CHALATMUSAFIRR

this is classic!

2010-10-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

especially when you know its India!!

mosquito undertaker?

2010-09-22T01:26:00.001-07:00

the man, the fumes...the mosquito undertaker?!

is this the new india?

2010-09-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

rich indian women walk past while a maharaja stares at the naked doll in a glass coffin, and they call this club - lap!!

photographing kashmir unrest 2009

2010-08-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

this is how we started, at yellow submarine...

old srinagar..

say cheese :-)

running for cover mister bahar?

bedford during the stone throwing and teargas...

teargassed sumit dayal!!

dayal at work...

teargassed adam ferguson...

ferg at work...

bedford took this one while I was shooting...

everybody loves chai

2010-06-26T01:21:00.000-07:00

i definitely do on a rainy day.

definitely when things ain't going right

and surely when i need to take it easy and break ice

...'this' cup of chai helped me find what i was looking for in Chattisgarh.

Water in Delhi

2010-06-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

In 2009, I spent few days with Jonas Bendiksen while he was working on the water project for the National Geographic. It was great hanging out with him and was a great learning curve.

Here are something I tried my hands on my compact camera (Canon G10) while he was working on his water piece.

Overland trip to Ladakh, May 2010

2010-05-22T01:49:00.000-07:00

Determined to escape the Delhi heat and to take Suzanne's parents to Ladakh, we did an overland trip to Ladakh this summer. Here are some of the photos that documents our drive. All photos taken on the Canon S90

we stopped in Amritsar and paid visit to the Golden temple...

Golden temple in Amritsar

the second day, we drove up to Srinagar..

and of course had to visit the floating market of Srinagar

we stayed in Bilal's houseboat, The Yellow Submarine... here, his nephew is seen on the deck.

After spending few days in Srinagar, we decided to drive up to Leh. An Indian soldier guarding the Zoji La.

The 434 km Srinagar-Leh highway crosses the Zoji La (Pass) at 11500ft or 3505 mts high. Photo: Suzanne Lee

only one way traffic is allowed

beautiful Drass!

2nd coldest inhabited place in the world, really?

reaching the pass.

photo: Suzanne Lee

Fotu la, highest point in Srinagar - Leh highway at 13475 ft above sea level

set among the moonscape badlands...

... is Lamayuru Monastery... we spent a night in this small village with an adorable family.

good roads, finally!

so, we didn't really get this phenomenon that defies gravity. Apparently if you park you car in a small square in the middle of the road (where our jeep is parked) one defies gravity. We did, nothing happened....

...and kept waiting till a bus came and honked! I think thats what it is, if we stayed longer and disrupted the traffic, someone was going to push us off the hill and we would fly down the valley and hence, defy gravity!

In Leh, Suzanne carried on with the annual ritual of putting new prayer flags on our jeep.

we took it easy and drove to Hemis Monastery outside of Leh

...and we pushed the giant prayer wheels...

...and thought of friends and family in our prayers...

on our way back to Leh, we stopped to take some photos in dramatic Ladakh dusk light

... and we posed...

...and again...

...with family..

...without family...

and sometimes just the two of us...

Thiksey Gompa few kms outside of Leh

14 m high Buddha in Thiksey

offering prayers

monk overlooking the valley

family portrait

on the way to Nubra Valley

world's hightest motorable road in the world, The Khardung La at 5359 mt or 18380 ft above sea level, and freezing cold!!

poor chida was freezing, but he loves snow... runs around like a rabbit on snow!

driving to Tsomoriri lake

the landscape was breathtaking

and maggi was awesome!

the woman who made the maggi for us

an Indian Army soldier who was waiting for the phone booth to open so he could make a phone call to his family in Jammu.

awesome drive

road leading to the lake, last tar roads leading to Tsomoriri Lake

driving on sandy roads is fun...

..not when you get stuck in sand, and its dusk, and when you cannot find a single soul around, and definitely not when you are next to a frozen lake!

once we managed to get the jeep out of sand... we drove straight to the Korzok village to spend the night.

How much ever beautiful the lake looks, i must add that it surely was the coldest night!

at the end of it all, we travelled approx 3500 kms in 15 days...

Delhi - Amritsar - Srinagar - Leh - Khardung La - Tsomoriri - Srinagar - Pathankot - Delhi

It's cold in delhi

2010-01-17T07:28:00.000-08:00

This is just outside my house waiting for the cab, i was going out for an early morning assignment at 0600hrs.

BRRRRRR!!!

another part of my social life

2010-01-12T21:54:00.000-08:00

photo by badris

plotting something vidhur?

dayal?

photo by vidhur jung bahadur

this is how i spent my holiday in Malaysia

2010-01-04T03:29:00.000-08:00

on the east coast in Malaysia.

with suzanne and her family.

happy holidays!

2009-12-26T04:55:00.000-08:00

i can shoot gigs too ;-)

2009-12-26T04:53:00.001-08:00

the national hornbill rock concert in Nagaland

in nagaland...

2009-12-02T18:13:00.000-08:00

this is where i am, in nagaland

and he is one of the tribesman...

his ornaments

- tiger teeth

-tiger claws

-wild boar tusks!

...and this is what they asked me to tell you all

WHEN YOU GO HOME

TELL THEM OF US AND SAY

FOR YOUR TOMORROW

WE GAVE OUR TODAY

BURT WANTS YOU TO HAVE HIS BABY!

2009-11-16T20:32:00.001-08:00

the beauty of fixed lenses

2009-09-26T11:18:00.001-07:00

i was trying this new mark IIn and this is what i got recently.

20 mm (2.8) lens under a beautiful spotlight

children

2009-09-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

children eh!

the one from an educated classes pisses from the car at a traffic light.

the other one, just stares...

my steak!

2009-09-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

steak.

bloody.

juicy.

raw to medium.

anti hindu

anti my religion, (i dont practice, so its fine!)

anti vegetarian (am meat eater, so its fine!)

ahh... the best steak, ever.

of all places, in bhubneshwar, orissa.

during an assignment.

6 days, 5 steaks!

ding dong!

melancholy!!!

2009-09-11T01:08:00.000-07:00

it has every recipe for melancholic photo:

out of focus

black&white

grainy

vignettes

blah blah blah...

photos by Mehul Srivastava

5D mark II - my first few photos !!

2009-09-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

my buddies talking about each other...

2009-09-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

WIRED blog asked two friends to write about each other... here is a glimpse...its a must read... quite interesting...

The photojournalist has long been known as the lone wolf, traveling solo to the far-flung corners of the world to document experiences few are capable of seeing. By function, it’s often a solitary quest, lonely and alienating; rarely as romantic as the photographs make it appear.

So it’s significant when a couple of fledgling photographers meet at a card table in New Delhi, far from their respective homes, and form a friendship. Even more so when, two years later, those same photographers, Adam Ferguson and Zackary Canepari, score almost simultaneous covers of Timemagazine and The New York Times.

After that first meeting, Ferguson and Canepari developed a camaraderie and healthy competition in India that took them through the dangerous hotspots of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Together they learned how to navigate the logistical hurdles of struggling photojournalists in an underdeveloped country. They discussed photography incessantly and edited one another’s work, always striving for that next level. They got assignments from top publications and ultimately developed a friendship founded in photography.

Raw File asked the pair over e-mail to describe each other’s photography and the competitive bond that formed in some of the most war-torn countries in the world.

my social life

2009-08-22T00:28:00.001-07:00

from an art opening, to an informal housewarming...

from sunil gupta's to harry and annette's

look the difficulties journalist have to face

2009-08-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

Daniel trying to get to the scene of action, but security wouldn't let him (them)

photo: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

chilling out in the pool

2009-08-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

fully clothed!!

you give two cameras

2009-08-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

to two photographers, and this is what happens

the daily life...

2009-08-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

we aren't geeks!

we love to eat

all of us :-)

hangover spares no one :-)

...this time its my day in my life :-)

look what i found fellas

2009-07-21T10:10:00.001-07:00

three of us heading back from guwahati after the elections

keith trippin' on xanax, and daniel high on his new 5D mark II

the funny thing is that both of them seem so sober!

ALL FOR OF US IN HEMIS

2009-07-14T04:23:00.001-07:00

SCOTTY'S MOMENT IN LIFE

2009-07-14T04:21:00.001-07:00

DELHI-MANALI-LEH-SRINAGAR-DELHI

2009-07-14T04:11:00.000-07:00

we are in Leh

2009-07-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

and the internet is bad...

will be putting photos soon

our evening in Manali - DAY 01

2009-06-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

chida rocks!

so does crouchy!!!

this is our dinner :-) yeah!

crouchy catches up with his misses, telling her how cool the temperature is in Manali :)

i needed this time out

2009-06-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

needed this time out of delhi... out of 45 degrees

glad am with my mates up in the mountains in manali

photo: Graham Crouch

lost and found

2009-06-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

how bizarre is this eh!

lost tooth vs lost person

on the road again...

2009-06-25T04:17:00.000-07:00

this time in Manali...

enroute to Leh.

13 and a hours of drive from Delhi

started at 0500h and reached Manali at 1930h,

through heat and dust, into absolute paradise

headed straight into a pretty hotel and dashed for trout!

day in Manali has been great so far...

crouchy shopping..

suzanne training a mountain dog...

packing early in the morning (half past 4) at crouhy's

suzanne orders a BIG bottle of beer for the american!

the post dinner apple bit!

ganja :-)

after ganja :-)

don't mess with a man with a guard dog!

chida and his new sleeping bag

suzanne and scott at the drifters' in old manali

suzanne training dipper, the mountain dog

suzanne has trained yet another dog :-)

north east..

2009-06-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

...insanely beautiful hills.

caught in the crossfire between two different tribal groups.

i was there, in North Cachar Hills

photographing.

this is what i got.

these are the surfin' swamis...

2009-05-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

... and i spent few days with them...

photographed them,

when they surfed,

and when they didn't...

beautiful ashram, a must visit :-)

on a gig...

2009-05-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

keith and i took took test shots...

this is what we were doing... on a corporate gig.

teargassed in srinagar

2009-05-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

srinagar.

young angry protesters.

angrier security force.

shells.

teargas.

tears.

breathlessness.

dirty shit.

awful.

myself, and my friends.

teary-eyed.

Kashmir...

2009-05-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

we are in kashmir to attend altaf's wedding... that we attended.

major, major feast.

we also engaged ourselves in other things in kashmir...

for example...

eat...

shoot...

eat...

walk...

eat...

get into stone throwing activities of Kashmiri teenagers.

drink kahwa (kashmiri tea)

bottomline - its great here in Kashmir.

surely is a paradise on earth, minus the security forces for sure.

gujarat

2009-04-30T18:36:00.001-07:00

in ahmedabad, gujarat's capital...

its around 44-45 degrees, and thats hot by any means.

making photos are not at all easy.

the only way is to shoot either in the evenings or early mornings,

weaving my way through crazy traffic of a'bad,

as i was enjoying the meat samosas,

someone taps on my shoulder and asks, ...you a foreigner?

i reply, no!

"...NID (national institute of design) student then?"

no!

why else would you take photos here then?

what could i say to that... was left speechless.

there are somethings one cannot explain... so i let it be.

carried on... shooting of course!

this is manipur for you..

2009-04-23T05:04:00.000-07:00

Here is one clichés

2009-04-15T06:17:00.001-07:00

rajasthan.

colour.

turban clad man, smoking bidi.

there, i shot a cliché

so what?

on way to Pushkar

2009-04-13T22:17:00.001-07:00

guess what i found on my way to pushkar...

was expecting to find chai somewhere along,

found cafe coffee day instead!!

things we do when we travel alone...

take self portraits!

who wants a cold drink?

2009-04-06T06:59:00.000-07:00

i do!

Holy Quran

2009-04-06T01:50:00.000-07:00

during one of my visit to a madrasa in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh

chai break

2009-04-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

soft porn in lucknow

2009-04-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

b grade soft porn films

5 shows a day, daily.

title: ek baar pyar karo (love me one time!)

somehow reminds me of jim morrison.

stare.

2009-04-02T02:22:00.000-07:00

luck now

2009-04-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

afternoon harsh light, love it.

i smile

2009-04-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

i smoke...

i build...

someone else dream...

maya's dream.

i smile.

nightrider of lucknow

2009-04-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

UP galore...

2009-03-31T00:28:00.000-07:00

heading out again... this time to lucknow - again!!

benares after that...

may be ayodhya...

gorakhpur...

same dodgy places, some dodgy people, some not...

guns, votes, jails, power, caste... mix of all

lots expected...

excited.

am back home, on my desk...

2009-03-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

keith tries my G10 and takes this photo...

read like a chinese. Chinese + English = Chinenglish

2009-03-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ah Kaw was asked to make a sentence using1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Not only did he do it 1to 10, he did it again from 10 back to 1.

This is what he came up with.....

1 day I go 2 climb a 3 outside a house to peep.

But the couple saw me, so I panic and 4 down.

The man rushed out and wanted to 5 with me.

I ran until I fell 6 and threw up.

So I go into7-eleven and grabbed some 8 to throw at him.

Then I took a 9 and try to stab at him.

10 God he run away.

10 I put the 9 back and pay for the 8 and left 7-eleven.

Next day I called my boss and told him I was 6.

He said 5, tomorrow also no need to come back 4 work.

He also asked me to go climb a 3 and jump down.

I don't understand.

I am so nice 2 him but I don't know what he 1.

trip has come to an end... for now!

2009-03-23T05:55:00.001-07:00

we ended our trip little earlier than we expected...

rushed back home...

been a fantastic trip.

loved it.

will head back soon...

soon.

us on our jeep

2009-03-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

stopped for lunch on our way to patna...

lunch my mother packed for us.

back on the road...through bihar this time...

2009-03-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

bizarre things we saw through the wind screen...

dusty roads (or no roads really!)

a jeep upside down...

the damaged tractor (probably) next to it, in pieces,

a young kid tries to pull his buffalo...

photos: suzanne lee

this is darjeeling...

2009-03-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

the tea,

the tea garden,

the tea factory,

the tea tasting,

the train,

the hill roads,

the heritage hotel,

the streets,

the little shops,

gorkhaland shop,

dogs,

this is darjeeling...

...we were there, and we loved it...

you would too...

must go.

all photos: suzanne lee

on New America Media radio in the US

2009-03-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

was interviewed by the NPR when I was in San Francisco for a story i did...

he(ar)re it is...

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=b4add94d548789db61a331f833e53060

darjeeling streets

2009-03-10T04:10:00.019-07:00

walked around photographing... peacefully

no one bothered

no one asked any question

no one stared

no one seemed to care

everyone was going on with their daily chores...

love darjeeling!

enroute to darjeeling

2009-03-10T03:54:00.000-07:00

in darjeeling...

love the drive...

roads are not always good, but entertaining...

trains whistle past...

people smile, always!

and public works department warns you to drive slow...

...in many entertaining ways.

all photos: suzanne lee

chida takes it easy, always!

2009-03-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

what does a dog need?

food, sometimes.

water, sometimes.

sleep, always

day in a life of our four legged companion, Chida.

photo: Suzanne

Day 07 :: back on the highway, this time at 7 am

2009-03-04T22:41:00.000-08:00

morning light.

morning chai.

sunflower fields, everywhere.

i wonder why did the goat cross the road?

why do they (Bihar govt.) have brick streets in the middle of the highway?

why do they all stare?

Q&A in a fuel station.

salesman: you want these books?

sanjit: no, thank you.

salesman: look, books in hindi, may be english???

sanjit : sorry, am illiterate.

salesman: ahhhhhh!!! OK.

damn, I didn't i could be this convincing!!!

finally... destination - parent's home in siliguri.

end of day 07 - 350 kms in 7 hours

photo credit: most of the photos shot by suzanne, unless she is the subject herself!

day 06:: Gorakhpur to Barauni

2009-03-04T22:28:00.001-08:00

pink cockerel, wonder if its a holi(y) cock or a funky cock!!!

man wearing women's shoes...

and in the same dhaba, the owner in nothing but the boxers and shoes (not to miss the socks though!)

house on the highway with no front wall.

little girl running on the highway, RUN FORRRREST RUUUUUN!!

is it a monkey? no duh, its the electrician on the pole!!

slim... fly... gym? you know what it means? i don't!!

sink holes on the highway, few kilometers of it.

kid on jeep top, or is it train top?

finally made it to barauni after all this...

all this (and more) within the space of 450 kms.

started at 9, ended at 6. feels like a full day's job.

photo credit: All photos by suzanne lee except for the man with shoes/socks and night shots

Day 05: Lucknow to Gorakhpur

2009-03-04T22:20:00.000-08:00

inane observation on the highway...

dhaba owner gets a shave while we eat our breakfast.

chida tries to scare a puppy.

bad roads.

crazy traffic.

slowest drive, ever.

annette and harry leave for nepal while we continue on to bengal.

shithole of a hotel in gorakhpur,

3 beds,

stained sheets,

and a million mosquitoes

chida gets one,

we share another.

3rd one left empty.

so glad we carried our own sheets!!

end of day 05 : 250 kms in 9 hours.

lomo-slomo!

2009-02-27T06:35:00.001-08:00

things one does when one is bored.

play with a camera.

with colours.

and the usual suspect is the man of crazy colours.

hazbeenthere.wordpress.com

whose taller this time?

2009-02-27T04:50:00.000-08:00

lucknow.

state capital.

construction capital.

dust capital.

migrant labourers.

blue tarpaulin over unveiled statues.

tall statues of mayawati.

last one was destroyed after 45 days of unveiling.

her reason - not tall enough...

...hers was smaller than the statue of her political mentor, kanshi ram.

will these be tall enough?

harry

2009-02-27T04:39:00.001-08:00

harry is one funny man.

is always in thongs.

wears a panama hat.

loves his edirol.

hates the wind (during recordings).

guess what he tells the auto driver - "home james, and dont spare the horses!!"

can you beat this aussie?

i cant.

no one can.

the guest house...

2009-02-27T04:27:00.000-08:00

days in the guest house in lucknow.

harry with his beer and gadgets...

annette plays with the camera...

chida plays with my squash ball...

and wonders why it doesn't bounce.

i wonder what is suzanne trying to do with the spoon?

Lucknow gun street :: La touche road

2009-02-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

guns galore...

rows of gun shops.

rifles, double barrel guns, shotguns, pistols, revolvers.

everything....

"...i love my gun..."

"... i have 3... i for need, other 2 for show..."

"...guns are for 'real' men..."

"... pride and gun go hand in hand..."

"... i don't have to use it (gun), showing it is enough..."

"... if you have connections, you can get a gun license in 2 days..."

few of the comments from the local gun owners in Lucknow.

day 03 :: Lucknow

2009-02-26T06:51:00.001-08:00

galawati kebabs, again...

cycles,

rickshaws,

pedestrians,

auto rickshaws,

crazy traffic,

people, everywhere.

2009-02-25T23:28:00.000-08:00

first night out in 2 days.

5 in a rickshaw (including driver)

sticking head out of the rickshaw to shoot

a near decapitation in Lucknow’s heinous traffic

finally destination - tunda kebabi

gelawati kebabs galore...

a miasma of meat in 8 simple serving.

a walk back to the guest house.

three little drummers and a cyclist.

girl dances with boy and...

a drummer with crazy eyes in the same wedding band.

mayawati's new house. construction cost - 90 crore rupees ($1,80,23,429.9...whatever)

end of day 02.

all photos (except man walking in darkness) by Suzanne Lee

DAY 02 :: Agra to Lucknow

2009-02-25T23:13:00.000-08:00

chida galloping on grass (actual grass!)

cold beer in a red-tiled dhaba

cleanest dhaba toilet, ever.

A brief windscreen squeegee led to shit on the thongs.

A bad smell in the jeep and a rigorous cleaning effort following.

a tyre burst, but it wasn’t ours, thankfully

9 hours drive covering 363 kms, with a 90 mins timeout for Kingfishers.

photos :: B&W (Suzanne Lee), Colour (Annette Ekin)

day 01: Delhi to Vrindavan (Agra afterall!)

2009-02-25T23:02:00.001-08:00

day 01 :: Delhi to vrindavan

missed the turn to mathura (oops!)

turning back not being an option, agra is the destination.

nobody’s favourite city since the Moghul’s.

finally found a rather nice guest house.

hotel manager warns harry of driver’s commission (driver i.e., me)

smuggled the dog in successfully (happy to know his bark is comparable to his size)

slept peacefully.

photo: Suzanne Lee

road trip :: spaces in-between

2009-02-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

5 in a jeep.

harry and annette,

sanjit and suzanne,

Chida, the four-legged companion.

4 (maybe more) week long trip across Northern India.

Delhi to Assam (Bangladesh border) via Nepal.

Topics to snap and snare are as weighty as they are varied,

From guns and vigilantes in Uttar Pradesh to sex workers in Kathmandu,

Christian refugees in Orissa to homeless flood victims in Bihar,

Mayawati’s burgeoning Empire to Assam’s Brahmaputra woes.

Food will be eaten and reported on too.