The 2024 Shinnyo Lantern Floating Festival is an enlightened ceremony that honors our fallen soldiers and loved ones lost. It brings closure for family members regarding friends who recently passed. We will never forget our own friends Wayne Spencer from Oregon, Frank Grillo from Ecuador, and several other close friends who have passed recently. The […]
India 14 – Kawant Fair, Gujarat
Three days following the end of the Holi Festival is the Kwant Gair Fair held in the village of Kawant. The Rahtwa tribal fair is a wild and exhuberant celebration. Bhil and Koli tribes come together from the region to celebrate the harvest, and where matchmaking is sometimes formalized. The Rathwa Bhils are considered the […]
India 8 – Varanasi 1 – City of Death
Varanasi is considered the religious capital of India and the mecca for Hindus. This is where many Hindus come to die and where they want to be cremated, since those who believe in reincarnation believe that it will free them from the cycle of rebirth and lead to salvation. Imagine not having to return in […]
Floating Lantern Festival Hawaii 2023
After 3 years of absence due to Covid restrictions, the annual Shinnyo Lantern Floating festival returned to Oahu, Hawaii this Memorial Day again. Shinnyo-en is an international Buddhist community and teaches “reality, or the true nature of all things”. The red lanterns provide light and guide the souls of the deceased toward peace. The light […]
Bolivia 6 – Parade & Finale
The Republic of Bolivia was founded in 1825. Although Spanish is the official language, there are also 36 Indigenous languages that are officially recognized. The indigenous people felt they were being ignored by the country’s political leaders, and it is estimated there are between 40-70% of the 12 million population are indigenous and minorities. In […]
New Year’s Eve 2022 in Cuenca
New Year’s Eve in Ecuador is unlike anything we have seen elsewhere in the world. Though muted this year, compared to many pre-COVID years, it was still worth a walk around town to see the creative minds at work. Every year, families and groups create their own manigotes, which are paper maché dummies in various […]
Peru – Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is a UNESCO heritage site and is the highest navigable fresh water lake in the world at an elevation (12,507′). It is also the largest lake in South America, bordering Peru and Bolivia. There are an estimated 70 – 114 small floating islands, with the bulk scattered in the shallow depths of the […]
ShakaCon Backstage
We were asked to photograph another charity photo event last Wednesday night at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There were five different categories we were asked to document. This was the second event we helped on the Shaka Project, which is making a documentary on the origin and history of the shaka, a Hawaiian gesture of […]
Honolulu Pride Parade 2022
Last Saturday was the annual Pride Parade in Honolulu celebrating the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. There has been no parade since 2019, due to COVID, but has otherwise been annual since 1974. The parade went along Ala Moana Boulevard then along Kalakaua Avenue fronting the beach, from Magic Island to the zoo, and took […]
Chinatown Art Festival
The Plein Air Painters of Oahu (PAPO), led by Mark Brown, was invited to showcase their plein air paintings at a Chinatown street fair yesterday. Approximately 20 painters from our group participated in the fair. The organizer was DAC (Downtown Art Center, in the Chinatown Arts District in Honolulu). The show was called “The HEART […]