The rise of Maiko Satsuki-san from her debut in February 2011 to being the top in 2013 is remarkable and reflects her strong non-stop hard work attitude including very very little time off for holidays.  My wife and I had the privilege of having lunch with her and her older sister, Geiko Kyouka-san right after the awards ceremony earlier this month.  It is wonderful to be able to see her passion and determination and yet keep her playful personality (she is only 18).  To be number 1 in Gion is unimaginably difficult and for the same Okiya (Tsurui) to have three maiko/geiko represented in the top five is also a strong testimony to the Tsurui Okaasan (House mother). Congratulations to all of them and looking forward to the start of their new Maiko this year.

On a separate note, some of my work on the Geiko/Maiko in Kyoto was published on Burn magazine and a different set was highlighted on the Travel Photographer Blog.  It is indeed an honor to be selected and I have received a lot of ideas and advice both via the comments and through personal mails which will help me evolve in my project.  Thank you all for your support.

Another year comes to a close and the current year was one which was very meaningful and productive for me on all levels. On a personal level, I was able to spend a very satisfactory amount of quality time with each of my family and loved ones (which was critical for me especially after the events of 3/11 in Japan). On the photography frontier, the whole year presented wonderful opportunities to interact and learn with passionate photographers, to meet beautiful and warm people, to photograph in aesthetically rich locations, and to grow personally through reflection.

Spending time in Myanmar (Burma) in February fulfilled a long awaited personal wish for travel to this wonderful country. Reflections on that trip taken with photographer Steve McCurry and the personal exchange that followed with hundreds of other photographers, allowed me to better understand what I enjoyed/wanted to work on, and how I could move to the next level as well as gave me more confidence to take more solo steps. A family trip to Italy during the summer reintroduced me to the beauty of the works of Caravaggio and Bernini and sparked a strong desire to study lighting in more detail.

Late Autumn brought a unique opportunity being selected for participation in David Alan Harvey’s Loft workshop which (as everyone else has correctly confirmed) is a life changer as a photographer. Words cannot describe how generous DAH was with his teaching and I am truly grateful for his passion and time which he takes for all his students and for introducing all aspects of a life as a photographer. Being in the company of talented photographers and eventually presenting my own project to a packed room with the legendary Bruce Davidson and others in attendance was a very special memory. My project on a muslim woman who (post 9/11) hardly left her home in Manhattan and spent her days worrying about the safety of her son was an attempt to try something new within a very short time period and was well accepted by my gracious peers. The original idea to spend considerable amount of time with/photographing one person was suggested to me by David Turnley earlier and was challenging but very rewarding.

Time with DAH allowed some personal discussion and reflection on my photography related goals as well as my very traditional approach to photography. As an outcome of that discussion, I have been working on a project photographing the Maiko and Geiko (most Westerners use the word Geisha) in Kyoto for the past two months. This project is my non-photojournalistic attempt to photograph a subject which has been inaccessible to most Westerners and also blends well with my personal attraction to find harmony between tradition and modernism. I have set a personal deadline for middle of January

As 2011 draws to a close, I would like to thank all who have written and supported me over the whole year even though I was too busy to post on my blog. Taking time off to balance between family, relationships, and personal achievement was one of the best things that happened to me and I look forward to 2012 with renewed energy and passion.

May creativity, joy and peace lead you to whichever journey you choose. Wishing you a very happy holiday season with your loved ones.

Arif

An intense week of participation in David Alan Harvey’s famous loft workshop (write-up to follow) necessitated some quiet reflection and family time, and what better way to do it than to spend it taking in the beautiful Fall colours of Vermont. It is difficult for words and pictures to do justice to the beauty of Vermont in the Fall and one just has to experience it and intoxicate the senses. I am attaching a few pictures of Jenne’s Farm and the Sugar Shack which must be among the most photographed locations in Vermont with the rustic farmhouses and rolling meadows.

Fall is just around the corner in Japan and I look forward to spending some time in one of Kyoto’s many temples working on my book project.

Sumo with a history of many hundred years represents the essence of Japan and Shintoism within all its traditions and fanfare.  At one time, the sport allowed kids who had difficulty finding work, the ability and dignity of living a respectable life while teaching them about perseverance and hard work. That whole history of tradition and honor lately came under fire due to game fixing scandals and the public interest, already distracted by the tsunami tragedy, waned to the point that the Tokyo Bassho (one of the six major championships during the year) did not sell out in advance. However, as the Bassho progressed, there emerged the prospect of a new champion who was Japanese and that prompted previous supporters to return and cheer. It was unclear till the last day of the tournament as to who would be the champion with the reigning champion Hakuho and the Japanese contender Kotoshogiku both needing to win on the last day to lay a stake at the title.

With the new Japanese Prime Minister in attendance, the crowd cheered their favorites hoping for Kotoshogiku to beat the Estonian Baruto and it certainly seemed that Kotoshogiku knew that there was history to be made and that a win would allow him to be the only Japanese whose picture would be hung among all the other recent champions on the walls of this Sumo shrine.  A false start allowed Kotoshogiku’s opponent Baruto to prepare and thwart the first move and eventually allowed Baruto to win.  The only hopes for the crowd were if Hakuho would also lose but Hakuho prevailed becoming one of only six Sumo champions with more than 20 championship wins.  Kotoshogiku’s fine performance allowed him to be promoted to the title of Ozeki.  At the young age of 27, there are high hopes for Kotoshogiku from Japanese sumo lovers and one looks forward to the rivalry with the 26 year old Hakuho.

Watching 50+ matches and the different levels of the contenders for the length of the day, I could appreciate Sumo’s systematic and disciplined process of working up through the ranks for not only the Sumo wrestlers, but also the referees.  Yesterday marked the last day for the 35th Kimura Shonosuke (name bestowed to the top referee) who served as a referee for 50 years.  In Sumo, the last match of the day is the most important and is refereed by the Kimura Shonosuke. The next championship will thus see a new Kimura Shonosuke and the tradition will continue and with it the hopes of the sport winning back the hearts of many more viewers.

Waking up in the (freezing) pre-dawn hours and heading out in the mirror-like calm waters of the Inle lake, one is rewarded with the beautiful silhouettes of the Intha fishermen as they cast their big nets and row using their unique style – with the legs. This technique of standing up holding a long paddle in one hand and their leg wrapped around the paddle lower down, leaves the Intha fishermen free to use the other hand for manipulating their conical net for fishing in the shallow waters of the lake. This unique style evolved for the reason that the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men. Women row in the customary style, using the oar with their hands, sitting cross legged at the stern.

Perhaps one of my most memorable experiences in Myanmar, I was able to ride along in one of these flat-bottomed boats and struggled through 50+ pre-breakfast ab crunches trying to keep my feet out of the pictures, and simultaneously not upsetting the balance of the boat.







The fishermen take great pride in their traditional tattoos which are very clearly visible on their tanned chests, backs, and arms.


One of the top five attractions in Myanmar, Inle Lake is definitely worth the visit and although there are many tourists, one can still find a quiet place to relax and watch life go by.

Following the tragic earthquake and tsunami, all sporting and entertainment events were cancelled all over Japan as a sign of respect and support for the ones affected.  During the past few weeks, all of Japan continued to watch and reconcile the drama that was unfolding at Fukushima – radiation fears, the horror of which this island nation is all well aware of.  As time passes, the frequency of images of the incident slowly begin to reduce and Japan tries to start the journey back to what was once “normal”.  The start is not without continuous fears due to the never ending aftershocks, any of which could trigger the domino of nuclear plant collapses across the Eastern coastline and cripple the country.  Life in Japan without the traditional “Hanami” (Cherry blossom viewing gathering/parties) is unnerving even to me as a resident foreigner and I sought a way to return to images of what I consider my “normal”.

Yabusame at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine is a tradition surviving many centuries.  This year’s event event included a special service remembering the victims and the families of the earthquake and Tsunami and with prayers for the ones who are in shelters.  The best seats in the viewing gallery were reserved for donors, and for people who had come from the impacted Tohoku area. A bright, sunny day brought warmth and cheer and the tradition continued.

For this blog, I wanted to include some pictures of the ceremonies and the riders preparing for the event.  It was nice to greet familiar faces and to see some new ones among the riders.  The Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine still follows strict tradition which forbids female participants but who still played other roles in the staging of the event.  At the end of the day, all the riders joined the staff to collect donations for the Tohoku Earthquake relief fund. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with them.

It has been tough to get myself to photograph the past few days after what has been going on in the rest of Japan.  My mind has been full of images of destruction, and of the sights and sounds of the homeless, and their tears and memories about things lost including loved ones.  Living in Japan, one gets used to the concept of earthquakes and after the earthquake in Kobe, there was a certain level of preparation, but then how does one prepare for a tsunami which reached a height of 30m and which played with huge ships like lego blocks?  Living in the modern age, I watched “live” as thousands of unaware bystanders were swept away in a matter of minutes and homes crumbled like matchsticks.  There was no chance for the ones who were caught in the fury of this record breaking disaster.

A few hundred kilometers away, my life in Tokyo also changed, and along with the 35+million other locals, I tried to adjust to the wave of 150+ earthquake aftershocks and the sea of humanity that was left without transportation and electricity, crippling this ultra-modern city.  One could overcome the lack of toilet paper and food and bottled water in the stores, and one could overcome the lack of heat at night but it was difficult to face a danger which one could not see or feel.  As thousands of foreigners left Tokyo due to the radiation scare, I went through many questions in my own mind and tried to answer what Tokyo and Japan meant to me and in the end, the choice was simple – this was home and I would stay.  I have travelled over 50 countries, lived in 20+ cities but had never thought about that question.  As I reflected back, I remembered that a long time ago, I had seen an Argentinian movie which had taught me that “home was a place which one did not want to leave” no matter how long one had lived there or how terrible it was.

I am lucky that I work in a company that “helps all people live healthy lives” and it was easy for me to find a way to start contributing. As I look around me and watch how others are supporting, I have full confidence that Japan will emerge from this crisis.  It will not be easy and will take a while, but then this is a country of people who understand the word “self sacrifice”.   Discipline and dedication were the pillars behind the rise of modern Japan and I am happy to see that success did not weaken the moral foundation.

Today, Cherry Blossoms start to bloom and bring hope that better days are around the corner.

I want to thank all the people who have written to me and enquired about the safety of my family.  Your thoughts, prayers, and warm wishes have been a big source of comfort and strength.  Thank you and God Bless You.

Some portraits from my daily walks in Yangon. Wherever I visited, I was always met with a smile and made to feel very welcome. My days in Myanmar were full of interactions with the novice nuns and novice monks. Never did I feel any negative response to my requests for photographs. My appreciation and respect for them grew with every interaction and I felt I met many people I would have liked to be friends with. In Bhutan I had started to notice some frustration by monks who must have felt like animals in a zoo with tourists coming and taking a picture without any attempt to build a relationship. For me, many times I try to first build and then photograph that relationship. Sometimes it just starts with an effort to learn the other person’s name.

I found people to be great with smiles covering any scars of any depressive regime. Younger couples held hands and dressed alike on Valentine’s Day. There was always a strong sense of modesty and dignity and no matter where I went I never felt unsafe. The only terrifying thing in the evenings were the mosquitoes but I was well prepared. George Orwell in “Burmese Days” mentions casually “At night, Master too drunk to notice mosquitoes; at day, mosquitoes too drunk to notice Master”








]]> http://arifiqball.com/blog/2011/02/28/myanmar-faces/feed/ 1 http://arifiqball.com/blog/2011/02/25/spitting-monks/ http://arifiqball.com/blog/2011/02/25/spitting-monks/#comments Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:00:32 +0000 Arif http://arifiqball.com/blog/?p=691 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

During my trip to Myanmar, I spent a lot of time with novice monks including visiting monasteries and their living quarters and even spending few hours in the early morning walking with them as they walked door to door to collect food. I always find a wonderful sense of calm and self restraint in these novice monks and was very warmly welcomed as they often nervously/often eagerly chatted with me in English (one of six subjects they study) and I feel I made many friends on this trip.

While waiting and watching them climb the stairs to/from their living quarters, I was able to capture a moment where a young novice monk ran down the stairs and spit out the window in mid flight.  Maybe this was one of what Steve McCurry called “The Unguarded Moment” or maybe this was a child being a child.

At Inle, while Steve was photographing his Masterpiece Buddha figure, I met this 20 year old mother and her child and asked for permission to photograph her while she nursed her baby. There was a certain charm and strong sense of personality about her and I spent a considerable amount of time photographing and talking to her and her whole family.  I will post more pictures as I sort through them.

For additional pictures from my trip please visit my Myanmar gallery where I will be adding pictures as I work on them.

Thanks to all who commented on this picture at the Leica Forum.

It has been a while since I last posted and it was for a very good reason – A two week workshop in Myanmar with Steve McCurry.  I have been a fan of Steve’s portraits from National Geographic and from Magnum and had wanted to be able to spend time with him to learn from the Master himself.  His workshop also allowed me to visit Myanmar which had been on my high priority visit list since it remains the last country in Southeast Asia that is almost entirely untouched and is also one of the most devoutly Buddhist countries left on earth. With the release from house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, more and more people are wanting to visit this magical place.  Luxury Travel Magazine recently listed Myanmar as one of the Top 11 trends in 2011, and so it was best to visit before the tourist buses arrived and all was lost.

Over the next few weeks I will sort through my many pictures and organize them in themes as well as write about the workshop itself.  Here is a quick edit of a sight that may be familiar to you.

While changing computers, I came across many galleries of Bhutan that I had not fully worked on or put up on my web site.  Processing these colorful pictures through the Black and White lens of my memories, I remembered many wonderful moments in what was one of my favorite photography trips.  I cannot recommend enough the wonderful trip that was put together by Robin Smillie of Rainbow Photo Tours.  If you ever want to visit Bhutan, then Robin is the person to work with to set up a memorable journey and plan for you.  Here are some more portraits from that trip.  I will continue to add more as I work through them.

I had been revisiting my Bhutan photographs in anticipation and preparation of my trip to Myanmar in February.  From what I can feel looking at the pictures of Myanmar on the internet, it promises to be similar but yet different.  Similar in that I see the same smiling faces and calmness that is typically seen in most Buddhist cultures but different in that the scenery is rich with history of a once wealthy Kingdom.  The thousands of temples in the valley of Bagan, and the Golden temples in Yangon create both curiosity and concern. For a long time, I have been looking forward to visiting both Myanmar and Cuba and with Myanmar opening up its doors, I grabbed the first opportunity I could get.  Yesterday the US showed more openness towards Cuba and I look forward to going there soon before the colors mix too much with things that are so familiar to me in the Western world.

A New Year and a new start and I am looking forward to doing a lot of photography this year.  Over the holidays I played around a little bit with some old pictures I had taken in Bhutan two years ago.  Although Bhutan is very colorful and a photographer’s paradise, I tried to see how some of the pictures would turn out in B&W.  In a way, Bhutan is still suspended in time so perhaps B&W does do justice to the wonderful people who live there and who shared many smiles with me.  Most of these are taken with the Leica M8 and the Nikon D3.

I met this couple in Bali during my last visit.  They were the Priest and Priestess at a local temple and I saw them walking hand in hand in the rice fields leading to the temple.  Slowly and delicately, they supported each other across the stairs and broken sidewalks and I walked with them thinking about love and companionship and what it means to them now and perhaps throughout their life.  They were happy to be able to live with each during these days cherishing their time together and it was a joy to be able to witness this.

As 2010 draws to a close, I would like to take this time to thank all of you who have been reading my blog and sending me private comments.  A special thanks to Tsuru-san who has the record to have commented on all my blogs  and my pictures .  Your comments and well wishes are always encouraging for me to write more.  I wanted to thank Wendy and Tom for writing about me and my pictures for their University papers.  Thanks also to the many people and (companies) who bought my pictures through the various agencies I am listed at.

Looking forward to 2011 and to the possibilities it brings, I am hoping to spend more time photographing people in their natural environments and also working in B&W.   I hope I can take some pictures that will remain in the hearts and memories of the viewers.

May creativity, joy and peace lead you in whichever journey you choose.  Have a very safe and happy holiday season with your loved ones.

Arif