Photography
Op 22 maart trouwden Pieter en Rachelle in Waalwijk, bruidsreportage o.a. bij de Roestelberg, feest bij het Galgenwiel te Kaatsheuvel en Chalet Fontaine te Waalwijk. Dit is het Trouw Album geworden van hun Bruiloft.
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[iframe src="http://www.pimhorvers.nl/album/bruiloft-rachelle-en-pieter" width="100%" height="550"] Op 22 maart trouwden Pieter en Rachelle in Waalwijk, bruidsreportage o.a. bij de Roestelberg, feest bij het Galgenwiel te Kaatsheuvelen Chalet Fontaine te Waalwijk.
Op 22 maart 2013 legde ik de bruiloft van Rachelle en Pieter, in Waalwijk vast. Het was een koude maar niet minder mooie dag nog vroeg in het voorjaar. Beide hebben de kou getrotseerd voor de bruidsreportage onder andere in aan de bosrand bij de Roestelberg te Kaatsheuvel. De klasieke dubbeldekker bus was een originele manier om het bruidspaar door de familie af te laten halen en hen zo naar het stadhuis in Waalwijk te brengen waar zij trouwden. Na het trouwen vervolgde de dag zich met familie en hechte vrienden bij het Galgenwiel te Waalwijk. Het feest vond plaats in het prachtige Chalet Fontaine in Kaatsheuvel.
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Read the hole story about the Kangchenjunga trekking within the story section HERE: http://http://www.pimhorvers.nl/stories
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Last oktober 2012 I was in Nepal Kathmandu and visited the Elviras Children home where Ranchana showed us around, let us meet the children and eat Momo's together. The photos I made for the children and the website of the Children home.
In the autum of 2012 I visited the Tilburg Rugby Club because a family member was playing. I was suprised how much there was going on on the field. I found my 70-200 mm lens on my 5d mkII way to short for this type of sport but cropping in I could get some action show. For me the balck and white transformations made is look like the sport feels like..rough!
28-01-2013Day 12 of the Kangchenjunga trekking
11-11 From Kambachen to Ghunsa
During the night one of us woke up a few times because of rats on his sleeping bag. An early start can be hard but also brings the most beautiful morning light in the village for photography. Kambachen is surrounded by high Himalayan mountains that lead up to more than 7000 metres. The early morning and late afternoon views are quite spectacular. You can see smoke starting to come through the holes in the roofs and the shepherds leaving their houses to take their yaks to different places. Yaks are the main way to transport daily requirements like clothing and food from one village to another. Yaks also provide fuel for the stoves as people in the villages above the tree line have no fire wood to use for cooking. They gather the yak dung (shit), dry it and burn it in their stoves. To Kambachen or to return from Kambachen to Ghunsa you can choose to take the left trail or the right trail. Both lead over treacheous terrain and they both finish at Kambachen. Depending on erosion and the state of the trail you have to make your best choice. We were advised to take the same route back as we came up. Back in the lodge at Ghunsa, we found out it was the first day of the Diwali festival also known as 'Deepavali' or 'Tihar'. This Hindu festival takes up to five days of singing and dancing and is also called the festival of lights. Diwali involves the lighting of candles or small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. These lights are kept on during the night and one's house is cleaned, both done in order to make the goddess Lakshmi feel welcome. Firecrackers are burst because it is believed that it drives away evil spirits. During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends. The festival starts with Dhanteras on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year. The second day of the festival is called the Naraka Chaturdasi. Amavasya, the third day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The fourth day of Diwali is known as Kartika Shudda Padyami. The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes. Diwali marks the end of the harvest season. Farmers give thanks for the bounty of the year gone by, and pray for a good harvest for the year to come. In the evening dancing and singing took place in the courtyard of the lodge. Inside we enjoyed some Raksi and Tongba. You can find both drinks in some of the villages where the local people make them. Raksi is a sort of strong wine. Raksi is Nepalese drink made from different grains. First, grain is cooked, then cooled down, and mixed with yeast and kept in a basket maintaining a constant temparature for some days. Then it is kept in the pot, made from clay, and it is known as 'Jad beer'. Then the Jad is distilled in a process called paini. The distilled product is known as "Raksi". Tongba is a millet-based alcoholic beverage found in the far eastern mountainous region of Nepal and the neighbouring Darjeeling and Sikkim. It is the traditional and indigenous drink of the Limbu people of eastern Nepal. To Limbus Tongba is like what Sake is to Japanese, Vodka to Russians and Wine to French. Tongba is culturally and religiously important to the Limbu people of far eastern Nepal. It is consumed in a unique way: the fermented millet is put in a container, also traditionally called a Tongba, and boiled water is poured in it to the brim. It is then left undisturbed for about five minutes. Once the five minutes has passed it is ready to drink; a fine bamboo straw with a blind end, but perforated on the side to act as a filter, is inserted into the container to suck out the warm water and alcohol from the millet grains. More hot water is added as the tongba becomes dry, and the process is repeated until the alcohol is exhausted. In the Diwali festival everyone is invited to take part. This involves drinking, clapping your hands and dancing. At the end giving a small donation for the local community. During the night local groups come and go to celebrate even when all people in the village are asleep. Finaly they get some food and drink and a place to rest.
13-01-2013
Day 10 of the Kangchenjunga trekking
9-11 From Selele to Ghunsa
It was a hard cold night the four of us sleeping on wooden boards. Because of this waking up at 6.30 was no problem but getting out of the warm sleeping bag really was. While having the breakfast as usual we are all looking forward to descent to the Ghunsa Khola valley where we would find plenty of choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But still no Pringles for one of our team members who was looking for them all the way. Last days were tough so we needed to recover and regain strength again. We crossed some more passes, each of them about 4000 meters high. After the last pass we started descending through beautiful rhododendron forests. The last bit before the final descent was a bit tricky because a supply tube to the local water power plant was broken and the spill of water formed a massive layer of ice on the trail. We arrived at Ghunsa after a half day of pretty easy walking. Everyone arriving at Ghunsa will enjoy the luxury of choice for food and drinks. To enjoy the sun in Ghunsa you should be aware that at this time of the year the sun hides early behind the mountain range. In the afternoon we took a stroll to the Cho Gheling Gompa. The ceremonial prayer room of the Gompa was closed but we were able to take a look inside through the hatch at the top of the stairs. It was a beautiful and very colourful sight. Thankas were hanging on the walls, prayer books wrapped in silk cloth were stacked away in open cupboards and several bronze statues were displayed on a small altar. Back in the lodge we found out it was the first day of the Diwali festival also known as 'Deepavali' or as the Nepali people say 'Tihar'. This Hindu festival, also known as the festival of lights, consists of up to five days of singing and dancing. Diwali involves the lighting of candles or small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. These lights are kept on during the night and one's house is cleaned, both done in order to make the goddess Lakshmi feel welcome. Firecrackers are lit because they are believed to drive away evil spirits. During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends. The festival starts with Dhanteras on which most Indian business communities begin their financial year. The second day of the festival is called the Naraka Chaturdasi. Amavasya, the third day of Diwali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The fourth day of Diwali is known as Kartika Shudda Padyami. The fifth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya (also called Bhai Dooj), and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes. Diwali marks the end of the harvest season. Farmers give thanks for the bounty of the year gone by, and pray for a good harvest for the year to come. In the evening dancing and singing took place in the courtyard of the lodge. Inside we enjoyed some Raksi and Tongba. Both drinks are made by local people in some villages. Raksi is a type of strong wine. Raksi is Nepalese drink made from different grains. First, the grain is cooked, then cooled down, and mixed with yeast and kept in a basket maintaining a constant temperature for some days. Then it is kept in a clay pot, and it is known as 'Jad beer'. Then the Jad is distilled in a process called paini. The distilled product is known as "Raksi". Tongba is a millet-based alcoholic beverage found in the far eastern mountainous region of Nepal and neighbouring Darjeeling and Sikkim. It is the traditional, indigenous drink of the Limbu people of eastern Nepal. To Limbus Tongba is what Sake is to Japanese, Vodka to Russians and Wine to French. Tongba is culturally and religiously important to the Limbu people of far eastern Nepal. It is consumed in a unique way: the fermented millet is put in a container, also traditionally called a Tongba, and boiled water is poured in it to the brim. It is then left undisturbed for about five minutes. Once the five minutes has passed it is ready to drink; a fine bamboo straw with a blind end, but perforated on the side to act as a filter, is inserted into the container to suck out the warm water and alcohol from the millet grains. More hot water is added as the tongba becomes dry, and the process is repeated until the alcohol is exhausted. In the Diwali festival everyone is invited to take part. This involves drinking, clapping your hands, dancing and at the end, giving a small donation for the local community. During the night local groups come and go to celebrate even when all people in the village are asleep. At the end of the evening they get some food and drink and a place to rest.
03-01-2013 Day 9 of the Kangchenjunga trekking:
8-11 From Tseram crossing Sinelapche La and Mirgin La to Selele
Same rituals passed in the morning before our tough day going up across the passes to Selele started. When starting out the temperature was comfortably low so we could set off at a good pace. But after a while the sun got strong, the temperature rose and the terrain became even more steep. Everybody took his or her own pace because we all knew we had a long day ahead of us. It took us 4 hours to get to the first pass, Sinelapche La at 4666 meters. We didn't take a long time to enjoy the first pass and went straight on to the next one. At the next one our guide told us to take a break and eat something. He brought us some boiled potatoes to give us some more energy for the upcoming hours. On the way we learned that even for Nepali people a track like this can be hard and confront you with the risks and dangers of altitude sickness. We met the guide of the Austrian people who were crossing the passes also, and he told us he had to send back his best porters because he got altitude sickness. We felt sorry for him but we were happy to continue to Selele. At 13:00 hrs. we crossed the second pass at 4627 meters. We continued to the next and last pass for the day at 4615 meters where there was a sign saying Mirgin La! So strange because our information said it should be Selele La. Best not to believe every sign as a fact. Sometimes we experienced forms of nature that are really impressive. Seeing a halo around your shadow while alone in the Himalayan mountains is pretty impressive. The descent was long but arriving at Selele was beautiful. There was a little lake before Selele and the surrounding scenery was amazing. Selele itself was a primitive settlement consisting of a small bhatti and a tiny hut with two bedrooms. One of us tried the toilet and saw that some westerners find it hard to use a Nepali toilet and just shit anywhere on the floor. In places like this you will find yourself with other trekkers and their team members while eating supper in the small smoky dining room. So nice!
03-01-2013 Day 8 of the Kangchenjunga trekking:
7-11 From Ramche to Oktam and back to Tseram
Waking up was difficult at this altitude. It was freezing cold during the night (minus 6 degrees) in the room so getting out of bed during the night wasn't the best adventure. Every night one of us had to go out to take a piss but every morning we shared stories of the beautiful sky filled with stars. Early in the morning before breakfast we were lucky to see some blue sheep high on the rock face alongside the lodge. We took some photos just before the blue sheep went up further along the mountain ridge. For breakfast we had Tibetan bread and omelettes for a change and took off for Oktam. We followed the Yalung glacier beside the moraine going to the highest point of our trek, Oktam. The way to Oktam went gradually up but because of the altitude we had to take it slow. Every minute the view got better and better.....
The next day we went on to Taplejung. Yesterday the driver frequently hung out of his window to check the rear tyre and today he decided to change it.
On the bus I met an interesting Nepali guy who was traveling to make a documentary about the role of the mother in the Nepali culture. He was also going in the same direction to Kangchenjunga. He started talking to me because of my Che Guevara cap and told me that he was a fan of Che. So we started talking about socialism and how social the people from Nepal are and the differences between Nepali and Western culture. He was very interested to know how the Western world works because next year he will start studying in London. His stories about Che and quotes of the movie 'Seven years in Tibet' kept me amused during the endless ride on the bus. Local transport can sometimes be rough but is the best way to learn about the people and culture and we all enjoyed it.
After 30 hours we finally arrived at Taplejung and we had a nice lunch. Here our guide decided we shold go the last bit to Deorali by jeep.
Traveling around in Kerala, India. Getting back on the bus again to go to Cochin but still enjoying the wildlife safaris of last few days in Wayanad National Park in Tholpetty, India. Amazing to see the Elephants in real life en their national environment!
During a one day trekking on the border of the wildlife park we climbed a bog hill and went to some cages on top of it. The loud noise lead us the way to a big cave where hundreds of bats where living. It was ver impressive to see and hear the bats hanging and flying around. The bad light made it unfortunately difficult to use a tele lens but my 85 1.8 made it work quit good.
(Photos taken at Wayanad wildlife sanctuary, Tholpetty range)
Finally we arrived at Taplejung after a 30 hour bus ride. Yesterday we did 25 hours in a row after we took the night bus from Kathmandu and changed in Birtamod, near to the Indian border, to a local bus into the mountains. The ride was fantastic and beautiful and took us through the tea plantations of Ilam. The bus was from the 50's, with to many people in it and uphill it went like 5 km an hour. The old bus stopped at 7 in the evening because the driver didn't want to drive on in the dark on the small mountain road. We and the rest of the passengers slept in a local thea house that was very basic. The food, Dal Bhat, was good as always.
Vanavond weer een familie blij gemaakt met mooie foto's van hun kinderen op een zomerse dag.
Afgelopen maand heb ik foto's mogen maken van een mooi gezin waarvoor ik eerder dit jaar ook de bruiloft vast heb mogen leggen. Het was opnieuw een gewelig gastvrij samenzijn en prachig de kinderen in hun eigen omgeving te fotograferen.
De expositie
Vanaf deze maand is er fotowerk te zien in het Verbeeten Instituut in Tilburg. Dit is een onderdeel van het Tweesteden waar patienten met kanker worden behandeld. Ik hoop dat er veel mensen plezier beleven wan het bekijken van de beelden van de andere wereld dan hier, in Nepal. Mocht je in de buurt zijn ga eens kijken: Brugstraat 10 5042 SB Tilburg en laat me weten wat je ervan vindt!
De fotowerken zijn te koop en er zijn tevens ansichtkaarten van de foto's te koop. Vraag hiervoor aan de receptie of kijk op www.pimhorvers.nl of mail naar info@pimhorvers.nl
Ik hoop dat eenieder geniet van de beelden!
Santiago de Cuba wordt, voorafgegaan door Havana, wel gezien als de tweede stad van Cuba. De aan de zuidkust gelegen stad heeft 423.392 inwoners en was vroeger de hoofdstad van Cuba. Tegenwoordig is ze de hoofdstad van de gelijknamige provincieSantiago de Cuba.
De stad is minder vervallen en door zijn ligging minder veramerikaniseerd dan Havana. Santiago de Cuba ligt tegenover Jamaica enHaïti, wat de Caraïbische sfeer verklaart in tegenstelling tot Havana, dat tegenover Florida ligt.
De stad ging de recente geschiedenis in op 26 juli 1953 met de aanval een groep revolutionairen onder leiding van Fidel Castro op de Moncada kazerne buiten de stad. De aanval die mislukte, legde de basis voor de Cubaanse Revolutie waaraan slechts in december 1958 in Santa Clara een einde kwam.
De stad Trinidad in midden-Cuba staat sinds 1988 op de Werelderfgoedlijst van UNESCO. Trinidad werd gesticht in 1514 door Diego Velazquez de Cuellar, eerst nog met de naam Villa de la Santisima Trinidad. Het provinciestadje, iets ten noorden van de baai van Ancon aan de Cubaanse zuidkust (provincie Sancti Spíritus), heeft de authenticiteit van de Spaanse 16e eeuw bewaard. Het pittoreske centrum met de kerk van Sint Franciscus, rond de Plaza Mayor, het Palacio Cantero en het Palacio Brunet zijn de hoogtepunten.
Gelegen in het uiterste Westen van Cuba, biedt Maria La Gorda één van de beste duikgebieden in Cuba, zelfs van de hele Caraïben. Ver van alle discotheken en massatoerisme, is deze omgeving al sinds 1979 uitgeroepen tot natuurgebied. De meeste van de 26 duikplaatsen liggen vlak bij het strand (het verste is ongeveer 30 minuten varen). Ze zijn gekenmerkt door prachtige drop-offs (tot ongeveer 2500m), begroeid met sponzen, gorgonen en kleurrijke koraalformaties. Met een beetje geluk ontmoet je barracuda’s, murenen, kreeften en zelfs een occasionele walvishaai (vooral van augustus tot november, maar dan is het seizoen van de orkanen). Verwacht hier geen overvloed aan faciliteiten of een luxe-resort. “Basic” is het woord dat bij dit hotel past.
Occupy, inmiddels een wereldwijde beweging waarbij het afkeuren van het huidige economische systeem, het kapitalisme centraal staan. Op vrijdag 25 december besloot ik dat het hoog tijd werd dat ik Occupy Amsterdam ging bezoeken en vastleggen.
Occupy is ontstaan vanuit een Amerikaanse protestbeweging in begin 2011. De beweging leidde tot Occupy-protesten wereldwijd en is geïnspireerd door de Spaanse 15 mei-beweging en de Arabische Lente. De doelen van de beweging zijn niet eenduidig. Opmerkelijk is dat mensen van verschillende politieke stromingen en gezindten zich tot deze beweging aangetrokken voelen. De demonstranten protesteren tegen de hebzucht van Wall Street en andere grote financiële instellingen. De hebzucht in de financiële sector beschouwen zij als een van de belangrijkste oorzaken van de financiële crisis waarin de wereld sinds 2008 terecht is gekomen. De Occupy-beweging wordt gevoed door een sterk gevoel van onbehagen over de bestaande economische ongelijkheid in Amerika en elders, de afbraak van sociale en economische verworvenheden en de (vermeende) onzichtbare macht van het multinationale bedrijfsleven over de politieke besluitvorming die in toenemende mate ook als een bedreiging voor de democratie wordt beschouwd. We are the 99% is een veel gebruikte leus waarmee de demonstranten de economische ongelijkheid tussen de rijkste 1% van de V.S en de resterende 99% bekritiseren.Andere leuzen zijn: Banks get bailed out, we get sold out!, This is what democracy looks like! en Whose streets? Our Streets!
Lichtspektakel GLOW in Eindhoven was na lange tijd weer een aanleiding om met een aantal fotografie vrienden bij elkaar te komen en een gezellige avond te hebben. Dit is helemaal goedgekomen en zoals aan onderstaande is te zien heeft het fotograferen voor mij slechts bestaan uit een aantal experimenten om deze stilstaande verlichte beelden in een dynamischer beeld om te zetten.
