Indian bloggers unite! Well, sort of. On April 2, a few desi bloggers are going to meet at the Bay Leaf, for a buffet lunch; to talk about blogging, ourselves or whatever fancies us at the moment. The time – 1.30 p.m. If you are a desi blogger, please RSVP by March 31. You may do so by emailing me at: [tiffinbox at pipalproductions dot com] Replace “at” with @ and “dot” with, well a period. Kill the spaces. Subject line, Bay Leaf.

Prashant Kothari suggested that I keep a running list of bloggers and other visitors who will be attending this little shindig of ours. So here goes:

Manish Vij, Prashant Kothari, Reuben Abraham, Kaushik Banerjee, Atanu Dey, Anna, Amardeep Singh, Shashwati Talukdar, Turbanhead, Sonal Vaidya, Seshu Badrinath, Salil Maniktahla, Divyesh Jariwala & Pooja Makhijani.

Also in attendance will be Anirudh Bhattacharyya, editor of Mantram magazine. Anirudhh is working on an article about Indian American bloggers, so do talk with him if and when you get the chance.

I'll be adding more names as people RSVP me or any of the other bloggers. So, please book mark this post, link to it and spread the word!

Ashta Nayak: Eight Pioneers of Contemporary Indian Art is a landmark show featuring the eight founders of Modern Indian art.  It begins today!

“The Progressive Artists Group formed on the eve of India's independence from Britain in 1947.  Inspired by Western Expressionism and Fauvism, and opposed to the revivalist and ethnic trends in Indian art, the Progressives aimed to create a new national aesthetic for India within the framework of international modernism.  The result was a spirited use of color, bold brushwork, and abstraction in Indian art, which contrasted the relative placidity and restraint of India's artistic past. Including new works and works from private collections, Ashta Nayak presents a comprehensive survey of how Indian art has evolved in the past 50 years by these 8 masters and juxtaposes the diversity amongst these artists.”

Please RSVP to Alka Singal, Gallery Director.

Indian bloggers are set to meet up in Manhattan. We need a head count, so that we don't overwhelm the restaurant. Deadline for RSVP is March 31. Email me if you are coming at [tiffinbox at pipalproductions dot com].

Also, joining us are Divyesh Jariwala and Pooja Makhijani.

Please spread the word!

Via Jason Kottke

“My teaching is far more important to me than my own photography.”

Jim Beecher, a photography teacher and psychotherapist, in NYC and the Catskills has an incredible website for photographers. The information you find there is simply exhaustive.

I receive a lot of emails asking about workshops, classes or seminars on photography. Learning online is perhaps the least expensive way to go about it. Beecher's online book, to us neophytes, is simply priceless as it skips the mumbo jumbo of photography but includes the internal involvement of the photographer in the process of making images.

On Beecher's site, you can download what he calls an idea chart. This chart, he says, will help you better understand: “Who you are as a photographer, Your way-of-working and Where you want to go.” Read also the 6 P's.

In a future post I'll be sure to share my idea chart with you once I get it done. This may just be the kick in the ass I need to start making images again.

Names and occasionally photographs of people online mean so little until you actually meet people face to face. Well, that time has come for a group of desi/Indian bloggers.

We are meeting on April 2 (notice how we conveniently skipped April Fool's Day) at The Bay Leaf, in Manhattan, at 1.30 p.m.

If you are a desi/Indian blogger, I would like to invite you to join us. It's all very casual, mind you. We'll be meeting around 1.30 for a buffet lunch. You pay as you go.

Here is a short list of other bloggers you are likely to meet: Manish Vij, Prashant Kothari, Reuben Abraham, Kaushik Banerjee, Atanu Dey, Anna, Amardeep Singh, Shashwati Talukdar, Turbanhead, Sonal Vaidya and Me.

For the sake of head-count, we need to know ahead of time if you are indeed going to join us. Please email me at [tiffinbox at pipalproductions dot com]. Email me your name and blog URL. Subject line, BAY LEAF. Cool?

Sorry this is such short notice but the Southern Short Course in Photography will be held at the Crowne Plaze Hotel [108 First Street, Macon, Georgia, tel# 478-746-1461] from March 31 through April 3.

Sam Abell, Grant Blankenship, Mark Damon, Greg Eans, Gary Fong, Denise McGill, Johnny Horne, Kenny Irby, Jock Lauterer, Melissa Lyttle, Jack Rowland, Scott Strazzante and Mike Weimar will all present their work.

Pre-registration, at $60, is open till March 23. You will pay $75 at the door. Students can register for $30. As always these events have a photo contest and portfolio reviews.

Caption: The district collectorate of Anantapur houses a distress service for farmers. Begun by the new state government, is its functioning symptomatic of what the government can, or cannot, do? © Surya Sen

Tip of the hat to Intellectual Property & Social Justice for mentioning this series on their web site.

Down To Earth: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9.

Thanks also to Surya Sen for making these images available. If you know of other such personal photographic projects that focus on social justice issues, please contact me. I can arrange to have your work seen here on this site. Best thing to do is to send me a few images [72 dpi, 500 pixels wide or high, 100k maximum]. Include your full name, country of residence, a brief synopsis of the project, an email address and a telephone number.

Just read this on Jason Kottke‘s site – Flickr, the popular online image sharing and social network company, has been acquired by Yahoo!

Caption: The Vasavi Fertiliser Depot in Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh, sells one of the most expensive investments in agriculture – seeds. © Surya Sen

Caption: Subsidies aren't enough. Farmers have to buy a major chunk of their requirements from privately owned shops, where their expenses are substantially higher. © Surya Sen

Down To Earth: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.