Ten days ago I introduced you to the Vadukul Brothers, today I want to tell you about RJ Muna.

His real name is Raja John Muna and he been around for quite some time. According to John Callan's profile of Muna in PhotoMedia, “Muna began his professional career shooting street demonstrations in Berkeley at age 16, in the waning years of the Vietnam era. The protests were just a few miles from his current studio. The images he captured were not so far from the style he practices today. From the time he first picked up his father's 35mm camera when he was 13, he has strived to capture images of ideas rather than instances in time.”

He got his professional start in the Bay Area shooting commercials for IBM. He continues to shoot the highest profile commercials you see out there on magazine stands. But he knows how to balance professional drive with personal passion.

Peter Marshall describes Muna's art work in The Apparitions, by saying:

These pictures may have been created about the idea of apparitions or glimpses, but they are glimpses that exist and are viewed in the context of a relationship between two people, male and female, and they gain a part of their power from their latent eroticism.

Know of other desi photographers/artists/designers/writers? Send me their information (and links) to: tiffinbox{at}pipalproductions{dot}com.

I received an email from my cousin, Harini. I loved her reference to photography and so here it is, her travelogue:

“though i've taken lots of pictures, i already know i will be disappointed, partly because i'm not the greatest with a camera and also because all of the images are best captured in my mind anyway.”

“i can't even begin to explain how incredibly beautiful kerala is, but i will try because it is worth the attempt. people here call it “god's own country” and i see why they believe that. in the past several days we have seen amazing beaches, beautiful little temples, churches and mosques in the little surrounding villages, amazing sunsets, fields and fields of rice paddies, coconut and banana trees as far as the eye can see, the big white smiles of people, big brown eyes of the children, jungles, lagoons, and now forests. and added to all of that is all of our amazing experiences with the people here. they are so proud of their land, work so hard, crazy back-breaking work and all with their own two hands, they believe in the politics of their place (can you imagine that? i can't tell you how many communist flags we've seen proudly hanging in the villages with pictures of che everywhere!), and most amazing of all, they remain, truly in awe of the beauty of this place. it really has re-defined my perspective on peace, happiness, quality of life, so many things….”

I can't tell you the number of times I have been left utterly frustrated and flustered at MSN Messenger. I'll be in the middle of a conversation about photography and quite eager to share an image I made, when that darn firewall at work will block any such exchange. {Sigh!}

Mike Baker does an amazing job explaining how Flickr, a new online service works, so I won't be redundant here.

But be sure that Flickr is not limited to photography – as Baker suggests, you can form your own group and find like-minded people to chat up. So, there is the potential to be a part of an online community or a social network.

I am very excited about this new feature. If it eases my angst, I'll be happy. If I end up meeting some cool people, that would be great!

Via Harikrishna Katragadda

Democracy Now! is looking to immediately hire a full-time TV news producer to work on our national grassroots newshour that airs daily on over 180 non-commercial radio and tv stations. Democracy Now! is based in lower Manhattan.

Requirements: News production and journalistic experience, excellent camera skills and editing in Final Cut Pro. After Effects, Photoshop and web experience helpful. Salary negotiable, starting immediately. People of color and women strongly encouraged to apply. Please send resumes by email in text or PDF format to job@democracynow.org.

UNITE!