Hello.
I've become a bit of a fan of the automatic blog post. And actually this blog was written on May 28th, just the day before I left for my epic journey around the Tibetan holy mountain of Meili Snow Mountain; a gorgeous peak that lies along the borders of Burma, Tibet and China. The pilgrimage trek that I'll be following, or that I am currently on, takes about 10 days and covers roughly 250km; exact numbers are difficult to come by but it's pretty easy to guess that we are walking roughly 25km per day at altitudes of 3500-4500m, with 6 high passes listed as being 4500m-5000m.
So as this blog is being published (automatically scheduled) I should be, without incident, well in to my morning walk somewhere between the 3rd and 4th high pass around 4500m above sea level.
The purpose behind the trek, apart from enjoying the stunning mountains, rivers and minority life in China, is to document this Tibetan pilgrimage route. Tibet, and Tibetan culture has taken a real beating the last year and a half or so, since the run up to the Olympics; and even as far back as the riots last March in Lhasa. I think now is a crucial moment to stop and look at the fact that with all the suppression and repression that exists in China, Tibetan buddhism and culture is still alive and well in very remote areas like Meili Snow Mountain. While political centers like Lhasa have been devoid of much color or culture for years, mostly thanks to political education and lengthy jail sentences, places just outside the reach of the government still possess a wild west, cowboy Tibetan, feel. There is something very comforting and authentic about that. So that is what I am out to document, the fact that Tibetan culture is not entirely down and out; at least in the remote areas.
I'll be sure to include a blog about my journey once it's complete; along with images from the trip.
Did I mention that I'm on the trek at this very moment? Love the Auto Blog.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Showing posts with label Asia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asia. Show all posts
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Ryan Pyle Blog: Corruption & Construction
Hello,
Today I wanted to address infrastructure spending. With all this stimulus money being tossed around, much of it earmarked for infrastructure and construction, I thought we should stop for a minute and take note that the collective world is throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at perhaps the doggiest industry on the planet.
A recent article in Fortune Magazine (02/16/2009) reported that, according to Transparency International, a non-governmental organization, the construction industry is the most corrupt industry in the world. An example of this comes from Halliburton, who recently forked out US$599 million in fines to the US Government to settle charges concerning construction related bribes in Nigeria. Wasn't former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheany the former CEO of Halliburton prior to his eight years in public office?
While the Fortune Magazine article focuses on the anti-corruption measures by construction company Fluror, I thought it might be interesting, in this space, to take a look at how all that tax payer stimulus money will be spent. After bailing out the banks the next biggest expenditure in the United States is likely to be construction, whether it be building roads, expressways, bridges, schools, and factories. Does it not raise any flags within the government that the construction industry is such a mess? Now perhaps in the United States there are more regulations and transparency in the bidding process for government contracts, but there is certainly going to be a lot of back dealing; and perhaps that is acceptable because of the great rush everyone is in to repair the economy and put people back to work, but maybe not.
While I don't have much direct experience in the United States on these issues I can promise you that China's US$600 billion stimulus package is going to go pear shaped in the early stages. In an earlier blog I mentioned that much of the benefactors of the stimulus money will be construction companies and firms dealing with natural resources, both industries are essentially government owned. So basically the government wrote a US$600 billion cheque to itself. Fair enough, the government manages over 50% of the Chinese economy either directly or indirectly; and at the end of the day communist leaders have no interest in transparency and no tolerance for criticism, so they don't really worry too much about what ordinary people think about these types of investments in the country. In the end the expenditure will help things, disproportionately to owners of cement and construction companies but that money will trickle down to the service economy as well. Transparent, no. Effective, that has yet to be seen.
But I worry. While the Chinese government knows how to mobilize and move people better than any government on earth, there is no doubt that the money will be used quickly and short-term construction jobs will keep migrant workers happy for a year or two, but how is that sustainable? When that money runs out will there be another stimulus package introduced? If the government fears political stability so much, and keeping migrant workers and University graduates busy, perhaps they should just call the stimulus packages "Political Stability Stimulus"; which is all it really is. Expect more money thrown at the problem in the coming months.
Furthermore, my guess is that Transparency International doesn't have very many nice things to say about the construction industry in China, and it should bother people that there could be so much potential for wasted money. In the United States ordinary people rise up and complain all the time about how "my tax dollars are being wasted". Well Chinese workers pay tax, and so do Chinese companies and so do joint venture multinational corporations; but where are the people in China asking, "are my tax dollars being wasted?". Or what about "are my middle class tax dollars being used to pacify the masses and keep the current corrupt leadership in place?" Interesting questions, no answers and no dialog.
This is what the emerging middle class should be bringing to the table, and in the future they will hopefully demand more transparency and some form of independent rule of law in China. My guess is the government already knows that and doesn't care much for making changes in the great name of "political stability and economic growth". And while stability and economic growth is important it doesn't mean that tax payers should just sit back and watch money be thrown at corrupt industries to solve short term problems.
The next 6 months should be very interesting. Many online bloggers in China were quick to point out that a significant portion of the money donated to rebuild Sichuan after it's devastating earthquake was misused, my guess is the same will be done for this stimulus package. But even if caught with a hand in the cookie jar, don't expect any government officials to be jailed. For those who are keeping score, economic growth once again trumps rule of law, anti-corruption measures and political reform.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Today I wanted to address infrastructure spending. With all this stimulus money being tossed around, much of it earmarked for infrastructure and construction, I thought we should stop for a minute and take note that the collective world is throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at perhaps the doggiest industry on the planet.
A recent article in Fortune Magazine (02/16/2009) reported that, according to Transparency International, a non-governmental organization, the construction industry is the most corrupt industry in the world. An example of this comes from Halliburton, who recently forked out US$599 million in fines to the US Government to settle charges concerning construction related bribes in Nigeria. Wasn't former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheany the former CEO of Halliburton prior to his eight years in public office?
While the Fortune Magazine article focuses on the anti-corruption measures by construction company Fluror, I thought it might be interesting, in this space, to take a look at how all that tax payer stimulus money will be spent. After bailing out the banks the next biggest expenditure in the United States is likely to be construction, whether it be building roads, expressways, bridges, schools, and factories. Does it not raise any flags within the government that the construction industry is such a mess? Now perhaps in the United States there are more regulations and transparency in the bidding process for government contracts, but there is certainly going to be a lot of back dealing; and perhaps that is acceptable because of the great rush everyone is in to repair the economy and put people back to work, but maybe not.
While I don't have much direct experience in the United States on these issues I can promise you that China's US$600 billion stimulus package is going to go pear shaped in the early stages. In an earlier blog I mentioned that much of the benefactors of the stimulus money will be construction companies and firms dealing with natural resources, both industries are essentially government owned. So basically the government wrote a US$600 billion cheque to itself. Fair enough, the government manages over 50% of the Chinese economy either directly or indirectly; and at the end of the day communist leaders have no interest in transparency and no tolerance for criticism, so they don't really worry too much about what ordinary people think about these types of investments in the country. In the end the expenditure will help things, disproportionately to owners of cement and construction companies but that money will trickle down to the service economy as well. Transparent, no. Effective, that has yet to be seen.
But I worry. While the Chinese government knows how to mobilize and move people better than any government on earth, there is no doubt that the money will be used quickly and short-term construction jobs will keep migrant workers happy for a year or two, but how is that sustainable? When that money runs out will there be another stimulus package introduced? If the government fears political stability so much, and keeping migrant workers and University graduates busy, perhaps they should just call the stimulus packages "Political Stability Stimulus"; which is all it really is. Expect more money thrown at the problem in the coming months.
Furthermore, my guess is that Transparency International doesn't have very many nice things to say about the construction industry in China, and it should bother people that there could be so much potential for wasted money. In the United States ordinary people rise up and complain all the time about how "my tax dollars are being wasted". Well Chinese workers pay tax, and so do Chinese companies and so do joint venture multinational corporations; but where are the people in China asking, "are my tax dollars being wasted?". Or what about "are my middle class tax dollars being used to pacify the masses and keep the current corrupt leadership in place?" Interesting questions, no answers and no dialog.
This is what the emerging middle class should be bringing to the table, and in the future they will hopefully demand more transparency and some form of independent rule of law in China. My guess is the government already knows that and doesn't care much for making changes in the great name of "political stability and economic growth". And while stability and economic growth is important it doesn't mean that tax payers should just sit back and watch money be thrown at corrupt industries to solve short term problems.
The next 6 months should be very interesting. Many online bloggers in China were quick to point out that a significant portion of the money donated to rebuild Sichuan after it's devastating earthquake was misused, my guess is the same will be done for this stimulus package. But even if caught with a hand in the cookie jar, don't expect any government officials to be jailed. For those who are keeping score, economic growth once again trumps rule of law, anti-corruption measures and political reform.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Ryan Pyle Blog: What Works and What Doesn't
Hello,
I feel the need to comment on a recently read BLOG. The blog is called Luminous Landscape and it's a site a regularly check in on for gear reviews and such.
The BLOG in question was a review by Photographer Michael Reichmann about a recent trip to Antarctica, and he comments about what worked and what didn't with regards to gear and varying weather conditions.
A few things caught my eye from this blog, first of all I was surprised that of the 77 photographers on this trip some 70% were shooting Canon and half of those had 5D Mark II's. Of the Nikon crowd the D700 was a favorite. The comment I want to make about this blog is not how many photographers there were or to argue about Canon or Nikon; I'm really surprised that so many people brought digital cameras with them to the Antarctic.
Why exactly am I surprised? Well I can't put my finger on it exactly. I suppose it is easiest to say that I don't think I would have gone the digital route due to the sub freezing conditions. Although Michael with his Sony Digital equipment didn't report any problems.
With my documentary work in China I am constantly working outdoors in cold weather. Whether I am documenting Tibetan culture, working on my Black and White project in Xinjiang or even shooting a wind farm just outside of Beijing, I feel like I am constantly shooting in cold weather; and I mean really cold.
Just this past December I was in Baotou, China working on a story about Pollution and it was -26C or worse for four days straight; I was using my Canon EOS 1n film cameras and didn't have a hiccup to mention - only needed faster battery changes. Also, during the first week of February I was out in Xinjiang working on my Black and White project and I was constantly in weather that was -10C or lower, I was even caught in a snow storm in the desert, I had my Leica M6 Range Finders and I was smooth sailing the entire trip.
Getting to the point of the blog, I'm basically saying is I just don't trust the digital equipment in harsh conditions. It's my opinion that they just aren't tough enough to handle the difficult weather, and as Michael points out in his blog the Canon and Nikon digital equipment had a lot of problems (Errors, cracked LCD screens and the like) in weather that didn't seem to get lower than -5C.
There is still a lot of room for analog camera's in this world. Anyone else out there feel similar?
--
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
I feel the need to comment on a recently read BLOG. The blog is called Luminous Landscape and it's a site a regularly check in on for gear reviews and such.
The BLOG in question was a review by Photographer Michael Reichmann about a recent trip to Antarctica, and he comments about what worked and what didn't with regards to gear and varying weather conditions.
A few things caught my eye from this blog, first of all I was surprised that of the 77 photographers on this trip some 70% were shooting Canon and half of those had 5D Mark II's. Of the Nikon crowd the D700 was a favorite. The comment I want to make about this blog is not how many photographers there were or to argue about Canon or Nikon; I'm really surprised that so many people brought digital cameras with them to the Antarctic.
Why exactly am I surprised? Well I can't put my finger on it exactly. I suppose it is easiest to say that I don't think I would have gone the digital route due to the sub freezing conditions. Although Michael with his Sony Digital equipment didn't report any problems.
With my documentary work in China I am constantly working outdoors in cold weather. Whether I am documenting Tibetan culture, working on my Black and White project in Xinjiang or even shooting a wind farm just outside of Beijing, I feel like I am constantly shooting in cold weather; and I mean really cold.
Just this past December I was in Baotou, China working on a story about Pollution and it was -26C or worse for four days straight; I was using my Canon EOS 1n film cameras and didn't have a hiccup to mention - only needed faster battery changes. Also, during the first week of February I was out in Xinjiang working on my Black and White project and I was constantly in weather that was -10C or lower, I was even caught in a snow storm in the desert, I had my Leica M6 Range Finders and I was smooth sailing the entire trip.
Getting to the point of the blog, I'm basically saying is I just don't trust the digital equipment in harsh conditions. It's my opinion that they just aren't tough enough to handle the difficult weather, and as Michael points out in his blog the Canon and Nikon digital equipment had a lot of problems (Errors, cracked LCD screens and the like) in weather that didn't seem to get lower than -5C.
There is still a lot of room for analog camera's in this world. Anyone else out there feel similar?
--
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Ryan Pyle Blog: My Canon 5D Mark II's
Hello,
Well, I've bought in to the Canon 5D Mark II hype. In fact I picked up two bodies a few weeks back, in Shanghai, and I have already put them through their paces on a few assignments already. It's been a great experience. Sadly, I don't have much to add at all regarding their performance that hasn't already been mentioned.
I shoot in RAW format and haven't had any black spots or any other problems to mention. I also bought a couple of those 16 gigabyte SanDisk cards and those are working out well. The quality of the image is incredible: the light, the color, the sharpness are all improvements over my old 5D. Shooting in low light and at night seem to be where the biggest improvements are, over the previous version of the camera. I am able to focus fast and generate strong colors in very little light, which is exciting for much of my documentary work.
I know I'm a self proclaimed "film man" and don't worry, I don't plan on packing away my two workhorses (ie. My Canon EOS 1n's, or my range finders) but the digital kit is always great to have for covering breaking news or shooting a demanding corporate assignment.
As an additional note, I really am a huge fan of the Canon 5D series. The 10D, 20D, 30D's never did it for me as the lack of a full frame drove me crazy. But the 5D is just a quality improvement over the previous series that one can't help get a little excited about what's next. The 5D Mark II's are small, light and compact. They feel great in your hand and are, in my mind, perfect for documentary / journalism work. I even shot with them last week in Shenzhen and in light rain they performed wonderfully.
I'll confess here that I've never used a Nikon system, and most likely never well. But I'm glad there is a two horse race in the industry, because the competition between the two, and lesser rivals like Sony and Fuji, will keep the prices lower for photographers and hopefully the products will continue to improve in the coming years. Needless to say, I'm very pleased with my purchase.
--
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Well, I've bought in to the Canon 5D Mark II hype. In fact I picked up two bodies a few weeks back, in Shanghai, and I have already put them through their paces on a few assignments already. It's been a great experience. Sadly, I don't have much to add at all regarding their performance that hasn't already been mentioned.
I shoot in RAW format and haven't had any black spots or any other problems to mention. I also bought a couple of those 16 gigabyte SanDisk cards and those are working out well. The quality of the image is incredible: the light, the color, the sharpness are all improvements over my old 5D. Shooting in low light and at night seem to be where the biggest improvements are, over the previous version of the camera. I am able to focus fast and generate strong colors in very little light, which is exciting for much of my documentary work.
I know I'm a self proclaimed "film man" and don't worry, I don't plan on packing away my two workhorses (ie. My Canon EOS 1n's, or my range finders) but the digital kit is always great to have for covering breaking news or shooting a demanding corporate assignment.
As an additional note, I really am a huge fan of the Canon 5D series. The 10D, 20D, 30D's never did it for me as the lack of a full frame drove me crazy. But the 5D is just a quality improvement over the previous series that one can't help get a little excited about what's next. The 5D Mark II's are small, light and compact. They feel great in your hand and are, in my mind, perfect for documentary / journalism work. I even shot with them last week in Shenzhen and in light rain they performed wonderfully.
I'll confess here that I've never used a Nikon system, and most likely never well. But I'm glad there is a two horse race in the industry, because the competition between the two, and lesser rivals like Sony and Fuji, will keep the prices lower for photographers and hopefully the products will continue to improve in the coming years. Needless to say, I'm very pleased with my purchase.
--
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Ryan Pyle Blog: The Ziping Dam and The Quake
Hello,
With all the news about China's Ziping Dam potentially causing the massive earthquake that struck Sichuan province on May 12th, I thought I would jump in with a quick comment. Above is a series of photographs I actually shot at the Ziping Dam near Dujiangyang just days after the quake struck.
When the earthquake struck many in Dujiangyang fled the city fearing that the dam would burst and flood the town, in the days that followed the officials in charge significantly reduced the amount of water held in the reservoir as there were aparent cracks. I have shots of some workers actually making repairs to the dam. Scary stuff.
Apparently half of all the dams in the world are in China, and I'm just guessing they are all of varying quality. The epicenter of the May 12th quake, which killed over 80,000 people, is said to be just 3km or so from the site of the of the Ziping Dam Reservoir. I've traveled far and wide in Sichuan and I can tell you that there are dams everywhere and construction is continuing on several projects larger than the Ziping Dam. More difficulties in the future?
It's been my experience that a lot of Chinese officials in small remote areas are big fans of dam construction because they require massive amounts of steel and concrete, business that local officials usually have their fingers in. While it's true that dams offer clean energy, it's apparent that larger projects have serious environmental consequences; not to mention all the people who have to relocate do to the reservoir. Below are links to the articles that have sparked all the chat.
SHARON LaFRANIERE for the New York Times wrote the following article: CLICK HERE
EVAN OSNOS for the New Yorker blogged about an interview he did in 2006 where a geological engineer he met with in Chengdu indicated a growing fear of too many dams on Sichuan's rivers: CLICK HERE for his blog.
--
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
Friday, February 06, 2009
Ryan Pyle Blog: New Work: Chongwu Walled City
Hello,
I had the chance in 2008 to visit Chongwu, an ancient walled city in the southern province of Fujian. The ancient walls date back to 1387 and a time when Japanese pirates were raping and pillaging communities up and down China's coast. In some parts the old walled city still has it's charm, old single story homes still have their lovely tiled rooftops and some people still live a fairly traditional way of life; but signs of development are creeping in and its clear that the residents of the town aren't very keen on preserving their historic architecture, not at least if it gets in the way of indoor plumbing and multi-floor homes.
Above is a little slide show from the short time I spent there, I was just passing through - wish I could have stayed a little longer.
--
Cheers,
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________
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