Jehad Nga: Master of Chiaroscuro

Photograph © Jehad Nga/All Rights Reserved
One of my favorite photographers, Jehad Nga, has just launched his website...in my estimation a master of the chiaroscuro (the contrast between light and dark), Jehad Nga was born in Kansas, but moved when young to Libya and then to London, where he was raised. In his early 20s and living in Los Angeles, he discovered a book by photographer Natasha Merritt. The book convinced him that he could use his own digital compact during a backpacking trip to southeast Asia. By 2002 he was traveling through the Middle East, and by the following year, Jehad made his way to Baghdad photographing for the New York Times.

Over the recent years, Jehad covered Somalia, Kenya, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Darfur, Ethiopia and Iran, providing stories for major publications such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time, Fortune and Forbes magazines. He also won several honors, including American Photo magazine's Emerging Artists 2007 issue and for World Press Master Class 2008.

His website showcases his talent in the shadow and light play, and while all of his galleries have wonderful images that simply befuddles the mind as how he managed to capture them, my favorite is titled Shadowed By The Sun...a visual treat.

Jehad's work has appeared on many occasions on The Travel Photographer. Here are some of the links:

Somalia Through A Lens
Somalia On The Brink
Ethiopia's Stone Churches

Bhutan Photo Expedition: Just Because

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy/All Rights Reserved
I found this photograph amongst the thousands I made during the Tamshing Lakhang tsechu during my photo expedition Land of the Druk Yul. It appeals to me just because there's a human story unfolding here...unfortunately, I was whisked away to another spot before I could find out whether this was a monk greeting his wife and child, or whether he was the uncle, brother or just a friend. All I know is that this beautiful woman and her child had been waiting outside the lakhang for a while until he emerged, smiling broadly at them.

This is totally unrelated to this photograph, but I just read a hilarious post on David duChemin's blog...it has references to intestinal mutiny, a threatened body cavity search, a brief rant about how Kathmandu was maggoty with tourists, and an apt description of annoying European and American tourists.

I encountered a lot of those characters as well in Bhutan. The issue with Bhutan itineraries is that no matter how hard one tries, you'll invariably meet the same annoying tourists over and over again...either at one of the festivals or worse, at the same hotels. It's quite simple to identify the various nationalities...if they're really loud and look freshly showered in the mornings, they're usually Americans...if they hijack the only plate of butter from the buffet (and I have to walk up to their table and retrieve it), they're usually French...and as my friend Gavin Gough pointed out, they're British if one steps on their toes, and they're the ones who apologize.

The wisdom one acquires from traveling is just breathtaking, isn't it?