Social Documentary Photography and Film
Posted in Production Notes on Nov 3rd, 2011
I like the subject to look as directly into the camera as possible when being interviewed. This has proven to be a difficult thing to achieve. One of the ways I have attempted this is to use a long focal length lens and place the camera behind the interviewer and slightly to his or her [...]
Posted in Production Notes, Tibet on Oct 8th, 2011
Our book TIBET: Culture on the Edge was just released this week!! I must say I’m thrilled with how it turned out. The idea for a second book on Tibet came quite by accident. ( My first book Tibetan Portrait was published 16 years ago.) In 2009 I had traveled to Lhasa to document the [...]
Posted in Production Notes on Sep 1st, 2011
I shoot my documentaries with both the Sony EX1 and the Canon Mark II 5D. I love the 5D for the shallow depth of field I can achieve with a variety of lenses. It has some very definite ergonomic issues so I mainly use it on a Tripod. I often set it up as a [...]
Posted in Production Notes on May 11th, 2011
I have 3 cameras that I use to shoot video for my social documentary work in the developing world. My main camera is a Sony EX1, however, since I’m carrying a Canon Mark II 5D I often use it as a second camera in my interviews. Also when I want a short depth of field [...]
Posted in Production Notes, Tibet on Oct 14th, 2010
Lumbum meditating in the cave where Guru Rimpoche once meditated. I am frequently asked how I go about finding a guide on the trips I take. A good guide is critical to the work I do. Of course I need someone who speaks fairly good English, but the most important quality I’m looking for is [...]
Posted in Production Notes on Jul 1st, 2010
One of the things that amazed me as I traveled through what was formally Kham and Amdo on the Tibetan Plateau was the amount of new construction at many of the Tibetan Monasteries. It was not only the amount of new construction but the size and quality of the new monasteries and prayer halls that [...]
Posted in Production Notes on Jun 17th, 2010
During the month of May an obscure fungus becomes the major focus of people living on the Tibetan Plateau. The Cordyceps sinensis fungus is known locally as Yartsa Gunbu or Caterpillar Fungus. The fungus devours and eventually mummifies its host, the ghost moth caterpillar, from inside out during the caterpillar’s hibernation on the mountain grasslands between [...]
Posted in Production Notes on Jun 2nd, 2010
Pilgrims about to cross the 15,000 foot Chola Pass on their 2500 kilometer pilgrimage to Lhasa, prostrating the entire way. The devotion of the Tibetan people is unbelievable. As I travel through the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, one thing has become very apparent. Tibetan Buddhism is enjoying a strong resurgence. Almost every Monastery I visit is [...]
Posted in Production Notes on May 19th, 2010
We met Choqhua, a monk from the small and remote Trakkar Monastery near Labrang in Gansu Province. We spent 3 days staying with him in his little cottage. He took us to the tiny remote village where he grew up and to a nearby cave where the 9th Panchen Lama was said to have meditated. [...]
Posted in Production Notes on May 13th, 2010
News sent from Phil while working on a second book in Tibet: I’m in Gansu Province on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau adding to my collection of stories of people who live on the plateau. I’m traveling with Stevan from North Carolina and Inigo who is currently living in Singapore — Both are photographers that I [...]