The Invisible Ph t grapher: Liz Loh-Taylor

Photo © Liz Loh-Taylor-All Rights Reserved

If you haven't bookmarked the Invisible Ph t grapher Asia, I suggest you do. The Invisible Ph t grapher Asia (IPA) is not only a collective of photographers in Asia mostly involved in street photography and visual journalism, but is also a very clever brand name.

Kevin WY Lee founded the collective in early 2010, and although it's based in Singapore, it covers  Hong Kong, Japan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka.

I've been following it for a while now, and I liked a recent interview IPA has had with Liz Loh-Taylor, a young full-time documentary photographer, based in Australia, who only entered the profession in late 2009, but who has already won awards, and important recognition.

Although Liz had joined the finance industry, she also worked with disadvantaged children and communities in Africa, and decided to document their stories through a camera. She gave up her corporate career late 2009, and committed to photography since then.

If you poke around The Invisible Ph t grapher Asia website, you'll find a section on street photography with a number of photo essays related to that style. There's also a street photography contest that is open and free to photographers of any level, and in any country of residence, but submissions must be in the street photography genre and photographed in Asia within the last 12 months.

The prize? It's a street photographer's classic. A black repainted LEICA M2 Rangefinder Camera, and a brand new Nokton 35mm F/1.4 lens.

My Work: Washington Square Park Swings

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved. 1/125 sec f2.8 iso 160 Elmarit 28mm

With the weather improving, NYC's Washington Square Park is starting to swing...and is an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon...apart from lurking "peddlers" who may ask you, as they asked me, if you're "shopping" today (is the NYPD off on Sunday?).

The musicians and buskers are entertaining the tourists and locals alike. A band that many enjoy a lot is the Baby Soda Band who play great old-time swing and New Orleans jazz numbers...and proud to tell you they're from Brooklyn.

NYU students came to watch the band, and joined in the dancing. These two were quite good, and might have been dancing school students.

While the Leica M9 is a great tool...it sure ain't an action camera though!

Thomas Jeppesen: Vietnam

Thomas Jeppesen is originally from Denmark, and currently working in Vietnam as the director of an advertising agency in its capital, Hanoi. This gives him ample opportunity to photograph its streets and its vicinity.

He bought his first DSLR a couple of years ago, and developed the photography bug. He enjoys the post-processing phase of digital photography, and this shows in his gallery of Vietnamese portraits, which are mostly in black & white. Some would say they're somewhat overly contrasty, but that's a look that many B&W photographers seek.

Thomas also has a set of galleries of Hanoi street scenes and Vietnamese fashion models.