Chico Sanchez: Virgin of Guadalupe

Image © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved
Another Soundslide-based slideshow from photojournalist Chico Sanchez, who this time documents the Virgin of Guadalupe's annual festival on December 12 in at the main Basilica in Mexico City, and titled The Empress of America.

Not only are the photographs well-chosen, but Chico has seamlessly woven various audio tracks into the slideshow; the ambient sound of a local flute and mini-drum, a couple of interviews, a live mass at the Basilica, organ music and even a mariachi band. A very nice production.

WP: "Destiny" of Girls

Photo © Nikki Kahn/WP-All Rights Reserved
Nikki Kahn is a documentary photographer and photojournalist working for The Washington Post, and has recently been featured of the its website with her photo essay "For Impoverished Girls, School Is Just A Dream", which is accompanied by an article written by Mary Jordan, titled "This Is The Destiny of Girls".

The photographs are of young girls in the westernmost area in India called the Little Rann of Kutch, where one of the main industries is salt-gathering.

In these impoverished villages, many young girls are pulled out of school to help the families earn a meager living from salt gathering. The article tells us that "it is a familiar story in much of the developing world, and particularly South Asia. In India, half the women older than 15 are illiterate, twice the rate for men, and millions of poor girls are pulled out of school to help at home, often when they are 10 to 12 years old." In these parts, it's the girls destiny to remain illiterate.

Nikki Kahn's website is here

Cambodia: Royal Apsaras

Photograph © Christophe Loviny-All Rights Reserved
Christophe Loviny is a photojournalist and editor. He's been a specialist of Southeast Asia for over 25 years, and was based in Angkor from 1989 to 1994. His work on Cambodia has been published in The Sunday Times Magazine, Asiaweek, Geo, L'Express, Paris-Match, Stern, Le Figaro-Magazine, and others. He is the author of several illustrated books, one of which is “Les Danseuses Sacrées d'Angkor”, a collection of texts and photographs on the identity of Cambodia.

Here's a sampling of his photographs of the sacred dancers of Angkor, or The Royal Ballet of Cambodia in a Issuu flash booklet via Lightmediation Photo Agency.

For an early multimedia (QuickTime) gallery of my own, and overdue for a Soundslides makeover, here's Celestial Apsaras.