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O’Hanlon on photography

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O’Hanlon on photography

Redmond O’Hanlon is a travel writer who specialises in going to dangerous and remote places and almost getting killed — and then writing about it entertainingly. He’s full of surprises — for example this lovely piece about photography in yesterday’s Guardian Review. Sample:

“Why are great photographs so powerful? Is it simply that they stop time (as all religions want to do)? Or that they’re one in the eye for death (as all religions would like to be)? Yes, but perhaps it’s also simply that they deal in images, the language of our dreams. Anyway, those photographs, from this magical machine, a camera, a piece of multiple scientific thought that cheats death in reality, produces images that are as immortal as you can get. Make a journey by yourself where you always carry a camera and you’ll find you’re never truly alone: your camera gives you psychological strength because you’ll find that your friends, the people who love you, are with you: if you survive, they can share this alien world of yours.

Now, at 57, I think I can remember every interviewer and photographer that I’ve met . . . particularly the photographers.”

What the well-dressed geek is wearing this winter

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What the well-dressed geek is wearing this winter

I only know this because of Ben hammersley’s piece in the Guardian. Embedded in the back of the bag are three light weight, waterproof solar panels, which generate up to 4 watts of power. Inside the bag is a Li Ion battery pack which stores the energy so it is available when you need it, not just when the sun is up. The makers claim the backpack is powerful enough to charge most portable electronics (other than laptops) including: cell phones, cameras, two way radios, GPS’s, PDA’s, even iPods.

Alternatively, the chic geek can have a Scottevest which, according to its manufacturer, “allows users to discretely carry multiple electronic devices in the concealed, ergonomically designed pocket system, as well as connect gadgets with the patented Personal Area Network (PAN) …   The PAN consists of hidden channels that allow users to connect devices without any visible wires.   Now, it’s easy to connect cell phones and music players to PDAs, power sources, and/or listening devices, such as earbuds and headphones. In addition to connectivity, special pockets are designed to accommodate digital cameras, portable keyboards, GPS devices, small laptop computers, two-way radios, bottled water, airplane tickets, magazines, wallets, keys, and much more. In cities and areas requiring hands-free devices while driving, the PAN is the ideal solution.”

The only problem, it seems to me, is how one would be able to stand up when fully loaded.

Tsunami tales

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Tsunami tales

An email from one of my former Wolfson Press Fellows arrived this morning with this attachment and a very wide circulation list. The subject heading read simply: “Nobody knows who this boy belongs to!”

While I was contemplating it — and thinking about the tens of thousands of Thai, Sri Lankan and Indonesian children who are in the same situation but whose images are not circulating on the Web — my email system pinged and there was another message from my colleague saying “good news.just heard from singapore that they have found the next of kin of the child”.

So this particular story ends happily. But most of these stories won’t. And after tragedy, comes depravity. According to the BBC, “Swedish police are already in Thailand investigating reports that a 12-year-old Swedish survivor of the tsunami was kidnapped from a hospital in the chaotic aftermath”. And UNICEF is warning that child traffickers are also moving in on children orphaned by the disaster. Strange how these catastrophes bring out the best and the worst in humanity.