One of the most awesome timelapses you will ever see, ‘Timescapes’, a portrait of the American Southwest
Tom Lowe and his team have been pushing the boundaries of timelapse photography and videography for a number of years now on Timescapes and this is an edit of footage for an upcoming debut film. Seriously inspiring, I cannot imagine all the hours spent setting up and waiting and getting into the best positions to shoot such amazing footage (Shot on the RED Epic, Canon 5D mk II and Canon 1D mk IV).
Faces of Sri Lanka
The end of the civil war and the opening up of Sri Lanka is indeed having a palpable effect on the population tired of strife and instability. I could perceive an overwhelming sense of optimism and hope from the friendly and hospitable people wherever I went in the country. A people who have put their differences behind him and are looking ahead for a more positive future.
See photos and read about my journey in Sri Lanka, from Colombo to Trincomalee.
Sri Lanka, from Colombo to Trincomalee
Sri Lanka is an incredibly diverse country, both ethnically and ecologically. Majority Sinhalese, the rest of the population is also represented by Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Tamils, Muslims, Burghers (descendants of the Portugese, Dutch and British colonials) and Malays. The Sinhalese have been in Sri Lanka since the 5th Century and are the earliest inhabitants of the country, with the Tamils arriving later as invaders and slaves brought by the British.
A violent secessionist and nationalist civil war had been raging on in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009, where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were fighting for an independent Tamil state in the north of Sri Lanka. Post 2009 and post civil war (when the Sri Lankan army finally defeated the LTTE), large parts of the formerly inaccesible rebel controlled north were finally opened to visitors.
I was in Sri Lanka in 2010, just as the dust of the civil war was beginning to clear and Sri Lanka was rising from the ashes of her turbulent past to face a more optimistic and peaceful future. Much of the infrastructure was still very basic, with travel between cities mostly on difficult, bumpy, dilapidated roads or just dirt tracks. Despite Sri Lanka being a relatively compact country, travel tool a significant amount of time. Sri Lanka was like a treasure chest of undiscovered jewels, home to 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 1330 kilometers of mostly pristine beaches, 15 national parks with an abundance of wildlife and flora, almost 500,000 acres of stunning tea plantations, 250 acres of botanical gardens, 350 waterfalls, 25,000 water bodies and a rich and diverse culture that stretches back 2,500 years.
Colombo
The de-facto capital of Sri Lanka, is also its commercial and financial heart. A riot of new and old, traditional and modern, Colombo is where we landed in Sri Lanka. We stayed at the Galle Face Hotel, which has hosted royalty, celebrities and world figures since 1864. I can best describe it as crumbling chic, steeped in heritage but could do with a lick of paint or two! We arrived during the Vesak celebrations, birthday of Lord Buddha, which is a major religious and cultural celebration as majority of the population are Buddhists. There was a distinctive festive spirit in the air and festive flags were flying everywhere in the city, as well as street celebrations.
Sunset at the patio, facing the Laccadive Sea, Galle Face Hotel. Photo courtesy of Claire Rowland
Tincomalee
The place where I was most looking forward to visiting was Trincomalee, or Trinco as the locals call it. Formerly closed off rebel territory, it has newly reopened and hotels are starting to sprout up to serve the curious visitors starting to arrive. Predominantly Tamil, Trinco is home to the famous Koneswaram Temple, which has been at the site in various forms since the 3rd century. Trinco was also an important sea port significant in the maritime history of Sri Lanka, not to mention the headquarters of Lord Louis Mountbatten, Allied Southeast Asian commander during WWII.
History aside, Tricomalee is much quieter than the rest of the country, with some of the most scenic and picturesque beaches to be found in Sri Lanka, with whale watching to be had off the seas. The sea is also extraordinarily shallow, allowing one to walk over a hundred metres out to sea without the water reaching the chest.
Sri lanka is finally opening up its treasures to the more adventurous visitor, and I pray they strike a good balance between economic development and development of the tourist infrastructure and the preservation of the ancient culture and the unspoilt environment in the coming years.
See my portraits of the friendly people of Sri Lanka.
Fiji From The Air, the video
The stunningly diverse landscape below me was hard to comprehend, a heady swirl of a million shades of blues and greens and browns, it was at times hard to tell where the horizon was, where the sea ended and where the sky began. The doors of the chopper were wide open, and the wind was lashing against my face. The sun was still quite low in the sky, casting shadows on the landscape, the perfectly blue sea offered up its treasure trove - a million sparkling diamonds on the surface. Clichéd, but truly this was Paradise.
Check out the aerial photos of Fiji and the rest of the Fiji series.
Songs of the South Pacific, a welcome from Fiji.
Fijians just have a knack for music, they are without doubt one of the most naturally musically-inclined people I have met (Filipinos are pretty high up in the list as well). Everywhere we went, there was music. At dinner, someone would be strumming the guitar in the corner, in a queue, someone would be humming a tune to themselves, at church, the singing was glorious, and the congregation would be in full belt. Music seems to be fundamental pillar of Fijian life and culture.
This duo were singing at breakfast at the Sofitel and I asked if they would mind doing a rendition for me by the beach and they were more than happy to. I don’t know what the exact title of the song is but I call it ‘The Bula Song’.
*Bula, which literally means ‘life’, is a a word imbued with a variety of meanings, chiefly, ‘hello’ or ‘welcome’.
Check out the aerial photos of Fiji and the rest of the Fiji series.
Monk begging for alms | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2010.
Canon 5D mkII, EF 85mm f1.8
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Over the past 15 years, I’ve been lucky to have travelled to a multitude of places and met countless amazing people. This collectively has played a huge role in shaping my world view and making me the person I am today. What I’ve come to realise is that despite differences in our skin colour, language, socio-economic status, we are all united in our common humanity, that we by and large dream the same dreams and seek the same things in life: Love, security, friendship and a purpose to wake up in the morning.
From the archives is a celebration of people, places and travel, and its limitless potential to open eyes and shape minds. From time to time, I will post a photograph I’ve taken from my archive of 43,000 photos from this period, with a brief description. Some photos are taken on film, some on digital, and I will include any camera equipment details if I have them. Please feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts!
View the other photos ‘From the Archives’!
Bula! The friendly faces of Fiji
I staggered off the plane after 24 hours spent either in the air or transiting at airports to a crisp, mountain-fresh breath of air. I was in Nadi, the capital of Fiji, a collection of 333 islands in the tropical South Pacific. The first word I heard was ‘Bula!’ from the immigrations officer, not typically the friendliest of people.
A tropical paradise in every sense of the word, but Fiji’s greatest treasures lay not in the glorious beaches, the islands dotted about a never ending cobalt blue sea or the chilled out island life, but in the warmth of the many Fijians we met on the trip. Laid back, generous and hospitable, most Fijians are genuinely welcoming to outsiders, and I don’t remember ever seeing anyone stressed out.
Taking portraits in Fiji is almost too easy, despite a foreigner pointing his camera at their faces, most of my subjects are more than happy to oblige with a smile, the resulting photos are my tribute to the faces of Fiji.
Check out the aerial photos of Fiji and the rest of the Fiji series.
Faces of Mongolia
Outside of the main cities, the nomadic way of life still predominates, as it had for the past 3000 years. People tend to live very close to nature, in a relationship of dependance and interdependance. The climate on the steppes is harsh, with scorching summers and freezing winters, with temperatures dropping to -40˚C. Their livestock is a literal lifeline, providing milk, food, wool and labour, needless to say, a large portion of nomadic life is dedicated to caring for their livestock, horses, sheep, goat, cows or yaks and camels. Subsistence farming, whilst possibly a ‘romantic’ notion, is a harsh reality and the numbers of nomads are dropping, with the younger generation being lured by the bright lights and opportunities of the city.
See more photos and read my other posts on my Mongolia adventure here.
Tourists in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia
When most people think of Mongolia, they are actually thinking of Inner Mongolia, which is actually part of China. Mongolia is a sovereign nation, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. According to Mongolians I’ve spoken to, Inner Mongolia is about as ‘Mongolian’ as a Pizza Hut pizza is Italian, having a majority of Han chinese forming its population, and having the traditional nomadic, common ownership culture of the Mongolians already diluted by the capitalist zeal of the Chinese.
I spent 11 days in Mongolia in July 2011 and it proved to be a complete eye opener. Coming from ultra urban city of Singapore, with a constant shortage of space and being surrounded on all sides by the sea, the landlocked nation of Mongolia, with its vast, vast open spaces and endless steppes was the complete polar opposite. It reminded me greatly of the nation of Rohan, and the Mongolians, the Rohirrim, ‘horse-lords’ from the Lord of the Rings. In fact, I reckon Tolkien modeled his mythical Rohan on Mongolia, with its fabled horsemanship amongst its people and its endless rolling steppes.
I’ve always taken the sea for granted, the beach is never more than a half hour drive from any direction in Singapore, being a small, connected island, imagine my surprise when I learnt that most people in Mongolia have never seen the sea, and hardly anyone knew how to swim. I don’t know why that surprised me, as it is obvious to anyone who looks at the map of Mongolia in relation to its neighbours, the nearest access point to the open sea would be the Bo Hai Sea, past Beijing and to the port city of Tianjin, thousands of kilometers away. Nonetheless, its still such a surprising concept that it took quite a while to sink in.
Ulaan Baatar
Most visitors will arrive via Ulaan Baatar, the capital city of Mongolia, which literally mean’s ‘Red Hero’, in honour of Mongolia’s national liberation hero Damdin Sükhbaatar.
Damdin Sükhbaatar’s statue stands in the middle of Sükhbaatar Square, Ulaan Baatar.
Zaisan Memorial, built by the Russians to commemorate fallen Soviet soliders in WWII.
Ulaan Baatar is quite a rapidly modernising city, with shiny glass facades of new office blocks standing alongside crumbling Soviet era buildings, and construction going on in many places. Much of the Mongolia economy has in recent years, been propelled by the great surge in mining related revenue, with Mongolia sitting on massive deposits of copper, coal, iron, uranium, zinc and other natural resources, with the world increasingly hungry for natural resources, and the Rio Tintos of the world falling over themselves to set up mines in Mongolia, the economy is set to keep growing. My hope is that the influx of investment and money coming into the country will translate to more favourable socio-economic conditions for the population at large, and not just line the pockets of the dealmakers, and throughout all this development, the traditional nomadic culture of its people will not be lost, replaced by rampant consumerism and Starbucks (which thankfully, hasn’t yet arrived in Mongolia).
Ulaan Baatar is reputed to be the coldest capital city in the world, with the average annual temperature freezing up the mercury at -1.3˚C. I was there in the height of summer so it was rather pleasant, -40˚C in winter would not be my idea of fun.
The capital is a base to get started in the country, but of course, no one comes to Mongolia to hang out in Ulaan Baatar, and it is when you leave the city that the magic begins.
The rolling hills surrounding Ulaan Baatar.
