Jean-Claude Moschetti | Egunguns | Magic on Earth

Photo � Jean-Claude Moschetti - All Rights Reserved

African spirituality, such as worship of ancestors and protective spirits, also includes traditional secret societies and voodoo, and is a fertile field for unusual ethnographic photography.

Jean-Claude Moschetti's photographs in Magic On Earth is about these African occult traditions where masks are considered to be mediators between the living world and the supernatural world of the dead, ancestors and other entities.

He tells us that in Burkina Faso, these masks represent protective spirits that can take animal forms or can appear as strange beings. These spirits watch over a family, clan or community, and if the rules for their propitiation are followed correctly, provide for the fertility, health, and prosperity.

The word Egungun signifies all types of masquerades or masked, costumed figures worn by the Yoruba people, and which are connected with ancestor reverence, or to the ancestors themselves as a collective force. The Yoruba is an ethnic group of Southwestern and North central Nigeria as well as Southern and Central Benin known as the Yorubaland cultural region of West Africa.

Amongst the Yoruba, the annual ceremonies in honor of the dead serve as a means of assuring their ancestors a place among the living. They believe the ancestors have the responsibility to compel the living to uphold the ethical standards of the past generations of their clan, town or family. The Egungun are celebrated in festivals, known as Odun Egungun, and in family ritual through the masquerade custom.

Jean-Claude Moschetti has photographed his Egungun series in four different countries; Benin, Burkina-Faso, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. He plans to continue this series throughout the African continent.
 

Born in France, he studied at the Institut National Sup�rieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion, en Belgique, and worked in the movie industry. He worked as a freelance photographer/photojournalist since 1995.

His work appeared in Le Figaro, Lib�ration, Le Monde, GEO, Les Echos, Le Point, L�Express, La Vie, Capital, Challenges, L�Expansion, L�Usine Nouvelle, Moniteur duBTP, Liaisons Sociales, LSA, Que Choisir, Forbes Magazine, Financial Times, among others.

Berta Tilmantaite | Burma - Myanmar

Photo � Berta Tilmantaite -All Rights Reserved

I am saddened by the recent news of a major earthquake affecting Myanmar, and at the loss of life and at the reported damage to over 150 historic pagodas in Bagan...so I was glad to have noticed the work of Berta Tilmantaite on my Facebook timeline-wall.

It's not as much on Bagan and its pagodas, but is a visual and musical journey through Myanmar, specifically while Berta and a friend were traveling on a public boat from Yangon to Pathein, and onwards to Bagan. They stayed on the deck with all other people - locals, traveling to small villages along the river. I recall taking this public boat at dawn from Mandalay to Bagan, and it was a wonderful trip.

Berta Tilmantait� is a Lithuanian multimedia journalist, photographer and videographer. Her visual stories from different parts of the world often focus on the connection between human and nature. Berta has BA in Journalism from Vilnius University (Lithuania), also took a course in Photojournalism at Danish School of Media and Journalism. She holds MA in International Multimedia Journalism (University of Bolton/Beijing Foreign Studies University). Currently Berta works as a freelance multimedia journalist and photographer. Her work has been published in various media outlets, such as National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Geographical, GEO, Rhythms Monthly, China daily and others. She also occasionally lectures at Vilnius University and VGT University in Vilnius, Lithuania

H?u B�ng | The Cult of The Immoral

I found this fascinating short movie on my Facebook timeline. The many readers of my blog know of the recent publication of my book H?u �?ng: The Spirit Mediums of Viet Nam (on Amazon), and this short movie which was filmed in 1934 not only fits perfectly fits in the book's narrative, but also provides me with an incomparable view of the past, and how the ceremonies I documented were conducted over 80 years ago.

If the movie doesn't play, click here to watch it on YouTube.

Let me start by the title of the movie: in French it reads the cult of the immoral. French colonialism in Vietnam lasted more than six decades, and by the late 1880s it controlled Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which it referred to as Indochine Francais. It became one of France�s most lucrative colonial possessions.

The French justified their imperialism as being a �civilising mission�, a pledge to develop backward nations. Consequently, most indigenous traditions were considered as barbaric, especially those that related to religion.

In my book, I highlight the role of P�re L�opold Michel Cadi�re (1869�1955), a French missionary who wrote 250 research works about Vietnamese history, religions, customs, linguistics and who described �?o M?u (the worship of mother goddesses in Vietnam) as being a cult, ignoring its ancient history and indigenous character throughout Vietnam. The French, through brutal force, intimidation and jail sentences, tried to eradicate the religion but this only reinforced its practice, but pushed it underground.

I've attended a large number of h?u d?ng ceremonies during my research, and have not encountered female singers in the ch?u van that perform during the ceremonies. I was told that only males could be ch?u van singers, however in the movie it is most certainly a woman's voice that is heard accompanying the medium during her performances.

By the way, h?u d?ng, H?u B�ng or L�n d?ng are interchangeable names for the ritual of spirit mediumship practiced in the Vietnamese indigenous religion, �?o M?u.

The socialist government frowned on the practice but relented a few years ago as it was viewed as extolling the traditional values of the Vietnamese, their virtues, history and culture. It is now being considered by UNESCO for inclusion in its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List.

However, many Vietnamese I met in New York City and elsewhere in the United States still consider it as a prohibited activity, or as superstition. A few have never heard of it.

Chu Vi?t H� | H� N?i Street Life

Photo � Chu Vi?t H� -All Rights Reserved

It's been a while since I've posted the work by a Vietnamese photographer, especially one that specializes in street photography, which is one of my very favorite activities when I travel to H� N?i; that is when I can drag myself from photographing H?u �?ng ceremonies.

I've been following the work of Chu Vi?t H� on Facebook link is for his Flickr page) for a while, and he has always impressed me with his keen eye. I know some of the locales in H� N?i's Old Quarter where he photographs, and perhaps that adds to my enjoyment of his technique and his timing. Many of his photographs are made around Hoan Kiem Lake (as the one above), while others document the shopkeepers and the teeming life near Dong Xuan market.

According to a recent interview, Chu Vi?t H� considers Robert Capa as one of his ideal role models, as well as Henri Cartier Bresson for his "decisive moment"...however I see much of Alex Webb's influence in his work. There's also humor in his work in the way he juxtaposes certain elements in the scenes that end up being incongruous.

A Fuji camera user, he currently works at a construction company in H� N?i, and has been involved in street photography for approximately two years.

Photo � Chu Vi?t H� -All Rights Reserved

H?u �?ng : The Spirit Mediums of Viet Nam

For My Personal Blurb Bookstore, Click on Above Image

I am pleased to announce the official publication of H?u �?ng: The Spirit Mediums of Viet Nam; a 170-pages photo book. I've been working on this book over the past two years, during which I traveled to H� N?i no less than six times to attend and photograph various ceremonies, conduct interviews and research the tradition and its impact on Vietnamese society. I am the only non-Vietnamese photographer to have photographed H?u �?ng ceremonies in such depth.

H?u �?ng is one of the main rituals of �?o M?u, the worship of mother goddesses in Vietnam. During these rituals, the mediums go into trances to allow their bodies receive the spirits of various deities. The journey of the spirits into the bodies of the mediums is an incarnation, and the process involves the spirits briefly hovering then moving into the mediums. The mediums change their costumes to indicate which deity has entered their body

Vietnam submitted The Mother Goddesses worship to the UNESCO for consideration as �intangible cultural heritage of humanity�, and expects this status to be approved by November 2016.

I have already produced one-of-a-kind limited number of special advance copies of H?u �?ng: The Spirit Mediums of Viet Nam, and these were all sold out in a matter of two weeks. These special editions were hardcover large format landscape (13�11 in, 33�28 cm 170 pages), and were individually dedicated/signed, along with a surprise gift for those who bought it.

Those currently offered for sale through my Blurb Bookstore are in two formats: the standard landscape hardcover or softcover (both 10�8 in, 25�20 cm 170 pages).

For a glimpse of the book and some of its pages, drop by A Labor of Love. And for a quick view of the many testimonials received from people who bought the special advance copies, take a look at the following video. It also features one of the more famous music pieces performed during the ceremonies.

POV : Say No To Cheap "Parachute" Photographers

A recent article (or a post) in the Hanoi Grapevine caught my attention, and aroused my ire.

It appears that an American photographer is seeking volunteers in Hanoi to assist her in producing a another of her photographic projects that involves making photographs of people living in their apartments or living quarters through their windows.

I am told the project does not involve surreptitious photography, but all is staged and arranged for beforehand, and although I fail to appreciate the aesthetics (if any) of such a project, others might find it interesting.

However this is not the issue.

According to the article, the  issue is that this photographer -presumably reasonably well-off- is soliciting the help of about 20 or so young Vietnamese photographers to scout Hanoi's neighborhoods (while she is still in the USA), take pictures of buildings and residents that may fit her requirements, obtain the approval of the residents to be photographed, and show her these prints on her arrival.

She would then pick and choose those that suited her best...and have the Vietnamese volunteers accompany her to these building, interpret for her, stage the various settings, and she would then click the shutter on her cameras, and that would be it.

So in essence...the way I read it is this: the fruit is peeled, sliced and ready to eat. But those who did all the work don't get a bite.

And what do the Vietnamese volunteers get in exchange? A decent day rate? A seminar on how to take their photography to the next level? Tips on how to improve their photography? A review and an edit of their portfolios?

No. According to the article/post, the photographer will provide meals (probably a cheap bowl of pho at some street corner) and a tankful of gas for the volunteers' motorcycles while she's in Hanoi.

I'm really sick and tired of reading and hearing stuff like that. This is shameful. There's no two ways about it. The United States has a abject legacy of war with Vietnam, and yet, I have seldom been in a country where they have not been welcomed more warmly, more effusively and with more generosity. And yet, this photographer cannot bring herself to do the right thing and give back something tangible to those she seeks help from.

I have conducted workshops in Vietnam, and employed assistants , fixers and guides...and never have I not paid them. Never.

Had this photographer's project been about the culture of Vietnam, its people... a social issue... something worthwhile... then I would accept and agree that the assistants could benefit from the "volunteerism", and learn and participate in a worthwhile production that projects well into their homeland.

Volunteerism is great when there's a redeeming value to it at the end of the day. But this, in my view, is not that.

This "photographer" should learn how to do research, how to develop friendships and relationships based on mutual respect, she ought to recognize that these young people have expenses and must be compensated fairly (perhaps not in line with United States' pay levels, but certainly with those in Vietnam)...these are not volunteers; they are fixers, who make things possible for this photographer to hang her work in expensive galleries in New York, London and elsewhere.

'Parachuting' for two weeks in a foreign land, and expecting people to help you for free just because you are a foreigner, is insensitive, unfair and wrong.

Udit Kulshrestha | The Nocte People

Photo � Udit Kulshrestha _ All Rights Reserved

The Nocte people, are an ex-headhunting lower hill tribe of the Patkai hills of eastern Arunachal Pradesh. They are ethnically related to the Konyak Nagas, and are originally from the Hukong Valley in Myanmar, from where they migrated during the 1670s-1700s.

They originally followed Theravada Buddhism and animism, but have adopted Hinduism since the 18th century. Many of them converted to Christianity by American missionaries whose objectives were to convert tribes in Myanmar and China. The Nocte society is divided into two groups, the chiefs and the commoners.

Udit Kulshrestha has photographed the Noctes, and his monochromatic gallery is on his website. An interview with him and on his Noctes work is also on The Wire, a web publication in Delhi.

Udit is an Indian photographer whose primary focus is on subjects of culture and social issues. I have particularly admired his excellent work on the Nautch Girls of Sonepur, Sanskaar, Braj Holi, Kumbh Mela and Pushkar Fair.

His work was published by Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fortune, LA Times, Washington Post and leading Indian publications such as The Caravan, FountainINK, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Sunday Guardian, Motherland etc. His work has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institute. He prefers to delve in the culture and conflict in the unseen geographies of North East India. He is also the author of Darwaze, a limited edition self published pictorial photobook of his early works.