TOP TO BOTTOM, from (“UNLIMITXT“)
© Dennis Rito, 2010

In this series, Rito seeks to examine the internal world of text-messaging users. He is compelled to explore how technology affects our society and faced with more virtual than face-to-face conversations, how do we, as a society progress ahead?

I really liked these images, especially the eerie glow that is left one the subjects’ faces. It’s an allusion to how absorbed we have become with our handheld devices. Variety in the subjects also break the possible monotony that such a series is prone to.

For more of Dennis’ works, visit his online portfolio. Incidentally, he writes the Philippine Photography Scene.

TOP TO BOTTOM, from (“9#, Sk8 and Toy-kyo“)
© Joji Shinamoto

Street culture graces the portfolio of Japanese photographer, Joji Shimamoto, as he traverses between New York City and Tokyo. Born and raised in Japan, he has since relocated to the Big Apple as a freelance photographer. Recently featured in Japan’s Photographica magazine and studio voice, this young photographer’s future looks bright.

Visit his portfolio to see more. A collection is also available here.

TOP TO BOTTOM, from (“Qi Lihe“)
© Stephen Kelly, 2009

Stephen JB Kelly documented the lives of ethnic Muslim minorities living in Lanzhou, a city in China’s north west. The government’s treatment of the Uighurs have dominated the news in recent months. Stephen’s series comes at a right time, shedding light onto a world previously ignored by the outside world.

From his statement:

Qi Lihe is home to thousands of Muslim migrant families who have left their homeland within the Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture and arrived into the city searching for job opportunities and ultimately, a better life. For hundreds of years the Hui and Dongxiang Muslim minorities have farmed the arid land surrounding their ancestral villages. In recent years though, desertification has forced this once workable landscape to begin a dramatic change, impelling many modern day farmers and their families to seek a better existence in Lanzhou.

The work is a documentation of culture, modernization, oppression and environmental destruction all rolled into one. This is a story that has been repeated too many times in our short history. Once again, we’re reminded of the things we leave behind in the name of progress.

Visit his online portfolio to see the rest of the series.

TOP TO BOTTOM, from (“Karen Portraits“)
© Jake Verzosa

Jake Verzosa’s documentary projects exude a sense of calmness and wonder which is seldom observed in most photojournalists’ works. These stunning portraits of the women from the Karen tribe are simply breathtaking. Their natural beauty transcends all borders. While the tribe has been photographed extensively by photographers traveling to these isolated villages, this is the first time I’ve seen them photographed like that. No wonder too, as Verzosa works as a freelance fashion/commercial photographer in Manila. However, documentary and portraiture work speak closer to his heart.

See his other works on his website. Also worth checking out is his South East Asian work on ethnicity in the region. Even though we are a region with disparate religions, cultures and beliefs, the way of living often struck me as overtly similar. The pictures totally made me miss hitting the road less traveled, talking to people and trying the most exotic food I can find.

TOP TO BOTTOM, from (“Chinatowns of Southeast Asia“)
© Zhuang Wubin, 2009

Chinatowns have always been a mainstay in most large cities in the world. During my travels, I’m inexplicably drawn to these places, perhaps due to my heritage and a longing for familiarity. Each Chinatown is unique yet similar in many ways. Wubin’s project could be easily lost without a contextual background or understanding of the subject. Do download the entire pdf to view the project in its entirety.

Visit his website to see this and other works. Also, Wubin has been researching thoroughly on photographers in Southeast Asia, of which you can read some articles on his blog.

TOP FROM BOTTOM, (from “Bangalore: Steady State 2012“)
© Mahesh Shantaram

His project, Bangalore: Steady State 2012, documents the rapid changes the city undergoes as it moves forward to become a sprawling metropolis. The old make way for the new, the past is removed and deleted as new buildings and infrastructure spring up.

He writes:

Following a long hiatus, I returned to Bangalore only to find myself having to resettle in a city that evoked memories, and at the same time, contradicted them. Photography became a way for me to reconcile myself to changes in me and around me. These are diary notes from the conversations I will continue to have with the city I call home until the transformation is complete and it reaches its steady state.

Likewise, things here move faster than most people can managed. In the span of my one-month holiday, two new shopping centers opened and a new one is slated to launch sometime later this year. Our memories of old are often altered by the urban landscape’s unstoppable metamorphosis. Perhaps one day we would all find our peace.

For more, visit his portfolio here.

TOP TO BOTTOM, © Eduardo Masferre

Eduardo Masferre (1909-1995) was widely regarded as Philippines’ father of photography. Born of Spanish descent, he spent much of his life toiling farms and photographing the Cordillera, the mountainous regions in North Luzon. His black-and-white work was an anthropological record of the vanishing customs and rituals of the tribes in the region.

There aren’t many resources online with his images but some can be viewed here. His images can be viewed at the Masferre Inn and Restaurant in Sagada (it only serves food now), along a wall at the back of the dining area. A coffee table book was on sale but it was too expensive for my budget. The restaurant serves one of the best cheeseburgers I have ever eaten though! Sagada is about eleven hours from Manila, and you have to take a bus to Bontoc before changing to a jeep.

Read more about his life and work here and here.

TOP TO BOTTOM, from (“Land of a Thousand Struggles“)
© Sohrab Hura, 2007-2009

In the end despite all the economic accolades that the new India that is shining in the eyes of the world achievers, in the long run it is the ice below the surface, the forgotten India outside the cities, that will determine the overall economic and social health of this country.

As India’s elections kick off this month, many wonder if the politicians will solve the issues plaguing the country. Sohrab’s evocative black-and-white images remind us that much needs to be done for the country, despite its growing GDP amidst the current global economic turmoil.

Visit Sohrab’s flickr stream to view of his other works.

Akshay Mahajan is one of those photographers whom I have discovered. A documentary photographer, he is currently based in Mumbai, India. (Setting for the recent hit show Slumdog Millionaire.)

TOP AND BOTTOM, from (“Lallubhai Compound“)
© Akshay Mahajan

Lallubhai Compound is an essay on one of Mumbai’s slum resettlement housing projects. Shot in traditional black-and-white and color, it exposes the harsh reality of many who have relocated to these “ominous dominoes”.

No one moves to Lallubhai compound because they choose to, they move forced in the name of “slum rehabilitation”. Their homes have been demolished under the claw of a bulldozer. A visit to Mankhurd teaches you rehabilitation means for very little here and all you will find is a concrete slum – one of far more dangerous social ramifications.

It’s hard to imagine how people live in such conditions. Looking at the relative comfort that my friends and I enjoy, we often forget about how lucky we are. We often take things for granted, enjoying our warm showers and air-conditioned rooms. Unfortunately, the unequal distribution of wealth has led to much disparity in our world. Despite traveling through poorer areas in the region, I’m not sure how I will react when faced with the poverty in India.

For more of the series, click here. His flickr photostream can be accessed here.

TOP TO BOTTOM, from (“The Earth“)
© Li Wei, 2008

It’s a curious place where modernity is mixed with traditional nomadic lifestyles. The project presents a whimsical look of life on the plains. Wind turbines and villages are found across a breathtaking landscape. While the project could have taken a deeper approach, traces of the diversity of mankind are deeply felt.

Visit Li Wei’s portfolio to see the series in its entirety.