POV: Have We Gone Over The Top?

Stanley Greene, in my view one of the best photojournalists in the business, just recently said “I honestly believe photography is 75 percent chance, and 25 percent skill. In accidents, we really discover the magic of photography” during the LOOK3 festival in Charlottesville.

I agree wholeheartedly. All of us will agree. We might differ as to the percentages (I'm more in the 85% in favor of serendipity camp), but the concept is right on the money. Whether in photography, photojournalism, medicine, chemistry, technology, biology, etc....accidents have led to fresh discoveries, new approaches and life changing products. No question about that.

But does this really qualify as "magic of photography"? If so, I have a lot of the same in a filing cabinet  somewhere...so I must be a magician...and I bet you are too.

There's no question the photographer involved is talented and has produced a lot of laudable work, but is this even remotely serious?!

I agree that serendipitous accidents can produce remarkable results in photography. For example, unintentional double or triple exposures often give us wonderful images...but not everything unintentional works...and ought not to be palmed off as such.

Are our aesthetic values so impaired by Instagram, Hipstamatic, etc filters that accidental so-called "half photos" are raved about? Are we expected to genuflect in agreement to the sacred cows of photography who applaud stuff like that? And imitate other influenceable photographers who inexplicably oooh and aaah about it?

I know I won't. Show me the full frames that follow these half photos, and I'll applaud if they're good.

I realize some won't agree with me. That's fine. They might be right. I may be right. I guess it's a matter of different personal perspectives...but let's keep our feet firmly planted on level ground for a change, and call a spade for what it is...a spade.

POV: Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died (and in my view, also those who were wounded and maimed) while serving in the United States Armed Forces...

It also ought to be a day when we shame the old men who sent and still send young men and women to senseless wars...wherever and whenever.

As Herbert Hoover said:

Older men declare war.

 But it is the youth that must fight and die.

POV: TIME Magazine Cover Of Netanyahu

The drivel featured by TIME-Lightbox in relation to its magazine cover of Netanyahu is nausea-inducing on many levels.

But let's stay on what the cover seeks to tell us. In my view, it tries to tells us that Netanyahu's stare is that of a politician,  tough, steely and unwavering...that line may perhaps get swallowed in New York City, but in Europe and the Middle East (yes, TIME magazine will feature the same covers on all its international editions), it'll be construed as a stare of arrogance, zealotry and defiance.

Then, it tells us that he's a "King"...presumably because he has "conquered" Israel by convincing the centrist Kadima Party to join a coalition...and then the cover uses Netanyahu's nickname as a baby (or whatever Bibi is). Is the purpose of infantilizing the name to familiarize him vis-a-vis the American public? Make him one of us...since we have the rather unfortunate habit of nicknaming everyone? 

For crying out loud, the fellow's name is Binyamin Netanyahu...use it.

Drivel.

POV: Bhutan...No More Shangri-La?

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Is Bhutan no longer the "Shangri-La"?

I've traveled to Bhutan no less than 5 times over the past 12 years, leading photo expeditions that were extremely popular and were well attended. These photo expeditions were especially enjoyable, provided its participants and myself a solid inventory of photographs of Bhutan's unique culture, traditions and religious festivals, and were trouble-free.

However, over my last three photo expeditions in 2006, 2008 and 2009 I noticed changes...some subtle and others not so subtle. Tourism had progressively become a huge business. The guides and fixers we had on these photo expeditions have become tour operators themselves, luxury hotels chains (such as the Aman Resorts with already 5 properties in the country...Thimpu, Paro, Gangtey, Punakha and Bumthang, with the Taj and Uma chains) are building properties, and there's now a domestic airport in central Bumthang for those who want to fly from Paro, instead of driving for a couple of days.

Shane Green, a photographer who's joining my forthcoming photo workshop in Vietnam, just returned from Bhutan along with his wife, and emailed me his impressions, and they confirm what I have sensed and noticed over the past few years.

Yes, Bhutan is still a wonderful country to visit, and the Bhutanese are some of the most gracious people one can hope to meet, however exploding consumerism, modernisation and urbanisation are taking their toll. Thimpu seems to be a huge building site, with many leaving their rural living to make a living in its capital.

In 2009, I recall having a cappuccino with a Thimpu resident in a Starbucks look-alike cafe and then playing snookers (and drinking too much beer) at a sort of watering hole with some of my group, amongst Bhutanese teenagers. And yet, a few days before, dinner in a Jakar hole-in-the-wall, consisted of Tibetan momos cooked the traditional way in a dingy smoky kitchen.

It wasn't too long ago that most, if not all, Bhutanese women had their hair in pageboy cuts, but with the advent of television bringing with it 46 channels exposing people to Indian (and others) programs, they started to grow it, following the Bollywood fashion.

Shane went as far as remote Ura, in the central Bhutan, where I don't recall seeing any tourists there as recently as 2009...and yet now, tourists outnumbered the local audience at its annual festival.

Is it over for Bhutan as a specialty destination? I hope not...but I don't see how its tourism authorities can retain the country's cachet against an encroaching modernism, especially with a population that seeks a more affluent standard of living brought about by tourists and other sources.

After all, look at what's happening in Siem Reap...and Angkor!

I predict it won't be long before the Ugyencholing elderly man in this post's photograph will be holding a Blackberry or a Nokia...if he doesn't have it already.

POV: The Best Marigold Hotel

Go see this movie!!!! No matter how old or young you are...you'll spend an enjoyable two hours in the company of world class actors...wit and realism.

The best line in the movie (and beyond) is uttered by Dev Patel:

 "Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not the end."

Priceless!