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A professional banker, this 37-year-old has visited migratory birds’ habitats every weekend for seven years, to photograph them, lead guided walks and spread awareness.
Mumbai: When Vidyasagar Hariharan, 37, first visited the lake near Navi Mumbai’s NRI Complex in March 2016, he fell in love. “I reached when it was still dawn, and the sun was about to rise. As the sun rose, I saw around 3,000 pink flamingos dotting the dark water against an orange backdrop,” Hariharan said.
He returned, week after week, visiting similar water bodies in Navi Mumbai and Thane, gathering over the last seven years a vast documentation on flamingos visiting the city, raw material that he views as critical to protecting the bird and its habitat.
Pic Credit: Vidyasagar Hariharan
Pic Credit: Vidyasagar HariharanA banker by profession, Hariharan describes himself as a weekend birder. “I intend to use my pictures for advocacy for these birds,” he said. Over the years, he learnt about their migratory patterns, feeding and mating rituals, and the dangers they face from construction work and pollution of their habitats.
While documenting the flamingos, Hariharan also learnt about Mumbai’s topography, its wetlands and their importance. “Mumbai is the only megapolis that sees migration of such a huge number of flamingos. These birds play an important role in keeping the wetland and mangrove ecosystems running,” he said.
Pic Credit: Vidyasagar Hariharan
In 2019, Hariharan started an Instagram page to post pictures of flamingos in the city, which became a forum for Mumbaikars stuck at home during the pandemic to really consider the bounties of Munbbai’s natural landscapes. Strangers began to reach out, and Hariharan offered to help them do their own bird sightings. He went on to lead walks, help increase awareness and bust myths about the migratory birds. “I use the social media page as an SOS call to draw attention to the human-animal conflict,” he said.
With weather patterns changing and their habitats’ ecosystem degrading, flamingos’ migratory patterns have changed, some of their choice spots taken over for construction. “All these are unique occurrences, which my photography has documented,” he said.
Pic Credit: Vidyasagar Hariharan
Ravishankar Mantha, an industry leader in agri-research and himself a birder, said what Hariharan is doing is different from other birders, for he is interested in the flamingos’ habitat and works towards spreading awareness through talks or lectures, guided walks, etc. “He has also grown to know the local fisherfolk communities around the birding spots, and he speaks to them too about conservation,” Mantha said.
Hariharan’s photos have been published nationally and internationally, which he believes is a progression of his advocacy work. “I click these pictures and put them out so that people see and learn. When the international media uses the images, they become sensat
Pic Credit: Vidyasagar Hariharan
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LONDON – Britain’s British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) suspended a male member of staff on Sunday (July 9) following an allegation that one of its star presenters paid a teenager thousands of pounds to pose for sexually explicit photos, beginning when they were 17 years old.
The broadcaster said it first became aware of a complaint in May, but new allegations of a different nature were made to it on Thursday, and it had informed “external authorities”.
London’s Metropolitan Police said it had received initial contact from the BBC but no formal referral or allegation had been made.
“We will require additional information before determining what further action should follow,” it said in a statement.
The BBC said it was a “complex and fast moving set of circumstances” and it was “working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps”.
“We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended,” it said in a statement.
The statement said “it is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care”, without giving details on the claims.
The Sun newspaper, which first reported the allegations, cited the young person’s mother as saying the unnamed male presenter had paid the teenager more than 35,000 pounds (S$60,484) over three years for the images.
The mother told the newspaper that the teenager had used the cash to fund a crack cocaine habit.
The family complained to the broadcaster on May 19, but the presenter was not immediately taken off air, according to the Sun, which said the family had not requested payment for their story.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer held urgent talks with the broadcaster’s director general, Tim Davie, earlier on Sunday about the allegations, which she described as “deeply concerning”.
“(Davie) has assured me the BBC are investigating swiftly and sensitively,” she said on Twitter.
“Given the nature of the allegations it is important that the BBC is now given the space to conduct its investigation, establish the facts and take appropriate action.”
The BBC, which is funded by a licence fee paid by every TV watching household, said it “takes any allegations seriously” and had “robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations”.
“We have been clear that if – at any point – new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up,” it said.
ALSO READ: BBC chair made ‘errors of judgement’ over Boris Johnson loan, lawmakers say
The Vaonis Vespera smart telescope makes it easier than ever to observe the night sky with your iPhone, but at a steep cost.
The Vaonis Vespera telescope brings a sense of automation to astrophotography as an app-controlled and easy-to-carry telescope that people can use without prior telescope experience. With sign-offs from Terry Virts and Scott Kelly, we can see that even astronauts are seeing how the future of astrophotography is being shaped by software and robotics.
Out of the box, the telescope comes with a short adjustable tripod, a USB-C cable, and an adapter. The tripod legs can be screwed on, and the magnetic charger makes it easy to power the Vespera on the go with a power bank.
The Vespera weighs around 11 pounds and is small enough to fit in most backpacks and even a smaller crossbody bag. This makes carrying it out to a park or on a hike to observe the night sky easier than most other telescopes.
The Stellaris app uses GPS to set where you’re observing, taking into account the Earth’s rotation and adjusting its autofocusing features to eliminate manual adjustments for the user. All you have to do is set up the Vespera with its tripod legs, open the app, and select what you want to observe.
The Vespera will open its telescope arm, swiveling and adjusting its angle for where to look in the sky.
Vaonis Vespera Smart Telescope – App and Use
Starting up the Vespera involves connecting to it via WiFi, and the initialization process can take around five to ten minutes to scan the sky for viable objects to observe.
With that said, we recommend you set up the Vespera in a large, open environment. A small yard with many trees is not ideal, while an open field can maximize the range of motion the telescope provides.
The Singularity app will tell you how long it’ll take to observe a certain object, and the estimate holds up well within five to ten minutes.
Depending on your surroundings, the initialization or observation can fail if there’s something blocking the telescope’s view, so some trial and error is needed to get a successful picture. Patience is required when using the Vespera since it can take a while to re-initialize and set up an observation again.
The battery is powerful enough to take on a long night of star-watching with a claimed eight hours of automation. On average, a thirty-minute observation consumed 5% of the battery, making the eight to ten-hour range plausible.
In our limited astrophotography experience, the Vespera captured crisp and satisfying images. Depending on the closeness of the celestial object, the brightness and clarity can vary.
For example, we found that the Ring Nebula was much clearer to capture than the Whirlpool Galaxy. Of course, quality may depend on the user’s environment as well.
The Ring Nebula captured on Vespera
Images can be exported in a variety of formats in a 1920×1080 resolution, including JPG, TIFF, and FITS. Being able to easily save your results to your phone is appealing if you want to share them with others.
Two modes on the Vespera especially take advantage of its ability to tirelessly take photos: mosaic mode and “Plan my Night.” Mosaic mode captures multiple snapshots of the sky and assembles them, which can take longer than a usual observation.
“Plan my Night”, however, allows the user to use Vespera to observe different objects throughout the night ahead of time. This makes it possible to study the stars in your sleep if you leave the telescope on your lawn or during a camping trip.
The “Plan my Night” feature shown on iPad.
Since it has features for automation and to be outdoors for long periods of time, the Vespera has an IP43 water resistance rating, so light splashes and rain are permissible.
We’d avoid too much exposure though, and keep watch of the weather in case you leave it outside overnight.
A step in the right direction for accessibility
The Vespera telescope has a lot of potential as a tool to make astrophotography more accessible. With applications in education and with space enthusiasts, the Vespera introduces the complexities of capturing celestial objects in an easy-to-digest way.
Following along using the Singularity app, users can learn and engage with the night sky to their heart’s content. The Vespera offers a wonderful way to embark on a personal hobby or share the experience with others.
Comparatively, a beginner telescope can start range from $100 to $500, which is a fraction of the $1,499 cost of the Vespera. The main features to pay for are the automation and ease of use, as well as the small size and portability.
Still, it’s a worthwhile investment if you want to take the leap and lack experience in handling telescopes.
Vaonis Vespera Smart Telescope Pros
Highly portable
Stellaris app simplifies setup and observation
Good battery life and water resistant
Different features to take advantage of automation
Vaonis Vespera Smart Telescope Cons
High cost may be a deterrent
Brightness and clarity of captured images can vary
Initialization and observation can fail suddenly depending on surroundings
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Where to buy the Vaonis Vespera Smart Telescope
The Vaonis Vespera Smart Telescope is available on the Vaonis store for $1,499 (plus $90 US shipping).
(Image credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust)
Ansel Adams’ images of national parks and oil derricks from the 30s and 40s are a powerful reminder of the beauty and fragility of the US’s natural landscapes, writes Cath Pound.
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Ansel Adams is one of the giants of 20th Century photography, esteemed for his lush gelatine silver photographs of the national parks that have become icons of the US wilderness. A passionate champion of photography as a legitimate form of fine art, he referred to his most stunning images as his “Mona Lisas”. But Adams was also a tireless conservationist and wilderness preservationist who understood the power of a strong image to sway public and political opinion.
His stirring images of US national parks have no doubt always inspired a desire to protect the natural world. But his lesser-known images of oil derricks and the decimated landscapes in California’s Owens Valley have also taken on a renewed relevance in today’s era of climate change.
Ansel Adams in Our Times at the de Young Museum, San Francisco showcases some of his most celebrated works, as well as those that are less familiar, revealing the ways in which his powerful imagery continues to advocate for the protection of the environment.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
1. The Golden Gate Before the Bridge, 1932
San Francisco, the city of Adams’ birth, is where he first took up the large-format camera. “With images like this, one can sense his excitement with this new tool,” the exhibition’s curator, Karen Haas, tells BBC Culture.
“This is the strait that lies between San Francisco and the Marin headlands, a view that had been visible from his childhood home. The beach below is one that he regularly combed as a somewhat lonely and awkward only child, reinforcing his connection with nature even while living in the city and not in Yosemite,” says Haas.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
2. Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, c 1937
When Adams was invited by US President Gerald Ford to visit the White House in 1975, he took with him a copy of Clearing Winter Storm, one of his most celebrated images. At the time Adams was frustrated with the commercial exploitation and poor management of the country’s parks, and as he presented the print he said “Now, Mr President every time you look at this picture I want you to remember your obligation to the national parks.”
“It really speaks to the impact of the image. For Adams it was so much about showing the beauty, and through the beauty advocating for, and bringing concern for, the preservation of that beauty,” assistant curator Sarah Mackay tells BBC Culture.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
3. Rain, Yosemite Valley, California, c 1940
Yosemite was key to Adams’ development as a photographer and a place for which he felt a great affinity. “It’s where he first took up the camera in 1916. He had been given a Brownie [camera] for a vacation trip when he was just a teenager. He’s one of those young people who really found himself through photography,” says Haas.
The valley was a place he photographed many times and although this particular image may not be as famous as Clearing Winter Storm, it actually takes in the same view, only with the magnificent mountains obscured by mist, revealing Adams’ appreciation of the natural world in all its infinite varieties.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
4. The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942
“This is one of his most critically acclaimed works, exemplifying Adams’ ability to capture the rich nuance of the environment around him,” Mackay says.
The photo was taken as part of the national parks project, instigated by the Department of the Interior. The department was forced to withdraw funding when the US entered World War Two, but Adams, inspired both by the beauty of the parks and a desire to spread awareness of the need to protect them, successfully applied for two Guggenheim Foundation grants in 1946 and 1948, which enabled him to continue photographing the national parks across the country.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
5. Denali and Wonder Lake, Denali National Park and Preserve, 1948
Thanks to one of the Guggenheim grants Adams was able to spend a week in Alaska in July 1948. However, the conditions were challenging to say the least. There were only two days without rain and his camera was constantly filled with mosquitos.
He managed to capture the one, truly striking image of that trip at around 1.30am when the Sun, which had only set two hours earlier, was already starting to rise. “Nothing comes above the mountain because it’s the highest peak in the US,” explains Haas. The snowy expanse of the mountain is lit while everything else remains in shadow. “This is one of his Mona Lisas for certain,” she says.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
6. Burned Trees, Owens Valley, California, c 1936
“The national parks are the pictures that everyone wants to see, but I actually think the most compelling environmental messaging can be found in the images around places like Owens Valley,” says Haas.
While the parks were, and are, protected spaces, Owens Valley had been stripped of much of its natural resources. It had been a centre for silver, lead and zinc mining and the water had been sucked away to serve urban spaces.
“It’s a devastated landscape but he’s finding the beauty in it. He’s very much wanting to call attention to this space,” says Haas.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
7. Grass and Burned Stump, Sierra Nevada, California, 1935
Grass and Burned Stump is an image that has taken on a meaning that Adams, who would have been used to controlled burns, probably didn’t have in mind at the time. “Today when we look at that picture it has an environmentalist bent, but I think when Adams took that picture what he was compelled by was the aesthetic and physical qualities of the tree trump itself,” says Mackay.
(Credit: The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
8. Cemetery Statue and Oil Derricks, Long Beach, California, 1939
Twenty-first Century viewers looking at Adams’ striking photograph of a cemetery figure in a mourning pose in front of a sea of oil derricks are undoubtedly going to view it as a comment on the negative impact of oil drilling. Again that may not have been Adams’ original intention, but that certainly does not diminish the contemporary power of the image.
“What I love about that photo is the way that images are reborn or reinterpreted over time and I think that’s a really important element of Ansel Adams’ photographs when we look at them today,” says Mackay.
Ansel Adams in Our Times is at the de Young Museum, San Francisco until 23 July.
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Long-time South Orange resident Paul Lewis is hovering over a photograph of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Shot in 1961 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the image also shows Meinhardt Raabe, the original “Little Oscar” who drove that quirky vehicle around the country to showcase the company’s famed hot dog.
The original Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. (Courtesy of Paul Lewis)
Lewis admires the classic composition and expertly describes the story behind the image. Raabe, who was one of the Munchkin actors in “The Wizard of Oz,” played the coroner who pronounced the death of the Wicked Witch of the East. The photo is one of almost 200,000 images that Lewis recently purchased as part of an archive of photos commissioned and taken by the Sickles Photo Reporting Service. Founded in 1938 by Maplewood resident Gus Sickle — who died in 2003 at age 97 — the reporting service amassed such an iconic collection that the Smithsonian referred to it as “a true snapshot of America as we grew into the largest industrialized nation on Earth.”
Selections from the collection are currently on display at Pickers NJ (formerly 2 Guys from Newstead), a salvage and restoration business located at 491 Valley Street (near Parker Avenue) in Maplewood. Lewis debuted the collection on June 24, 2023 and has remade the storefront as the Gallery on Valley.
“Gus Sickles was the first guy to set up a nationwide network of commercial photography. It’s an amazing national story, but it’s also an amazing Maplewood story because he operated out of here,” says Lewis. According to Lewis, Sickles worked out of the building at 195 Maplewood Avenue (currently the village’s post office), a plumbing supply shop building that sat in what is now the Baker Street Parking Lot, and at 410 Ridgewood Road, which currently houses Milk Money.
Paul Lewis showing a photo from the Sickles family reporting service archives. (Photo by Donny Levit)
Paul Lewis has as many stories to tell as the layers of paint he’s uncovered on the windows he’s restored throughout South Orange and Maplewood. Born in Troy, New York, Lewis moved down to the city to attend Fordham University. “For 22 years, I was a corporate sales guy,” he says. Lewis also studied at the New York Experimental Glass Workshop (now UrbanGlass) and has created multiple neon art pieces.
Soon after 9/11, Lewis was downsized from his job. “I’m standing on my front lawn, talking to headhunters to get back to work, and my neighbor is doing the exact same thing,” recalls Lewis. “And he says, ‘Hey, why don’t we just start fixing some stuff?’ And I thought that was a good idea.”
Lewis and his neighbor Lee Martin named their company “2 Guys from Newstead” – a riff on the popular discount store in Harrison, New Jersey called “2 Guys from Harrison.” The two quickly had more handyman work than they ever expected, working 70 hours a week, getting to know the quirks of homes throughout the area, and building a sterling reputation. While Martin moved on after two years, Lewis kept the moniker.
Years later, Lewis is focused primarily on window restoration. And Pickers NJ became a salvage business. “I have this habit,” says Lewis, as he describes his obsession with collecting objects.
If you peered into the window four months ago, you may recall those salvage objects stacked up towards the ceiling. But as Lewis’ career shifts again, he has become very interested in collecting photography and art. The Sickles Photo Reporting Service is the first of what he hopes will be many exhibitions.
The story of how Lewis acquired the archive has its own fascinating twists and turns. And once again, it’s a very Maplewood and South Orange story. Retired photographer and artist Peter Sickles – son of reporting service founder Gus Sickles — invited Lewis to view the collection of photos. Peter had been working as a photographer for the family business for many years. “Peter was a beat photographer for local newspapers back in the 1970s. That was when you got your news at 6 an 11, and the paper arrived on your front porch at dawn,” says Lewis. “He’s also art-school trained, and got back to painting in the 1990s.”
Mixed media painting and photograph by Peter Sickles. (Courtesy of Paul Lewis)
Years before, the Smithsonian Institute wanted to acquire the entire collection for their archives. The Sickles family turned them down, as the Smithsonian would not pay for the collection. The family licensed many photos to Shutterstock and Getty Images, and received licensing fees for their years of work.
Lewis was stunned by the archives when he was invited to Peter’s apartment on Academy Street. Not only did he purchase the entire reporting collection, Lewis also invested in Peter’s artwork. In addition to original paintings, Peter painted on select photographs from the archive, turning them into mixed media pieces. “If you’re going to be into somebody’s art, you have to put your money where your mouth is. That’s just the way I am,” says Lewis. “Everything you see here is what I own.”
As jazz trumpeter Chet Baker plays in the background, Lewis is the ideal museum guide for this collection. Even though the archives were logged with great detail, Lewis speaks about them as if he’s carefully studied each photograph and work of art. And his dream is to share it with the community. “Wouldn’t it be cool if everyone in Maplewood and South Orange owned a piece of this archive?” says Lewis. “Now that’d be another great story.”
Interior of Pickers NJ. (Photo by Donny Levit)
Pickers NJ at 491 Valley Street. (Photo by Donny Levit)
The Gallery on Valley / Pickers NJ is located at 491 Valley Street in Maplewood. Hours are Saturdays from 11am-4pm or by appointment. Contact Paul Lewis at [email protected].
Sábado de julio, cielos despejados y ganas de salir al campo con los telescopios pero hay un problema. Es uno de esos días «raros» en los que no hay planetas a la vista hasta altas horas de la noche y en los que no sabes si compensa irte lejos porque la Luna sale a las 01:30 apenas 2 horas de iniciarse la noche astronómica, lo que te da apenas 2 horas de cielo realmente oscuro. Para colmo, había quedado con un amigo para salir y en el último momento tuvo un cambio de planes así que ¿Qué hacemos? Los lugares cercanos o tienen mal cielo o no me dan tranquilidad de ir solo. Los lugares lejanos no me compensan. Al final me resigno y nos vamos al centro comercial a hacer unas compras obligadas por una boda próxima y cenamos fuera. He cambiado las estrellas y los planetas por el ocio capitalista, me siento sucio.
Volvemos a casa a eso de las 23:30 y nos ponemos una peli en Netflix. Siento un vacío dentro de mí. Ojeo las redes sociales en el móvil y abro la App de SkySafari para torturarme y saber lo que me estoy perdiendo. Veo que Saturno está ya sobre el horizonte y me asomo a la ventana con poca esperanza de poder verlo porque sale demasiado hacia el sur, con mala visibilidad desde casa pero para mi sorpresa está al alcance de la vista. Es más, una hermosa Luna menguante está también apareciendo por el horizonte, más hacia el este… ¿Y si me traigo el telescopio al salón y hago unas fotos a Saturno? Noto que la ilusión me da un subidón de energía así que no me lo pienso más.
El telescopio no tengo ni que montarlo, es moverlo de la habitación donde he estado haciendo solar esta tarde hasta el salón. Ni lo quito de la montura, el Mak127 y la Az-GTi son ligerísimos. En 5 minutos ya lo tengo plantado en el salón y estoy alineado. Pongo la cámara enciendo el portátil y enfoco a Saturno. Ahí están sus anillos, mucho más estilizados que el año pasado ya que van reduciendo su inclinación con respecto a nosotros. Capturo unos cuantos vídeos y me quedo satisfecho. ¡Primer Saturno de la temporada conseguido!
A continuación apunto a la Luna y voy sacando algunos vídeos más, de zonas conocidas como Plato y Vallis Alpes, Sinus Iridum, el majestuosos Copernicus o Clavius, zonas de la Luna que habitualmente no suelo observar ya que siempre es más favorable observar la fase creciente que la menguante. De repente recuerdo que tengo un ocular Zoom de Svbony que me llegó el otro día y del que tengo que hacer una review así que desmonto la cámara y me pongo a hacer un poco de visual con él. Es un ocular zoom de grandes aumentos 3-8mm y por el seeing y altura de la Luna no le saco provecho a menos de 6mm. Aun así disfruto de un terminador espectacular con un montón de detalles y una Rima Ariadaeus como nunca he disfrutado. Mare Vaporum me llamó mucho la atención por su oscuridad y contraste.
Abandono el terminador y regreso a la zona iluminada para detenerme en Aristarco y su espectacular albedo. Junto a él la famosa «cabeza de cobra» en Vallis Schröteri.
Con el adaptador de digiscoping grabé algunos vídeos con el móvil y después monté un 38mm de Baader para sacar una panorámica general de la Luna para finalmente seguir en visual con el Zoom de Baader entre 8 y 24mm, una focal mucho más agradecida para la ocasión y que disfruté como un niño. Tanto es así que cuando me quise dar cuenta ya eran las 03:30 y Júpiter brillaba sobre el horizonte. Dentro de poco lo tendré un poco más a tiro pero no desperdicié la ocasión de echarle un primer vistazo aunque la extinción atmosférica era tan bestial que apenas se distinguían sus bandas.
Parecerá una tontería, pero una breve e improvisada sesión de observación urbana me animó muchísimo y me fui a dormir mucho más relajado, con la sensación de haber aprovechado el fin de semana para lo que realmente me gusta, que es la astronomía. Supongo que a muchos de vosotros os pasará.
BBC suspends star after explicit photo allegationsOli Scarff – Getty Images
The BBC has confirmed that the presenter accused of paying a teenager for explicit photos has been suspended.
It was reported yesterday (July 8) that a male presenter had allegedly paid more than £35,000 in exchange for explicit photos, with the company confirming it would investigate the matter.
The BBC has today confirmed that the unnamed presenter has been suspended in light of the allegations, with the corporation also revealing that they are co-operating with the police after “new information” emerged on Thursday (July 6).
Carl Court – Getty Images
“The BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations,” they said in a statement. “This is a complex and fast moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps.
“It is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care. We have been clear that if – at any point – new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up,” it continued.
“The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own enquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols.
Getty Images
“We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended. We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. The BBC Board will continue to be kept up to date,” the statement concluded.
According to The Sun, who first reported the allegations, the BBC star started paying for explicit images when the young person, who is now 20, was 17. The youngster’s family said they submitted a complaint on May 19, and went to the newspaper as they became “frustrated” that the presenter remained on air.
Tate Modern’s latest show opens with a king – the dein of Agbor in Delta State, Nigeria. Stately and handsome, he poses for his lifesize photograph in copious red robes that merge with his red velvet footstool and throne as if he were one with his royal role. In one hand he holds a pressed white handkerchief, as if against the heat (or the cares of office: this dein is known for settling disputes). The monarch in the next portrait sits upon a throne of stone, carved with long chains of cowrie shells. A third appears surrounded by gilded replicas of the Benin bronzes routinely displayed in European museums (give them back).
HRM Benjamin Ikenchucku Keagborekuzi I, The Dein of Agbor Kingdom, 2012 by George Osodi. Courtesy of George Osodi and Tafeta
George Osodi’s dazzling photographs of Nigerian monarchs, of whom the west knows so little, were taken this century. When the British colonised parts of Africa in the Victorian era, hundreds of tribal kingdoms were merged to form the artificial boundaries of Nigeria. Yet the monarchs of these subsumed kingdoms continued to exist, as they do today. These portraits are a record of the present but also the past.
A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography presents Africa through its own lens. The art is exhilarating, dynamic, compelling, profound. It is a vital experience, just in terms of pure knowledge alone.
Here are girl biker gangs in Marrakech and gay picnics in South Africa, haunted Cameroonian landscapes and dense streets in the megacity of Kinshasa, Mauritanian migrants trying to reach the shores of the Mediterranean.
Lazhar Mansouri’s black-and-white photographs, taken in his village studio in north Algeria in the 50s and 60s, offer staggering glimpses of Bedouin and Berber sitters, some posing with radios, as well as villagers got up like Marlon Brando.
Given the population of Africa, now more than a billion, and the sheer number of images that might have been included, judicious selection was crucial. Some of the 36 artists in the show are justly famous – Samson Kambalu (last seen at Modern Art Oxford); Fabrice Monteiro, shortlisted for the Prix Pictet; the venerable James Barnor, whose joyous and uplifting studio photographs of post-independence Ghanaians were shown at the Serpentine Gallery in 2021. Others deserve to be far better known.
Angolan artist Edson Chagas’s fantastical photographs are posed exactly as if for a passport photo. But each sitter wears a highly expressive Bantu mask of the sort historically favoured by western collectors. Just to continue the point, Chagas devises a fictional name for each subject – Salvador Kimbangu, Pablo Mbela – European-African hybrids recalling Angola’s past as a Portuguese colony. Who is allowed to travel, these images appear to ask, compared to which favoured objects?
Pablo P Mbela, 2014, by Edson Chagas. Courtesy the artist and Apalazzo Gallery
Chagas’s images are in a gallery devoted to masks, and what they mean in Africa as opposed to Europe. Zina Saro-Wiwa is showing a film alongside, in which she herself appears in a telling variety of masks that make her both more, and less, visible as a contemporary African woman. It ends with a phenomenal shock.
In Wura-Natasha Ogunji’s piercingly titled performance video – Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman? – a procession of masked women haul heavy water canisters along the ground through a district of Lagos. Men gape; women nod, taking photographs in recognition. At one point, in this unforgettable video, a local woman carrying an equally heavy load of liquid in the form of a basin of bottles balanced on her head, passes the procession without being able to turn for a second to look.
The show’s thematic groupings are always judicious. The spiritual section features Senegalese artist Maïmouna Guerresi’s marvellous five-panel polyptych showing an old man in a high black hat reading Sufi scriptures to four girls dressed in bright red, perched on black blocks round a table. They listen, but only while turning pensively towards the greater realities of existence conveyed through the shell case and the sinister petrol can lying on the table.
Cameroonian artist Em’kal Eyongakpa’s extraordinarily dark landscapes appear haunted by shadowy feet, ancient objects and even, in one shot, a spectral body: the traces of war lying in the land like smoke on water. And there are haunted photographs.
Sammy Baloji’s archival images of Congolese labourers, some of them chained, materialise within contemporary photographs of ruined mines; the industry now as dead as the forced labour. Angolan artist Délio Jasse’s eerie double exposures superimpose period bank and passport stamps, and government letters, over 60s photographs of a colonial Portuguese family. You search for some trace of Angola itself and find only one single black African face, inevitably that of a servant.
The show considers the camera as an imperial device throughout. I admired a strange conurbation spreading across the floor of a vast central gallery, composed entirely of dusty old box files. Grouped, stacked, felled, they form a low-lying cityscape, the architecture of modern Lagos. And one of these piles takes the shape of Independence House, commissioned by the British, and in which secret documents and photographs were concealed. Some of these boxes now lie open, revealing colonial photographs buried beneath the red and ochre soil of Nigeria. Ndidi Dike’s installation is mordantly titled A History of a City in a Box.
Photography is a means to so many different kinds of art at Tate Modern – massive Cibachrome prints, film installations, multimedia sculptures. A wonderful old-fashioned slide show, in the dark, sets up found photographs of 19th-century Africans in Victorian dress whose identity is sometimes hazy. Each is followed by a question. Are these really their names? What did they do for a living? What is the occasion? And, above all, are these portraits “evidence of mental colonisation” or did they challenge prevailing images of “the African” in the west?
Mutations, 2015-22 by Andrew Esiebo. Courtesy the artist and Tiwani Contemporary
Organised with so much insight, intelligence and sympathy by Osei Bonsu, Tate Modern’s curator of international art, this is a terrific exhibition. And what’s remarkable is the way that so many visions of such an unimaginably vast continent are united, here and there, in microcosmic detail. If only you look as closely as these photographic images encourage.
The woman carrying a great basin of drinks on her head reappears, in spirit, in emblem, more than once. And eventually in one of Andrew Esiebo’s colossal cityscapes of teeming Lagos, where pedestrians make their own walkways through the chaos, people park their cars on the highways and demolished buildings are propped up as shacks. There she is again, heroic, no longer just another figure in the crowd.
Sarhul is a joyous and culturally significant festival that brings together communities to honor nature, express gratitude, and celebrate the arrival of spring. The festival is characterized by vivid colors, lively dances, mesmerizing music, and elaborate rituals. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the tribal communities in Jharkhand. The photo story captures the festival’s spirit, highlighting the rituals, traditions, and cultural practices of this distant and beautiful location.
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#1
Sarhul, which literally translates to “tree worship,” is a spring celebration.The festival heralds the start of the New Year and allows the tribes to show their appreciation for nature. The event begins with the veneration of trees and other natural objects. The tribes worship trees because they view them as a metaphor for life and ask for their blessings in order to be healthy and prosperous.
#2
The mythology and history around Sarhul are quite interesting. One tale claims that the celebration had its start when some individuals were lost in a forest and couldn’t find their way out. They prayed for a direction to the trees and other natural forces, and amazingly, the exit was discovered. The tribes began worshipping the trees and other natural elements from that day forward as a method to convey their thanks.
#3
The tribe members are dance and sing around a Sal tree. One man stands out in the center, as he carries the priest, known as Pahan, on his shoulders, while they revolve around the tree. The men are dressed in traditional attire, with red and white turbans, dhotis, and kurtas. They are all smiling and laughing, their faces full of energy and excitement.
The rites and importance of Sarhul are firmly ingrained in the tribes’ culture and customs. The tribes engage in a variety of rites and ceremonies during the course of the festival’s multiple days of celebration.
#4
The Pahan bestows his blessings by placing a small Sal tree branch behind his right ear, and adorning his forehead and cheeks with vibrant colors, adding a touch of divinity and tradition to the Sarhul festival.
The gift of rice beer to the ancestral spirits is one of Sarhul’s most significant traditions. The rice beer is served to the ancestors’ spirits as a mark of respect since the tribes believe that they visit them during the event.
#5
An old man carries a Hadiya (rice beer) on his aluminium pots. The man is dressed in traditional attire, with a white dhoti , and a turban on his head. His face is weathered and lined, revealing a lifetime of experiences and wisdom.
The cuisine of Sarhul is another significant feature. The tribes use regional ingredients to produce a variety of delicacies that are offered during the celebration. Dhuska, a deep-fried pancake of rice and lentils, and Charpa, are a couple of the most well-known dishes.
#6
The women perform the beautiful ritual of Lota Pani, washing and cleaning the feet of the Pahans as they return from the sacred Sarna Puja sthal, adding a touch of grace and reverence to the festival.
The veneration of the Sal tree is an integral aspect of Sarhul. The Sal tree is revered during the event because it is regarded as sacred by the tribes. The Sal tree is revered by the tribes as the home of their ancestors’ spirits, and they pray to it and make sacrifices to it in order to obtain their blessings.
#7
#8
Dance and music are also popular at Sarhul. The tribes show their excitement and happiness by dancing in a variety of ways. The Jhumar, which is performed by the Munda tribe, is one of the most well-known dances. Drums and other conventional musical instruments are used to accompany the vigorous and vivacious dancing.
#9
I was deeply moved by the tribes’ strong bond with nature when I saw the many rites and celebrations of Sarhul. The celebration serves as a reminder that as we are all a part of nature, we should cherish and safeguard it, and I left the village with a deeper respect for our country’s charm and diversity.
#10
The Sarhul festival is a celebration of nature and its richness, and it is very important to the tribe’s of Jharkhand. The event serves as a reminder of our close relationship with nature and the value of preserving it.
