Jonathan Maher: Venice

Photo © Jonathan Maher-All Rights Reserved
It's not often that I feature European travel photography, so I thought I'd break the mold today by featuring the work of Jonathan Maher on Venice and its Carnival.

I've not been to Venice during Carnival yet, but know a number of photographers who've been and returned with splendid work. I visited Venice a few years ago, ill prepared for its acqua alta season, and still recall walking in soggy shoes.

Jonathan Maher is an English travel photographer currently based in Italy. His work is principally based around travel and documentary projects and themes. His biography describes his style as being "reductive" or narrowing the frame down to the critical and essential components.

Aside his work in Venice, Jonathan has travel galleries of Namibia, India, France, Italy and Asia.

INDIVIDUAL PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN PUDDINGS

I can't resist a good British Pudding and this is one of those puddings that has stood the test of time.

As a child I ate this at home, learnt to cook it at school, served it to my family and to this day it is still a firm favourite.

I have adapted this recipe from Good Food Magazine 101 Tempting Desserts.

Serves: 6

You will need: six buttered 200ml ramekin dishes.

For the topping: 100g butter, 100g light muscovado sugar, 2 tbsp dark rum, 432g can drained pineapple rings, 6 glace cherries

For the cake: 50g unsweetened desiccated coconut, 100g butter at room temperature, 175g golden caster sugar, 3 large eggs, 175g Self-raising flour, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 125ml milk.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4/Fan 160°C.
2. To make the topping, put the sugar, butter and rum into a pan and heat for 2 minutes, until the sugar has melted, stirring occasionally. Pour a little of the mixture into the bottom of each ramekin, then put a pineapple slice with a cherry inside on top.
3. To make the cake: put the coconut in a pan over a gentle heat, stirring often, until it begins to turn light golden brown, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
4. Mix the remaining cake ingredients together until they are well combined. Stir in the cooled coconut. Spoon the mixture over the pineapple slices.
5. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown. If they aren't cooked cover with foil and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes or so.
6. Turn the puddings out, reheat any leftover topping and pour over the puddings. Serve with either custard or cream.

Giulio di Sturco: Dreaming Fashion

I've been meaning to feature Giulio di Sturco's photography for a while now, and recently revisited his website, to which he added a number of galleries.

One of those consists of his work during Indian Fashion Week in New Delhi, and is titled Dreaming Fashion.

You may wonder what I chose to feature this gallery on what is essentially a travel photography blog.

My rationale is multi-faceted: this gallery of edgy fashion and striking models underscores the enormous strides made by India in becoming an Asian economic powerhouse with a new growing middle class and modernizing cities, but also emphasizes the growing wealth disparity between its haves and have-nots.

Another reason is Giulio's photographic style. His blurry photographs impart both a dreamy look and one that suggests motion and energy.

The third reason is the pretty models...always a magnet.

Giulio's work also includes more sobering work. His galleries of photographs of the Ganges' pollution, the misery of Bihar residents after a flood and violence in Kashmir provide a reality check, and a reminder that not all is rosy in India.

Giulio di Sturco is an award-winning Italian photographer working between Milan and New Delhi. He studied photography at the European Institute of Design and Visual Arts in Rome, and was published in D (La Repubblica delle Donne), Internazionale, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, Anna, Amica, Geo, L'Espresso and others.

One Shot: Kate Holt

Photograph © Kate Holt-All Rights Reserved
I'm severely pressed for time, so this post will unfortunately be short in prose but hopefully not in substance.

I just thought to showcase this magnificent photograph by Kate Holt of an Afghan woman holding a malnourished infant at a therapeutic feeding center in Kandahar.

Kate is a news and features photographer, covering events throughout Africa and Afghanistan.

PS. Being tall, I'm quite fond of environmental photographs of that type, which tell a story from "above". Many photojournalists/photographers seem to prefer frontal views for obvious reasons, but in this case where faces are covered, Kate's choice of vantage point is just perfect.

Bruno Barbey: Shanghai World Expo

Not entirely travel photography related but Magnum In Motion is featuring an audio slideshow of Bruno Barbey's photographs of the construction of Shanghai's World Expo construction site and parts of its old city.

Shanghai saw the opening of the 2010 World Expo today, starting an event to herald the Chinese financial hub's return as a major world city after the spartan industrialism following the 1949 communist revolution.

According to the news reports here in the UK, no expense was spared and like the 2008 Olympics, the World Expo will showcase China's immense economic and geopolitical importance; almost bragging its power and influence.

I haven't been to Shanghai yet, but it's quite obvious the degree by which China has developed, and is continuing to develop its main cities. It's in stark contrast with the crumbling infrastructure of many large cities in the United States.

China is spending over $4.0 billion on the Expo itself, and many billions more on other improvements for this city of 20 million people. While in the United States, we are faced with economic difficulties caused by the mismanagement of the Bush Administration, the spectacle of hypocritical Tea Baggers and a catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

It's depressing.