After Schengen

2014-12-03T14:20:00+01:00

The "After Schengen" project shows old border crossing points between different states in the European Union.

After the Schengen agreement, most of these old checkpoints remain abandoned and out of service, allowing us to gaze into the past from the present. It causes many reflections, specially in a moment that EU project it is severely discussed.

These places that previously the Schengen treaty, delimited territories and in which the traveler had to stop and show his documents, currently appear as abandoned places, located in a space-time limbo, out of use and out of the time for which they were designed, as these states have opened their borders to the free movement of people.

Border crossings have a function of geographical boundaries, but also an coercitive role, since they prevent the free passage of people between one and another state. So, they are places that, along with a cartographic dimension, are provided with historical, economic and political reminiscences.

These old border crossing points are slowly disappearing; some are renovated and reconverted to new uses, some are destroyed for vandals, and some other just fall down due to the passing of time. So, after some few years there will be no possibility to look at this strong signs and symbols of the recent european history.

Abbreviations:

H - Hungary;

A - Austria;

PL - Poland;

CZ - Czech Republic;

E - Spain (España);

F - France;

P - Portugal.

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Author of text and all the photos is Ignacio Evangelista. More about him you can find on his website.

Athens: (un)hidden messages or why do you love me

2015-07-10T14:31:52+02:00

Contact, communication and the whole idea of touch has been a fascinating, almost obsessive subject for me. As I walk about the city I read the messages by its people, rebuses, codes, imaginary languages which they use to convey something to each other and I wonder who is hiding behind them (just as I watch rows of lit windows at night trying to imagine lives being lived behind them). Who has left the message? Why like that, why in that spot? To whom? What are they trying to break free from, what to penetrate, whom to reach, to what aim, out of what unrest and what need? A small gang of idealists or a political party, perturbed teenagers, street artists, disappointed eccentrics, avaricious corporations or weird loners? I find meaning even where it is completely accidental, imagining messages where there are none, until I start to believe that the whole city is a giant mind trying to talk to me. Then I allow myself to be lured, I submit myself, I accept the game.

These photos were made during a 10-day search for the apartment for the Travel House project, along the route defined by the logic of newspaper ads.

PS
Apologies to anyone expecting an essay on the Greek referendum.

Dinner time in Hong Kong

2015-03-08T12:43:00+01:00

Hong Kong is not just one of the most populated cities in the world but also a city with the biggest number of Michelin star restaurants per square meter. However, the food that will knock you off your feet is actually street fast food on every corner. At dai pai dong - stand restaurants, you should definitely try sticky meat rice in lotus leaves, "tea eggs", all kinds of bagels, wonton noodle soup, Peking duck, dim sum – meat dumplings with pork, shrimps, snake soup etc.

Everest Base Camp Trek

2015-02-13T17:05:50+01:00

The Himalayas were always a dream for me. I wanted to discover the ultimate mountaineering destination for myself. My Sherpa, Pasang and I set out on the 2 week trek, ascending to 5,644 m, escaping a deadly earthquake and surviving the world's most dangerous airport. It was the definition of adventure.

The landscape was truly breathtaking, words cannot do it justice. Check out my photos instead... see for yourself.

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To find out more about Scott's adventures, follow him on his Facebook page Travelstache.

Explore: Weddings

2015-01-21T18:47:00+01:00

A group of couples in Taiwan, a Zulu king and Swazi princess in South Africa, a priest and child bride in Ethiopia—National Geographic has been documenting weddings around the world for over a century. Steeped in tradition or embracing modernity, these ceremonies often reflect cultural influences on generations of participants.

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The article originally published on the National Geographic official website.

In Memoriam – Camille Lepage

2014-12-11T12:39:00+01:00

Camille Lepage, a photographer and free reporter, was killed in May this year while working in the Central African Republic. Some of the members of our Club knew Camille's friends, who speak with disbelief and sadness about this brave young girl who moved to Juba when she was 24 years old. She made amazing photographs and stories in South Sudan and surrounding countries. Some of them you can find in Camille's portfolio, which breathes now more than ever.

Camille was a passionate traveler, and today we bring to you one of her photo-stories, released in EMAJ magazine last year.

These photographs Camille Lepage took in the Nuba Mountains in South Sudan. She witnessed a miracle of birth in one refugee camp. However, comparing to mothers in other countries, mothers in South Sudan have the smallest chance of surviving the childbirth.

Korea - Korea

2015-02-09T10:34:00+01:00

Until recently, photographic views of North Korea were as controlled as the region itself. With Korea—Korea (Gestalten), the German photographer Dieter Leistner, who obtained special permission to photograph in Pyongyang outside of the normal, highly supervised structure, has made a fascinating comparative study of the capital cities of North and South Korea.

Leistner applied his particular vision as an architectural photographer to Pyongyang, North Korea, and Seoul, South Korea, in 2006, and 2012 respectively, to capture the apparent dichotomy between the two places. Although not all pairs are exact comparisons, they have much to communicate with their interaction, and it is immediately apparent which is north and which is south with most pairs. Leistner, who grew up in Germany, has a unique view of this divided nation, coming from a country divided as recently as 25 years ago, seems a distant, unfathomable memory.

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Originally published on www.featureshoot.com.

The article was adapted by The Travel Club editorial staff.

Lagos: Makoko - A Suburb on the Water

2015-02-03T20:03:00+01:00

Slums are defined as settlements made out of waste material which develop as a result of unplanned construction, usually on the outskirts of big cities in developing countries. They are a consequence of a massive transition of people, who move from the rural areas into the cities, in search of a better life.

Makoko is a slum on the water which is located in a lagoon in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. It was established in the 18th century as a fishing settlement, but was later swallowed by the metropolis, becoming just a tiny part of it. Makoko is considered to have a population of 85,000 inhabitants, but the estimates go up to 250,000. The real number is unknown because the police rarely go into the slum, which means that the area is actually autonomous. The "law of the strongest" is instigated by the neighborhood guys, area boys or agberos, which are the gangs of kids who live in the street and mug passers-by, sell drugs and take care of its (un)safety. On the island of Lagos, in the lagoon where Makoko quarter is located, there are around a thousand of them and in the whole Lagos their number is estimated to be 35,000.

As the buildings in Makoko are constructed on wooden stilts, sometimes groups of houses just float away, which is also what happened to a local school. Kunle Adeyemi, a Nigerian-born architect who had a timely escape to the west, came up with a solution of a floating school.

The "foundation" of the school consists of 256 plastic barrels. A wooden construction with the surface of 100m2 is laid upon it, on top of which is a triangular construction. The work was funded by the UN and other donors and it was executed by Adeyemi's architectural firm NLÉ with some help from the experts from the Netherlands.

The authorities consider the construction illegal and demand for it to be removed. This might be because of the plans for the relocation of the whole slum of Makoko from the capital center which began in 2012. The negotiations are in process and NLÉ company believes that the government won't demolish the school.

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Author of photos: Iwan Baan

Migrants Journey Across the Border

2015-01-27T02:31:00+01:00

After years of documenting migration in Mexico, Spanish-born photographer Encarni Pindado began a new project that handed the equipment — disposable Kodak cameras — to the migrants themselves and people who interact with them along the way.

"We've seen photos of the journey migrants take through Mexico, and I'd been on the trains with them as they made their way to the border," Pindado said. "But I also knew that something was missing, that there were moments that we were still not capturing."

MigraZoom launched in early 2013, supported by a grant from the United Nations Development Program.

Pindado, collaborating with other Mexico-based photographers, headed to Mexico's southern border with Guatemala. There, Central American youth tend to congregate and regroup to continue their journey north.

The MigraZoom team handed out about 200 Kodak cameras and gave a quick photo workshop. They also told the migrants they would move up the usual migrant path, too, following the railroad lines, and gather the cameras along the way.

In the end, MigraZoom collected about 70 percent of the cameras they gave out. In return, they made prints for the participants to keep.

On the top is a selection of photos taken by migrants, with observations from Pindado. The names of the photographers are omitted to protect their identity, as many have likely crossed the US-Mexico border without documentation.

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Photo credits: MigraZoom participants

The article originally published on www.pri.org.

Murals of Northern Ireland

2015-02-19T00:52:10+01:00

People of Northern Ireland came up with a great idea to make a touristic image out of conflicts that have been shaking this country, especially Belfast. That wasn't just a confrontation between two opposing politics, nations, but a religious confrontation as well, between Catholics and Protestants. Numerous murals that exist in Belfast are telling a story about conflicts that started 4 centuries ago, when the English began with the conquest.

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