Michael Nye: About Hunger

Photo © Michael Nye-All Rights Reserved
I've briefly touched upon the issue of hunger in a POV a few days ago, and coincidentally found Michael Nye's compassionate work at the same time.

Michael Nye’s exhibition About Hunger & Resilience, consists of fifty portraits and accompanying audio stories of individuals who experienced hunger in the United States.

Michael Nye has been listening, photographing and recording hunger for the past 4.5 years. He lives in downtown San Antonio, and practiced law for 10 years before pursuing photography full time. He's the recipient of a Mid-America National Endowment for the Arts grant in photography, and a Kronkosky Foundation grant. He also participated in two Arts America tours in the Middle East and Asia, and has exhibited and lectured widely in museums and universities, including Morocco, India and Mexico.

"About Hunger & Resilience" opened at the Witte Museum,San Antonio, Texas in January of 2010 and is currently traveling around the United States.

Michael Nye: About Hunger

Photo © Michael Nye-All Rights Reserved
I've briefly touched upon the issue of hunger in a POV a few days ago, and coincidentally found Michael Nye's compassionate work at the same time.

Michael Nye’s exhibition About Hunger & Resilience, consists of fifty portraits and accompanying audio stories of individuals who experienced hunger in the United States.

Michael Nye has been listening, photographing and recording hunger for the past 4.5 years. He lives in downtown San Antonio, and practiced law for 10 years before pursuing photography full time. He's the recipient of a Mid-America National Endowment for the Arts grant in photography, and a Kronkosky Foundation grant. He also participated in two Arts America tours in the Middle East and Asia, and has exhibited and lectured widely in museums and universities, including Morocco, India and Mexico.

"About Hunger & Resilience" opened at the Witte Museum,San Antonio, Texas in January of 2010 and is currently traveling around the United States.

"Intro To Multimedia Storytelling" Class

Three participants in my Intro To Multimedia Storytelling class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW) produced stunning slideshow photo essays, and I thought it would be interesting to write about their contrasting photographic and personal styles.

I taught my class' participants to concentrate on the story, rather than on the application, and how to make quick work of slideshow production (SoundSlides), using their own images and audio generated in the field, and to produce a cogent photo story under the simulation of publishing deadlines.

Except for Dhiraj's slideshow which is already online (see below for link), the two remaining slideshows will appear on The Travel Photographer when Mohit and Yasin upload them on their own websites/blogs.


Photo © Dhiraj Singh-All Rights Reserved
My Name is Dechen by Dhiraj Singh

Dhiraj Singh is a photojournalist and editorial photographer in Mumbai, whose work has appeared in various international publications including Newsweek, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC among others.

For My Name is Dechen, a gripping tale of Tibetan woman afflicted with psychological problems, Dhiraj received the top student award for photography during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop's final evening. He worked incredibly hard and creatively to produce this multimedia black & white photo essay. He was already quite comfortable in producing slideshows using SoundSlides, so it was a matter of editing his images, and sync'ing Dechen's audio with the stills.

Dhiraj quickly grasped the flip book technique, and inserted well-paced scenes of Dechen singing and dancing. No one can produce such an intimate photo essay unless he or she possesses the interpersonal skills to gain the confidence of the subject. There's no question that Dhiraj's work with this photo essay underscores his inherent compassion (he confided to me that he teared up more than once while photographing Dechen), patience and kindness.

Here's is the complete multimedia My Name Is Dechen.


Photo © Yasin Dar-All Rights Reserved
Shyam, The Street Barber by Dar Yasin

Yasin is an award winning photojournalist, and stumbled into photography after studying computers in South Indian city of Bangalore. He contributes regularly to the Associated Press and Onasia, an international news agency based in Bangkok. His work appears in leading international publications including Washington Post, New York Times, Time Magazine, and others. He won international and national awards recognizing his work.

He participated in a FPW panel discussing the difficulties of photographing in South Asia, and explained that by living in Srinagar, he was confronted on a daily basis with unimaginable violence and bloodshed. It was therefore very interesting from my standpoint (and presumably, from his) to see him tackle a comparatively sedate and non challenging task as photographing and interviewing a street barber in Manali. Used to dodge bullets, canisters of tear gas, policemen's lathis and demonstrators' abuse, Yasin smilingly told me that this assignment "felt different".

As I wrote in an earlier post, Yasin photographed and recorded his chosen project in an hour or so, basing it on the One in 8 Million series of the New York Times.


Photo © Mohit Gupta-All Rights Reserved

Thankas by Mohit Gupta

Originally hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Mohit Gupta is an independent photographer based in New Delhi, who specializes in travel and documentary photography. He received his tertiary education in one of India’s most prestigious engineering schools – BITS, Pilani, and upon completing his studies in Computer Science in 2001, he joined Adobe Systems. It's a no brainer as who was the man to go to when anyone in our class needed technical assistance!

For Mohit, photography is a serious medium for expression. A self taught photographer, he is mainly interested in documenting culture, traditions, rituals and religion, and has traveled within South East Asia to do just that. He also works with NGOs and helps them documenting their work.

A perfectionist with a keen visual eye for colors and shadows, Mohit spent a number of days improving his presentation. Not easily satisfied, he was constantly refining his audio recordings until he got what he wanted, and then spent hours sync'ing it as precisely as humanly possible.

As I said in my opening remarks at the Foundry Workshop, I learned from the class participants much more than they did from me. I hope it's obvious why.

"Intro To Multimedia Storytelling" Class

Three participants in my Intro To Multimedia Storytelling class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (FPW) produced stunning slideshow photo essays, and I thought it would be interesting to write about their contrasting photographic and personal styles.

I taught my class' participants to concentrate on the story, rather than on the application, and how to make quick work of slideshow production (SoundSlides), using their own images and audio generated in the field, and to produce a cogent photo story under the simulation of publishing deadlines.

Except for Dhiraj's slideshow which is already online (see below for link), the two remaining slideshows will appear on The Travel Photographer when Mohit and Yasin upload them on their own websites/blogs.


Photo © Dhiraj Singh-All Rights Reserved
My Name is Dechen by Dhiraj Singh

Dhiraj Singh is a photojournalist and editorial photographer in Mumbai, whose work has appeared in various international publications including Newsweek, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC among others.

For My Name is Dechen, a gripping tale of Tibetan woman afflicted with psychological problems, Dhiraj received the top student award for photography during the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop's final evening. He worked incredibly hard and creatively to produce this multimedia black & white photo essay. He was already quite comfortable in producing slideshows using SoundSlides, so it was a matter of editing his images, and sync'ing Dechen's audio with the stills.

Dhiraj quickly grasped the flip book technique, and inserted well-paced scenes of Dechen singing and dancing. No one can produce such an intimate photo essay unless he or she possesses the interpersonal skills to gain the confidence of the subject. There's no question that Dhiraj's work with this photo essay underscores his inherent compassion (he confided to me that he teared up more than once while photographing Dechen), patience and kindness.

Here's is the complete multimedia My Name Is Dechen.


Photo © Yasin Dar-All Rights Reserved
Shyam, The Street Barber by Dar Yasin

Yasin is an award winning photojournalist, and stumbled into photography after studying computers in South Indian city of Bangalore. He contributes regularly to the Associated Press and Onasia, an international news agency based in Bangkok. His work appears in leading international publications including Washington Post, New York Times, Time Magazine, and others. He won international and national awards recognizing his work.

He participated in a FPW panel discussing the difficulties of photographing in South Asia, and explained that by living in Srinagar, he was confronted on a daily basis with unimaginable violence and bloodshed. It was therefore very interesting from my standpoint (and presumably, from his) to see him tackle a comparatively sedate and non challenging task as photographing and interviewing a street barber in Manali. Used to dodge bullets, canisters of tear gas, policemen's lathis and demonstrators' abuse, Yasin smilingly told me that this assignment "felt different".

As I wrote in an earlier post, Yasin photographed and recorded his chosen project in an hour or so, basing it on the One in 8 Million series of the New York Times.


Photo © Mohit Gupta-All Rights Reserved

Thankas by Mohit Gupta

Originally hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Mohit Gupta is an independent photographer based in New Delhi, who specializes in travel and documentary photography. He received his tertiary education in one of India’s most prestigious engineering schools – BITS, Pilani, and upon completing his studies in Computer Science in 2001, he joined Adobe Systems. It's a no brainer as who was the man to go to when anyone in our class needed technical assistance!

For Mohit, photography is a serious medium for expression. A self taught photographer, he is mainly interested in documenting culture, traditions, rituals and religion, and has traveled within South East Asia to do just that. He also works with NGOs and helps them documenting their work.

A perfectionist with a keen visual eye for colors and shadows, Mohit spent a number of days improving his presentation. Not easily satisfied, he was constantly refining his audio recordings until he got what he wanted, and then spent hours sync'ing it as precisely as humanly possible.

As I said in my opening remarks at the Foundry Workshop, I learned from the class participants much more than they did from me. I hope it's obvious why.

Jonas Bendiksen: The Places We Live

Jonas Bendiksen began his photography career as a 19-year-old intern in the London office of Magnum Photos. Eventually leaving office life to travel through Russia and pursue his own work as a photojournalist, he worked on numerous projects throughout the world, including his ongoing project about the world's slums.

The installation for "The Places We Live" project was developed and produced in cooperation with the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, where it was launched a year ago.

From 2005 to 2007 Jonas Bendiksen documented life in the slums of four different cities: Nairobi, Mumbai, Jakarta and Caracas. The Places We Live is the result.

Jonas Bendiksen: The Places We Live

Jonas Bendiksen began his photography career as a 19-year-old intern in the London office of Magnum Photos. Eventually leaving office life to travel through Russia and pursue his own work as a photojournalist, he worked on numerous projects throughout the world, including his ongoing project about the world's slums.

The installation for "The Places We Live" project was developed and produced in cooperation with the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, where it was launched a year ago.

From 2005 to 2007 Jonas Bendiksen documented life in the slums of four different cities: Nairobi, Mumbai, Jakarta and Caracas. The Places We Live is the result.

New York Times' New Blog: Lens

The New York Times just launched a large-format photo blog called LENS to showcase photojournalism projects. It joins the handful of newspaper blogs that feature photo projects that might not be able to find a home in print, following the model established by the very popular The Big Picture (Boston Globe) and WSJ's Photo Journal.

PDN reports that LENS has no dedicated staff and no budget for photography, and will showcase work shot for the Times’ print edition, personal projects by Times photographers, wire service photographs, and work provided for publication at no cost. I'm not thrilled to read the latter option, but it's a sign of the times (pun intended). The blog will also feature multimedia features...and I'm always happy about that. It will provide inspiration, but may occasionally also provide fodder for my rants, aka opinionated criticism such as overuse of panning, bland narrative, mis-matched audio soundtrack, itty-bitty photographs, etc.

I've quickly visited LENS, and it's interface is quite neat. It'll be bookmarked and referred to often on this blog. The Washington Post will probably follow soon, as its Camera Works needs a major facelift.

My thanks to Ralph Childs who alerted me that LENS was launched as I landed in London!!!

New York Times' New Blog: Lens

The New York Times just launched a large-format photo blog called LENS to showcase photojournalism projects. It joins the handful of newspaper blogs that feature photo projects that might not be able to find a home in print, following the model established by the very popular The Big Picture (Boston Globe) and WSJ's Photo Journal.

PDN reports that LENS has no dedicated staff and no budget for photography, and will showcase work shot for the Times’ print edition, personal projects by Times photographers, wire service photographs, and work provided for publication at no cost. I'm not thrilled to read the latter option, but it's a sign of the times (pun intended). The blog will also feature multimedia features...and I'm always happy about that. It will provide inspiration, but may occasionally also provide fodder for my rants, aka opinionated criticism such as overuse of panning, bland narrative, mis-matched audio soundtrack, itty-bitty photographs, etc.

I've quickly visited LENS, and it's interface is quite neat. It'll be bookmarked and referred to often on this blog. The Washington Post will probably follow soon, as its Camera Works needs a major facelift.

My thanks to Ralph Childs who alerted me that LENS was launched as I landed in London!!!

Alessandro Vincenzi: Mumbai Monsoon

Photograph © Alessandro Vincenzi-All Rights Reserved
Alessandro Vincenzi is an Italian photographer living in Madrid. A trained biologist, he joined Medecins Sans Frontieres and traveled the world with the humanitarian organizatio.

He has added new galleries to his website; one on transgenders and the other on the monsoon in Mumbai. The latter is classic street photography, and many of the gallery's photographs are full of humor, and 'decisive moments'.

Alessandro Vincenzi

Alessandro Vincenzi: Mumbai Monsoon

Photograph © Alessandro Vincenzi-All Rights Reserved
Alessandro Vincenzi is an Italian photographer living in Madrid. A trained biologist, he joined Medecins Sans Frontieres and traveled the world with the humanitarian organizatio.

He has added new galleries to his website; one on transgenders and the other on the monsoon in Mumbai. The latter is classic street photography, and many of the gallery's photographs are full of humor, and 'decisive moments'.

Alessandro Vincenzi

8 Photographers : Access To Life

Photograph © Paolo Pellegrin-All Rights Reserved
The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Here's a truly magnificent multimedia production for The Global Fund, and featuring work by Magnum Photos photographers such as Paolo Pellegrin, Alex Majoli, Larry Towell, Jim Goldberg, Gilles Peress, Jonas Bendiksen, Steve McCurry, and Eli Reed.

In Access to Life, these 8 Magnum photographers traveled to 9 countries, photographing people before and 4 months after they began antiretroviral treatment for AIDS.

This multimedia production must be one of the best I've seen, and ought to be studied by photographers wishing to learn about multimedia, and how to excel at producing them.

8 Photographers : Access To Life

Photograph © Paolo Pellegrin-All Rights Reserved
The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Here's a truly magnificent multimedia production for The Global Fund, and featuring work by Magnum Photos photographers such as Paolo Pellegrin, Alex Majoli, Larry Towell, Jim Goldberg, Gilles Peress, Jonas Bendiksen, Steve McCurry, and Eli Reed.

In Access to Life, these 8 Magnum photographers traveled to 9 countries, photographing people before and 4 months after they began antiretroviral treatment for AIDS.

This multimedia production must be one of the best I've seen, and ought to be studied by photographers wishing to learn about multimedia, and how to excel at producing them.

Foundry Photo Workshop-Manali

Well, after approximately 20 hours of driving from Delhi to Manali, we've reached our destination: the Foundry Photojournalism Workshp (Manali) which is to be held at the Green Cottages Hotel. The view above is from my room's balcony.

Manali is at an altitude of 6,398 ft in the Vyas River valley, and is an important hill station in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, providing an idyllic scenery and temperate climate even in the months of July and August. I can actually hear the roar of the Vyas river from my balcony from where I'm typing this post.

As for the question as to why it took us 20 hours for a journey that normally should take about 12-13? Ah, well...perhaps the second photograph will explain it better than I can. Our bus had an unfortunate accident (rather minor) with a truck coming down an incline. No one was hurt on our bus, so we were extremely lucky. However, it meant that the bus' dashboard was somewhat bent out of shape making it difficult to steer. So we boarded 5 4x4s ordered by the Foundry team, and we were on our way. Having lost a lot of time, we were hoping to make it up, but the gods of the Kullu valley were not letting enter that easily. Flat tires and over-enthusiastic policemen conspired to impede our progress, but the team of instructors and administrators, tired and bedraggled perhaps, finally made it.

Foundry Photo Workshop-Manali

Well, after approximately 20 hours of driving from Delhi to Manali, we've reached our destination: the Foundry Photojournalism Workshp (Manali) which is to be held at the Green Cottages Hotel. The view above is from my room's balcony.

Manali is at an altitude of 6,398 ft in the Vyas River valley, and is an important hill station in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, providing an idyllic scenery and temperate climate even in the months of July and August. I can actually hear the roar of the Vyas river from my balcony from where I'm typing this post.

As for the question as to why it took us 20 hours for a journey that normally should take about 12-13? Ah, well...perhaps the second photograph will explain it better than I can. Our bus had an unfortunate accident (rather minor) with a truck coming down an incline. No one was hurt on our bus, so we were extremely lucky. However, it meant that the bus' dashboard was somewhat bent out of shape making it difficult to steer. So we boarded 5 4x4s ordered by the Foundry team, and we were on our way. Having lost a lot of time, we were hoping to make it up, but the gods of the Kullu valley were not letting enter that easily. Flat tires and over-enthusiastic policemen conspired to impede our progress, but the team of instructors and administrators, tired and bedraggled perhaps, finally made it.

NYT's Week In Review Section

The snow storm may have something to do with it, but I read The New York Times' Sunday edition from cover to cover yesterday, and saw its Week In Review section carried the above photograph.

Hurray! I chose this photograph as my favorite in my post on the 55 photographs featured by Reuters on its Best of The Year Photojournalism, and is by Adrees Latif who made it during relief supplies being delivered to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab in Pakistan.

I described it as "one of these photographs that tells it all...the struggle for survival, the physicality of despair..."

Two questions pop to my mind....Do the photo editors of The New York Times read my blog??? And do I take that as a sign to hang my cameras and become a photo editor?

I think the answer to the first is 'maybe', and the answer to the second is a categorical 'no'.

NYT's Week In Review Section

The snow storm may have something to do with it, but I read The New York Times' Sunday edition from cover to cover yesterday, and saw its Week In Review section carried the above photograph.

Hurray! I chose this photograph as my favorite in my post on the 55 photographs featured by Reuters on its Best of The Year Photojournalism, and is by Adrees Latif who made it during relief supplies being delivered to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab in Pakistan.

I described it as "one of these photographs that tells it all...the struggle for survival, the physicality of despair..."

Two questions pop to my mind....Do the photo editors of The New York Times read my blog??? And do I take that as a sign to hang my cameras and become a photo editor?

I think the answer to the first is 'maybe', and the answer to the second is a categorical 'no'.

Ashura: Photos In "The Big Ones"

Photo © REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (Courtesy Reuters Photo Blog)

Photographs of the Day of Ashura are carried by a number of the newspaper large picture blogs, largely because of its graphic nature, and while I initially thought it might have been because it reinforces the stereotype of Islamic fervor being violent, I've reconsidered and I'm quite certain that this is not the case. I recall seeing lovely peaceful scenes of Muslims celebrating Ramadan on The Big Picture blog.

Photo © Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images (Courtesy WSJ Photo Journal)

Be it what it may, the photographs are graphic because the acts of self mortification and flagellation carried out by the Shias are just that...extremely graphic. Flagellation is not at all exclusive to Shia Islam, but is also practiced by certain elements of the Christian faith.

Photo © REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho (Courtesy Reuters Photo Blog)

The Day of Ashura falls on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram and for the Shias, commemorates a day of mourning for the death of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the battle of Karbala.  Shias consider Hussein the third Imam and the rightful successor to Muhammad, and the grief for his death is demonstrated by the self-flagellation in parades and other venues.

Photo © Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters (Courtesy WSJ Photo Blog)

For Sunni Muslims, Ashura is observed by fasting as the Prophet Muhammad did, to commemorate the day when Moses and his followers were saved from Pharaoh by God by creating a path in the Red Sea. Surprising, huh?

The top photograph is of a girl with a green headband with the words "Hussein" as she attends the Ashura religious festival in Khorramabad, southwest of Tehran.

The second photograph is of a Shia devotee in New Delhi beating his bloodied chest as part of the ten-day mourning period marking the death of Imam Hussein. 

The third photograph is of a Lebanese Shia whose shaven head bleeds after tapping his forehead with a razor during the Ashura ceremony in Nabatiyeh.

The fourth and last photograph is a Shia walking on hot coals during a Ashura ceremony at a mosque in Yangon, Myanmar.

I ought to plan attending Ashura to photograph its ceremonies...it would be fascinating. Yes, bloody and graphic...but I'd attend it given half the chance. I came close years ago to do so when working in Bahrain, but I was advised not to attend it with a camera. Different times, I suppose.

Ashura: Photos In "The Big Ones"

Photo © REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (Courtesy Reuters Photo Blog)

Photographs of the Day of Ashura are carried by a number of the newspaper large picture blogs, largely because of its graphic nature, and while I initially thought it might have been because it reinforces the stereotype of Islamic fervor being violent, I've reconsidered and I'm quite certain that this is not the case. I recall seeing lovely peaceful scenes of Muslims celebrating Ramadan on The Big Picture blog.

Photo © Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images (Courtesy WSJ Photo Journal)

Be it what it may, the photographs are graphic because the acts of self mortification and flagellation carried out by the Shias are just that...extremely graphic. Flagellation is not at all exclusive to Shia Islam, but is also practiced by certain elements of the Christian faith.

Photo © REUTERS/ Ali Hashisho (Courtesy Reuters Photo Blog)

The Day of Ashura falls on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram and for the Shias, commemorates a day of mourning for the death of Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the battle of Karbala.  Shias consider Hussein the third Imam and the rightful successor to Muhammad, and the grief for his death is demonstrated by the self-flagellation in parades and other venues.

Photo © Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters (Courtesy WSJ Photo Blog)

For Sunni Muslims, Ashura is observed by fasting as the Prophet Muhammad did, to commemorate the day when Moses and his followers were saved from Pharaoh by God by creating a path in the Red Sea. Surprising, huh?

The top photograph is of a girl with a green headband with the words "Hussein" as she attends the Ashura religious festival in Khorramabad, southwest of Tehran.

The second photograph is of a Shia devotee in New Delhi beating his bloodied chest as part of the ten-day mourning period marking the death of Imam Hussein. 

The third photograph is of a Lebanese Shia whose shaven head bleeds after tapping his forehead with a razor during the Ashura ceremony in Nabatiyeh.

The fourth and last photograph is a Shia walking on hot coals during a Ashura ceremony at a mosque in Yangon, Myanmar.

I ought to plan attending Ashura to photograph its ceremonies...it would be fascinating. Yes, bloody and graphic...but I'd attend it given half the chance. I came close years ago to do so when working in Bahrain, but I was advised not to attend it with a camera. Different times, I suppose.

Vincent Prévost: West Papua

Photo © Vincent Prévost-All Rights Reserved

 I occasionally receive emails from photographers such as the one from Vincent Prévost that make the work of maintaining The Travel Photographer blog feel really worthwhile.

Vincent tells me he's been a regular reader of The Travel Photographer blog for about 2 years, and that it has been a source of inspiration to him. He cites my two posts on Grenville Charles and Diego Verges, who documented tribes of West Papua,  as triggering his own photo expedition "Highlands Encounters" to this remote part of the world.

That's what this blog is all about...to inspire photographers to explore other unfamiliar areas, to try new techniques and to document endangered cultures.

He has been teaching French in South Korea since 2002 and is also a freelance editorial photographer who fuses fine art and journalism. While most of his work is in color, he also enjoys black & white photography, and travels with compact audio equipment to add a further dimension to his visual work.

West Papua is an Indonesian province that borders the independent nation of Papua New Guinea and forms the western half of the world's second largest island. The indigenous people of West Papua are of the same ethnic origin as those in the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. Ethnically and culturally, they are also related to other Melanesian peoples of the Pacific.

Vincent Prévost: West Papua

Photo © Vincent Prévost-All Rights Reserved

 I occasionally receive emails from photographers such as the one from Vincent Prévost that make the work of maintaining The Travel Photographer blog feel really worthwhile.

Vincent tells me he's been a regular reader of The Travel Photographer blog for about 2 years, and that it has been a source of inspiration to him. He cites my two posts on Grenville Charles and Diego Verges, who documented tribes of West Papua,  as triggering his own photo expedition "Highlands Encounters" to this remote part of the world.

That's what this blog is all about...to inspire photographers to explore other unfamiliar areas, to try new techniques and to document endangered cultures.

He has been teaching French in South Korea since 2002 and is also a freelance editorial photographer who fuses fine art and journalism. While most of his work is in color, he also enjoys black & white photography, and travels with compact audio equipment to add a further dimension to his visual work.

West Papua is an Indonesian province that borders the independent nation of Papua New Guinea and forms the western half of the world's second largest island. The indigenous people of West Papua are of the same ethnic origin as those in the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. Ethnically and culturally, they are also related to other Melanesian peoples of the Pacific.