The locals in the Ifugao region of Luzon Island in the Philippines chew moma as protection against the cold. This is a mix of betel nut, betel leaf, tobacco and slaked lime powder (usually made from heating crushed sea or snail shells).
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The Louvre Abu Dhabi displays art from very early civilisations up to the present day, in chronological order. And unlike many others, it presents various contemporaneous cultures alongside each other. You follow a thread from early self-contained kingdoms through conquest and expansion into empires.
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I am very definitely a 'cat person'. I admire the independent spirit of cats. They can be affectionate but always on their own terms, and unlike dogs, don’t constantly seek attention. Their behaviour can be quixotic, their thoughts hard to fathom, whereas most dogs are open books. And I find cats really beautiful to look at: elegant, with expressive eyes and distinctive colours and patterns on their fur.
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Our first sight of a potential subject has us reaching for our camera, naturally. And sometimes the first shot we take is great, but often (always?) it could be bettered. We could perhaps find a more interesting angle or move closer to take in the details. I'm illustrating this principle with images taken of the temples and other ancient ruins that surround the town of Siem Reap in Cambodia.
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The master of word invention was Lewis Carroll whose works are liberally scattered with these portmanteau words, that is, words that combine two different words to make something new.
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I have long maintained that one of the things that travel teaches us is that people the world over have more in common than you might expect if you only read about other countries or watch TV news and documentaries. Everyone wants to feel safe, to be in good health, to have the basic necessities of life. North Koreans too are not so very different from us in those respects.
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Irving Penn defined a good photograph as, 'one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it'. If I can do even one of those three things with an image, I’m satisfied!
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A wonderful sense of design pervades the whole of Japan it seems, from architecture to clothing, household items to gardens … Somehow the Japanese know how to balance minimalism with intricate detail, with an apparently effortless emphasis on simple, natural elements.
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'When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.' I find it hard to believe that I haven’t used that quote from Ansel Adams before!
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Sometimes a few words can enhance a viewer’s understanding of an image. After all, what else are captions for if not to explain?
