Stories

Presenting sensei Okada-san

In my research into possible stories about Japan, I came across Okada-san (or, as he advertises himself, “Samurai Joe” - something he believes makes him appear more approachable to the tourists and visitors he has received, guided and impressed with his sword skills in the last six decades of working in the tourist industry. Yet Okada-san is one of the last descendants of an old samurai family and carries in his 97yr-old body skills and memories of a bygone era and a lot of this comes across in how he carries himself, how he speaks and certainly how he draws his sword - swift, without hesitation, without doubt - exactly how you’d expect the samurai of old to have done.

On Caligraphy Ink

Kobaien are probably the oldest manufacturer of sumi ink sticks in the world, still manufacturing extremely high quality ink using methods going back almost 300 years. The process itself is absolutely mesmerising, sometimes almost mystical and always visually stunning. I was honoured to be invited to experience the whole process and document it visually with high quality images and to tell their story to the wider world. What I experienced was a collection of absolutely committed and dedicated professionals working to keep a centuries-old tradition alive .

Photographer’s Introduction to the Ivory Coast

“Land of Masks”. “Tribal Paradise”. “Land of a Thousand Dances” and many more. The Ivory Coast has been sold as any and all of these things for the last 15 years from anyone and everyone operating (or selling) tours throughout the country and, frankly, for the casual tourist, it is all that. It’s a fantastic place to visit with loads of things to see and experience. But while reality does indeed meet expectations at a theoretical level, there are a lot of things you need to know before you visit the country, which will ultimately determine your photographic experience.

Stories of the Shuar and Cofan

As two of the most populous and integrated tribes in the Ecuador Amazonia region, the Shuar and Cofan represent, better than most, the critical juncture indigenous tribes face all over the world. Being very integrated into modern society but not wanting to let go of their heritage, are counting on tourism and photography to help their customs and traditions survive at a time when the whole world only wants to assimilate and homogenise. Plagued by oil spills, natural disasters and the inexorable rate of progress and intrusion into their habitat, the Shuar and Cofan are, in their clumsy way, asking for our help.

The Huaorani of Bameno in Southern Ecuador

Saving our global cultural heritage is not a remote game - you cannot play by picketing a ministry 3000 miles away from where the fight takes place and you cannot support those who do fight by protesting. What you can do however is meet them, learn about them and about their lives and through that knowledge, change your and your circles’ lives. This is how we route progress rather than attempting to fight it. The Huaorani of southern Ecuador have a novel, really interesting approach - they want you there so you can finally learn what you need to fight for

Tribes of the Ivory Coast (well, some of them…)

There are literally dozens of tribes across the whole breadth of this amazing country - from the relatively normal to the truly mystical and remote. To properly experience the country you need to plan and in order to plan you need information. Unfortunately the information available out there can sometimes be misleading leading to confusion and, ultimately, inefficient planning. While this is not intended to be the definitive guide to the Ivory Coast, it should help clarify a few things

Dancing in the Slum

Millions of words have been written in an attempt to express and describe dance and the ethereal motion of dancers. But inspirational dancing, when discovered in the most difficult conditions, like an east African slum, is not something anyone would expect. And yet, that’s exactly what the Kibera Ballet School does - creates magic for kids living in the kind of poverty most of us find hard to even imagine. Behind the walls of the school there is more than just dance - there is hope for a better life and that hope fills them with passion, elegance, laughter and, more than anything, desire for more.

The Aryans of Ladakh

They are know by different names depending on who you ask: the Aryan people or the Brokpa (plus a couple more beside that in different dialects) and, depending who you ask, their origins go back 2500 years or more or less. I must have read more than a a dozen different articles, diatribes and references and while I’m still no wiser than i was before, one thing is for sure: the moment you cross the “border” and head into the Aryan valley in northern Ladakh, you are no longer in India.

The Himba of northern Namibia

You cannot read anything about Namibia without coming across a mention of the Himba tribes living on the northern regions of the country. Brief - usually - mentions of their nakedness, their very distinctive hair styles and decorations can usually be found amidst inummerable articles on the Etosha National Park, the Skeleton Coast and, of course, the Namib desert. Considering how few of them there are, how regimented and - sometimes sadly - touristic a visit to them has become, this is hardly surprising.

Zanzibar seaweed farming

Seaweed farming is big business in Zanzibar. Actually, it’s huge business, with Zanzibar exporting up to 12,000 tons of seaweed a year, contributing over $5 million to the local economy. For a structured and, in many ways, strict, Muslim society, the ability of women to not only work - and work hard - but also to contribute significantly to the family budget, have an independent status in society is both unusual but also groundbreaking and has influenced Zanzibari society quite significantly over the years.

The Fez tanneries

The Chouara tanneries in Fes are probably world famous. Millions of tourists flock to the many balconies, passageways and shops with clear view of the tanneries every year and most of them come away with stories about the smell, the colours and the sights they were able to witness, luckily from a safe distance…oh, and I’m sure some of them come away with various leather goods they never knew they needed…;-)

The brick factories of Bangladesh

Coming from a distance all you can see is a forest of smokestacks, all identical, all belching exactly the same smoke in an almost cartoon-like fashion. In many ways, this looks like a child’s idea of what a “factory” should look like but - minus the smog - but the closer you draw, one thing becomes very obvious: the reality is very, very different. The reality of the brick factories is, for lack of a better term, more real than almost everything we, westerners, have seen in our lifetimes.

Incense-making in Vietnam

We’ve all seen them and smelled them - from yoga parlours to out-of-the-way parties to, for those of us who travel, in pretty much every single temple all across Asia. From sticks of varying sizes to month-long-burning circular ones and even small pyramids, each of them smelling something different - jasmine, cinnamon, spices and pretty much everything in-between. Whether you like them or not, there’s no doubting both the significance they play in buddhist and hindu ceremonies and how important they are for literally billions of people (yes, that’s more than 2 billion!).

The tokyo Tsukiji fish market and tuna auction

Once branded as the single, most important, fish auction in the world, the morning tuna auction at Tsukiji market at the Tokyo docks is certainly absolutely amazing. True, it is hard to get into, it is very regimented and highly controlled, it is not very conducive to photography but it is an absolutely must-do for any adventurous traveller and certainly for any photographer. In recent years the market has moved from its previous location into ultra sleek, modern premises, with high-end restaurants and glass-enclosed viewing booths for tourists.

The stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka

It is very difficult to explain just what an amazing tradition stilt fishing in Sri Lanka is. To be honest, I cannot think of any amount of scepticism regarding its recent commercialisation, the rise of tourist touts targeting the tour buses and their hapless fares and even the few fishermen themselves who are slowly taking advantage of the rise of tourism, which can detract from the reality of it all.