POV: Hotel Photography | A Challenge

I had the pleasure to have been asked to photograph the Golden Silk Boutique Hotel whilst on my personal assignment in Hanoi, and I can vouch that hotel photography (or whatever this style of photography is called) is no walk in the park...it seems easy but it's certainly not.

Having  the DNA of a travel-documentary photographer meant that I felt more comfortable having people in most of my photographs. I recalled a ad campaign by Annie Leibovitz for The Peninsula Hotel (Hong Kong and New York City) some years ago, in which she produced monochrome photographs of the hotel's staff, and it was hailed as a huge success in the hospitality industry. That was to be my inspiration.

I doubt if Leibovitz's ad campaign used models for its photographs, but I certainly didn't have to. The Golden Silk Boutique Hotel has a number of photogenic staff members, and they were chuffed at being photographed for the occasion. I wanted to photograph the staff in action as it were, so I was in the dining room for breakfast at 6:00 am just in time to have a few moments with its staff before the influx of guests, and then later on in the bar, rooms and spa.

Hotel photography techniques are obviously similar to photographing interior spaces; wide angles, choice of perspectives, soft lighting, etc...but without the assistance of a room stylist, I had to really focus on the smallest of details. An errant electric cord, an imperfectly made bed corner, a slightly askew towel in the bathroom, bathroom amenities that are not perfectly aligned...even lightbulbs of different warmth...would be amplified in still photographs.

My strategy was to provide the hotel with both static photographs of its rooms, lobby and other facilities as well as some people photographs (such as this above). I don't know yet if the hotel's management will use the latter (in color or monochrome), but I hope it does since it would set it apart from the remaining comparable hotels in Vietnam.

There's no argument that the Golden Silk Boutique Hotel's location, accommodations, price structure, facilities are all important, however the primary reason for my making it my home in Hanoi for the five times I've been there, and intend to return to it during my forthcoming trips, is its staff.

As in most businesses, the human element is key, and I've found the hotel's people to be extremely helpful, friendly and welcoming. I know most of them by name, and chatting with them, I now know a little bit of their personal life, their families, their hobbies, etc. This makes a huge difference in the experience of staying in a hotel for two weeks at a time. When I return from a long day of non-stop shooting, I am always greeted by the hotel's receptionists with a genuine welcome back, curious to know how my day went...and through the internal grapevine, many of them know where I've been.

And that is my reasoning behind making -as much as I could- my hotel photo shoot about its staff. I and possibly many others do not return to the hotel just for the quality of its rooms, facilities, price structure or the fluffiness of its omelets (although that one has a huge impact), but because of its staff.

That's the truth.

POV: What I'll Always Remember

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

As my readers know, I've been completely immersed in a personal project involving the Mother Goddess indigenous religion in Vietnam for almost a year now; making the long journey New York City to Hanoi three times so far, aiming to eventually produce a photo book. I envisage the photo book to include photographs (naturally) of the rituals, portraits of the mediums and fortune tellers involved in the practice of hầu đồng, as well as interviews with its practitioners.

I've attended over 20 hầu đồng ceremonies so far; featuring master mediums, intermediate mediums and neophytes. Most of them were female mediums, with a small proportion of the ceremonies conducted by males. Many were in the capital city of Hanoi and its suburbs, and some were far in the east and north of the country; Hai Phong, Lang Son and Kiep Bac to mention but a few.

The timings of these ceremonies are always based on the lunar calendar, and are not advertised. It's more of a word of mouth (aka mobile telephones) kind of thing amongst the community. Some are quite large and others are small. Some are held in large temple complexes, others in smaller out of the way temples and some held in tiny private temples or rooms with shrines in homes. To have access and be welcomed in these ceremonies wherever they are held, one must gain the confidence and trust of the community, and initially be accompanied by someone known to the mediums or the musicians.

The ceremonies are extremely complex, and involve sequential rituals that are accompanied by sacred liturgical music and songs. These ceremonies and rituals haven't changed in centuries, and neither has the music, although some modernization has creeped in by bringing in amplifiers...and to my untrained ears, a smidgen of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton riffs.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

I researched and read as much as I could find online and in books about Đạo Mẫu, and its complexities are just staggering. However, I am at the point where I now understand a few of the rituals, some of significance of the various spirits of the Đạo Mẫu pantheon, and I even correctly interpreted the hand signals by a medium during a recent ceremony...hardly an "expert", but able to ask somewhat intelligent questions.

These ceremonies are religious events, but they are also part fashion show, part pantomime, part dance and re-enactments, and bottom line, are mind-blowing, fun and - for a variety of reasons - challenging, to photograph. 

However, I also look back to my 2015 three trips and realize that there's something infinitely more important to me than the photographs I made...and that's the human kindnesses I've been privileged to experience while at these ceremonies.

Here are just a few, out of the many, that will stay with me for a long time:

1. On a pre-dawn private bus trip to attend a ceremony in Lạng Sơn, not only was I given a choice seat but half way to our destination, the medium asked me if I needed anything. Unthinking, I replied that a coffee would have been nice. She immediately turned to a nearby friend, who smilingly gave me her half finished cup of Vietnamese coffee. I couldn't refuse.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

2. The hầu đồng ceremonies typically go on for 5-6 hours, and since I like to stand (most of that time) while I photograph, it's exhausting. In Lạng Sơn, I was also sweating quite heavily due to the humidity, tied a bandanna around my head and kept on shooting. At some point, I felt a waft of cool air on my face, and turning to see where it came from, I saw a woman in the audience (perhaps another friend of the medium) fanning me. Her kindness stunned me, and I didn't know how to react for a few seconds. I thanked her, telling her I was fine. What else could I do or say? She wanted me to be comfortable, but I couldn't let her go on fanning me. 

3. I was invited to attend a hầu đồng ceremony in Kiep Bac, about 2-1/2 hours drive east of Hanoi. A car, which I shared with other guests of the medium and her family, was provided and we drove off at precisely the time agreed upon. As I had to leave the ceremony before it ended late at night, the medium and her husband reassured me a car would drive me back whenever I wanted. When the time came, the medium's husband and his friends accompanied me to a small car, and told me that it was already paid for. Ignoring my entreaties that it was I who should pay, they bundled me in the car, and set me on my way. Its certainly not an insignificant fare, and adding to my discomfort, these are people of modest means.

4. The musicians, assistants and guests at the hầu đồng ceremonies are all fed before and after the ceremonies. The medium is usually fasting, and is meditating during these meals, which are literally feasts. I share these meals, even if I'm not hungry, because it's the right thing to do. And I realized that I was always being taken care of, asked if I had enough to eat or to drink, and offered whatever was available.

Photo © Trịnh Ngọc Minh-All Rights Reserved

5. During the ceremony in Kiep Bac, where it was also hot and humid, the medium's husband and her friends continuously made certain I had enough water to keep hydrated, and kept an eye on my camera bag. 

These are but a few of the many wonderful examples of the Vietnamese people's generosity and kindness that, as I said, affected me deeply because I know these gestures are genuinely selfless, and are given to me because of my interest in, and respect of, their culture, religion and ways of life.

The Last Qawwal By Kaushik Ghosh

I had the privilege of meeting Ustaad Meeraj a few years ago with my good friend and fellow photographer Dr. Kaushik Ghosh. Unfortunately, Ustaad Meeraj passed away some days ago with nary a mention in the Indian press.

However, Kaushik wrote this eloquent eulogy about this legend. I post it here without any change.

THE LAST QAWAAWL" is no more. The legendary Qawwal USTAAD MEERAJ AHMED NIJAMI, the senior most of Delhi Gharana passed away on 18 October 2015.

Being an artist and an Indian Citizen, I am extremely ashamed and shattered that not a single Indian media came up with this news till date, except an online publication "The Delhi Walla" .

Probably, beef and Chhota Rajan are selling well for them and of national importance. They may come up with headlines "10 things you must know about Chhota Rajan", but not a single line of this person!!! How easily we can ignore our own cultural root, yet becoming euphoric to listen Rahman's rendition of 'Kun Faya Kun'. Probably we are losing our capability to digest the original except the adulteration!!! I met Ustaad Meeraj couple of times.

The first time during my search to make a Multimedia Narrative (MMN) on Nizamuddin Basti (not the Shrine); later ended up to make a MMN on Ustaad Meeraj. It was an accidental meet at the shrine of Hazrat Inayat Khan. And then I spent couple of days with him in his residence. It was almost an endless discussion about life & music as a whole and it was too less time to spend to understand him, his music and his philosophy of life.

The next time, I met him with my mentor of photography, Mr. Tewfic El-Sawy. And at that time, I was touched about his greatness. There was a preparation going on in his family for a marriage ceremony and while talking over phone, one of his son absolutely refused us to meet Ustaad. We both reached at his place and approached him directly. Immediately after recognising me, he welcomed both of us and that's with full of warmth. And despite of having busy and chaotic situation in his one room flat at Basti Nizamuddin, for next an hour or so, he sung some of his favourite songs (including Bhajans of Meera Bai) for Mr. Tewfic.

I understood, for Ustaad nothing is in priority other than his music and that's his life. I really feel blessed to archive his voice, his narrations, a part of our cultural evolution. This Multimedia Narrative is my homage to this ignored and forgotten legend by Indian Media. I thought to meet you during my next visit in Delhi, but probably you were in a hurry.

Rest in Peace, Ustaad!

Written by Kaushik Ghosh.

France Leclerc | Hola Mohalla

Photo © France Leclerc-All Rights Reserved

I can barely catch up with France Leclerc these days. She's always on her way to a far-flung destination, schlepping her cameras with her (she's a recent but still tentative convert to a lighter mirrorless camera system), writes a wonderfully informative blog and has compelling photographs on her website.

One of her recent additions to her blog is Hola Mohalla;  a Sikh festival that takes place on the first of the lunar month of Chet which usually falls in March. This festival was established by Guru Gobind Singh, and follows the well-known Hindu festival of Holi by one day.

During this festival, processions are organised in the form of army type columns which are accompanied by war-drums and standard-bearers. The martial-like event originated in the time of Guru Gobind Singh who held the first such mock battle event at Anandpur in February 1701.

Sikhism (as per Wikipedia) is a monotheistic religion originating in South Asia during the 15th century. The basic beliefs of Sikhism include faith in a single Creator God, unity and equality of all humankind, engaging in selfless service, striving for social justice, and honest conduct and livelihood. Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, and the ten subsequent Sikh gurus. It claims over 25 million adherents worldwide.

You'll read France's blog post, and realize that she was badly injured during a sudden stampede of a horse; probably spooked by the loud martial music. However, she quickly recovered and has been on the road ever since.

For more of France's awe-inspiring photographs of Hola Mohalla, Maptia recently featured her work in large sized photographs.

POV: Zoom IQ7 Microphone

I've returned from almost three weeks traveling to Vietnam, which may explain the long silence on this blog. The purpose of my trip was to add to my personal project's inventory of images, and glean further information on the subject by way of interviews.

Before traveling, I had seen some reviews on the Zoom IQ7; a compact but full-featured mid-side stereo condenser mic, which was designed to fit with all Lightning-equipped iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod.  The microphone retails for $100.

Seeing that I was trying to minimize my load as much as possible, I decided to give it a try as it weighed next to nothing compared to my other stand alone recording devices; the Marantz PMD620 and the bulkier TASCAM DR-40, and it would take no space at all. I also decided to add the ShoulderPod S1 to it as well.

I was comfortable in using the Zoom IQ7 whilst conducting interviews in Hanoi. Affixed to my iPhone 6, it was unobtrusive and unthreatening, even when fitted with its foam windscreen. I suppose the interviewees saw that it was nothing but a small attachment to an iPhone, and were not as intimidated by it as a standard recording device.

I also liked the free Zoom's free Handy Recorder app, which is super easy to use as well. It offers some editing functions (that I haven't used because I'll do the sound edits on Audacity), and allows me to save the audio files in either linear PCM or AAC file formats. I chose the latter format for the interviews and was very pleased with the results. The app also allowed me to email the audio files I created, and/or to upload it to SoundCloud if I wanted to.

Interviewing various mediums, such as Ms Dieu Hoa, using the Zoom IQ7 was a cinch. The controls are easy to adjust, and from the app itself I was able to quickly email the audio files for translation into English to one of my contacts in Hanoi.

This is not a tech review by any means, but is just my experience with this newly launched product. None of the manufacturers mentioned in this post have any relationship with me, beyond being a consumer.