Just like that......with a beer in hand and the flick of an eye...its 2004.

So what about 2003? It was a mixed bag of goodies and disappointments (I'll just call them opportunities and lessons to be positive)

Quote of the day from my colleague Brenda, "My resolutions for 2004?.....I'll just photostat my resolutions for 2003 and change the year!"

I missed my major 2003 resolution by a massive 15kg......

Photographically speaking, its been a year dominated by changes and advances in digital photography. New names coming into the fray with new cameras and its tag-along army of accessories. Its been a year where I first seriously picked up a Digital Camera (well ok, 2) and spent more time in Photoshop that all the years earlier combined.

I used to think film would be under threat much later (like 2020). But like the internet, the list of milestones and progress in digital photography within a short year seemed the equivalent of a decade's worth of research and development in photography's traditional film counterpart.

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2003 has also been a year of conflict between photography and my regular work. Serving 3 masters was tough. Photography, Family and Work.

Photography....I do it out of pure love. 2003 was a year in which I narrowed down my focus to a handful of areas close to my heart......being a bigger voice for the voiceless, expanding the network of friends and mentors, covering new areas geographically, telling a better, stronger story and relating better to folks from a whole new younger generation (you guys know what and who I'm referring to)

My job as the Senior VP in the company brings home the dough ......and in a way I've learned to love the work even more despite taking on a whole load of responsibilities in the office. I'll admit, I got happily carried away shooting for a while mid-year. The best thing that's ever happened to me is working with a great boss who understood the opposing forces tearing at me and silently 'opening' my eyes again. I've since struck a balance where I'm in love with my photography, my work and my family. There's no magic formula.....all a matter of planning my life around these 3 priorities without going overboard on one.....

And the family....the wife's put up with total shit from me this year not to mention our little 3 year old. The things she'd put up with me....late night entertaining....weekend meetings....photo exhibitions....trainings.....workshops......maintaining Walkeast at odd hours of the night. She's been the silent worker... tolerant of everything

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I did not do India this year which was a great blow to me. I'm booking my ticket early 2004 for a 2nd attempt at Calcutta which is continuing to silently lure me with its hodge-pot of human interest stories.

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So who exactly are our friends and enemies?

- Colonel Gaddaffi, once an evil oppressor and top of the US 'Must Kill' list is now back in favor with the Americans
- Osama Bin Laden, once a close friend of the U.S. in his war against the Russians occupying Afghanistan, has made it to the top of the Most Wanted/Most Hated Enemy list
- Saddam Hussein once a close friend of America and reciepient of huge amounts of U.S. backed war funding during the Iran-Iraq war is in American custody and considered a major component in the Axis of Evil
- Yasser Arafat, once labelled a terrorist seemed as cute as a helpless little puppy in 2003 playing the role of a moderate
One of the more meaningful calendars I've come across for 2004 has been designed by Dirk photo agency in Bangladesh. Shahidul Alam's comments plugging this great collection of 12 images and stories......

I used to consider silent warnings that "CNN and USA Today are U.S. propaganda mouthpieces no better nor different than the Chinese Communist Party's Xinhua News Agency" were blasphemous....maybe even leftist. I'm not sure anymore.

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"Unwritten Histories

Books in library shelves hold images that have shaped history. Familiar names, recognisable images and anecdotal tales, remind us of the greats in photography. Students study the trends set by cult figures and established masters. Experts at Sotheby?s tell you whose work to invest in. Limited edition prints in gallery walls, sport price tags commensurate with branding. The market decides. The signature says it all. The occasional controversy over the veracity of some historic image may cause a minor blip, but the myths live on, embalmed by scholars and other experts, who teach us what to value. A discovery causes a stir, and accolades follow for the discoverer and the discovered. They reaffirm the inclusiveness of it all.

Lost amongst the library shelves are some names that have taken a different route. They have worked within their own communities, far from the gallery walls. Some indeed have become household names despite this distance. Others have moved to the geographical epicentres of the industry. Each one however, has left an indelible stamp on the community that nurtured them. They have given hope, inspired and become role models for many communities that do not exist in those library tomes, except as a passing canvas of some recognised genius.

Turning their lens around at their own societies and their own craft, they have asked questions of themselves. Probing, searching, challenging, they have unsettled their own universe, asking hard and demanding answers. While discovery for some have come despite their peripheral role, others remain unknown, except in the communities they have chosen to immerse themselves in. This calendar celebrates the vision, the tenacity and the enormous skills of these individuals, rare in any society, who have chosen to make a difference. It pays homage to their unwritten history.

Well, the Drik 2004 Calendar is now available. Feast yourself on this list of photographers:

Chien-Chi Chang, Diego Goldberg, Graciela Iturbide, Kishor Parekh, Lucia Chiriboga, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, Pedro Meyer, Peter Magubane, Raghu Rai, Reza Deghati, Shahidul Alam, Tara Sosrowardoyo.

Look up the online version at: http://www.drik.net/calendar2004

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Reality TV seems to be getting a little out of hand these days. Sure I understand Survivor, the Bachelor, the Race etc etc etc.....but last night's ad for a new reality TV show takes the cake for stupidity.

.....they're going to show Extreme Makeover.

Basically the TV gods select a group of folks whom they consider to be physically unattractive/human elephants/homo 'hippo' sapiens ........and put them through a (cant remember) period of physical training/surgery/conditioning/grooming......and pick a winner from the one who comes closest to society's standards of the perfect human. They've thrown in a couple of black people in an effort to racially balance Extreme Makeover.

Some choice questions within the application form

...."If you are selected to receive the "Extreme Makeover," list everything you would like to have altered?"....

....."What areas or parts of your body are you most unhappy with? Have you always felt that way? If not, what event changed your image of yourself?"....

Society still worships the beautiful and superficial.

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Lastly, some walkeast.com stats for 2003. Walkeast attracted an average of 1300 visits per month and continues to witness steady increases which peaked at more than 4000 visits by November. Notice that most of the visits were to the Cambodian and Thai photo galleries. The hottest story getting the most hits was 'Inside a Photographer's Bag' while thankfully very few people visited my Equiptment listings.

One of the more constructive feedbacks received was that my humor's a little dry and that I'd be a strong candidate for a Pulitzer prize if only my writing/story-telling skills were 10% as good as my image-making abilities.

A grand total of 25 unmounted black and white prints (mostly 12x18s) were sold which raised enough money for me to upgrade some aging equiptment and string together a trip to shoot more in Thailand.

Visitors at the beginning of 2003 were mostly from Singapore (48%). By December Singapore origin visitors dropped to 14% and largely displaced by guests from Networks, U.S. Commercial. Strange note...personnel from the U.S. military seemed to have started visiting walkeast.com too by the 4th quarter of 2003.

These stats were made possible by my Burmese web designer who designed the various 'ticker counters' installed in walkeast.com

The most popular search words used to get to walkeast.com were 'Singapore Photographer', 'Cambodia Kick Boxing', 'Contax G2 images' and 'Eddie Ng'.

The most popular/common point of arrival in walkeast.com was via the Galleries page (I guess nobody visits walkeast.com for its colorful writing!)

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till the next diary entry......Happy New Year!