Happy New Year from the Brecon Beacons. Enjoy this little video of our first few days of the year!
The Brecon Beacons national park in Wales is one of the UK's foremost national parks. This New Year's we celebrated the calendar reset in these magical hills. This video was filmed only on an iphone.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland is one of the world's oldest salt mines and was in operation up until 2007. On Saturday night it was taken over by swing dancers for Dragon Swing 2014. This is alternative tourism at it's finest and one of the most surreal moments in my life.
**NEW VIDEO ONLINE**
The fascinating world behind one of India's small factories.
**NEW VIDEO ONLINE**
The much awaited new video is finally here. This is a poetic piece about one of the most beautiful wonders of nature.
In the North Western Indian state of Gujarat there is a city that is covered in hundreds of species of birds. In the winter months it is also the scene of the most beautiful murmurations of Rosy Starlings that you could ever see. I spent six months travelling through India in 2012-13. During this time I had the most wonderful of experiences and saw the most incredible wildlife such as the birds of Jamnagar.
Screenshot from my newest short film. Coming soon!
Received this wonderful star through the post this morning.
A couple of my short films are to be broadcasted on the Community Channel on Monday 8th September 2014 at 10pm.
See the listings here:
http://www.communitychannel.org/schedule/20140908/
"Collecting two short films that delve into India's festival culture, we travel to the Kumbh Mela, 'the largest human gathering ever', before we visit the kite festival in Gujarat."
The Community Channel is on the following channels: Freeview 63 • Freeview HD 109 • Sky 539 • Virgin Media 233 • Freesat 651 • BBC iPlayer • TVPlayer • BT TV
I hope you get a chance to tune in!
In the depths of Botswana, Africa, a crocodile finds some free food. But will he be able to get a meal?
A short (01:47mins) comedy filmed in Botswana 2012. Enjoy!! :-)
Featured on the Captured Earth's photography project, capturing humanity around the world. Click through the picture to see visit the site.
**New short film online!**
In 2012 during another year's travelling I found myself in a small Zambian village with no electricity or running water. We were greeted with song and dance and countless smiling faces.
What could I do to give something back?
During my six month travels through India I saw and experienced many things. I was heading into the Himalayas to partake in a 10 day silent meditation course but as soon as I saw the mountains I yearned to be on them. Check out my little stint on a pair of skis in my newest short video:
Two stories about the meditation that happened soon after:
After the Vipassana and The Darkness of the Mind. Find them in the stories section.
What a fantastic couple of weeks of weather we've had. It reminds me of the time I was a child and the summer's were (a little more) predictable. We used to have weeks and almost months of pleasant temperatures and when the conditions are just right there is no where else I'd rather be than in the English countryside.
We came to Cornwall on the summer's solstice to swim with Basking Sharks. Unfortunately we didn't see any but took the next best thing, SEALS!
They are inquisitive and cute, nipping at our fins as they glide past us. The young ones stare at us with big brown eyes, twitching their whiskers before sticking their heads out of the water to check us out more thoroughly.
On our way back we came across a pod of Reese's dolphins, jumping and slapping their tail right in front of our boat. One dolphin was played around with a giant jellyfish pushing him out of the water and back down again. But no photos of these (camera malfunction).
Someone's 'exotic' is your doorstep. Sometimes in the search for the wonders of the world we forget to look at the world around us. This summer's solstice I spent in Cornwall. With temperatures upto 25C and a 9.30pm sunset there is no place in the world I'd rather be. Check out what we got upto:
It’s authenticity that we have always been in search of: The search for ‘cool’, the declaration of ‘pretentiousness’ and the smirking at hipsters are all about our definition and acceptance of authenticity.
In the fast moving pace of urban western society this is a subjective minefield and the very search for authenticity, by definition, becomes the very opposite. But authenticity isn’t a modern trait and neither is it confined to the realms of western society. When we travel, I have noticed, we are continually searching for the ‘real’ country, authenticity it seems, consumes us even abroad. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a real (authentic?) traveller. Is it in search for people, societies or cultures that have yet to be assimilated into the fold of the mono-cultural, homogeneous society that we are converging into? A lot of people I met would agree with this, they would argue that that is to experience the ‘real’ country; an ‘authentic experience’. To be honest with myself, this was something that attracted me to travel too. The farther away these societies are from our own, the greater these differences, means the greater our awe, the more we’re entertained and quite possibly, more we learn. But is the search for this authentic? I might’ve been in agreement with this question in the past, but now I would disagree. To be a real traveller is to see what is there, without any preconceived notions or ideas of what to find. As soon as we are in search for something we are no longer open to other experiences, to other ideas, we have already narrowed our mind and by that we are no longer seeing the ‘real’ country, blind to the reality that is before our eyes – whatever it may be. That is how I define the difference between travelling and tourism, it’s a mindset, and is brilliantly phrased by G. K. Chesterton with his quote ‘The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.’
This is not to put down tourism or to revere travel. Sometimes when on a trip I grow tired of ‘travelling’ and I become a tourist for a few days/weeks, deciding what I’m seeing beforehand. In doing so I might learn more intellectually, satisfy a curiosity and quite frankly have a far more enjoyable time, but none of these lessons cuts as deep as that of an experiential learning that comes from experiencing the world from a traveller’s perspective. During my trips I am both a traveller and a tourist, the former being the real work which is often tiring and the latter being, in a way, a type of rest and relaxation.
Authenticity in travel is not thus defining oneself as a traveller as opposed to a tourist, but is, in fact, just the same as authenticity in every aspect of life – It is to be true to oneself.
Just finished my new showreel for 2014. Check it out:
Great to talk at Explorers Connect yesterday in Bristol and in Southampton last week.
See the full video of the Kumbh Mela below (excerpt shown yesterday):
Film and Photography in Polar Environments for UK POLAR NETWORK in Southampton.
Two talks coming up this month:
'Film and Photography in the Field' for the UK Polar Network at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, 23rd April 2014. PhD Students only.
'The Kumbh Mela - The Largest Human Gathering (Ever)' for Explorers Connect, Bristol, 1st May 2014. Open to all. Details here: http://www.explorersconnect.com/diary/bristol/expeditions/-/ec-bristol-drinks-with-vjay-and-the-kumbh-mela-1st-may-15967/
In late 2012 as part of our travels through Southern Africa we sneaked onto the 90km Fish River Canyon hike in Namibia.
The hike took us through some of the most spectacular scenery in Africa. Check out the film below. It runs at 9mins 35secs.
The kite festival in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India is one of the most eagerly anticipated festivals of the year. Millions of kites are flown over the two day festival. This video follows Deepak Banjara, a local kite enthusiast as he celebrates this festival in 2013.
Film:
Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. Filmed by Vijay Shah
