a few yards from where that happened. Trances, shaking and incense-burning were all part of the traditional exorcism. Here again, we were told by the on-lookers than they had never seen non-Bhutanese attending such ceremonies.
Photography Gear: I used all of my lenses except for the 17-40mm on this photo-expedition. I used my 24mm 1.4L quite a bit, especially during the exorcism and other interior shoots, whether in monasteries or dancers' changing rooms. I used my flash sparingly, and only during the Wangdue tsechu as fill flash on the pirouetting dancers.
One of my favorite photo shoots was at the Jambhey Lakhang where I was able to spend a few unhurried hours photographing the pilgrims circumbulating the temple.
Hotels: It was gratifying and a testament to the efficiency of our land agent Adventure Travel Bhutan that we were never bumped from our hotel rooms. We were never asked to share our rooms, nor were we split over two or more hotels. Our guide Ugen, and Norbu our driver, always had their rooms as well.
Group Synergy: Similar to the cast of a successful sitcom, the 8 photographers' disparate personalities meshed well and created a truly enjoyable and, on many occasions, a hilarious environment especially during the long bus rides, and at meal times. Invariably, there were some moments of friction during photo shoots when one photographer intruded on another's line of vision...but these were quickly diffused or resolved. There's no question that this was one of the best groups I've led over the past 10 years.
Favorite Non-Photographic Event: I bet if I conducted a poll amongst the 8 photographers, our favorite moment was when the staff at the Kingaling Hotel invited us to a disco evening at its premises. Kingley Yangden (the manager) and her all-female staff of Tsering, Lekden and Kumari taught some of us traditional Bhutanese dancing to the tunes of local hip-hop.
Conclusion: Except for missing out on the full Thangbi Mani festival due to this Buddhist calendar mix-up, and for Druk Air's cancellation of our outward flight for 24 hours due to thunderstorms (but putting us up at no expense), the photo-expedition exceeded our expectations. Our travel agents Samdrup of Jachung Travel in San Francisco, and Pema (along with Sonam) of Adventure Travel Bhutan in Thimpu, closely monitored our progress and made available everything we asked for at a moment's notice. Naturally, special thanks are due to Ugen, our fixer-guide, and to Norbu, a knowledgeable and careful driver, who were our baby-sitters for more than 15 days.
Bottom Line: I returned with about 180gb of raw (unedited) images.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Bhutan Field Report: Group Photograph
Well, all good things have to have an end and the Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo-expedition came to its end a couple of days ago. Our stay was extended for 24 hours due to heavy rain in Paro which meant that our scheduled Druk Air flight was unable to take off to Bangkok, but we made it out the following day October 8th. I had the foresight to advise the group members to give themselves an additional day in Bangkok as a buffer against such an eventuality.
In my view, the highlight of the trip was a photo shoot during which we documented a traditional exorcist at work in a farmhouse. He was called in to exorcise evil spirits out of a child and a middle-aged woman. In due course, I will post a photo gallery of these photographs. A totally photo journalistic event which led itself extremely well to some of our collective interests and photo styles.
The group photograph above was taken by Ugen Dorji, our guide, fixer and the go-to-man all through our 15 days expedition in Bhutan. Don't be fooled by the serious expression adopted by these photographers...it's only for the camera.
From the left: Graham Ware, Jenny Jozwiak, Kayla Keenan, our wonderful driver Norbu, Kim McClellan, Carlos Amores, Dan Bannister, Nuray Jemil and group leader Tewfic El-Sawy. The photograph was made against the rock painting of Guru Rimpoche on the way to the Tango monastery in Thimpu.
I shall post a complete verdict of the Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition in due course, however I will not disclose the location and details of the exorcism's photo shoot for obvious reasons. Our land travel agent and I worked hard to make this photo shoot happen as it did, and I have no intention of sharing this information with others, especially as we were told that this event was rarely witnessed by non-Bhutanese.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Bhutan Field Report: Ura Goempa
Besides the tsechus festivals in Wangdue and Tamshing, we were privileged in attending a funerary ritual at the Ura monastery. It appears that a prominent judge in the Ura valley region had died, and funerary rites were being held at the ancient monastery and goempa, as we arrived. Having secured the permission from the head monk of the temple, we trooped in the main chamber along with around 30 monks, who started chanting.
We were told that this was the first time that foreign photographers were allowed to photograph inside the goempa (temple) as it hold extremely sacred wall murals. We had given our assurances that we would not photograph them. The ritual was the first of its kind that I've ever witnessed in Bhutan. It involved monks stretching a sacred string from the altar where the holy statutes are kept to the seat of the head monk. This string is designed to facilitate the transmission of the deceased soul to the heavens.
Another interesting event was the monks' debate at the Kharchhu monastery, which overlooks the town of Jakar. Around 300 monks meet in its main courtyard and debate philosophical issues of the Buddhist tradition. The debate is held in Sanskrit language and is intensely heated. This is another event I've never witnessed before. Depending on the quality and diversity of the images I've captured, I'll probably produce a multimedia essay on this particular debate in due course, as I've also recorded some of the audio.
While waiting for a lunch of pizza and spaghetti bolognaise at the Swiss Guest House Restaurant, I was interviewed by the Bhutan National Television.
We are two-thirds through our photo-expedition, and many of us have exceeded 100 gigabyte in images already!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Bhutan: Field Report
I am sitting in the main town of Bumthang which has the rather evocative name of Jakar. The internet cafe here has four terminals, wifi and espresso. What else can one ask from life! I shall try to post a few photographs in the coming few days. The two festivals in Wangdue and Tamshing exceeded our expectations, and our collective image storage has run in the hundreds of gigabytes.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
On The Road: Bhutan (Bangkok Report #2)
The 8 participants of my Bhutan: Land of the Druk Yul photo expedition are currently in Bangkok, and are collectively relieved to hear that yesterday's earthquake hasn't disrupted our plans, and having spoken to our agent in Thimpu, all indications are that its damage was restricted to the Mongar area in south-eastern Bhutan.
It'll be a short sleep for most of us here in Bangkok as we will be making our way to the airport for a check-in at 4:30 am. We should be in Pao airport at 9:00 am, and it'll be kuzuzangbo-la!!!
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