travling photography

Photo � Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved It's a real shame that the traditional Shinto wedding ceremonies in Japan have dropped in popularity in the recent years, and that these only represent 20% of all weddings in the country, dropping from 70%. The drop may have to do with Japan's modernization, but it may also have to do with the high costs to set up Shinto weddings. These photographs of a Shinto wedding ceremony were made at the famous Meiji  Shrine, located in Shibuya, Tokyo; the Shinto shrine that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken. There were a number of photographers surrounding the couple, including the wedding photographer who seemed resigned that 'poachers' were on his turf. I don't remember what I did to earn the couple's unbridled laughter, but it might have been my atrocious Japanese pronunciation in wishing them well...or my elbowing my way through the cluster of people with mobile phones trying

Photo � Xiaoxiao Xu | All Rights Reserved I am always on the lookout for ethnic cultural traditions that are off the radar for most of us, and with my forthcoming photo talk in Shanghai and working on a forthcoming photo book on Chinese Opera of the Diaspora, I am naturally focused on China and its wealth of obscure (and rural) rituals, performances and festivals. One of these performances is Shehuo, which originated in ancient religious rituals performed by ancestors of the Chinese to worship the earth. In common with every other ancient people, they believed that the worship would bring plentiful harvests and fortunes in return.  The etymology of the word comes from She,  the god of land and Huo the god of fire. In time, these primitive worshipping rituals evolved into the Shehuo festivity; a tribute to the Tudi Gong, a deity who holds sway over fortune and wealth. Most Shehuo performances take place around traditional Chinese festivals, especially at temple fairs of the Spring Fe

Photo � Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved Amir Khusrow Dehlavi (1253 � 1325 )  was a Sufi musician, poet and scholar from the Indian subcontinent, who was quoted as saying of Kashmir: �If there is a heaven on earth, it's here, it's here. (� Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto, hamin asto. �) It is also said that it was Emperor Jehangir who said these words...whoever said it (and my money is on Khusrow), Kashmir is indeed beautiful. I'll set aside political views on the current (and recent) political events in Kashmir, and dwell on its beauty and spirituality....and its photographic magnetism. Historians are united that Hazrat Bulbul Shah was the first saint who sowed the seeds of Islam in Kashmir in 1301, and he might have come from Samarkand or from Bukhara. It was he who convinced Rinchan, the then ruler of Kashmir to convert to Islam, and Sadruddin Shah (as he became known) was the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir. He ruled Kashmir from 1320 to 1323 and

 A shuchang in Qi Bao. Photo � Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved Six months ago the words Qi Bao (totally distinct from qi pao , which is also known as cheongsam ) and Shuchang would've been totally unfamiliar to me; yet during and after too short a trip to Shanghai this past September, they've become part of my vocabulary as I am planning my return to this exciting megalopolis at the end of next month. Shuchang is a traditional teahouse where storytelling called " shuohua" is performed.   Storytelling was one of the major forms of entertainment in the medieval cities of the Song period (906-1279), and contained both spoken and sung performances, and many of the themes told are still part of today's storytellers' repertoire.  It's in the old water-town of Qi Bao  (???) that I walked in such a teahouse, and experienced a  shuoshu storyteller performing his art of  talking, joking, singing and acting; all accompanied by his three-stringed lute (pipa or

Photo � Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved The Beyond The Frame posts on The Travel Photographer blog are currently its most popular feature, and I'm glad to have recently restarted it after a long (and inexplicable) hiatus. However, I intend its posts to not only be photographically  informative, but  also to include snippets of culture that may not be widely known, and which I frequently either intentionally seek or stumble upon on my photo journeys. While  wandering at the back of the stage  of a Hokkien (Chinese) opera troupe in Klang (near Kuala Lumpur) taking photographs of the performers applying their intricate makeup and putting on their costumes, I noticed a young woman in an unusually constructed dress, nervously pacing to and fro, rehearsing her lines which she read off a scrap of paper. She wasn't part of the troupe, so I engaged her in a conversation to find out how she fitted in the upcoming show. She informed me that she was the 'warm-up' show for the

I've been hard at work for a number of days, pulling images from my voluminous archives; choosing some; rejecting others; changing my mind and reversing my choices...in what is a circular -and one could say almost agonizing- activity which will only subside when I'm completely comfortable with my choices. The objective is to present no less than 100 of my photographs to an audience of passionate photographers in Shanghai, who are to attend my photo talk at one of the premier photographic venues in this jaw-dropping megalopolis. Through these photographs, the photo talk will take the audience on a journey that starts in 2000-2001 and continues to the present day, interspersed with my thoughts on travel (and other styles) photography, as well as storytelling; thoughts that some may found controversial, provocative and debatable...such as this one: My photo talk in Shanghai is to be hosted by the Imaging Group 's IG Photography Art Gallery, a large building that includes IG St

Photo � Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved I was rummaging through my archives to pull photographs suitable for my forthcoming photo talk in Shanghai, and picked this one of a Vietnamese mourner at a roadside funeral. I thought it was be appropriate to feature in this Beyond The Frame post since it will soon be T?t (or T?t Nguy�n ��n as the Vietnamese Lunar New Year is called) during which families visit their ancestors� tombs and clean grave sites.  Unsurprisingly, the Chinese also have an identical tradition known as Qingming or Ching Ming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day) which is regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in China. In fact, the timing of my photo talk in Shanghai was brought forward to avoid the festival as many people would be traveling to cemeteries at that time.  This photograph was made at a roadside funeral while I (and other photographers on my  Vietnam: North of the 16th Parallel Photo Expedition/Workshop )  was returning from Halong Bay on our way to Han

Photo � Nick McGrath | All Rights Reserved As followers of this blog may know, I've been deeply interested in Chinese Opera for a while, and I'm in the midst of a long term work-in-progress project to publish a photo book on the Chinese Opera in the Diaspora. So it was with great pleasure and interest that I discovered the work of photographer Nick McGrath in his lovely gallery Chinese Opera Bangkok , and from which I chose the above image of a performer's compelling portrait to accompany this post. Bangkok�s Chinese opera has long been a vibrant staple of Bangkok's Chinatown life. The Teochew Chinese, who immigrated to Thailand a couple of centuries ago, brought it with them as part of their cultural traditions, and to this day, during the Chinese festivals, there are regular performances at venues along Yaowarat Road. In common with others regions that have received the influx of a Chinese diaspora, the art form is in decline. Partly caused by a younger generation who

Photo � Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved This Beyond The Frame post features one of the many images I made at the Robot Restaurant, located in Tokyo's Shinjuku nightlife district, and described by many as one of the wildest shows on Earth....which is quite true. Anthony Bourdain got the shock of his life here, and it has since become a magnet for foreign visitors (and locals) seeking to experience the same "buzz' he had. The Robot Restaurant is located not far from the Shinjuku Station, and is in the area best described as the underbelly of Tokyo's nightlife...which includes all sorts of seedy venues and other activities best left to the imagination. The 90-minute cabaret style shows include bikini clad futuristic dancers, performers dressed as robots and a host of oversized vehicular robots -- all in a laser-lit room. The dancers et al are highly trained and rehearse around the clock to perfect the complicated routines involving dancing to drumming, pole dancing a

Photo � Cira Crowell - All Rights Reserved Koyasan is one of the most important Buddhist temple complexes in Japan. This monastic complex of 117 temples is dedicated to the study and practice of esoteric Buddhism. It's the center of Shingon Buddhism, an important Chinese-influenced Buddhist sect which was introduced to Japan in 805 by Kobo Daishi, one of Japan's most significant religious figures. It is one of the best places to experience an overnight stay at a temple lodging pilgrims and visitors can experience a monk's lifestyle, eating vegetarian monk's cuisine and attending the morning prayers. Around fifty temples offer this service to both pilgrims and visitors. The history of Kobo Daishi is interesting. In 816, after years of study in China, it is said he climbed the holy mountain of Mount Koya and created the first temple of the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism among its eight peaks, said to resemble a lotus. He was regarded as a saint by the time he fell ill