If you are considering some international travel in 2013 allow me to share with you two of my favorite destinations that will not be the same for very much longer.
During the final weeks of 2012 I traveled to Cuba with a good friend to explore the streets and culture one last time before the inevitable wave of change crashes over this isolated island culture.
Cuba has been largely cut off from the rest of the world due to a US imposed embargo enacted in October 1960 (el bloqueo) in response to the nationalization of some US citizen and corporate held properties in the country. It has been further reinforced over the years even into the 2000s citing humanitarian reasons for maintaining the embargo. Many of Cuba’s wealthiest families left the country at the time of the original embargo and settled in Florida, this is a powerful state when it comes to US presidential elections and their influence has been cited as being largely responsible for maintaining the embargo.
So essentially you have a culture and a country that has been largely frozen in time. If you owned an American made car in Cuba, you purchased it in the 1950s. If you are still driving a car today it’s because you have managed to keep that old Chevy running over 50 years later. You don’t see advertising and billboards when you walk down the streets. You won’t find the ever present Starbucks coffee shop on every street corner (2 per corner if you’re from Seattle). The people are beautiful and welcoming and on the precipice of major change.
The headlines are already running; “Time to End the Cuban Embargo”, “Waiting for a new Dawn in Cuba”, “Obama acts to Ease Embargo on Cuba”…. and many others. My previous trip to Cuba cost me an extra 1500 dollars when I returned to the US via Canada but today US citizens can travel to the country with the blessing of the US Government under the “People to People” program. Yes there are a few hoops to jump through and yes it is worth the effort. By going now, before the country is fully opened to US tourism you will have an opportunity to see the “old Cuba”, before the inevitable changes that are to come.
Likewise my second recommendation for your consideration is Myanmar also known as Burma. It is another example of a land with wonderful, beautiful people, rich in culture and history who have been under the thumb of a horrible oppressive government who through horrific human rights violations and oppression have isolated the country from the outside, and again, all that is about to change.
Over the last several years Hillary Clinton has laid the ground work for opening up talks with Myanmar and President Obama has even made a trip to visit the country and like Cuba the headlines are stacking up citing improved relations with the country, greater amounts of trade, and an inevitable watering down of their culture as western influences flood the country.
I will mostly likely make my last trip to Myanmar in January 2013. I, along with Gavriel Jecan, will be leading a small tour to see the beauty and rich culture I have known for years. I would like to keep my memories of their ancient traditions intact. The smoke from the morning fires as people wake up and begin the days cooking their meals over an outdoor fire. I don’t know that I could bear seeing giant golden “M”s sprouting up in the major cities as McDonalds and fast food and internationally recognized symbols of American comfort and conveniences begin to take hold on the landscape.
I have photographs I created in the 1980s when I joined the US Everest expedition via Tibet, photographs you simply can not replicate today due to the sprawl of commercialism and buildings that where once there was an open plain leading to a monastery today you find crowded streets and a thick layer of pollution from the exhaust of motorcycles and cars between you and that same ancient building.
Many of you no doubt have seen the castles in Europe still standing today – surrounded right up to the very castle walls with apartments and shops and restaurants and the ubiquitous modern footprint. Now imagine seeing those edifices frozen in time, standing has they had for millennia, untarnished by “progress” and time.
You can still find the local people in Myanmar fishing on Inle lake as they have for generations balancing at the end of long wooden boats using their curious and traditional netted cones to surround the fish for harvest. The cone is carefully lowered over the schooling fish and then tapped with a stick to excite and tangle the fish in the fine net as they try to escape. Witnessing this first hand is like watching a ballet telling the story of life for these people across time. Photographing the scene will provide you with treasured memories and a glimpse into the past. Such are the scenes throughout Myanmar in the streets, the markets, among the temples and the beautiful people who call the country home.
A hot air balloon provides the idea vantage point to photograph the stupas in Bagan. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains and today the remains of roughly 2200 temples and pagodas still stand. Photographing early in the morning not only provides you with the best possible light but the added texture and drama of the smoke from the morning fires serve to enhance the scene.
Change is on the horizon as I have said, we have already seen the hotels we have booked for our tour double in price in just the last several months. While the government has a horrible history of crimes against humanity a change in their government in 2011 shows promise for the people of Myanmar and with that will come improved relations with western nations, increased tourism, trade, investment and a westernization just as I have seen many times before in other countries.
So if you have had an itch to see some foreign lands these are two I recommend seeing first if you wish to see them as they have been, unique in an isolated culture on the precipice of change. As it so happens I have one spot that just freed up on my Myanmar tour in February. Please inquire to info@artwolfe.com. See the details here: >>ITINERARY (PDF)
My September/October European sojourn took me from London to Ireland, from Germany to France, and finally from Italy to Croatia.
The Italian Dolomites have always been one of my favorite locations & this time did not disappoint. The moody cloud formations only heightened the appeal of the mountains rather than obscured them. From there we headed off to the oldest national park in southeastern Europe, Plitvice Lakes.
The weather in the French Alps was so bad that we decided to head south to France’s Rhone Delta. There we photographed the spirited Camargue horses, and along the French Riviera. Now heading off to Italy’s Dolomites, where I am hoping for good conditions!
Patagonia offers a great opportunity to get close to wildlife. It really delivers the goods in that respect: foxes that walk right up to you, guanacos that are chilled out, and over 300 species of birds native to the region. And they are all surrounded by the really dramatic landscapes that are indicative to Patagonia. Big skies, big mountains, and wonderful wildlife. What more could you ask for?
This is one of the most beautiful and enchanted places on the Earth! I look forward to returning to Patagonia.
There is nothing like experiencing a place for the first time. I have traveled all over Western Europe, but the closest I have been to the southeastern nations is Greece and Turkey. Now I am traveling to the native land of my good friend and long time assistant, Gavriel Jecan.
Other than as the home to vampires, gymnasts and despots, Romania remains unknown to most. We will travel to Gavriel’s ancient hometown of Brasov, nestled in the Carpathian Alps. Brown bears come down from the mountains and roam the outskirts of the city. We will be traveling just as the untouched forests in the Carpathians are turning golden, which will lend a great backdrop to the very traditional 12th century villages we will be passing through.
We will visit several orthodox monasteries, famous for their medieval murals, and we will engage the diverse peoples—Roma, ethnic Hungarian and German, as well as Romanian—all along the way. With Gavriel as our guide it will be like visiting a good friend, not like traveling with a standard tour guide.
Those who follow me know that I have traveled much of this world. One of the places that I have enjoyed going to most is Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. It has essentially been isolated from the rest of the world for the last 50 years. Despite this I have always been greeted by warm and friendly people.
Myanmar offers unlimited photographic opportunities and it is one of the easiest places to photograph people. The traditional cultures have remained fairly intact throughout the country. Working with guides and assistants with whom I’ve worked before, we will be visit monasteries where we will work with monks. To witness and photograph a Buddhist monk prayer session is an amazing and memorable opportunity.
Myanmar is going to change in a very short time. We’ve seen it start to embrace the outside world. Therefore, I want to lead a small group of people to Myanmar one last time to share the traditional locations I’ve grown to love. It will most likely be my last trip there. I hope you can join us next February, when leaving cold North America and Europe will be a nice break!
One of the things I enjoy most, besides taking photographs, is taking people along with me to some of my favorite locations. Sharing the experiences I love with others is very fulfilling. I’ve been taking small groups of people to some of the locations where favorite episodes of Travels to the Edge took place. As seen in one of those episodes, Japan in winter is simply magical. Much of the wildlife has been habituated to people, and therefore translates into amazing photographic experiences.
First we’ll visit the snow macaques that live in the mountains about two hours west of Tokyo. Here in an isolated steep cut valley with an amazing mountain lodge are three extended families of macaques, numbering around 50. Because they are the most northern primate on earth, they have the longest, luxuriant fur of any primates, particularly in the winter months. They come down from the pine and oak forests and for a couple of hours a day they hang around a natural hot spring. They have been habituated to people visiting them there, so you can photograph from within inches without interrupting their behavior, which is very animated and fun. It is a photographic bonanza.
After visiting the macaques, we will travel to the northern island of Hokkaido. Hokkaido reminds me a bit of Alaska, full of forests of birch, pine and fir with a back drop of beautiful volcanic mountains. There are also large lakes and wild running rivers, and hosts three species of bird wildlife that are extraordinary to photograph. The Japanese Crane has been symbolized in Japanese culture for thousands of years due to its grace and beauty. Giant whooper swans come in the winter months from nesting in Siberia. They have been fed by locals for years, helping them sustain thru the winter, as well as creating an easy and wonderful photographic opportunity for us! And often Steller’s sea eagles will swoop around the same area. They are massive black and white raptors that winter over on the icy shores of Hokkaido.
The days are short in February on Hokkaido, but the beautiful hues of sunrise and sunset are protracted allowing us hours to capture quite stunning images. After sunset we will have time for a hot bath at the lodge before eating a traditional Japanese meal. After dinner we will have time for lectures and critiques before calling it a day. With the abridged daylight, it really allows for a nice schedule to fit everything in and still have enough hours for a good night’s sleep! Since we travel in and out of Tokyo, you will get to experience the surreal and wonderful contrast that Japan has to offer, not only the very modern and bustling city, but the natural and beautiful countryside.
I invite you to explore this unique and rich habitat with us.
I have been using a Phase One camera system for my Human Canvas images over the past couple of years. At 60 megapixels the detail and resolution is so sharp I can enlarge the final images to life size and beyond, critical for this body of work. I have always shot with it in a studio, where the camera was mounted 16 feet above the floor in a warehouse ceiling and tethered to a laptop where it was triggered with a key-stroke. That was a collaborative experience, so I wouldn’t say I really got to experience the Phase One one-to-one.
So, that begs the question…what about using it outside of the studio setting?
I recently set out into the Cascade Mountains to find out. Even though it is a medium format camera system, the Phase One still fits into my same old camera bag. I just needed to move one little Velcro divider around to accommodate it.
It was far from an ideal day for photography – there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the sun was at its peak overhead, it was hot, mosquitos were out and nothing was really calling out to me. With lunch in mind I saw a large patch of snow in the distance with a stream running out from under it. Since I’d hiked above the tree line, this was the only potential shade within reach. In anticipation of dipping a handkerchief in the cold water and eating some lunch, I set out for the snow bank. And that’s where I saw it…
The stream and winds had carved out a large tunnel under the snow, and even from the entrance I could begin to see shades of blue, deep in the cave. I’ve been a mountaineer almost my entire life, climbing the volcanoes in the Northwest, crevassed glaciers, even climbing to the lower level camps with an expedition on Mt. Everest, so I knew this situation had “extreme caution” written all over it. Looking over the snow, wall thickness, and arch of the top, I decided to proceed as one would on a snow bridge over a crevasse – very cautiously.
I stuck very close to the side walls; if the roof was to collapse this would have been the safest place to be. Moving into the cave was like entering a cathedral. A reverence for the beauty of the unexpected display was overwhelming.
Immediately I saw the potential in abstracting the icy blue glow of the ceiling fueled by the direct sun overhead. I used a 55mm lens (34mm equivalent), my attention fully focused on the otherworldly qualities of the ceiling. Looking through the viewfinder of the Phase One, the patterns and lines abstracted into soft human forms, suggestive of the Rubenesque feminine ideal form.
At other times I was drawn to the lines within the form, like the layers of geological time recorded in a rounded stone found alongside a river. The colors varying between blues and yellows only added to the final composition.
Shooting and shifting my point of view I worked the ceiling as a subject finding more and different compositions with each new angle. I could have stayed with this subject for hours. It was so unexpected – a real treat for what had promised to be a rather bland day.
The Phase One system is very intuitive with a huge LCD and touchscreen menus. I was able to easily navigate the functions to set up the camera for the way I like to work, even in the cave. When you are talking about a medium format system, it’s all about image quality – and this one delivers. The system combination of superb Schneider Kreuznach leaf shutter lenses, 645 DF Camera body and IQ 160 digital back produce the sharpest and most detailed images I have ever shot.
So what’s next? I’m currently on tour through Europe visiting familiar landscapes as well as some new ones. I have the Phase One with me and I can hardly wait to see the results when I get home and begin enlarging these images to prints. This camera system is able to capture the grand scenic landscapes in unprecedented detail and clarity. If only I could have had my hands on one since 1978.
When it comes to the big picture, Phase One wins out. ~Art Wolfe
Join me on the Phase One Digital Artist Series (PODAS) Workshop in Kimberley, Australia in June, 2013. >>MORE INFO
