There are many common motifs in travel photography: sunsets, markets, funny signs that might include unique and amazing images, but are found all over the world. It’s the rare photograph that shows us something unusual, perhaps something completely new. Today’s Photo of the Day is by Gadling favorite and Flickr user arunchs is from Varanasi, India, capturing the evening ritual of Ganga Aarti. The Hindu religious rite involves an offering of lighted wicks, flowers, and other items to represent the elements, and is performed here on the banks of the river Ganges. It’s also interesting to see people in the photo wearing scarves and long sleeves for the chilly nights in Northern India, a country typically associated with scorching temperatures.
Share your unusual travel photos in the Gadling Flickr pool for a future Photo of the Day.
Three years ago I was in Telluride, Colorado attending Mountainfilm festival. I was particularly blown away by a series of huge photographs that depicted life in Afghanistan. I remember being particularly moved by one of a beggar woman in a burqa, sitting in the middle of a dusty street with a boy sitting in her lap. I had read, and even written about the Streets of Afghanistan photo exhibit, in the days leading up to the festival, but seeing it was completely different. That was the same day I went to listen to Shannon Galpin give a presentation on both the photo exhibit and her nonprofit, Mountain2Mountain.
Galpin and I had corresponded back and forth via email, but this was the first time that I had met her in person.
I sat almost shell-shocked as she told the story of her rape at the age of 19, and then the subsequent rape of her sister several years later and the impetus for deciding that she would not be a victim. Then came the birth of her daughter, a moment where Galpin realized that all women and girls around the world deserve the same rights that, being born in the United States, her own daughter would have. She launched Mountain2Mountain in late 2006 with that exact idea in mind, paving a way for women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Committed to the power of voice, one of Mountain2Mountain’s first projects was collaboration between Afghan and Western photographers to document real life in Afghanistan, not through the war or conflict lens, but Afghanistan as Afghans saw it. The result was a life-size interactive exhibit that provided a different view of this corner of the world; a corner that we so often see but so rarely emotionally connect with.
“The goal with Streets of Afghanistan was to bring the images that capture the beauty and spirit of this country back to Afghanistan itself; a chance for Afghans to appreciate art and perhaps instill a sense of pride in the beauty and soul of their country. On a global level, this series of exhibits also shows the world that you can do things like this in a country like Afghanistan. Art, and street art in particular, isn’t off limits because of ongoing conflict – in fact, in situations like the one in Afghanistan, it is even more important to inspire, to ignite conversation, and to celebrate community,” says Galpin.
Three years after seeing “Streets of Afghanistan” in Telluride, I found myself in Kabul producing that exact same exhibit, seeing Afghanistan for myself, but also the reactions of the local community to a show that was all about showcasing them; sometimes things come full circle in a very serendipitous way.
As I unfolded yet another 10’x17′ photo and propped it up against a stone wall, my headscarf falling off and a group of men standing and staring at the crazy foreign woman, I was reminded that in a time of conflict and destruction, there is so much room for beauty and creativity. Empowering voice, in this case through art, means empowering grassroots activism.
At the end of October, Anna Brones spent two weeks in Afghanistan with nonprofit Mountain2Mountain working to produce several Streets of Afghanistan public photo exhibits. This series chronicles the work on that trip and what it’s like to travel in Afghanistan. Follow along here.
Some travel moments just beg to be captured on film. Take this photo of a Turkish woman on the steps of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. She sits calmly in a sea of pigeons, looking off to a point beyond the photo’s boundaries. Her bright blue headscarf stands out against the faded backdrop. Her expression is pensive, and somewhat enigmatic. Who is this woman? What is she thinking? Why is she feeding pigeons? It’s a beautiful, mysterious moment in time, captured brilliantly by Flickr user othernel.
Do you have any great travel imagery? Upload your shots to the Gadling Flickr Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.
Tips for getting featured: include the camera you used along with any other equipment or processing software that might help other photographers know more about your image.
Are these people boarding a spaceship or just exiting the subway? The rays of light make an everyday scene look ethereal. Taken in New York City by Flickr user Skylar Grant (on a roll this week with yesterday’s shot of the Williamsburgbridge) with an iPhone using Instagram, the photo uses the most of the app’s technology, filling the square frame just perfectly, with a nice balance of color saturation and contrast.