POV: Is That For Real, Leica?

I've mentioned this on my Facebook page, but I thought I just had to mention it (for posterity, you know) on my blog.

Here's what it's all about: "Leica has officially announced a new limited edition “Correspondent” version of the Leica M-P digital rangefinder, designed by Lenny Kravitz. The musician, actor, and designer came up with a styling for the camera that offers a luxury product in an artificially aged package."

But easy things first. I have no idea who Mr Kravitz is; I never heard of him nor have I seen his photographs...so his input insofar as a camera is concerned is totally lost on me.

Reading the press release, I stopped at this gem of prose: "The Leica M-P ‘Correspondent’, a desirable collector’s piece in the style of legendary reportage cameras, was created in collaboration with the artist. Thanks to deliberate, carefully executed wearing by hand, it appears as if it had been in constant use for decades and would have countless stories to tell."

I am pretty much convinced that no self-respecting photographer (even those able to fork out the $24,000 price tag on this baby) would want to be seen with this "artificially aged camera." They'd be the brunt of endless jokes and jibes.

I wonder what type of person would buy the LEICA M-P ‘CORRESPONDENT’? The legend is that orthodontists are the main buyers of high-priced Leicas, but I think in this case it'd be collectors with money to burn. Possibly Russian oligarchs, Chinese real estate tycoons, oil sheikhs...and the like.

That said, if these characters are interested in buying a well-used naturally aged M9, I have mine to sell at a price a little less than the $24,000 price tag of the Kravitz' model.

Ken Hermann | Beauty of Omo Valley

Photo © Ken Hermann - All Rights Reserved

I'm certainly glad to have photographed the Omo Valley in 2004 at a time when the influx of tourists and thrill-seeking photographers was considerable less than what it is now. What I've often seen coming out of the cradle of humankind (as the Omo Valley is often called) has been overworked photographs, with its tribespeople over made-up and fetishized by having them wear incongruous head gear and unnatural accessories.

So a trace of skepticism accompanied my initial look at Ken Hermann's Beauty of Omo Valley; fully expecting to see the same style of photography...but I was pleasantly surprised. No fetishized or Disney-fied versions of these handsome people in this gallery...just beautiful photographs made of equally beautiful people. While obviously staged with care, using paraphernalia such as umbrellas, reflectors and flashes, and photographed with digital Phase One 654 camera, the photographs are simple, and reflect Omo Valley people without the overbearing artifices used by other photographers.

Ken Hermann is based in Copenhagen, and works for a diverse range of clients including leading brands, agencies and media corporations. With a degree in advertising photography, Ken's work was published by a number of magazines and exhibited around the world. One of his projects made him the winner of Hasselblad Masters 2012.

According to an interview with the German GEO magazine, Ken describes that tourism to the Omo Valley has significantly increased over the past few years, and with the improved infrastructure comes the constant tour buses to villages with people jumping out, making photos, jumping back, and driving to the next villages.

For a back story kind of look into Ken Hermann's Omo Valley photo shoots, view the short video below:

Jan Møller Hansen | The Sadhus (Monochrome)

Photo © Jan Møller Hansen - All Rights Reserved

I missed this year's Maha Shivaratri (or just Shivratri) in Kathmandu! Celebrated on February 17, 2015 by Hindus all over the world, it glorifies the Hindu god Shiva, believed to be the lord of cosmic destruction and dance.

It's described as starting with a night vigil leading up to the day of the festival during which many Shiva devotees fast and offer special prayers. Shiva is worshiped in the form of a lingam, a vertical, rounded column, representing the male creative force and the infinite, indescribable nature of God, and the yoni which represents female creative energy. Together they represent the union of organs, and the totality of creation.

And listen to this: flowers, incense and other offerings are made, while prayers are chanted. Bhang, an intoxicant made from the cannabis plant is consumed by many on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri.

How could I have missed it?

Anyway, to partially redress the disappointment is Jan Moeller Hansen's The Sadhus,  a monochrome gallery of about 50 portraits of these itinerant ascetics in Kathmandu; some of who attend the Maha Shivaratri festival with considerable zeal. After all, Nepalese authorities are said to have spent almost Rs 900,000 in cash, food and blanket donations to the 5000 sadhus who had come from various parts of Nepal and India to celebrate the festival at the Pashupatinath Temple premises.

It was estimated by the Nepali newspapers that around a million devotees from India and Nepal thronged the ancient Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu on Maha Shivratri festival on February 17.

Jan Møller Hansen is a self-taught photographer interested in social documentary and street photography. A senior diplomat working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Jan is presently based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Around 24 galleries of his photographs (some color and others in monochrome) are of Nepal. Jan also photographed the Rana Tharus who live in the Tarai, a narrow strip of land which extends across 550 miles of the southern border of Nepal, next to northeast India, and whose ethnic origin are said to be  Rajput, members of a high caste in Rajasthan.

The Vedic Disciples | "Wet Plate" | Exposure

I've just published The Vedic Disciples on the Exposure platform, using a digital wet plate preset to give the monochromatic photographs an ancient appearance which befits the location.

The photographs (originally in color) were made at the Vadakke Madham Brahmaswam Vedic Institute in Thrissur, and is of the activities at an ancient Vedic 'gurukul' (or training/boarding school; very similar to the Buddhist monasteries for novitiates), where the young students follow this way of teaching sacred Vedic scriptures.

There are four Vedas: Rig Veda, Atharva Veda, Sama Veda and Yajur Veda. The Vedas include more than 100,000 verses and additional prose.

It is an ancient Indian educational system; currently being rejuvenated with the assistance of the Indian government. The young boys who populate the Vedic school belong to a caste of Keralan Brahmins, and are responsible to carry on the age-old tradition of chanting Vedas during religious rituals or functions. The chanting is learned by practice, and nothing is written down. 

The rhythm of the Vedic chants is followed by the young boys' moving their bodies in cadence to the verses, which reminded me how the Buddhist novices recite their mantras, or how the Islamic students recite the Qur'an at their madrasas...and how Jewish worshipers sway during their prayers. 

The tradition of Vedic chanting is often considered the oldest unbroken oral tradition in existence, while the Vedic texts date to roughly the time of Homer. It is said that the Vedas -as they are called- are a vast collection of hymns that were heard by ancient Indian sages when they were in a deep meditative state.

Kurt William Kamka | Plain Manila

Photo © Kurt William Kamka - All Rights Reserved

There are some photographers who espouse the notion that they must be invisible when shooting in the streets for their images to be successful, candid and "in the moment"...but there are also others who have no such compunctions. To me, I've got my feet firmly planted on both sides of the "aisle" provided the photograph tells a story.

Plain Manila is a collection of over 50 monochromes of the daily life in this gigantic Asian metropolis by Kurt William Kamka who, through these images, shows the people and provides us with a sense of the place, as if we roamed its back streets. As the photographer himself puts it, he sought to document "the day-to-day complexities of community life in the barrios of Manila".

Despite my frequent travels in Southeast Asia, I confess not knowing much of Manila, other than it's one of the most high-density cities in the world; even denser than Kolkata...which is a surprise. Perhaps I ought to remedy this shortcoming, and extend the trajectory of my travels to include the Philippines.

Kurt William Kamka is a commercial, documentary, street, non-profit and NGO photographer who relocated to Asia in 2011. Currently based in Manila, he document his view on the human condition.
His photos have been shown in the Leica gallery in Singapore, multiple locations in Manila and in Chicago. He has worked in advertising for some of the largest global brands including P&G, US Bank, Firestone, Bayer, McDonalds, Nikon, Samsung, UCB, Delta Airlines and others.