Nirmal And His Super Car

I met Nirmal on Badem hill one day last week as I drove up there to watch the sunset. He was sitting in this amazing looking car that he had built, listening to music with his wife Dyugo and their son, Ata. I got out of my car to admire his amazing wheels and soon […]

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Lost in Translation | Executive Portrait

Mr. Peter Schuller is the global IT services director at McKinsey & Co. from Dusseldorf. He embodies what we could refer to as an ‘executive on the move’. He spends a large part of his life in transit between hotel rooms, the taxi to the nearest airport and the departure or arrival terminals.

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India’s Story of Triumph Over Polio

The story of India’s polio immunisation campaign seen through the lens of five professional photographers sent to locations across the country to capture the essence of “the polio round’ and show India’s remarkable journey from having half of the world’s polio cases to celebrating three years of freedom from the disease.

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Under African Sky

Most people that go to Africa, especially if going on safari, will carry their biggest lens to capture the wild life. I was not going to fall into this trap. I am not a wild life photographer and bringing back a picture of a lion from up close is not what I had in mind. For me the magic was better captured with the iPhone

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How, and do we represent the interests of those we photograph

Readers are quick to react when they feel a photographer has crossed the line and intruded into a subject’s personal life. This is especially visible when victims of violence and their families are suddenly thrust into the harsh light of public scrutiny, their private life suddenly the subject of front-page pictures and articles.

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Not a question of IF but a question of WHEN!

Today I want to talk about storage and back up of digital images. I’m sure you all back up your pictures on a regular basis, but how? Do you still use a simple external hard drive or back up to DVD and think you are safe? If indeed than you should get your act together […]

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Choose a 35mm prime lens to improve your photography

How often do you stop and think which lens you are going to take with you on the next assignment? If you had to make a choice for only one lens, which one would it be? Ever since the digital AF-S lenses and my deteriorating eye sight (I’ve been making jokes that very soon I […]

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Good images don’t just fall off the tree

It was said by a photographer (and thanks for John Stanmeyer for reminding) that showing contact sheets is like showing someone your underwear. An interesting way to put it but surely there is a great interest in the contact sheet that shows the  photographer’s thinking process behind the shot. The Contact Sheet I was in […]

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Ganesh Chaturthi iPhonography

iPhonography again. Just a quick one with some iPhone shots from the Ganesh Chaturthi procession in Mumbai this last Sunday. I was with a small group of photographers that came for the workshop so did not really shoot so much, but I still managed to sneak in a few snaps. You must have already noticed […]

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10 Great Books On Photography Every Photographer Should Read

While there are thousands of photography books in the market it is not such an easy task to make a list of ten books on the subject of photography. I could think of four or five off the top of my head but the rest were a problem. Starting with the books I’ve already read I asked friends and colleagues about their own favorites.

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Photography Will Never Be The Same Again

You might not realize it yet, but this is as big, or even bigger than the invention of the digital camera. In the pocket of your shirt or in the zipper of your bag lurks no less than the most inspiring and innovative imaging system in the history of photography. Under the innocent phone cover of your iPhone lies a powerful tool that is changing the way we work and think as photographers.

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Where does Influence End and Creativity Begins?

My recent post about the question of originality ‘What is an original photograph? Do you create original work?‘ showed a couple of examples of similar images shot by different photographers raising the question of influence and intent. The comment thread on this post brought up some new angles and questions about originality and creativity that […]

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What is an original photograph? Do you create original work?

I have just read an interesting post called ‘How Not To Be Taken Seriously’ on a blog owned by @GuyTalPhoto that I came by on twitter. Guy tells a story about creating “art” that is a little too much inspired by another artist. The post gives a nice story about a musician who came for […]

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Microfinancing loans, or Christian missionaries in disguise?

Is the NGO distributing micro loans to women in Chhatisgarh actually a front to a new Christian mission in disguise? I have just returned from Raipur, Chhatisgarh, shooting a feature about microfinancing for a German consumer magazine. The shoot was very simple and straight forward, but we have found some remarkable facts about the NGO […]

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Ten photo tips that can change the way you shoot

Now, more that ever, digital cameras have reduced the technical limits to producing high-quality images. Almost everyone who has a camera and a small amount of training can make satisfactory photographs. Yet, despite the ever-growing popularity of the medium, and the billions of photographs created all over the world on a daily basis, very few […]

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Not all Slumdogs are Millionaires!

So Slumdog Millionaire had won the Oscar and suddenly everyone is looking at India and the story of Dharavi slum comes out to light. For this reason alone maybe it is a good thing that this movie won, but will it do anything to help the children still living there? Dharavi slum had never looked […]

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