Vibrant Photos of India's Holi Festival
Photos by Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press
Beginning on the full moon in the middle of March with an evening bonfire, the ancient Hindu festival of color and love known as Holi is celebrated to embrace the coming of Spring. This past weekend, as most of us in the Western world still feel the grey wrath of Winter, Associated Press photographer Rajesh Kumar Singh was there to capture and share all the vibrant photos from this visually striking festival, bringing a pleasant reminder of all the Spring color that is to come.
Along with singing and dancing into the night, Holi is filled with vividly colored paints and waters, thrown freely at strangers and friends alike to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. As of recently, while Holi celebrations are most widely-known to be in India and Nepal, the festival has spread westward into Europe and the U.S. as well. Festivals also vary by location depending on tradition or mythological belief by regions and villages that celebrate. For example, in the city of Barsana in northern India, women playfully hit men from the nearby village of Nandgaon with wooden sticks as they parade through the town.
Before you explore through the following photos rich in color and culture, I leave you with a statement on the nation's government website from over the weekend by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who wrote: "May the festival bring health, happiness and prosperity to all."
[Via Mashable]
Ancient Traditional Honey Hunters In Central Nepal
Photos by Andrew Newey
Have you ever heard about the ancient tradition of Honey hunting? Although it's in current threat of commercialization, U.K.-based documentary/travel photographer Andrew Newey spent two weeks with the Gurung tribe in central Nepal to capture this dying tradition. Here, honey hunters use smoke to drive out thousands of angry Apis Laboriosa, the largest honey bee in the world, from their nests. This is one of the most ancient human activities recorded, dating back 10,000 years in Spain, and is still practiced in indigenous parts of Africa, Asia, Australia and South America.
Honey hunting is extremely risky because the hunters still use the same handmade rope ladders and long sticks that their ancestors used in order to reach the bees’ inaccessible cliff-face nests. By placing their nests on cliff faces, the bees avoid predators and increase their exposure to sunlight, producing more honey. Approximately 45 pounds of honey to carry back on a 3 hour hike to the village. There, the honey is divided up among the villagers and one of the first uses is for a cup of tea. Everything about it is astonishing and Newey captured this beautifully.
Newey's photos are fascinating as the tradition is almost unbelievable. Be sure to check out more of his work here.
[Via Demilked]
Photographer Captures Beautiful Asian Landscapes and Rich Culture
Photos by Weerapong Chaipuck
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, stretched with abundant history and breathtaking scenery. And Bangkok-based Thai photographer Weerapong Chaipuck captures the beautiful Asian landscape, full of rich culture perfectly. What's even more impressive, is that he recently discovered his passion for photography after an early retirement from the medical profession. Now, Chaipuck spends his time traveling and snapping shots of all the beautiful landscapes and it's residents with breathtaking images, and eye-catching perspectives that are rich with color and texture.
Spanning from Thailand to China, Vietnam, Indonesia and India, Chaipuck delves deep into each country's rich culture rather than any type of tourist destination to document their real essence. Besides capturing some of the world's most captivating landscapes, he manages to turn even the most modest of homes, or the hard work of a local fisherman into a work of art.
Travel into the depths of Asia with the following images and be sure to see more here.
Colorful Portraits of Motorbike Girl Gangs in Morocco
Photos by Hassan Hajjaj
Morocco is an incredibly vibrant and complex place, and a photographer's dream location to shoot. However, in an age where photography is universal and sometimes intrusive, cities like Marrakech often distrust photographer's, seeing them as pervasive, and are questioned about the use of their captured images.
Knowing all of this makes the following photo series all the more intriguing. London-based, Moroccan photographer Hassan Hajjaj beautifully captured the bike culture of Marrakech in his latest series titled, Kesh Angels, on display now at the Taymour Grahne Gallery in New York until March 8. In this series, Hajjaj uses some female friends to represent "Moroccan girl bike gangs" to show something particular of Marrakech. In each image the girls are captured with strong, intimidating expressions to convey an edge, while sporting polka dot veils, Nike djellabah and even heart-shaped sunnies. To add even more color, he used products found in local markets to create a border for each picture.
Although there are no real bike gangs in Morocco, these girls are no joke. According to the photographer's recent interview with Vice, most of these girls speak up to five languages, and are full-time moms who work ten-hour days. What's even more interesting is that Marrakech is a true bike city, used by most of the locals as a source for transportation to work, and most of the bikes used for this shoot are their very own.
Check out the following photos and see more here.
[Via Vice]
Super Mario Bros. creator won't work on future Super Mario games
Say it ain't so! Super Mario Bros. creator and popular Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto recently told a French outlet that he wants to step away from future Super Mario Bros. games. In Miyamoto's own words, he told Gamekult:
"Creating a Mario of [Super Mario] 3D World's calibre demands enormous energy and there is little chance that I'd be able to take the time necessary to work on the next Mario. Instead, I want to get involved more heavily in the development of new, smaller-scale projects, but that doesn't necessarily mean just modest downloadable titles. It's not impossible that I'll present a new game as principal creator in the future, but even though I'm not directly in charge of a project, I'm always keeping an eye on what the teams are doing in terms of gameplay and I have confidence in them. Don't worry about Mario!"
I've honestly never been a huge Super Mario Bros. fan (my blood is Sonic the Hedgehog blue), but you'd be hard-pressed to find a gamer who can't understand Mario and Miyamoto's legacy and influence on all video games. While it's true that he's found himself in smaller roles over recent years, it's difficult to imagine a Super Mario Bros. game without Miyamoto's direct presence guiding the game. However, it's great to see his interest being drawn to smaller-scale games, especially with the rise of indie games over the current/last generation of gaming.
[via IGN]
Bose SoundTouch Wireless Audio System
If you're in need of a new speaker system, the Bose SoundTouch is something you should check out. Bose takes out of all the hassle of owning a speaker system without having to deal with a thousand wires or spending all your cash. The speakers are from the $400-$700 range and are available in three sizes: 30", 20", and portable. All of the models can easily connect to your WiFi with various preset buttons for different audio sources, and come with an iOS app that cues from music sources. With the different sizes, there is a good fit for everyone, and Bose has made it easy for you to just play and listen.
[Via Uncrate]
Pokemon X and Pokemon Y sold 4,000,000 copies over the weekend
Ever since Pocket Monsters: Red and Pocket Monsters: Green launched in Japan in 1996 (Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue in the US in 1998), it seems like the craze has barely died down for the franchise all about catching them all. After 15 years and six main sequels (not to mention the direct sequels and spin-offs), Pokemon is just as much the powerhouse it has been since its release.
With the latest games in the series, Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, released over this past weekend, the franchise demonstrated just how popular it really is. Earlier today, Nintendo issued a press release lauding Pokemon X and Pokemon Y for selling more than four million units in its first two days across the US, Asia, and Europe. The staggering launch numbers are thanks to Pokemon's first-ever worldwide launch, as well as the franchise staple of releasing two different versions at a time.
Nintendo also released lifetime sales for previous Pokemon games. The most successful entries were Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl with 17.63m, followed by Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire with 16.22m, Pokemon Black and Pokemon White with 15.42m, Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver with 12.67m, and Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen with 12m.
[via Destructoid]