Documentary photographer Srinivas Kuruganti tipped me off about the Alexia Foundation announcing their 2006 fellowship winners; Balzs Gardi for the professional grant and Melanie Blanding of Western Kentucky University for the student grant.

Also, Pictures of the Year, International or POYi have also announced 2006 winners. The POYi winners gallery is here.

Speaking of winners, photographer G.M.B. Akash from Dhaka, Bangladesh chimed in modestly with some great news. He says, “You will be happy to know that I have won third prize from World Press Photo 2006 contest in daily life single category.” Bravo! This is well-deserved accolade for one of South Asia's rising photojournalism stars. Keep an eye on this guy. He is off to doing some incredible things in the years to come.

Here is G.M.B. Akash's winning image of a child laborer being threatened bodily harm. I can't think of a better image that so lucidly illustrates the abuse these young garment workers face every day.

I have a tall stack of unexposed Type55 Polaroid film that I am aching to use up. These are 4″x5″ positive/negative film that is simply delicious to look at. The bonus is having a negative [if treated right] from this film, which can of course be scanned or used in a 4×5 enlarger to produce some gorgeous prints.

My latest obsession is pinhole photography. I can't stop thinking about it. I get this way sometimes, so do bear with me. So the idea is to use up my stock of 4×5 film to produce pinhole images. Why? Well, why not? With everything going digital these days and the need for instant gratification, I figure I can take a step back into time and work on a body of images using an old technique [but still get that instant gratification through Polaroid film].

Where I am stuck is which pinhole camera I should get. Sorry going cheap and cannibalizing a Quaker Oatmeal box won't cut it. I want something solid.

Here are my choices so far: Santa Barbara, Bender and ZeroImage.

Would someone please help me decide or suggest an alternative?

CreativePro has a terrific list of how-to's in Photoshop. Well worth bookmarking.

Does anyone know if photographers Anup and Manoj Shah (brothers) in Kenya have a website?

I came across some of Anup's work in a recent National Geographic magazine. Here is a link to an older article about hyenas.

Please let me know if you find out more about them. Email me at – tiffinbox [at] pipalproductions [dot] com.

“In the decade that I've been going to Davos, no country has captured the imagination of the conference and dominated the conversation as India in 2006.”

Fareed Zakaria's commentary in the March 6, Newsweek issue.

Charlie Rose is spending the week in India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is his first guest tonight. Check out his shows on PBS.

Add your comments below about both the article and the interviews [yes, you do have to register, but it is painless and keeps spammers at bay].

…. If I Shoot There Will Be Trouble, If I Don't It Will Be Double.

If you are a photographer – novice, amateur, professional staffer or freelancer, photographing on the subways can a dicey affair.

Alicia Wagner Calzada, president of the National Press Photographers Association, shares this video clip showing an altercation between a staff photographer and a New York City policeman who clearly does not know whether photographing in the subway system is permissible or not.

According to Calzada, “It illustrates a struggle that we are having with the right to take pictures in public places. As a bit of background, the NPPA (joined by several other groups) fought hard to block a proposal to ban photography on public transit in NY. It was defeated. But it appears they decided to enforce it anyway.”

If you are stopped by transit authorities or the police for photographing in the subway or train systems in and around New York City know that the law is on your side but it hasn't yet trickled down to those who enforce it.

If you are a photojournalist, are you to surrender to their directives to stop photographing? Or, are you prepared to challenge the officers and possibly get arrested ? As the photographer in the clip correctly states, most people will cease and desist rather than get arrested because no one wants to traverse the court system.

Ever wonder what the cost is for not telling the story? What kind of trouble will we be if all we are blanketed with is a sterile form of journalism – cleansed and approved by the authorities?

With profound apologies to The Clash for the title of this post.

Rob Galbraith points to the Northern Short Course in Photojournalism, from March 9 – 11 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The Eddie Adams Workshop has a new website powered by PhotoShelter. As an alumnus of Barnstorm XIII, I signed up.

Stolen Childhoods: “Filmmaker/photographer Robin Romano traveled to eight countries over a five-year period to document children working in trash dumps, quarries, brick kilns and rug-making factories.” ABC Nightline clip brought me to tears.

Jasmeen Patheja and others at Blank Noise are starting up a Blog-a-thon on March 7, to bring awareness to street sexual harassment [wherever you live]. Check it out and if you would like, please join in.

It's my father's birthday today – Happy Birthday Appa!

Via Sree Sreenivasan

ABC News, 20/20 is looking to profile individuals or couples who've had or are considering the modern-day version of arranged marriages in the South Asian community in the U.S. We plan to take a fresh look at this topic with an insightful perspective – taking the time to profile thoughtful individuals and couples who can lend a balanced view on this often-generalized and mischaracterized subject. We also aim to depict the many new forms this old tradition has taken on.

In order to tell this story effectively, we are looking for professional, articulate recently or about-to-be engaged couples who have gone to various sources to find each other for the specific purpose of getting married. It could have been through a set-up by mutual friends or family, a South Asian event for the purpose of meeting people for marriage, a matchmaker, or a newspaper / internet ad, or some other medium which produced a meeting for the specific purpose of determining if they were suitable for getting married. The ideal couple will have had only a brief period to get to know one another before making their decision to marry. And they would still be in the process of planning their wedding, ideally, with a wedding date before the end of 2006.

We are also interested in talking to singles who are looking to go one of the modern-day arranged marriage routes – or recently married couples who found their mates through one of these methods so as to get their perspectives and represent people in various stages of the process and from multiple perspectives.

The people we profile would have to be willing to be taped interacting with their partner or potential partners – and would eventually be interviewed by the correspondent.

If you or someone you know fits the bill, we'd like to hear your story. Since one of the production team is a South Asian, we are sensitive to telling this story in a way that conveys the accurate picture of how
this old tradition has taken on a new spin and which is true to life. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in being profiled or have any questions in general.

E-mail us at: Marriages@abcnews.go.com

If you are considering becoming a blogger, do yourself a favor and check out Darren Rowse's series: blogging for beginners. The read Raj Dash's blog post about blogging for love [no, not to find love, but blogging for the love of it]. But if you aren't convinced and really want to try making money off of your blog then read Darren's most recent post here and here. Gina Trapani at Scribbling.net, though, has this to say: “It's a job. A hard job with pressure and deadlines and competition and expectations and many very public opportunities to make yourself look like a total ass.”

A truly fantastic voyage

Dina is looking for a web designer. And, so am I. This blog needs a refresh. Don't you think so? So, if you are a web designer and specifically a designer who has worked on blogs, please contact me as well.

Colors Of India and Incredible India – both on Slide, a new image streaming service you should check out

If you are an artist, you need your diet soda

Pindices: “Rather than looking at political ideologies, institutions, groups or identities, in our project we start with the individual and their acts, and invite participants to make public a reckoning of their everyday political or citizenship activity.” Read the guide to know more.

I have decided to join the Nikonians, the Nikon user group. The big draw beyond the community, the resources and the banter is NikSecure, their new insurance program.

Edward Burtynsky‘s images of the environment are some of my favorite. Now he is challenging us all to give back. Donate $1 and Worldchanging.com receives $3 from Burtynsky and The Sapling Foundation.

Want a caricature of yourself or a family member – a perfect Valentine's Day, Father's Day, Mother's day gift?

Or, do you have any graphic design assignments, odd art jobs or design work including desktop publishing?

Send a note to my friend Arindam Mukherjee. His portfolio is on his website.

Arindam is the artist responsible for the Tiffinbox mascot you see on this website. When I hand out my business cards with the Tiffinbox logo I always receive a smile, then a compliment and then a chuckle. Arindam is great to work with and his creative vision is bound to impress you as well.