WTF! The NYPD Hates Chinese Opera?

Photo Courtesy The Gothamist

One of my favorite photographic destinations in NYC's Chinatown is Columbus Park, where large number of Chinese residents and non-residents congregate during the weekends to play xiangqi, a board game similar to Western chess, mah-jong, and cards while listening to cacophonous Chinese opera performed by two groups of amateurs (most of whom are senior citizens).

But now I'm seriously pissed off. Here's why:

The Gothamist recently had an article with a video featuring the NYPD arresting an elderly man at the park on May 8 when they tried to stop a group of senior citizens from playing Chinese music...presumably he was a member of the bands that accompany the singers.

It may have been caused by a noise complaint by a resident, but it's more likely that it was that these bands of amateurs did not have the requisite permits that all street NYC performers need to have before playing in the streets.

Having said that, there's no doubt the NYPD crossed the line in how its officers dealt with this. On The Gothamist site, there's a short video that shows how the Chinese and others were brutally dispersed...the use of mace and batons was threatened, and the man arrested was thrown to the ground, then handcuffed.

These amateur Chinese opera singers (more like classical Chinese karaoke in my view) were certainly cacophonous, and perhaps even discordant to Western ears, but they brought in a lot of tourists and residents alike, and didn't harm anyone...quite the opposite.

So it's either that the NYPD has no ear for Chinese opera, or they really have nothing else to do. Since Osama Ben Laden was killed last week or so, I suppose they can now focus their efforts on arresting harmless senior citizens who speak no or little English.

The NYPD ought to nab the marijuana peddlars in Washington Square Park instead...or the vendors of counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags on Canal Street...and leave me the Chinese opera singers to photograph.

I wrote a number of posts on the Columbus Park Chinese opera, but this one describes the setting, while this following audio slideshow I produced is of one of the bands.

POV: Hipstamatic...OMG! It Looks So Retro!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved (Pseudo Hipstamatic LR Preset)

I've been scratching my head at the sudden flurry of Hipstamatic and/or Instagram "photography". I've seen well-traveled photojournalists and conflict photographers featuring images made with iPhones, and simultaneously processed using Hipstamatic or Instagram apps. Images from the Yemen uprising, the Egypt's Revolution, the Afghanistan conflict and Libya's rebellion are virtually flooding photo sites and blogs.

To me, these apps spice up photographers' standard fare...that's all. Certainly, the images do represent what photographers see and what's in front of their tiny phone lenses, but unless these images are able to be presented to form coherent documentary story-telling, I view them as a fad...a sort of fashion statement...or cute postcards without the scribbled messages in their back.

While the photos made using iPhones capture the instantaneous immediacy of events, let's smile at the retro, cool and Holga-ish look...but focus on how the photographer using an iPhone is able to present compelling content for viewers...or not. That's the litmus test.

In the long run, that's what viewers of photojournalism care about...content...not whether an image looks retro or not. And so should photographers. Pretending that using an iPhone loaded with these apps is the next new "photo thing" is silly...because it's not.

The above image was processed in Lightroom using a Holgalike-preset. The original is in the post below this one.

WTF?! The Entitlement (or The Me Me) Syndrome

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Perhaps fearing I had mellowed, I was prompted by a number of readers to write an acerbic rant, a pontificating diatribe, a raging soliloquy about something and/or stuff that irritated me. I really had an embarrassment of choices...I could've ranted about the tourists who abruptly stop and just gawk on the narrow sidewalks of the West Village...I could've raged about the mindless people who walk while texting on their Blackberries and bump into me...or I could've complained about the combative mothers/nannies who propel their prams/strollers into my shins because I hadn't promptly jumped out of the way when we meet on the same sidewalks....or of course, about the dog owners who encourage their best friends to take gargantuan dumps near my building but don't clean after them; perhaps hoping that the unobservant step on it.

But these are small annoyances that are part and parcel with living in New York city, and are undeserving of a monumental rant...and also have nothing to do with photography.

No, my plump and juicy rant is on a misplaced sense of entitlement that some established photographers seem to have.

Let me begin with this preamble....I've started The Travel Photographer's blog four years ago, and since then, it attracted a healthy number of readers and visitors. It established itself as a blog to read amongst a certain segment of the photography industry, and earned me the attention of many photographers (pros, semi-pros and non pros),  photo retailers and industry experts.

It's no secret that I use this blog to publicize my photography and my photo~expeditions, however I mainly use it to give exposure to emerging photographers. Like me when I started some 10-12 years ago, these emerging photographers, especially if they're not Westerners, have a difficult time getting recognition for their work, especially in the environment we find ourselves in.

I knew no one in the photo industry when I started my photography...I knew very few photographers when I started The Travel Photographer's blog...and I started The Travel Photographer's Photo~Expeditions on a whim, not really knowing what I was getting myself into. To this day, I never asked a photographer or photojournalist for help in promoting my business....I never asked any of the hundreds of the participants who joined my photo~expeditions to refer my trips to their friends, family members, etc. I never uttered/wrote the words "if you know a friend or two who's interested in my trips or my photos, pass my name/website along". All I've done is slowly build the brand brick by brick.

I have no sense of entitlement...I am not entitled to anything...I do my own thing without burdening people with requests for introductions, for referrals, for links to my website/blog on others', for freebies, etc. With the exception of being part of the terrific Foundry Photojournalism Workshop "family", I haven't joined collectives...I haven't joined pseudo-clubs. I could have...but didn't. I am perfectly content with what I am doing and achieved so far.

It's perhaps because of this that I find the attitude of a few photojournalists-photographers to be really puzzling. They ask me to feature their work on The Travel Photographer blog...which I gladly do. Then they ask again...and again. And I do and do again. But then it hit me...why do they think it's okay to ask me to feature their work, to spread the word about their photo workshops and their inflated resumes...but have no intention of ever reciprocating that courtesy in any fashion? Is it because they have an overdeveloped sense of entitlement, a narcissistic personality disorder? Is it because they think they're doing me a favor? Is that what they think 'networking' is? I just don't get it.

Let me be very clear...the likes of John Stanmeyer, Gary Knight, Ron Haviv, Phil Borges, Maggie Steber, etc are the most gracious photographers I've come across (and none of them asked me for anything)....and I've had immense pleasure to showcase their incredible work whenever I come across it, and to learn from it....and I'm happy to continue doing so.  Many photographers (Chico Sanchez is one of those) are equally generous with links and coverage of my work on their own websites and blogs, and many others are appreciative of being featured on my blog. No, this is about a few others...some I met personally and others I didn't...who seem to think that I am somehow obliged to show their work, expected to praise it, and publicize their workshops/activities. This sense of obtuse entitlement drives me bonkers.

I repeat: I Am Not Obliged To Feature Your Work And Your Photo Workshops Because You Think I Ought To.

What I mostly do on this blog is publicize and give exposure to the work of emerging photographers...some of whom are in Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, etc....it's the work of those photographers that I care about, and what my readers appear to be interested in. And if I do feature the work of established and renowned photographers and/or photojournalists, once, twice or a million times, it's because I'm impressed by it.

Capice? Good...now let's move on.

End of rant.

WTF!? Waiting For The GF1...

On May 24, 2010 I ordered the Panasonic GF1 with a 20mm f/1.7 lens from Amazon for $812 (excluding NY tax), which listed it as being in stock. I chose the Super Saver shipping discount so I was charged nothing for shipping.

Not a bad deal cost-wise since it saves me a little money, except for this: on receiving my order, Amazon emailed me its confirmation that the shipping date was estimated June 1, or a full 8 days after its being ordered.

Why? Does it take 8 days for an Amazon employee to locate the camera? Is it hiding behind stocked books? Is there a game of hide & seek going on? Would paying expedited shipping costs make the employee look any faster? Perhaps run instead of walk?

It's in stock and it's shipped from Amazon itself, so it's not from another Amazon affiliate or whatever they're called these days. And why not alert me to that "estimated shipping date" when I clicked on the Super Saver shipping discount?

Assuming that it will be shipped on June 1, it may be delivered a full two weeks from my order...a whole two weeks! I would understand if the camera wasn't immediately in stock, but it is...so what's going on, Amazon?

Ah, well...I hope I can test it in the streets of Istanbul in less than 3 weeks!

WTF Department: Ridiculous Bling

Here's a piece of ridiculous bling which ought to be filed in The Travel Photographer's WTF Department's compost heap, along with the Leica Hermes.

Found in this week's The New York Time's T-Magazine is a Yves Saint-Laurent travel adapter, which will cost $450 whoever is silly enough to buy it.

Mind you, the blurb tells us that fashion has come to the rescue of the stylish travelers who have had to use the "less-than-beautiful electrical doohickeys", especially since these come in cute fuchsia, black and violet leather bags.

A suggestion for the "stylish travelers": why don't you buy this doohickey from Kensington for $29 instead, and give the difference to a worthwhile charity? It does exactly the same thing and even looks the same. I realize it'll be tough without a colored leather case, but try all the same.

I have this Kensington adapter which I use everywhere I travel. Along with a locally-bought power strip, it's priceless. And if I need a pouch for it, I'll find one at the nearest Army Surplus store...it ain't gonna be in fuchsia though.

Rant: Canon 5D Mark II & Battery

I haven't ranted for quite a while. No, correct that...I haven't ranted about a photography matter for quite a while. I've ranted about lots of stuff on this blog and even more off this blog....so it's time for a nice rant about Canon and its marketing wisdom.

If I recall correctly, the Canon let it be known that its 5D Mark II would be available at major photo retailers by the end of November 2009, in time for the holiday season. Now we know that Canon dropped the ball on that one, with the 5D Mark II still unavailable at B&H (although it's currently taking pre-orders according to 1001 Noisy Cameras), Crutchfield is out of stock, while Amazon has one for sale but at a premium.

Most of us have an innate fear of scarcity. The prospect of product being unavailable when we want (or need) it is a powerful marketing tool which spurs consumers to research where the product is available, and purchase. I believe this is what Canon is doing.

I was extremely lucky in having found one when I visited B&H and just asked the salesclerk for one. So here's what I think: Canon makes this camera available to retailers slowly and selectively. The more there's a perceived scarcity for this product, the more buzz there is (like this post)..the more buzz the more publicity. Am I hearing justified complaints that this strategy is disrespectful to its customer base? The answer is yes. Am I hearing that Canon through this strategy is, as one of my friends recently wrote me, helping non-mainstream retails stores to really soak us? The answer is also yes.

Now to top off the rant, let me mention the battery: the LP-E6 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion for the Canon 5D Mark II is also on back-order (the favored euphemism for not available) at mainstream retail stores...however may be occasionally found at other stores for a hefty premium. Another soaking.

Two days ago I ordered two spare batteries from a non mainstream online store, and I'm still waiting a confirmation of my order...

UPDATE (February 3): Having seen that the batteries were listed as back-ordered on the online store Digital Foto Club, I called to inquire as to the status of my order. Steve, the employee who took my call, told me they had received Canon shipments the day before but he would check and let me know if it included the batteries. A short time later, Steve did call to say the batteries were not expected soon and that he'd go ahead and cancel my order through Buy.com (which was confirmed).

I think that's excellent service from Digital Foto Club...honest and straight forward.

PDN + Canon?

I received my PDN November issue yesterday, and was surprised to see its cover was a Canon advertisement for the EOS 50D. Now, I'm all for magazines to make money from advertisers, but to have PDN's cover taken over by an ad is annoying, and a turn-off.

To be clear, PDN still has a regular cover, but it's covered by another cover: the Canon ad, and ripping it off damages the issue.

A note to PDN people: I like PDN (not always, but most of the time) and Canon is my brand of choice, but this is not a good idea and certainly not one that I'd like to see again. I have to thumb through enough pages of ads as it stands to get to articles and features...so another ad layer is not welcome. I don't know if this gimmick is only for subscribed issues or for all issues in circulation.

This is worse than the ads that appear before multimedia presentations because I paid for the magazine and this ad doesn't go away after 15 seconds. Since I really don't want to have a Canon ad in my face whenever I reach for this PDN magazine, I tore it off.

Rant: The New Yorker

The New Yorker magazine has stirred a hornet's nest for what it calls a satirical cartoonish cover that shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed in a Taliban-like garment, and his wife Michelle — dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder — standing in the Oval Office. To add insult to injury, artist Barry Blitt added a portrait of Osama bin Laden on the wall, and the American flag burning in the fireplace. This cover is tasteless, repugnant and offensive on all levels.

I read that The New Yorker's editor says that the cover is satirizing rumors about Obama — including rumors that he's Muslim and anti-American, and defended its choice, "saying its readership is sophisticated enough to get the joke."

This is so out-of-touch (and dismissive of our intelligence) that it beggars belief as to how these people at The New Yorker think. I hope readers will find the so-called "joke" so unfunny that they cancel their subscriptions, and demand their money back. That'll be really funny.

Rant: G8's Shameless Behavior

Here's a rant that has nothing to do with photography, but has everything to do with lack of decency and disgraceful behavior.

As we know, the leaders of the so-called G8 nations are having a summit on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. While the G8 summits are usually conspicuous by their meaningless proclamations, this one was touted as an important meeting to discuss the world's current food shortages.

So as reported by the Times of London, we learn that the G8 summit has cost almost $600 million, enough to buy 100 million mosquito nets for the African nations whose population are still afflicted by malaria. This is bad enough, but I think the most repulsive is the news that the G8 leaders discussed the international food shortages during a sumptuous eight-course dinner banquet, having already eaten a five-course lunch.

What is the matter with these people?

Times of London's G8 Leaders Feast

Rant: My Blog My Rules

I know. I haven't been ranting for a while, and some of my readers tell me they miss my acerbic diatribes. I haven't mellowed at all, it's just that I didn't have much to rant (at least of relevance to this blog) about...however, before I lose my so-called acerbic trademark, here's my position about what gets on my blog and what doesn't.

By the way, at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico City which had over 160 attendees, I was taken aback by the surprisingly large number of photographer/photojournalists (famous and emerging) who knew of The Travel Photographer blog and of my photography. This proves to me two major facts: the power of blogging and the power of branding about this earlier on TTP (I've posted about this earlier on TTP here).

But I digress. Here are the general terms of acceptance that cover what kind of photographic work is, and will be, posted on The Travel Photographer. Firstly, this blog is ad-free, and as I'm not beholden to anyone (corporate or individual), I only post what I like. This is also known as editorial privilege...and it's what counts. There are thousands of blogs dealing with photography and some are much better than mine, so photographers can pick and choose.

My preferences are too many to list, but photo essays/stories, in multimedia or stills, appeal to me a great deal. Work by emerging photographers are always welcome, provided it deals with travel (non stock stuff) and editorial. Particularly interesting is photography that can be described as ethnographic, and deals with religious or secular rituals, tribal cultures, among others. I have a hard time with websites that have dinky photographs, but if the subject matter is really interesting, you're in. If you're a photographer with a travel portfolio better destined to the pages of Travel & Leisure magazine, you don't need this blog.

In terms of geographic preferences, while my own photography is biased towards Asian and South Asian cultures, it doesn't mean that this is true for what gets on my blog. I'm not that interested in what is generally defined as "Western" photo projects...so projects of European and/or North American provenance don't really excite me that much. On the other hand, photographic work by emerging photographers from South Asia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America are especially welcome....but please, have functioning websites.

If you want to know what photography work turns me on, drop by my website or if you have the time, explore this blog. You'll know.