Global Voices Online » Photography

Kyrgyzstan: Crashed Boeing Photos

Adil Nurmakov — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:48:46 +0000

Elena uploaded other photos of the Boeing-737 that crashed shortly after takeoff from Bishkek airport, leaving more than 60 people dead.

Guinea-Bissau: Travel Pictures

Paula Góes — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:28:53 +0000

Attending requests, Brigida Rocha Brito [pt] publishes some pictures of Forest of Cantanhez, Tombali region in southern Guinea-Bissau, towards Guiné Conacri borders, and promises more soon. “Next there will be new series of pictures from Bissau and a third one from Cachéu, region in the north near the border with Senegal.”

Brazil: Church demands justice do ban sexy pic on Playboy

Paula Góes — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:03:29 +0000

Milton Ribeiro [pt] reports that the Brazilian Justice has banned a photo in August edition of Playboy, after complains from the Catholic Church because the model was holding a crucifix. “After all, the Catholic Church, who owns the fetish, felt offended and it is now going after the girl and the magazine. The penalty is more comprehensive and prevents the magazine, as of now, to publish any religion related article. That's right: prior censorship.” Check the blog out to see the picture.

Georgia: Photo Blogs

Onnik Krikorian — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:44:09 +0000

Georgia & South Caucasus posts a selection of images from two photo blogs taken in the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian conflict over South Ossetia. The photos include those of IDPs in Tbilisi and from the strategic town of Gori which was until recently occupied by Russian troops.

China: Photos from inside Tibetan Skynet control room

John Kennedy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:14:16 +0000

Famed she is, though definitely not for her blogging, which is too bad, because there's no doubt that a lot of people would be interested to see the control-room photos and series of Chinese-language sources that Tibetan writer Woeser has just posted which show just how close of an electronic eye Chinese authorities now have over Tibet in “Project Skynet” (not to be confused with that Skynet.

Jordan: Magazine Shoot

Amira Al Hussaini — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:26:48 +0000

Jordanian Laith Al Majali has just shot his first magazine cover. Click here for a sneak preview.

Georgia: Dispatches

Onnik Krikorian — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:32:02 +0000

My The Caucasian Knot has posts accompanied by photographs of a press conference given by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, an account of attempts to get into the Russian-occupied town of Gori, humanitarian concerns in Tbilisi following an influx of IDPs, and a report from inside Gori itself. Finally, there is a post on the possible aftermath of the Georgian-Russian conflict.

Kyrgyzstan: Plane Crashed Near Bishkek

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:58:59 +0000

Elena uploaded photos of the Boeing-737 crashed outside the capital Bishkek on Sunday where 25 people of the 90 people on board have survived.

China: Amazing Olympics recap photos

John Kennedy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:23:28 +0000

“Wow,” says Twitter user @frankyu, retweeting @PatrickSearle: “Amazing set of Olympic pics: http://stuff.thdesign.be/forum/varia/OS.html.” Note, though, that nudity can be seen there.

Bahrain: Celebrating the Imam Al-Mahdi’s birth

Ayesha Saldanha — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:34:11 +0000

In the middle of the Islamic month of Sha’aban, the month before Ramadan, festivities take place all over Bahrain celebrating the date of Imam Al Mahdi’s birth. The occasion is called Nasfa [Ar], and it is not just a Shiite religious feast, but an event celebrated by Bahrainis of all communities.

The Twelver Shi’a believe that the Imam Al Mahdi is the twelfth Imam and the ultimate saviour of humankind; they believe he is currently in hiding or occultation and will one day return to bring justice to the world. Rayyash marks the Imam Al Mahdi’s birth date:

تصادف هذه الليلة مولد منقذ البشرية وصاحب العصر والزمان الامام المهدي المنتظر عجل الله فرجه الشريف وتمر هذه الذكرى ونحن اصبحنا اليوم أحوج من أي وقت مضى لهذه الطلعة البهية بعد ان إنتشر الظلم والجور في انحاء المعمورة فعجل سيدي ومولاي ضهورك لتنشر العدل والقسط في زمن قل فيه العدل

Tonight coincides with the birth of the saviour of humankind, the awaited Imam Al Mahdi (may God hasten His return). This occasion comes at a time when we need His reappearance, more than any time before, after injustice made its way into this world. I am looking forward to Your re-emergence to spread justice at a time in which there is so little.

‘Nasfa' comes from the word for ‘half’, and it is similar to the festival which takes place halfway through Ramadan called Girgaoun (in fact many people call this month’s festival Girgaoun, too). Children visit houses in the neighbourhood wearing traditional outfits, and are given sweets and money. One blogger, Ali, believes that something has changed in recent years, though:

ساعات يقولون ليي ، تتكلم عن قبل كأنك شايب ، كم عمرك اللي تقول جدي !
فعلاً أتكلم عن قبل لأن فعلاً شهدت تغير واضح في عدة أشياء ، أعني تغير ملحوظ بحيث يقارن الوضع اليوم بالوضع قبل 10 سنوات ..
من ملاحظاتي من جولة سريعة في ليلة النصف من شعبان ، أن نسبة كبيرة من الأطفال بصحبة الخادمات بدلاً عن الأمهات أو الأخوات .. الخ حسب ما جرت عليه العادة ..
فيما سبق كانت الليلة فرحة للصغار و فرصة للتواصل بين الكبار ، و مع كل زيارة لأي بيت ، نسمع عبارات الترحيب و السؤال (شخبارش ؟ شخبار أمش ؟ (مع إنشاد الأطفال و عبارات الشكر بعد حصولهم على الحلويات و ما شابه . ما الذي نسمعه الآن ؟

Sometime I am told, ‘You speak about the past as if you are an old man – how old are you to talk like this?’
It’s true that I speak about the past, because I really have witnessed a clear change in a number of matters; I mean a noticeable change, if you compare the situation today to that of 10 years ago.
One thing I noticed on my quick tour around on the night of the Nasfa was that a large proportion of children were accompanied by housemaids instead of their mothers, sisters and so on, as used to be the case.
Previously it was a night of joy for children and an opportunity for the adults to catch up. With every visit to a house you would hear greetings and the questions ‘How are you? How is your mother?’ along with the children’s singing and their expressions of thanks after they had been given sweets and the like. But what do we hear today?

هدرة “بربرة” الخدم بلغتهم ، وويا الجهال اذا عطيتهم شئ قالوا : بـــس هـــذا ؟
نعم البيوت تتفاوت في ما تعطيه و لكن الأساس في فكرة التوزيع هي التبرك و المشاركة في الفرحة و ما شابه ، لكن أرى أن الأطفال حالياً لا يقنعون بأي شئ .. سابقاً كان البعض يتحايل بطريقة (عطيني حقي و حق أخويي و حق ولد اختي و حق و حق… ) الآن لا ! بكل “گساية” عيون يطلبون المزيد.
الرغبة في المزيد سلوك طبيعي بلا شك ، كنا سابقاً نتداول خبر أي بيت يوزع “ربية” ، حيث ان الغالبية توزع “اربعانات أو نص” ، والربية كانت مبلغاً جيداً .. و دلالة على غنى أصحاب البيت المعين !
لكن لم نكن بهذه “الرزالة” أبداً ..

We hear the din of the housemaids babbling in their language, and alongside that, if the children get given anything they say, ‘That’s all?’
Yes, houses vary in what they give, but the principle behind distributing things is that of blessing and sharing joy. However I can see that children now are not satisfied with anything. Previously some of them would try by saying, ‘Give what is due to me, and my brother, and my cousin, and…’ But now, no! With bare-faced cheek they ask for more.
Undoubtedly the desire for more is a natural one; we used to spread the news of any house giving out 100 fils coins [approx. US 25¢] while most were only giving out 25 fils or 50 fils. One hundred fils was a decent amount – and an indication of the wealth of a certain household!
But we were never, ever this greedy…

Photo credit:Maitham Al Mubarak

If you visit a traditional neighbourhood on the night of Nasfa you will see brightly coloured bunting and lights everywhere. Music is played, and stalls are set up to serve food to passers-by. People in cars are not forgotten; boys and men stand in the middle of the road and hand out snacks, drinks and toys to each passing car. But Ali thinks there is a negative aspect to this too:

الأمر الملاحظ الثاني هو نقاط التفتيش و السيطرة ، عفواً التوزيع ..
حيث تقطع الشوارع الى مقاطع فيما بينها يقف شخص أو أكثر لتوزيع المعلبات و الحلويات و بعض الوجبات ..
فكرة طيبة بلا شك ، لكن بطبيعتي أرفض فكرة الموضات و المنافسة ، كون “بيت حجي فلان” يوزعون لازم احنا نوزع ؟ نوع من الهرار ..
قد يتضايق البعض من الازدحام أيضاً لكن سعة الصدر مطلوبة في هذه المناسبات السعيدة .. فلا أحد يود الجلوس في ركن من منزله و العالم تحتفل في الخارج ..

The second thing I noticed were the checkpoints and positions for controlling – excuse me, for distributing…
Where the streets cross each other, one person or more will stand handing out cans of soft drink, sweets and some snacks. This is no doubt a good idea, but as is my nature, I reject the idea of fashion and competition. Does the fact that Hajji So-and-so’s household is handing out things mean that we have to? It’s a kind of nonsense…
Also, some may get annoyed at how crowded things get, but patience is required on such happy occasions. No one wants to sit in a corner of his home while the world is celebrating outside…

For bloggers' reports on Nasfa last year, see here and here.

China: Watching women's volleyball

John Kennedy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:32:11 +0000

Thanks to Bill Bishop at the MarketWatch Olympic Blog, we are given a recount of a day at the beach watching the US, Brazil and China's women's volleyball teams in the semi-finals. Not just that, Bill points us to a link that shows what the Beach Babes cheerleaders had to wear all day.

Sri Lanka: Lunar Eclipse pictures

Rezwan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:06:27 +0000

Shehal of kanabona.com witnessed the partial Lunar eclipse on August 17th in Sri Lanka and posts some beautiful photographs of the eclipse.

China: Photos of empty seats and Beijing streets

John Kennedy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:04:37 +0000

Wandering Light photoblogger Kevin German is in Beijing attending the Olympics, looking closely at ticket scalpers and empty seats and writing very poignant posts about the city, but the photos he's been taking, wow!

Paraguay: Following Lugo's Inauguration on Flickr

Eduardo Avila — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:01:48 +0000

A former Roman Catholic bishop, Fernando Lugo, was recently sworn in as the new president of Paraguay on August 15. His ascent to power excited those Paraguayans at home, as well as those living abroad. For those unable to be present in the capital city of Asunción to witness the festivities, photos can be found on his official Flickr account.

The effort of documenting Lugo's appearances and activities started during his campaign in January 2008. Now, with nearly 2,500 photographs all under a Creative Commons license, the use of this citizen's media tool will be carried over during his new administration.

In the past few days, photographs of Lugo during his inauguration demonstrated the excitement of the historical event.

At Lugo's inauguration. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.

In addition, photographs with fellow South American heads of state can also be found.

Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Lugo. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.

Evo Morales of Bolivia and Lugo. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.

Lula da Silva of Brazil and Lugo. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.

Cristina Kirchner of Argentina and Lugo. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.

Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Lugo. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.

Khmer Humer

Mong Palatino — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:12:35 +0000

Words & Pictures uploads a Khmer Humer. In other countries, a Humer is a luxury car. In Cambodia it is used for ice delivery.