New Brand, New Blog!

It's been a long time in coming, but Airika and I are excited to announce that our new brand and new blog are here!  We'll be retiring this blog, so please change your bookmarks, update your RSS feeds, and head on over to www.blog.thepopes.com.


A huge thank you goes out to the team at Reddoor Creative who have helped us recreate our identity, branding, and logo, and a massive thank you goes out to you, all of our clients, friends and family, who have believed in us and supported us all the way!

Faces of India

If there's one thing I learned about photography on this trip, it's that shooting with a photojournalistic approach is not as easy as you might expect when you stick out like a sore thumb. Everywhere we went in India, we were warmly greeted by friendly faces who were eager to meet us, talk to us, or just get their photo taken. We couldn't exactly be a "fly on the wall" when people kept coming up to us, but we wouldn't trade any of these photos for the world. We met so many incredible people throughout our trip, and even though we didn't always speak the same language, they never failed to show us the joy in they hearts.

Adventures in Vellore

For the first two weeks we were in India, we stayed at the Christian Counseling Center in Vellore. This training Institute not only provides counseling services to the surrounding community, but they have training programs for a wide variety of leaders and students. During our time there, we were privileged to meet a group of students from Hyderabad who were taking a training course for their Master in Psychology program. We made many new friendships and had so much fun hanging out with them.

The first evening we went to an "Exhibition," which is basically like a county fair. We braved the rickety Ferris Wheel--it had no seat belts, low railings, and went way too fast. I would have gladly paid three times the ticket price for them to stop that thing early!

One of the highlights for Airika was when some of the girls offered to do mehndi on her arms and hands. It was a much longer process than we had realized, and it is rather difficult to sleep with henna all over your arms and hands, but the result was quite beautiful.

Swimming with the students in this shallow pool was actually quite entertaining. Apparently it's rare to find water pools deeper than two feet in their part of the country, so for many of them, it was their first time really swimming. Of course no one was prepared for a swim, but once one of them jumped in, that was all it took.

Another Use for Coconuts

One of the highlights of our time in Vellore was a family that we met one evening while walking through the neighborhood. The women in the family were out in front of the house, beating a large pile of coconut husk fibers to separate them. When we stopped to talk to them, we quickly learned that no one in the family spoke any English (and we obviously don’t speak Tamil). Nevertheless, they were quite eager to show us what they were making. They attached a bit of the fiber to a hand-cranked machine and began spinning it into a rope. It's pretty amazing how much work goes into each strand of rope they make. First they collect the husks, then soak them, then separate and dry the fibers, and finally spin them into a rope. Once they finished their demo, they insisted that we take the piece they had made for us, even though we had no money with us to buy it with. It was so wonderful to meet people who were so generous with what they had, and so genuinely interested in sharing a little piece of their lives with us.

I love this photo of their family. After taking it, we went and had it printed, and made a small photo album of the images shown here. Then we gave it to the family. Their reaction was priceless—we actually took an interpreter with us to deliver the photos and the family told us that they could have never afforded photos of themselves and they were so grateful. It was yet another reminder of the impact that a single image can make in a person’s life. I love my job.

Curry for Breakfast

I consider myself an adventurous eater -- just ask any of my closest friends who have succumbed to a dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. The fare could include Ethiopian, Thai, Indian, Greek, or Japanese Sushi. But in all my culinary adventures, I can honestly say that I have never had curry for breakfast. That is, until we arrived in India.

Our first breakfast in India was truly East meets West. We had toast with butter and jam, boiled eggs, vayah (a fried dough made of lentil flower, spices and pepper that looks just like a doughnut), dahl, and curry. Noticing that the curry was stocked full of chili peppers, we popped a Tums and said our prayers. Needless to say, we loved every bite of the Indian breakfast and I quickly returned for seconds of vadah and curry. Some people were concerned that the swift introduction of spicy food into our morning diet may be a harsh way to begin our trip, but aside from a little brief stomach rumbling, I didn't experience any repercussions and I've been eating it ever since! :)

Welcome to Vellore.

Our time here in Vellore, India has been an incredible experience. The streets and markets are always bustling and full of activity, the air is constantly filled with the sounds of honking horns, and there is no shortage of cows roaming the town scavenging for their next meal. The people are incredibly warm and friendly--every time we walk through the local neighborhood people excitedly greet us and invite us into their homes for tea.

This was just one of those moments when I happened to be in the right place at the right time, ready to shoot. These boys were running down the street towards me, chasing down their kite which had broken free of the string...

This is what they called a "mall." The aromas coming from this dark alley were absolutely intoxicating. There were rows and rows of flower vendors, fruit stands, and fresh spices, interspersed with other goods such as jewelry, fabrics, and trinkets. 

 

  

This image really struck me, mostly because this man's expression was so out of place. Just as I snapped this photo, there was a lot of yelling and commotion coming from behind me, and I turned just in time to dodge the bull trotting up the narrow pathway.

 

 

 

More to come soon! 

~Gerald

Hong Kong

We have arrived in India! But first, a little about our day trip into Hong Kong:

Airika and I had a long layover in Hong Kong, and we took the opportunity to get out and see a bit of the city. We had about 15 hours, and I wish our stay could have been longer. We spent the first part of the day trekking to the temple of 10,000 Buddha’s. I spent much of the climb up the steep, lush, hillside wondering if there really were 10,000 Buddha’s, or if it was just an expression. I assure you, it’s no expression—there really were 10,000, if not more. In fact, the number of Buddha’s may even rival the number of 7-11’s we saw in Hong Kong. Seriously, Hong Kong has more 7-11’s than Seattle has Starbucks.

We also wanted to see the city’s open air markets, and on the way there (or more likely on one of our many detours b/c I got us lost quite a bit) we came across the goldfish markets. It was actually pretty amazing to see—in addition to all kinds of goldfish and exotic fish, we also saw more turtle species than I knew existed.

One of the highlights of the day was actually while we were walking around in one of the high end shopping districts called 1881 Heritage. Now, high-end shopping isn’t really at the top our must-do travel list, but while we were passing through, we spotted a bride across the courtyard with her photographers in tow. Of course, we thought it would be fun to try and grab a quick photo, and by the time I got the camera out we had spotted 3 other brides, along with their entourage of wedding party, family and photographers! It was pretty humorous watching each little group rotate through the courtyard, waiting their turn for photos in the next spot. In the end, we counted at least 12 wedding couples, and that was all within a 20 minute time period! Apparently, it is THE place to get your wedding photos taken in Hong Kong.

At the end of the day, we took a ride from Kowloon to downtown Hong Kong on the famous Star Ferry. Back in 1996, Airika spent about a month in Hong Kong, and even though much has changed since then, the Ferry and the view it afforded us was one of the few things that was still exactly as she remembered it. In particular, I found the nighttime view of the downtown skyline to be pretty incredible.

We hope to update with more about our time in India soon. But for now, we hope you enjoyed this little collection of photos from Hong Kong.

Heading to India

On the eve of our trip to India, Airika and I are completely ecstatic about our journey. I really can’t help but think back to our experiences 5 years ago when we went to Sri Lanka to do relief work right after the tsunami. We spent most of that trip traveling from village to village, delivering fresh water, listening to people’s stories, taking photos, and doing what we could to help. We saw a lot of pain and devastation that had been caused by the tsunami, but we saw just as much that had been caused by decades of civil war in the region. That trip really changed our perspective on the world, and inspired within us a passion to do what we can to help those in need. Since we are not experts in water treatment, medical care, engineering or construction, we decided that we could use photography as a way to let their stories be heard.

Here are just a few of the images we took 5 years ago in Sri Lanka. This is where it all started for us.

…which brings us back to our upcoming trip to India. For part of our trip, we will be visiting our dear friend Dr. B.J. Prashantham and witnessing (and hopefully capturing) some of the work that he and his colleagues at the Christian Counseling Center of India have been doing. The center is dedicated to helping people from developing countries who have been traumatized by natural disasters or civil war, get the counseling and support they need to recover mentally and emotionally from what they have been through. It’s an amazing organization that is doing what it can to reach out and help in a way that is almost always overlooked. We are so excited to witness their work first hand!