Argentina - along the Parana' river
Japan - traditions and people
Singapore
Colombia - the journey of a coal stone
St Ives
Tsukiji Tokyo fish market
...more

Argentina - along the Parana' river

The mighty Paraná River flows for 4,880 kilometres through much of central South America, eventually emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language and means "like the sea" .

My journey followed the movement of the cereal crops and the communities, traditions and cities reshaped by the agricultural industry: from the harvesting in 'La Pampa' to the river ports near Rosario till the 'barrio' of La Boca in Buenos Aires

The fertile open plains of the Pampas

Corn harves

Soya harvest. Argentina is one of the world's top producers

The area of San Antonio de Areco

Sunrise over the Parana' river

Boys dipping in the Parana' near the town of Ramallo

The Boliche Bessort in San Antonio de Areco

The wall of the Boliche Bessort are lined with old photographs depicting the gaucho heritage of the town

Matadero

The traditional 'Corrida de Sortija': a ring is suspended between two poles and participants must gallop at full pelt and snare the ring

A gaucho checks and cleans his horse's tack in a barn at Estancia el Ombu' de Areco

A gaucho showcasing his special relantionship with his horse

San Antonio de Areco

San Antonio de Areco

Puerto Madero and the famous 'Women's bridge' in the background. This is the newest areas of BA built on the old docks

'Women's bridge'

La Boca (the river's mouth) is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires grew up from a collection of shipyards

The street of La Boca are filled with murales, some are political like this one depicting mothers looking for their children gone missing during the dictatorship of 1976-1983

La Boca

Japan - traditions and people

From Tokyo to Tomonoura, from the city to the small fishing villages and the small islands between the Honshu and Shikoku, in search of some of the many traditions that make Japan such a special place.

the Hanasajiki garden on the Island of Awaji

the Hanasajiki garden on the Island of Awaji

At the Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Honshu, a collection of statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo offers comfort o those who have lost children

a tunnel of Torr gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. The gates symbolise the transaction from the profane to the sacred

Kyoto

on the street of Kobe

The famous Itsukushima Shrine

Monk at Fugen-in buddhist temple in Mount Koya

A ceremony held twice a year inside the Oyamazumi shrine. Any sea captain and sailor traditionally visit this temple once on their life time to be blessed

part of the ceremony, where a Sumo fighter re-enact the endless fight between Human kind and Gods. God's pleasure in victory will result in an abundant rice harvest

A view from the top on Mount Shirataki in Innoshima Island. The '500 Buddhas', which in reality are more than 700

Okayama

Okayama

Shibuya, Tokyo

Tokyo

Tokyo

Onomichi

Tomonoura fishing village

Tomonoura is the place where the famous director Miyazaki lived for a few months and that gave him the inspiration to draw 'Ponyo on the Cliff'

Inside the Fukuzenji temple in Tomonoura, been voted one of the best ten view in Japan

Fukuzenji temple

Fish are hung up to dry in the wind and sunshine as a from of preservation

Singapore

Singapore, an island city-state off southern Malaysia, is a global financial center with a tropical climate and multicultural population

Marc Quinn's giant baby sculpture, titled Planet, in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay

Marina Bay Sands

Marina Barrage

Barrage on the Bay fountain of the Marina Barrage

Chinatown

The Cloud Mountain in the Cloud Forest Conservatory, part of the Gardens by the Bay located on the shore of the Marina Reservoir

A view of the Marina Bay Sands from the Gardens by the Bay

The Port of Singapore is the busiest transshipment port in the world

Litte India's Tekka Centre

the market in Little India

Inside the Sri Mariamman Temple during the annual 'timiti' fire walking festival

Inside the Sri Mariamman Temple during the annual 'timiti' fire walking festival

The financial district

The financial district

The Island of Sentosa is the southernmost point of Asia

The Island of Sentosa is the southernmost point of Asia

The Island of Sentosa is the southernmost point of Asia

Colombia - the journey of a coal stone

Coal is still the primary fuel for power generation across the world. Colombia is the fourth-largest producer.
I visited Pribbenow open-pit mine, which is one of the largest open-pit in the world.
The operation lies in La Loma, Cesar, east of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northern Colombia.
After being sorted on site the coal begins its journey from land to sea. The 150km track lead from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the new port in Ciénega where the coal is loaded into ships.

Local fishermen and the indigenous peoples that still ives inside the Sierra are indeed affected by the industrial developments. If coal mining has lifted large parts of the country out of poverty, the heavy industry is responsible for a dramatic environmental impact.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains are home to around 30,000 indigenous peoples, made up of four distinct but related tribes – the Kogi, the Arhuaco, the Kankuamo and the Wiwa.

They have lived there since the Pre-Columbian era and they maintain and very similar life style to their Tairona ancestors, living in stone and thatch huts, worshiping Aluna (a.k.a. Mother Nature), and viewing the Earth as a living being and humanity as its children.
Their consider themselves living at the "Heart of the World" and their duty is to protect the sacred mountain. In 1990 they came out of isolation and decided to speak out to the rest of the world - so called younger brother - suggesting modern culture was destroying the balance of the world

Pribbenow open-pit mine

The 150km track lead from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the new port in Ciénega

Local fishermen cast their nets into the lagoon at Ciénega Grande se Santa Marta, Colombia's largest marshland

Ciénega Grande is part of the delta of the Magdalena River

Tasajera fish market in Puebli Viejo, a village situated on the precariously thin spit that divides the Caribbean from the marshland

Local seller in Santa Marta

Santa Marta

Inside the Sierra Nevada with a Kogi family

St Ives

St Ives is a town in Cornwall, England, known for its surf beaches and mainly for its art scene.

The landscape around St Ives is varied and creates a very specific interplay of light. That specific light has attracted some of the greatest artists like Turner, Barbara Hepworth, Bernard Leach, Henry Moore, Henry Irving and Whistler which have all lived in St Ives.

Now world-famous as an art centre, St Ives has many studios and galleries all over the town. The acclaimed Tate St. Ives, opened its doors in 1993 and is part of the Tate Gallery in London

the harbour with the low tide

Barbara Hepworth museum and sculpture garden

Barbara Hepworth museum and sculpture garden
30: Four-square walk through, 33: Two forms (divided circle)

Barbara Hepworth museum and sculpture garden view from Tregenna Hill

The Leach Pottery

The Leach Pottery, founded in 1920 by Bernard Leach known as the "Father of British studio pottery"

Market Place

Porthmeor studios, the Maritime artist by Mark Dion

Tate St Ives

Tate St Ives

Tate St Ives
Gallery 8 : modern art and St ives

Porthmeor studios, Felicity Mara's studio

Porthmeor beach, the view from the terrace of the Tate

Tsukiji Tokyo fish market

Tokyo Tsukiji Market, is the world's largest wholesale fish market and in general the largest wholesale market in the world, handling over 2,000 tons of marine products per day.

It has been operating in its central Tokyo location since 1935 but is due to be relocated to a new site in Toyosu by spring 2016.

The portraits are a series of photos of fish stall's owners and workers taken during the first hours of the day. They market in fact operate during the night and the wholesale area only open to the public from 9am.

...more

Havana, Cuba

Havana, Cuba

Havana, Cuba

Havana, Cuba

Jamaica. Early morning flying over Porto Antonio's coast in a Jamaica Air Force helicopter

Firefly, Jamaica
Firefly was the house of Ian Coward

Negril, Jamaica

Runaway Bay, north coast of Jamaica

Harbour island, the Bahamas

Harbour island, the Bahamas

Harbour island, the Bahamas

Time for the olive harvest
Calabria, Italy

London, England

Hove, England

Iceland

Iceland

Augustea petrochemical refinery, Sicily, italy

Augustea petrochemical refinery, Sicily, italy

Colosseo, Rome
Italy

Hadrian's villa, Tivoli
Italy

Hadrian's villa, Tivoli
Italy

A Berber woman in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

A Berber man crosses the river of Ouarzazate, Morocco, known as the “door of the desert”

Rockers International record shop is one of the oldest remaining in downtown Kingston, Jamaica

Downtown Kingston, Jamaica

Downtown Kingston, Jamaica

A portrait of two locals inside what it is the largest book in the world, made from over 2500 marble slabs, each housed in its own small stupa. Mandalay (Burma)

A portrait of two locals in the mountains above Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

A village in the mountains above Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

A village in the mountains above Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

A portrait of a boy, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)

A young married punk couple, Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma)