Saturday, June 28, 2008

Amanda Koster: Salaam Garage

Photograph © Amanda Koster-All Rights Reserved

Amanda Koster is the force behind Salaam Garage Adventures, which connects travelers and enthusiasts with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Travelers commit to creating and sharing unique, independent social media that raises awareness and causes positive change. The rest of the adventure is spent touring around the region, experiencing and exploring the culture and environment with an entirely new context.

I've written about Amanda and her work with Moroccan women in an earlier post on TTP, and she's an internationally recognized photographer whose mission to raise the general public's awareness by documenting some of the world’s more compelling issues.

Her biography speaks for itself, but I'd like to highlight that "she combines her anthropology background with photographic and media-making skills to create inspiring media content as a means for powerful communication, storytelling and learning."

I couldn't have described her work any better, but I would've certainly added that her work is immensely sensitive.

Eric de Vries: Thailand

Photograph © Eric de Vries-All Rights Reserved

Eric de Vries lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he's been travelling since 2000. He's working on a long-term project titled 'Still Life in Khmer Style' that covers landscapes, temple scenes and Buddha statues. He has already produced several series, most of them in black and white, and published 3 books so far.

The new series Breaking The Clouds (Over Ayuthaya) was recently photographed during a trip to Thailand, while the One-Three-Six-series is a documentary about Street 136 in the heart of Phnom Penh.

Both series will be ready for publication during the second half of this year, but a preview of the two series can bee seen on Eric de Vries' website