Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
The answer? It depends.

This time, I'm not referring to visual plagiarism but to the imitation of style and copying of unimaginative itineraries in the travel photography tours/workshops industry.

Many travel photographers recently awoke to the fact that tours and workshops can add a little something to their bottom line (actually, big and small name photojournalists are doing it as well), and their offerings are all over the internet. Their target market is made up of working and non-working photographers, who seek to build an inventory of images, either to show friends and neighbors, enter and hopefully win competitions, or to sell as stock and to publications.

All this sounds lovely but regrettably, the disease currently afflicting photojournalism seems to have spread into travel photography as well. It's rather disconcerting to see a lack of imagination in many travel photography tours, a frequent "borrowing" of regular tourist itineraries, and the liberal sprinkling of the sentence "photo-shoot" and "wake up at dawn" and similar verbiage in the marketing blurbs, as if that's enough to give legitimacy to the notion that these trips are really tailored for photo enthusiasts.

As regular readers of this blog know, I've swatted off a number of attempts by established travel photographers to either flagrantly filch my itineraries (inclusive of hotel names) or to get a copy of my mailing list for my photo~expeditions, or to join that mailing list to get advance notice of my itineraries. Oh, yes...corporate espionage is alive and well in the travel photography workshop business, but that's par for the course.

Have I consciously imitated any other travel photographers as far as itineraries are concerned? Sure, I may have been inspired by some, but I always avoided cookie-cutter itineraries (excepting Bhutan, where these are based on annual festivals), and I consistently base my itineraries on what and where I want to photograph...not on what and where others want to photograph. And the formula works...with my expeditions often with long waiting lists.

Speaking of inspiration: 24 months ago, I introduced multimedia storytelling tutoring using Soundslides on my photo-expeditions, so I'm chuffed to see others have just started to offer it as well. Soundslides...not SlideShowPro, Final Cut Express or other software choices.

Dwindling viable opportunities, reduced prices for images, tougher competition and increased costs are the reasons many travel photographers cut corners, and look for guidance, inspiration and successful examples to emulate; and as a result, some cross the invisible line and become unimaginative imitators.

So back to my question. Is imitation flattery or buggery? It depends on how the one being imitated actually views it, and what is being copied. Some will consider it a rip-off...others -as I do- consider it the sincerest form of flattery.

You see, it's not buggery unless one is willing to be buggered...but let's also remember, taking without giving back is bad karma.

Photo © Ralph Childs-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Ralph Childs-All Rights Reserved
Although Ralph Childs participated in my photo~expedition to Bali in summer 2007, he's once again joining Bali: Island of Odalan Photo-Expedition™ which I'm organizing and leading this coming August.

Ralph is an active member of the Arlington Camera Club, and his photographs of a Balinese dancer and of a Pemangku (Balinese priest) have both won awards at this month's competition.

He has indulged in a passion for photography since the late 1960s when he took a Minolta ALs camera to France, and he has continued his passion since. Ralph has already been on four of my photo~expeditions, and this coming August will earn the fifth notch on his belt.

Although I haven't firmed up any decisions yet, I am starting to mull over two (of the possible 3) Photo-Expeditions™ for 2011 that will be non-Arab Islam-centric. The two expeditions' underlying themes will be documenting the existing syncretism between Islam, its Sufi offshoot and another major tradition. The itineraries will include photographing certain rituals at obscure religious sites, as well as at other locations...I can't be more specific at this stage without letting the cat out of the bag.

As followers of my Photo-Expeditions™ news and of this blog know, I've decided to further accentuate the travel-documentary thrust of my photo~expeditions, and reduce the maximum number of participants to only 5 (excluding myself) on each trip.

My recent expeditions have become so popular that they've swelled up to 9-10 participants, and generated long waiting lists. As of 2011, participation will no longer be based on "first registered first in", but will be based on a portfolio viewing and other criteria. Details of the 2011 itineraries will be announced to subscribers to my newsletter mailing list.

In the meantime, I'm readying some pre-departure information for the participants in my Bali: Island of Odalan Photo-Expedition™ due to start August 1. Exciting stuff!!!

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Setting up of the Bali: Island of Odalan Photo-Expedition™ has been completed for a while, and the participants will shortly have to advise me their flight schedules. Time flies!!

The photo~expedition is especially structured for established photographers interested in documentary photography, ethno-photography and multimedia, and for those ready to create visual projects from their inventory of photographs, and learn how to control story length, intent, pace, use of music and ambient sound, narration, field recordings and interviews.

As in 2007, the base for this year's photo-expedition is a small Balinese-owned boutique hotel amidst a working rice-paddy in the art center town of Ubud.

I updated The Travel Photographer website with a new slideshow of more recent photographs made during my 2009-2010 trips, and added details of my planned In Search of Sufis Photo~Expedition™, which will be the first scheduled for 2011.

It's well on its way to being sold out, as I am restricting it to only 5 photographers.

The In Search of Sufis Photo~Expedition™ is not for first-timers to India, nor is it for photographers expecting choreographed photo-opportunities. This trip will be the quintessential fusion of travel photography and photojournalism, and aims to merge the visual with the intellectual.

It's structured for photographers interested in multimedia story-telling, interested in exploring the existing syncretism between Sufism and Hinduism, interested in documenting traditional ways of life of Gujarati tribal societies, and documenting Sufi rituals that include exorcisms and trances.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
The Zocalo, with its cultural activities, is the very heart of Oaxaca, and is a daily magnet for locals and tourists alike. It also attracts vendors of various trinkets, as well as poor children (all of them indigenous...possibly Zapotecs) who attempt to make a few pesos by selling chewing gum. Approaching the restaurants' tables occupied by tourists, these children sometimes shyly ask for left-overs. In fact, that's what three little girls did one evening. We gladly gave them whatever was on our table, and one of us even asked our waiter for a bag to give them half her pizza.

During a festive Guelguetza dance festival of schoolchildren, I looked beyond the colors, music, laughter and frenetic motion, and at the periphery of the stage, saw a Zapotec boy with arms outstretched in askance for fruits from one of the young dancers.

You see, after each dance the young dancers would reach into baskets of fruits, flowers and vegetables, and toss them to an appreciative audience. The Zapotec boy was in that audience, and wanted fruit. Mind you, not for keepsake as perhaps the families wanted, but to eat. However, I also noticed he never reached into the basket full of apricots just inches from him...no, that would be stealing. He just wanted the young dancer to give him one...and he got a fruit.

Not only was I sobered at this sight, but I also read in these unfortunate children's eyes an uncomprehending acceptance that they would never take part in an organized Guelaguetza dance such as the one they were witnessing. I also sensed that they understood that it was so because they were poor and were racially different. They would never wear the colorful Guelaguetza costumes. All this boy could muster was an old over sized baseball cap, and a dirty shirt.

No child should go hungry and no child should beg for food. Ever.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
Our "almost-a-week-long" Oaxaca Mini Photo-Expedition™ was replete with daily serendipitous photo opportunities. Lynn Padwe, Carl Meisel, Li Lu-Porter, Maria Dikeos and I roamed the streets of this wonderful town in search of photographic scenes, and we weren't disappointed.

Naturally, it was the Zocalo...the throbbing heart of Oaxaca, that offered the most in terms of photo ops, and we made the most of it. It's always a wonderment that Oaxaca (and certainly other similar towns in Mexico) always has something going on in its main square. During our 5 days there, every evening saw some sort of cultural event; a classical performance by the Oaxaca orchestra, a performance by a wide-throated Mariachi singer, a Guelaguetza festival for young children (above) and the weekly dance event.

After photographing the events, we would invariably make a beeline towards the various cafes and restaurants that line the square for drinks and/or dinner.

Note: I've recently noticed that a number of travel photographers have now started to appropriate the Photo-Expedition moniker that I've used for years. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I've just announced my first photo~expedition™ of 2011, and it'll be once again in Gujarat, but much different in context and objectives than the one I led earlier this year. As I always do, its details are shared to those who subscribe to my newsletter, and after a week or so, I make them public.

It will involve photographing tribal life in western Gujarat, the hijras at the famed Bahucharji temple, document the syncretism between Sufi Islam and Hinduism in various shrines and sacred sites in Gujarat's southern peninsula, and the African Indian Mystics of Gujarat, with their distinctive music and rituals.

This photo~expedition™ is limited to a maximum of 5 photographers, and its details have now been sent to my newsletter recipients.

It promises to be another exciting experience especially as it involves so many off-the-beaten-path documentary opportunities...Sufi and Hindu syncretism, eunuchs, the Indian Sufi mystics, and Gujarat's tribals! Not the faint of heart or for first-timers to India, it's a visual and intellectual itinerary which will offer immense opportunities to self-starters interested in documenting the complexities of conflicting traditions and ways of life in one of the most interesting countries of the world.

I'm on my way back to New York from teaching a multimedia class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul, and thought it opportune to announce that my first photo~expedition in 2011 will be to Gujarat, India. I have yet to pinpoint the dates, but I am leaning towards January 23 to February 6, 2011.

The Travel Photographer's In Search of Sufis photo~expedition will focus on the visual exploration of the syncretism which exists between Islam (especially Sufism) and Hinduism. Syncretism is the combination of disparate or contrary beliefs, often fusing practices of various traditional philosophies.

This expedition will travel in the southern peninsula of Gujarat, and photograph at the various Sufi shrines/darghas as well as Hindu temples, where a multitude of pilgrims arrive to supplicate. It will also include a foray in the tribal belt of Kutch to document the unaltered ways of life of the area, to include religious rituals exclusive to Gujarat.

The maximum number of participants is 5 (excluding myself), and participation will be based on a brief portfolio review. This photo~expedition is not for first-timers to India, is for self-starters and requires an interest in Indian religious traditions. It will include coaching in multimedia techniques and story-telling.

The photo~expedition will commence and end in Ahmedabad, which is well served by flights from Delhi and Mumbai. Hotel accommodations will range from 4-star hotels in the larger cities/towns to whatever is available in the more remote areas.

Details of the photo~expedition and its itinerary will initially be announced to my newsletter recipients in a few days, and then to the general public via this blog.

This photo~expedition is inspired by the remarkable work of my friend Asim Rafiqui as per his The Idea of India project.

I am planning my forthcoming Photo~Expeditions™ for 2011, and thought I'd write a heads-up concerning the direction these will take in the next year.

After some deliberation, I've decided to further accentuate the travel-documentary thrust of my photo~expeditions, and reduce the maximum number of participants to only 5 (excluding myself) on each trip. My recent expeditions have become so popular that they've swelled up to 9-10 participants, and generated long waiting lists. As of 2011, participation will no longer be based on "first registered first in", but will be based on a portfolio viewing and other criteria.

I intend to maximize the photo-journalism and travel-documentary components of my photo~expeditions even further, and largely focus on story-telling...and add a multi-media workshop element to them. This is the future of photography, and I fully intend to structure my photo~expeditions accordingly.

Here's an example of what I mean:

One of the photo~expeditions I intend to lead in summer 2011 is to Kashmir. I will announce its itinerary and the terms in due course, however it will be restricted to 5 photographers (excluding me).

The photographers will have visual and intellectual interest in Kashmir's Islamic culture, would have previously traveled to India, would be self-starters, have an affinity for photo-journalism & travel documentary photography, and want to work on individual projects and produce photo essays.

I chose Kashmir as an example because it's a destination that lends itself very well to both documentary photography (which is the objective of my photo~expeditions) and "pretty picturing" (which is not my aim). The overriding purpose in Kashmir will be to document its rich culture, its people and their faith. Will we photograph Dal Lake at dawn? Yes we will, but the major thrust will be on documenting the culture, and on projects of human interest.

Whether it's Kashmir, Kerala & Gujarat, Kathmandu, Havana, China, Siem Reap, Vietnam or any other of my possible 2011 destinations, carefully selecting participants and capping their number to 5, will accentuate the travel-documentary philosophy that I gained a reputation for, and will further enhance the quality of my photo~expeditions.

For further insight, here are a couple of my older posts (a) and (b) defining my philosophy behind my photo~expeditions. You'll find these quite interesting.

Here is an updated description of my photo~expeditions on my website.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy -All Rights Reserved
During the Oaxaca Mini Photo~Expedition™ last week, we attended a Guelaguetza performance at one of the town's old hotels. I managed to get our group in the dancers' dressing room just before the performance, where we were introduced to Gloria, an experienced dancer who was dubbed "La Maestra" by the rest of the dancers.

Although heavy-set, Gloria had the flexibility, energy and liveliness of dancers half-her age, and she deafened us with her rhythmic whistling during the most frenetic parts of the dances. A real professional, with a wicked sense of humor.

La Guelaguetza is a perfomance of traditional dances from the seven regions of the state of Oaxaca. The performance is a re-creation of the original dance steps and music passed down through the generations. Dancers, and even musicians, wear costumes representative of their respective district, which are decorated with ribbons and sometimes bells.

The origin of the Guelaguetza dances dates fro pre-Columbian traditions, and the word "guelaguetza" is originally Zapotec Indian which means an offering or gift. In the true spirit of guelaguetza, the dancers at the end of their performance toss gifts, usually of fruits and vegetables, into the crowd. These offerings represent their region's specialty and include straw hats, flowers, mangoes and even pineapples.

This is what I described in my earlier POV post, and the fruits were eagerly awaited by some poor Zapotec children watching the children Guelaguetza.

Here's my gallery of La Guelaguetza photographs, made in 2007, which has additional details.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Although I have a couple of international trips in the interim, my mind is increasingly getting focused on my forthcoming Bali: Island of Odalan Photo-Expedition™ in August, and to refresh my memory, I've been revisiting my RAW images files of my 2007 photo-expedition, and even processing some of them.

As is usual when I revisit images files after a while, I uncovered some images that I missed during my initial edits on my return from the 2007 trip, and some that are worth a second look. I viewed these with my Canon's Digital Photo Professional software (version 3.7.3) which, while admittedly somewhat clunky, still does a reasonable job as a viewer and RAW converter.

I also used DPP's built-in image processor, and edited the images you see in this post entirely with it. I didn't use CS or LR at all. I'm not suggesting that DPP replaces any of those, but I was surprised that it did such a reasonable job in adjusting the exposure, de-saturating the colors and sharpening the images of the Legong dancers.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
During my Oaxaca Mini Photo-Expedition™ a few weeks ago, we drove to Ocotlán de Morelos which is located 30-40 kilometers from Oaxaca, and photographed at its weekly market. I found it much more photogenic than those in Oaxaca proper such as the Abastos and Benito Juarez markets; perhaps more authentic is a better description.

Notwithstanding, the Zapotecs are not fond of being photographed, and I had to be somewhat circumspect when photographing in such an environment. One of the photographs that almost works is the one of the Ocotlán matron above. The wall colors are great, the blue basket matches her frock, and her expression is phenomenal...but her posture is not quite as I would have liked it.

As I slowly moved to the right to adjust my framing after this photograph was made, she saw me and ran inside the store.

Ah well...perhaps another time I'll be luckier.