New!!! The Travel Photographer's New Website

Well, as it was raining almost all day in New York City, I managed to finish the first phase of my new personal website (www.telsawy.com).

It's flash-based, iPad and iPhone-friendly and I think it looks really cool with a very large image of a Kathakali dancer, whose put-on scowling face is a perfect fit for welcoming viewers! 

More seriously; I've started the website with 5 galleries...The Oracles of Kali (my latest photo essay), Canang (Bali), Kolkata, Tsechu (Bhutan), and The Kutch. The images chosen for these galleries are a mix of documentary photography and pure travel photography. 

The website's opening spread also has direct links to The Travel Photographer's blog, my Twitter feed, my Facebook page and my Vimeo multimedia page.

I will start the second phase of the website in a couple of weeks.

This new website is separate from The Travel Photographer which features my photo expeditions and workshops, photo essays, multimedia, and books. 

So bookmark both if you're interested, and keep an eye open for more galleries in the weeks to come!

My Work: The Art of Kathakali

One of the highlights of my Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop this past March was spending half a day at a Kathakali school near Thrissur, and documenting the preparations and performance of this ancient art. It was totally distinct from the usual superficial performances shown at the various tourist hotels, and the professionalism of the performers was breathtaking. Apart from the talent of the performers, I was especially struck by the singing which you hear on this "photo-film".

Kathakali is one of the oldest theatre forms in the world, and originated in Kerala. It's a group production, in which actors-dancers take various roles in performances based on themes from Hindu mythology, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The elaborate make up sessions often take longer than the performances themselves, and follow a certain ritual.

I chose to process the photographs in sepia (DxO Labs), which were made with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Leica M9, with the ambient audio recording on a Tascam DR40.

You can also watch it in HD on Vimeo.