Tag: smoke

Morning Coffee Talk~ 40/365

Post author By ~mimo~
Post date January 9, 2022
2 Comments on Morning Coffee Talk~ 40/365

Good Morning,

We were treated yesterday to a beautiful tradition of Dukhoon where incense was burnt on our arrival and several times throughout the day during our visit and the midkhan or incense burner was passed around to allow us to incense our hair and clothing following the example of our hostess.

Dukhoon has a very long tradition in the Arabic culture of being used in religious ceremonies as well as social events and it’s use is reputed to heal, repel bad spirits, enhance smells and increase creativity and motivation.

There is something quite haunting about witnessing and being part of this tradition and obviously I go back home tomorrow with a variety of oud and incense to burn in my home and keep this tradition alive.

Tags 365, Abu Dhabi, arab, arabic, burner, creativity, culture, Dukhoon, home, hospitality, incense, liwa, mimo khair, perfume, photography, religion, smoke, spirits, tradition, uae

Photography

Chasing spirits~

These recent images from my Instagram page have been titled “chasing spirits”, and for the first time I find myself seeing a distinct line running through these street portraits that were taken by me in different Asian countries but solicit the same emotional reaction from me. There is something that draws me in to the internal processes of strangers through the maps of their faces, the history recorded in their eyes and the roadmaps of their lives in every line and wrinkle that cause me to pause and wonder: what drives me to chase these images and irks me to go to more places and stop, look and capture? It’s a strong driving force that never relents and I am hoping that after the chase, the cause may reveal itself. It’s a journey of passion and every moment brings me closer to myself…

Tags black and white, candid, character, china, india, inle lake, instagram, mimokhairphotography, myanmar, photography, portrait, portraiture, smoke, spirits, stranger, street, varanassi, yunnan

art Germany Photography

The cloud maker~

During this weekend in Germany and other north European countries, bonfires are lit in celebration of the easter weekend. I have been asking locals about the origins of this tradition as well as Mr Google and it seems to be a pre-Christian ritual that welcomes the spring by burning away the lurking darker spirits of winter. It is amazing how much of what we believe in and do has lost it’s original significance and is relegated to a “feel good” thing to do. Imagine how life would be if all our beliefs and traditions were alive!

Day 87 of 365~

Images taken today at the edge of a nearby forest somewhere in Germany.

Tags bonfire, deutschland, easter, fire, germany, lea mourhege, mimo khair, Ostern, photography, ritual, smoke, tradition

art Germany Photography

The lightness of the human spirit~

Post author By ~mimo~
Post date March 12, 2018
No Comments on The lightness of the human spirit~

That part of us that is not bound by time, not weighed down by worry and that is destined for a longer ongoing journey…

Day 70 of 365~

Somewhere in Germany

Tags art, beautiful, black and white, composite, Fine art, germany, girl, mimo khair, photography, smoke, spirit

art Photography Uncategorized

Portraits From the Heart~ Myanmar

Post author By ~mimo~
Post date February 23, 2017
26 Comments on Portraits From the Heart~ Myanmar

It is not enough to love your camera, to love photography and to love travel. Good portraits are about loving people, other humans, those that co-inhabit our earth. Looking at them with compassion, togetherness, curiosity and the wish to belong to this fascinating and colorful range of humanity.

Tags art, belonging, burma, cigar, compassion, earth, faces, humanity, love, myanmar, nicotine, people, photography, planet, portrait, portraits, smoke, travel

CHINA Photography street photography

Qibao, Inside the Time Capsule

Post author By ~mimo~
Post date April 29, 2016
11 Comments on Qibao, Inside the Time Capsule

unbreakable friendships

time’s indelible stamp

stolen sketches of a lost theater

breaking ground

if I wanted your opinion I’d give it to you

softening the hard reality

who said Triad?

a controlled sea of humanity

Hidden inside the massively dense Shanghai Metropolis is a quaint, albeit crowded small world of tradition. Bridges over water, narrow old streets, a wide variety of delicious street food and a beautiful old tea house.

In the tea house, mostly old men gather to drink tea and watch story telling theaters on a stage that echoes with ancient times.

Each time I go back there, I find the same people, doing the same things, as though they are caught in a time capsule and every day must be relived as it was the day before.

Nearby are the green lanes, where door after door girls and women offer their services for a price. Tickets to their worlds are sold on the main street of the old village.

Heartbreaking, surreal and intoxicating is Qibao.

Tags china, crowds, green lanes, old, people, prositution, qibao, shanghai, smoke, storytelling, street, street food, street photography, tea house, tradition

CHINA Photography Yunnan

Yunnan’s Smoke Culture~ 3

The province of Yunnan, stretching over 394,000 square kilometers in the far southwest of the Republic of China, is rich in color, tradition and history. More than 30% of its population of 45 million is made up of over 25 ethnic minorities like the Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Miao, Mozuo and Dai people. Most of the ethnic minorities live in compact communities with rich customs and traditions that live on despite the recent economic change that takes over the Chinese mainland.

Each time I visited the region for a new photographic adventure I was drawn to capturing the very dominant smoking traditions amongst the different minorities. From he pipes that are passed on through generations, hand crafted with care and art to the large bamboo pipes, to modern day cigarettes, for good or bad, smoking lives on in Yunnan as a tribal tradition.

This post was also shared at the Huffington Post, where I blog regularly.

Also I am very excited to announce a series of documentary workshops that I am conducting in Yunnan over the Spring and early fall of 2015. Read about it here!

Tags asia, china, color, documentary, ethnic, minority, nicotine, people, photography, series, smoke, yunnan

CHINA Photography

Yunnan’s Smoke Culture~ 2

A few more portraits in this series as I travel through an extensive archive of photographs from Yunnan revisiting a world so different to yours or mine.

Tags asia, china, documentary, ethnic, faces, life, minority, people, photography, pipe, portrait, smoke, yunnan

CHINA Photography

Yunnan’s Smoke Culture~

Going back through images from a past trip to Yunnan’s Honghe area. I am planning a return visit to the region very soon. This is the first of a series on images of smoking inside the traditional life of the ethnic minorities residing in Yunnan.

Tags black and white, china, ethnic, hat, honghe, man, minority, nicotine, photography, pipe, portrait, smoke, yunnan

art Photography shanghai street

The Moment of Truth

earlier this afternoon, just when the sun was ready to sail back home

There is a moment, a split second, when you are with your camera in the streets, and a moment you were hoping for surrenders itself to you. I am referring to that brief time before your subject has a time to react to your lens. I love that magical click that finds the person inside of their essence; a line of connection between you, the lens and the person.

Tags black and white, china, cigarette, look, love, man, moment, photography, picture, portrait, shanghai, smoke, street, truth