My Show-Off: Black Hat Dancer

Photograph © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
The Black Hat dance (Shana) is an important dance during the annual tsechus in Bhutan. These dances are also used in purification ceremonies during the construction of dzongs, temples, and chortens.

The Black Hat dancers (such as the one above, photographed at the tsechu held in Wangdue on October 2008), assume the role of yogis with the inherent power to subdue and create life. The dancers wear brocade robes, wide brimmed black hats and aprons with the face of a protective deity.

We spent at least a solid 3 hours photographing non-stop at this particular festival during my Land of Druk Yul photo-expedition.

For those interested in technical stuff: 180mm, f4.0, 1/500th, iso100. Click to enlarge.

Lance Rosenfield: Thirst For Grit

Photograph © Lance Rosenfield-All Rights Reserved
I occasionally post travel and documentary photography projects "made in America", and I recently thought it was time for one...so I'm glad that Lance Rosenfield's marvelous B&W photo essay "Thirst For Grit" came to my attention at just the right moment.

Thirst for Grit is about the bull and bronc riders who travel from one rodeo to the next and who, as Lance poetically describes them, "these men tango with beasts, they dance with the devil, they ride". I longed for ambient sounds of the rodeos supplementing Lance's terrific images, but I guess we may have to wait for another project.

Lance Rosenfield is a freelance commercial and editorial photographer (and a storyteller) based in Austin, Texas. He has published work in The New York Times, The Digital Journalist and The Seattle Times, among other publications.