WSJ Photo Journal: Kathakali

Photo © Arko Datta-All Rights Reserved
A Kathakali dancer in the traditional South Indian dance, performing at the recent Kala Ghoda Festival of Arts in Mumbai. The nine-day festival showcases Indian arts and heritage.

I'm currently in Kasargod (Kerala) on my Theyyams of Malabar photo-expedition, and on my way to Thrissur and Kochi where we are planning to attend and photograph Kathakali performances.

James Nachtwey: Congo

TIME magazine has published a photo essay by James Nachtwey of VII, along with an article by Ben Affleck, an actor, who has traveling to Congo since 2007 to learn, and to report.

Affelck writes:

"The warring parties in the east can be distilled into three main groups: the Congolese army; a breakaway faction composed mainly of Tutsis, led by a former general, Laurent Nkunda; and an outlaw militia, the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), led by the same Interahamwe Hutu extremists who committed the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda. "

The accompanying article is here.

TIME magazine surely can do better than frame James Nachtwey's gripping photographs with this hideous slideshow platform. It's also incongruous to have banners and ads fro Samsung cellphones, TurboTax and W Hotels with these photographs of misery and conflict.

The Big Picture: Tibet's Monlam Festival

Photo ©REUTERS/Reinhard Krause-All Rights Reserved
The Big Picture of the Boston Globe featured photographs of Tibet's Monlam Festival. Tibetans observe this important festival with prayers, ritual dances, traditional foods and giant tapestry-like paintings.

Chinese officials have prohibited the festival in the past, and still discourage participation, but ethnic Tibetans are maintaining their traditional culture as mucg as they can.

The above photograph is of a Buddhist monk walking in front of the Thangka tapestry outside a monastery in Tongren, Qinghai province.