Almost twice the size of Europe, the continent takes in an enormous geographic and cultural diversity, combining a compelling intermingling of traditional indigenous and modern urban cultures. While five centuries of Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule have left their mark on South America’s language, religion and architecture, this European influence is essentially no more than a thin veneer masking the indigenous cultural traditions that stretch back long before the conquest.

This is an on-going series of photographs that explores this diversity, and delves into the daily lives of some of the continent’s inhabitants. From Argentina’s vibrant and sophisticated capital Buenos Aires, to the small communities of Peru where native life has changed little in the last four centuries, this is South America, as the condor flies.

More pictures and further details can be found at www.kristianleven.com

All images copyright © Kristian Leven
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Ages ago, small kingdoms and tribes fought over control of the slave and palm oil trade giving rise to the name “Oil Niger”. More recent inter-ethnic clashes have been about a different kind of oil, Crude oil. The consequences of crude oil exploration and exploitation have severed the inter-ethnic harmony and old grudges have resurfaced, with often deadly results.

In the midst of all these, life still goes on, growing up in the Niger-Delta means learning to live with and adapt to daily changes in relationships with friends and neighbours. However, children still find time to do what children all over the world do, simply play.

In cities and especially in small towns, modern life has not erased the predominant role left to the sacred. Each city or town in Sicily stops at least once a year to pay tribute to “his” Holy, an event that always follows a tradition but also finds new ways to innovate. All the inhabitants of the town are involved and feel intimately that the event, which is not only a matter of faith but a way to affirm once again the identity of a country and its history.

Traditionally the coming out of the Saint from the church is often accompanied by the launch of ‘nzareddi (strips of colored paper) with the flags opening the procession. The “fercolo” (on which the Saint is carried) is followed by the faithful that hold votive candles,  purchased with the request of a pardon. It’s amazing how many people get involved in the event, regardless of age or social class; children and old people take part in the celebration of a ritual which is handed down through the generations.

Many festivities are marked by the participation of fraternities, whose members are proud to pass the importance of participation from father to son. The presence in the procession of the fraternity gives a magical and mysterious taste to the celebration, suggesting but not revealing ancient rituals.

Behind all the colour and folklore, it is the emotional involvement of faith that remains primary. In front of the holy picture lines of faithful bow down to ask a favour or simply go to say a prayer or kiss the sacred effigy.

It is common to offer of cash to the saint, often through the hand of a child, who stretches his arm to extend the money. However it is rare that the funds collected go to charity, indeed the money offered is almost always contracted to pay the expenses for organizing the event.

In some towns, courtyards or balconies of the houses are adorned with finely embroidered towels, small altars, a sign of pride of the family who live there that want to greet all with the honors the saint. Families huddle on the balconies to watch the procession wearing their “good” clothes, the head of the family is often in a suit and tie because that is the feast day for excellence.

Sicily is a land of color, faith and folklore, a land that refuses common opinions and uses these moments to find its own spirituality.

Traditionally, Thai tattoos are believed to be more than just a decorative art. Recipients believe that each tattoo carries protective properties and it is in search of these that people gather at the temple every spring. The rituals are a complex mix of Buddhist, Hindu, Brahman and Animist beliefs. Devotees come to pay their respects to their religious teachers and to receive tattoos that are created at the hands of these spiritual leaders. It is not only the application of the tattoo that has significance, it is the magical activation of the designs that believers seek. Once applied, the tattoo is believed to offer protection and in a country with an unpredictable political future, such protection is increasingly in demand.

Inside the temple complex are various rooms where people queue quietly to receive their artful talismans. Outside, a crowd gathers to listen to the invocations of the temple abbot. The spirits contained in the tattoo designs are awakened and prompt the human host to enter into a trance-like state. Often the believer will begin to shake and growl, assuming the characteristics of their animal spirit. Eventually they will be drawn towards the front of the crowd, perhaps slithering along the ground like a snake or an eel or sprinting through the crowd like a tiger. Some become bird-like, others clench their fists or hold out their hands like claws.

At the front of the crowd, volunteers wait to restrain and subdue the devotees, vigorously rubbing their ears to bring them back to their senses. Despite the apparent chaos and what seems like a potential for injury, the events are in fact well-controlled and there is a sense of great respect throughout the gathering.

More pictures and further details can be found at www.gavingough.com

Gavin also runs a series of workshops, details of which can be seen at www.gavingough.com/workshops/

All images copyright © Gavin Gough
View Contributor Profile: Gavin Gough

The history of Istanbul is written on its monuments, in the museum of Hagia Sophia the sacred symbols of Christianity coexist with the Muslims as an example of tolerance and civilization for the whole world.

The area of Sultanahmet, where Hagia Sofia is located, is also where most of the ancient city monuments are: Topkapi, the Byzantine Cistern of the Yerebatan Saray Basilica, the Blue Mosque, the National Archaeological Museum, the Grand Bazaar; these are just few of the most famous monuments that deserve a visit.

The local little Markets, the Port of Eminonu, the Armenian Kurdish neighborhood of Balat, the University, or the well-known area of Taksim and Istkal Caddesi, are just few of the other must-seen places of this city. Eminonu is the area of the port and the crucial point between the two shores of the Bosphorus, here in the ìGolden Hornî every night at dusk, the light goes quickly down, and the sky above the bridge turns pink. Here at sunset the view is magnificent, when the signs of the restaurants are turned on they draw coloured beams of light on the water channel; following them your eyes will meet the nearby austere silhouette of the Yamii Mosque.

Every evening sellers of stuffed mussels place their stalls along the Galata Bridge, trading among people and spreading the air with a wonderful smell of fish. The roads of Istanbul are not just a place for walking or running, but a place to meet, play ball, search for coolness in the sultry summer evenings; it is also a place for trading where people sell all sorts of merchandise. In the old bazaar modern merchandise coexists ancient professions, such as blacksmiths producing the copper crescent moon, and sellers of T-shirts and souvenirs and tourism-related new occupations. Two aspects of the city that seem to live together perfectly.

Women and girls glance discreetly at the shop windows full of western clothes. A young girl just out of a bridal shop seems to have been rapt in thought, her gaze lost over the horizon beyond reality. Her head carries the signs of the ancient culture and her mind the desire for emancipation, a wish common among most of the young Turks.

More pictures and further details can be found at www.gaetanobelverde.it

You can also purchase a book containing the whole Istanbul shoot at http://www.blurb.com

If you missed it on the TV then you can watch it again via BBC iPlayer – http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pwsns/The_Man_Who_Shot_the_60s/

Just click on the link that you will see at the bottom of each post. Hope you like this new feature.

For more details about Matt Brandon, check out his web site at – http://www.thedigitaltrekker.com/

‘In Gurus We Trust” was a story which started with a question. How can I understand India without approaching its mystic and its spirituality?

All the people that I met during my previous reports in India seemed to have a Guru. From the farmer in Orissa to the surgeon in Bangalore, all were at some point characterized as someone who dispels spiritual ignorance and were looking for spiritual illumination. I guess my French catholic background was disturbed by all this transcendental knowledge, but at the end the goal was to consider God as immanent and at the heart of everything.

Gurus serve as guides on the tortuous roads of the truth, and allow us to reveal more quickly the divine nature of every being. Gurus are the links between God and the people but obviously in India you prostrate to the one who introduces you to god. The importance of finding a guru who can impart transcendental knowledge is emphasized in Hinduism.

“The love is not a feeling, the love is in you”
said Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a powerful guru for the top class of the Indian society.

Gurus can be a master to three fellows or to several million. During the Amritanandamayi’s 40th birthday, a female guru,  400 000 Indians were in the main stadium of Trivandrum to celebrate this event.

This photographic adventure was a fascinating experience. I learned that it is the follower who makes the Gurus, and not the opposite.