Tewfic El-Sawy, a travel and editorial photographer just came back from India and has some really terrific images. One set of images is of Adivasis in Chhattisgargh. The second set is called Sufis of the Dargahs.

This is photographer, filmaker and writer Danny Lyon's website. Definitely worth a visit.

If memory serves me right, Rob Hill introduced me to his work back when I was just getting into photojournalism at Indiana University.

The great portraits are about a connection between the photographer and the subject. The connection that the photographer and the subject make with one another is reflected then to the person who looks at the photograph. Now, how do you know when that connection works the best? It's when the photograph goes straight from your eyes to your heart.

Clearly a pitch to buy the new National Geographic book, In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits, but editor-in-chief elect (and photographer may I add) Chris Johns and senior editor Leah Bendavid-Val offer up some sound advice when it comes to making effective portraits.

Via Tamina Davar

Screenwriter and photographer Sooni Taraporevala has launched a much awaited second edition of her popular book “Parsis – the Zoroastrians of India”. Taraporevala is known for her work on movies such as Such A Long Journey, My Own Country and Salaam Bombay, all graphically rich features. She is currently working with director Mira Nair on an adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's book, The Namesake.

“A twenty-four year labor of love, PARSIS is the first visual documentation of India's Parsi community, followers of the world‚s first prophet Zarathustra, and the oldest monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism. Professional photographer and award-winning screenwriter Taraporevala offers a rare insider's view of how the Parsis, whose ancestors sailed from Persia to India over 1,000 years ago to save their religion from persecution, survive today as a religious and ethnic minority of India.

UNESCO recently celebrated 3,000 years of Zoroastrianism, once the religion of the Persian Empires. Greatly influencing other major religions, Zoroastrianism‚s followers once numbered in the millions. Today Zoroastrians worldwide – including Parsis – are thought to be on the verge of extinction. Yet the community has produced many leaders and artists, include world-renowned conductor Zubin Mehta; the late rock legend Freddy Mercury; and award-winning author Rohinton Mistry, who are documented in the book. The first edition, published in 2000 in India, sold out within several months. Taraporevala's photographs – and written essays and interviews – offer a vivid window into this community of intense contradictions and continuing endurance.”

The book is on sale at Amazon.com and the Asia Society. Please support this wonderful project.

Want to see fashion, art and celebrity photography collide? Check out the work of the Dutch duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. Their work is now being compared to that of Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. So, they are hot!

I'll be honest with you. Matadin's Indian sounding first name drew me to their photography; not the other way around. I have to confirm a desi connection here, though. Regardless, doing a casual Google search taught me a great deal about this prolific couple. They truly mix it all up. They have curated photo exhibits, created a special portfolio for the New York Times, worked with a slew of designers and collaborated with a number of other different types of artists.