Kanak Mani Dixit is the editor of Himal South Asian, a spectacular periodical that covers the issues of the day from a unique perspective – it takes on all of South Asia!

Kanak has a photo exhibit online that you should check out. He says, “There are numerous photographic prints lying forgotten in the trunks and attics of Nepali families which should see the light of day, Dixit believes, to help us better appreciate our recent history, in the decades before the 1970s.”

Here is an example:

{above} The 1970s was when the first generation of Kathmandu girls made the shift from sari to Western wear, only later taking up the salwar kurta. (1979)

Ever backtrack a long URL to it's original source? Well I did that with Kanak's site and I landed at Shanti Marg, with more links to explore. Rohan Chitrakar‘s beautifully designed web portfolio caught my eye.

Larry Nighswander, a former image editor at the National Geographic magazine put it succinctly about selecting images for publication or general display. He said that the image(s) has to satisfy two out of the three following conditions: 1) Have editorial merit, 2) Be qualitatively superior and 3) Be created in an interesting and unique manner. Satisfying all three would make it a great image indeed.

The Phenomena of Displacement – India, a photo essay by Preeti Singh is a wonderful concept.

“Migration statistics show over sixty percent of all moves occurring at the (rural to rural) intra-district level. However, the steep increase in rural to urban migration in the past four decades is also staggering. Over 200 million people now live in the crowded cities of India.”

Well meaning as it may be, I am not sure that this photo project has been executed or displayed properly (on the website). For one, I am not able to emotionally connect with anyone of her subjects. People's faces are much farther away from our view, blurred or cropped off completely. The images all appear to have been shot with a wide-angle lens, more than an arm's length away from her subjects or behind the secure confines of a car. It's only in the image called “Joyride 1” that we get any sense of who these displace people might be.

I am led to believe the photographer travelled great distances to capture these images. But why only limit the gallery selection to 10 images? Is this a case of editing too tightly? It's not like there isn't enough space on the web to display a greater variety. Qualitatively, the black & white images are rather poor. They have a lot of digital noise (scanned improperly), which makes identifying and, to repeat this issue, connecting with people very difficult. I also get far less information from the photographs than I do from the accompanying captions. The images lack any sort of hook to have me better understand the plight of millions on the move.

This is a project with great potential. I truly hope it can be redone after addressing the failures in both the technical and methodological approaches offered to us.

While Singh's images certainly have editorial merit, in my opinion they fail to satisfy all of the conditions espoused by Nighswander. I am sure she has an explanation for this and Tiffinbox would love to hear from her.

Pablo Bartholomew, a leading photojournalist based in India was commissioned by the Asian Cultural Council to document the Indian Emigre. While the photographs are beautifully crafted, it's unusual to find a photojournalist conducing an interview with his subjects and publishing it. The interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Ohri on pages 4 and 5 are a must-read. It reminded me of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a collaborative book by the writer James Agee and the Depression-era documentarian Walker Evans. Goes to show that photojournalists can be both photographers and journalists. Thanks Pablo for leading by example.

The International Center of Photography in New York City is one of my favorite places to visit. It's a teaching institution of great repute and the exhibits and lectures there are top-notch. If you are ever in the city, I urge you to check out both their locations. Invariably you will be inspired by the work you see and the people you meet there.

United Press International reports that the ICP, as it is commonly referred to, is having an exhibition that deals with the issue of photography “creating and perpetuating racial stereotypes.”

“The show is wide-ranging, drawing on social documentary, photojournalism, ethnographic and scientific photography, straight portraiture and even erotica. It includes many of the big names in American photography — Edward Steichen, Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Man Ray, Edward Weston, Walker Evans, and Margaret Bourke-White — as well as such contemporary camera artists as Cindy Sherman, Andres Serrano, Glenn Ligon, Nancy Burson and Nikki S. Lee.”

The show is on now through February 29, after which it will travel to other states in the US.