A Photographer's Take On Miley Cyrus

The marketing of Miley

By Lucas Jackson

Does anyone remember what happened during the MTV Video Music Awards in 2012? How about 2011? I would wager that the last thing you remember from any MTV video related anything would be when Kanye West walked up and snagged the microphone away from poor Taylor Swift in 2009.

Guess what, someone was counting on that this year. I haven’t a clue who, it might be MTV or Robin Thicke or most likely Miley Cyrus but someone was counting on creating one of these exciting “moments” for people to talk about the next day and boy did they hit the ball out of the park. I cover a fair amount of live music. I am not a concert photographer and I don’t go to every music festival but I cover enough to know when I see a performer putting on a good show. Lady Gaga almost always does it, she has the theatrics down.

A lot of groups who use large stage set-ups know that the show itself can be as important as the music but it would appear that the world is yet to catch up to the genius that is Miley Cyrus.

Sure it was risque but take a look at Robin Thicke’s original video from the song, Miley Cyrus’ video for her song, and finally Robin Thicke’s video for his new song that was just published and ask yourself if all of this isn’t just clever marketing?

I was in the room with my long lens waiting for something to happen and although Gaga’s performance was artistic and interesting due to the deeper meaning (starting with a blank canvas and moving through several iterations until she was standing before the audience in shells) it was not something that made for a ‘signature’ moment.

Miley provided that. As soon as I saw it I shipped the disk containing the image back to my editors in order to get that out because it was a signature moment designed to titillate and cause buzz. It was obvious, and it worked.

The VMAs are awards for the music videos that the network doesn’t even play anymore so they have to make them interesting and the mission was accomplished. I was glad that it happened early in the show so that the pictures could make it to print. There is a certain glee in knowing that you have clear and sharp photographs of the evening’s signature moment but to think that it was any more than a marketing ploy for all involved is playing right into the evil genius of the whole thing.

How Gin And Tonic Saved The British Empire

By Kal Raustiala

This stuff really is medicine.
Photo by Brian Jones/iStockphoto/Thinkstock

The gin and tonic is having a moment. From Spain—where gin and tonics are practically the national drink—to our summer shores, the venerable G-and-T is everywhere. House-made tonic is on the menu in restaurants from coast to coast, and in many fine bars gin and tonics come in dozens of varieties, with special tonics and fruit garnishes matched to distinctive artisanal gins.

Of course, a lot of classic cocktails are enjoying a resurgence—part Mad Men, part the boom in distinctive small-batch spirits, and part the waning fad of faux speakeasies with handcrafted bitters and bartenders in arm garters chipping away at blocks of ice.

But the gin and tonic is different. For one, it requires no unusual ingredients, and it’s very simple to make. More interestingly, the gin and tonic has a storied history that places it at the heart of the largest empire the world has ever known. Indeed, it is not too much of a stretch to say that the gin and tonic was as essential a weapon for the British Empire as the Gatling gun. No less an authority on imperial power than Winston Churchill once declared, “The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.”

What was the source of the gin and tonic’s great power? As is sometimes said of tequila, the gin and tonic is not just a drink; it’s a drug.

The story begins with the jewel of the British Empire: India. British India comprised both more and less than modern-day India. More, in that it included large parts of what are today Pakistan and Bangladesh. Less, in that much of India under the British Raj was quasi-independent, in so-called princely states that were nominally sovereign but largely under England’s thumb. India was so important to the empire that in 1876 Queen Victoria added the moniker “Empress of India” to her title. Her successors continued that practice right up till 1948, under George VI (he of The King’s Speech fame).

Controlling India, in short, was central to the British Empire and to Britain’s sense of itself as the world’s leading power. What allowed Britain, a small island far off in the northern reaches of Europe, to rule over the vast semi-continent of India for so long is a subject of some debate. But in Jared Diamond’s famous words, Europe’s military superiority was built on a mix of “guns, germs, and steel.”

Guns and steel clearly favored powers like Britain. These innovations allowed Britain (and other European countries) to deploy weapons such as machine guns at a time when many societies around the world still used swords and spears. But germs were more equivocal. Malaria in particular was a virulent killer of colonized and colonizer alike. While malaria has a long history in Europe, it began to be eradicated in the 19^th century, and even earlier it was never as deadly as it was in tropical locations. So as Europeans established colonies in the tropics, they faced a serious and often mortal threat from the mosquito-borne disease. Soldiers and civilian officials alike succumbed to it.

In the 17^th century, the Spanish had discovered that indigenous peoples in what is now Peru used a kind of bark to address various “fevers.” Stripped from the cinchona tree, the bark seemed to work well for malaria. The “Jesuit’s bark,” as it was known, quickly became a favored treatment for malaria in Europe. (Before the discovery of the cinchona tree, European malaria remedies included throwing the patient head-first into a bush in the hope he would get out quickly enough to leave his fever behind.)

Eventually it became clear that cinchona bark could be used not only to treat malaria, but also to prevent it. The bark—and its active ingredient, quinine powder—was a powerful medicine. But it was also a powerful new weapon in the European quest to conquer and rule distant lands.

Quinine powder quickly became critical to the health of the empire. By the 1840s British citizens and soldiers in India were using 700 tons of cinchona bark annually for their protective doses of quinine. Quinine powder kept the troops alive, allowed officials to survive in low-lying and wet regions of India, and ultimately permitted a stable (though surprisingly small) British population to prosper in Britain’s tropical colonies. Quinine was so bitter, though, that British officials stationed in India and other tropical posts took to mixing the powder with soda and sugar. “Tonic water,” of a sort, was born.

Still, tonic water was basically a home brew until an enterprising Brit named Erasmus Bond introduced the first commercial tonic water in 1858—perhaps not coincidentally, the very same year the British government ousted the East India Co. and took over direct control of India, following the so-called Sepoy Mutiny, a violent rebellion and counterattack.

Bond’s new tonic was soon followed by Schweppes’ introduction, in 1870, of “Indian Quinine Tonic,” a product specifically aimed at the growing market of overseas British who, every day, had to take a preventative dose of quinine. Schweppes and other commercial tonics proliferated both in the colonies and, eventually, back in Britain itself.

Gin, which in earlier days had been associated with vice and social decay among the lower classes in Britain—take a look at William Hogarth’s famous print Gin Lane for a taste—was by the 19^th century making its long march toward respectability. It was only natural that at some point during this time an enterprising colonial official combined his (or her) daily dose of protective quinine tonic with a shot (or two) of gin. Rather than knock back a bitter glass of tonic in the morning, why not enjoy it in the afternoon with a healthy gin ration?

The gin and tonic was born—and the cool, crisp concoction could, as Churchill observed, start saving all those English lives.

And American lives. Quinine proved as critical to the battle over the Pacific in the second world war as it had to the struggle over India. As Amy Stewart notes in her new book, The Drunken Botanist, Japan seized Java, the home of huge cinchona plantations, from the Dutch in 1942, cutting off nearly all of the Allied supply of quinine. The last American plane to fly out of the Philippines before it fell to the Japanese carried some 4 million quinine seeds. Unfortunately, the effort was largely in vain: The trees grew too slowly to provide sufficient quinine to the Allied war effort.

The gin and tonic, of course, was not enough to keep the British Empire alive either. Churchill, and many other British leaders, fervently believed that imperialism was essential if Britain was to remain a truly great power. But the strength and appeal of independence and self-determination was overwhelming, and India could no longer be held down by a small coterie of foreign officials, even with their quinine-based cocktails. By 1947 India—and Pakistan—were independent nations. Kenya, Jamaica, Malaya, and other tropical colonies soon followed.

Today, “empire” is a dirty word. But the gin and tonic lives on. The drink went from a bitter medicinal tipple in tropical outposts to a mainstay of British clubs and bars by the first world war. In postwar America, the gin and tonic became synonymous with WASP summer retreats and country club lounges. Then, in the ’70s and ’80s, gin was almost forgotten as first classic cocktails went out of fashion and then vodka began to explode in popularity. Now the gin and tonic is back, especially at the very high end, where artisanal gins from Brooklyn, San Francisco, and all parts in between can be mixed with special tonics like Fever-Tree (get it?) or Fentimans.

But the gin and tonic certainly did the British Empire a lot of good. So as you mix your next one, remember the curious history of the drink—or is it a drug?—in your hand.

Naga Villages Pledge To Save Migratory Amur Falcons

People of three villages of Nagaland have made a pledge to protect and conserve the migratory Amur falcons.

Experts say are usually hunted on a large scale by villagers for the birds' meat.

Village Council Members (VCM) of Pangti, Asshaa and Sungro of Wokha district signed an agreement with two NGOs to assist Nagaland forest department to stop the wide-scale hunt of the birds. The Amur falcons came to light last year, a release issued by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said in Guwahati on Wednesday, August 28.

Besides the WTI, the other NGO was Wokha-based Natural Nagas, who signed the Memorandum of Understanding earlier this week.

Thousands of these birds were hunted annually for their meat in the district as they crossed the region en route to Africa from Siberia.

Hunters used fishing nets to trap the birds when they come to roost during late evenings or while leaving early in the morning, the release said.

The three villages have pledged to save the migratory raptor in Doyang Reservoir, its largest roosting site in the country, and a resolution was passed by the villages to penalise offenders upto Rs 5000 from this year.

The MoU pledged to generate awareness to engage locals in formulating watch squads to help protect the birds.

It was also agreed to formulate laws and guidelines in accordance with the VCMs to prohibit hunting and poaching of Amur falcons and help mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.

"Following a report on the hunting of Amur Falcons by Conservation India, a Rapid Action Project was initiated by WTI and Natural Nagas to spread awareness on the plight of the species among the local communities," said Natural Nagas spokesperson Steve Odyuo.

Rupee Sinks to 68 Against Dollar

The partially convertible rupee was trading at a record low of 67.40/45 per dollar.

Mumbai, Aug 28 : Continuing its free-fall, the rupee on Wednesday breached the 68-mark against the dollar on strong demand for the US currency amid rising concerns over fiscal burden after the passage of the food bill.

The rupee also dragged the BSE sensex down by over 400 points in early trade, following persistent selling by funds.

The sensex was trading at 17,539.28 points at 10.25am.

Stocks of banking, oil and gas, PSUs, realty, FMCG, auto and capital goods sectors were major losers, dragging down the benchmark sensex.

Brokers said sustained selling by funds and other participants triggered by sliding rupee which breached 68 to a dollar and a weakening trend on the other Asian bourses, tracking overnight losses on the US market as the West stepped up preparations for a military strike on Syria, mainly dampened the trading sentiment here.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty was also down almost 100 points.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local currency opened lower at 67.06 a dollar from its previous close of 66.24 and breached 67-mark to trade at a fresh low of 67.42, down by 118 paise, or almost 1.8 per cent.

It later breached the 68 mark.

Forex dealers said besides strong month-end demand for the American currency from importers, concerns related to subsidy burden after the passage of Food Security Bill and capital outflows mainly weighed on the domestic currency.

Further, rising crude prices in the global market also put pressure on the rupee, they said.

The rupee had recorded a steep fall of 194 paise, or 3.02 per cent to close at record low of 66.24 against the dollar in the previous session.

Chief Minister's Special NLUP Launched at CM Constituency

Aizawl, Aug 28 : With hardly three months to go before the state assembly polls, Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla on Tuesday launched the 'Chief Minister's Special New Land Use Policy' (NLUP) Scheme at Serchhip, his constituency, by distributing upto Rs 20,000 to each beneficiary, an official statement said on Tuesday.

While around Rs one lakh each was distributed to each family in the Congress flagship programme the NLUP, launched on February 14, 2011, and meant for providing permanent livelihood to the beneficiaries, the Chief Minister's Special NLUP was to be distributed to people who could not perform any work due to sickness, disability or any other reasons.

Lal Thanhawla claimed the NLUP was a huge success and a blessing to the people of Mizoram while expressing the hope that the Chief Minister's Special NLUP would also be a blessing to the poorest of the poor.

The distribution would continue tn different parts of the state, the statement added.

Rise in Tourists in Meghalaya

 
Sohra in East Khasi Hills the main draw for foreigners, Indians

By Andrew W. Lyngdoh

Shillong, Aug 28 : Not for nothing do they call it the Scotland of the East. Meghalaya, the abode of clouds, was a popular draw for tourists, both domestic and foreign, last year.

The improvement in law and order scenario in Meghalaya, barring the Garo hills, was also responsible for the steady rise in tourist inflow to the state from 2007-2012.

According to statistics provided by the Meghalaya tourism department, the state received more than 6 lakh domestic and foreign tourists in 2012, with 6,80,254 domestic tourists and 5,313 foreign tourists setting foot in the state. Most of the domestic tourists were from Assam and West Bengal and a bulk of them came in April to escape from the heat in the plains.

However, the increase in the inflow of tourists in 2012 as compared to 2011 was marginal. Two years ago, the number of domestic tourists was recorded at 6,67,504 while the number of foreign tourists was 4,803. The same trend is being seen in the last five years where more domestic and foreign tourists came to visit the state. (See chart)

Though there are over 40 tourist spots officially identified across the state, East Khasi Hills district, in which Sohra (Cherrapunji) is located — once the wettest place on earth — still attracts the bulk of tourists, a government official said.

Overlooking the plains of Bangladesh, Sohra at 1,300m (4,290 feet) above sea level, offers a panoramic view of the hilly terrain, deep gorges and valleys and roaring waterfalls. Despite not having received the best of rainfall in recent times, “Brand Sohra” still carries weight among those who are in quest of the exotic amid the most ordinary locales.

Although there are miles to be covered, the tourism infrastructure is steadily developing with more home stays and guesthouses coming up in the state. Focus is also being given to rural tourism to enable guests to take pleasure in living in conjunction with different facets of nature. According to a government official, there are around 15 home stays and guesthouses in and around Sohra alone.

Recently, chief minister Mukul M. Sangma said the government has increased investment under the Tourism Mission and implemented several schemes, which include construction of tourist lodges, guesthouses, roadside amenities and restaurants to promote tourism.

The government is also promoting rural and village tourism to provide tourists with a personalised experience of the culture and lifestyle of the locals, Sangma said.

However, Meghalaya still has a long way to go to provide the best of comfort and service to tourists, though some of its facilities are world class.

The office of principal accountant general (Audit) of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is conducting a performance review on the impact of the Meghalaya government’s investment in promoting the tourism sector in the state. Responses, together with the findings emanating from the performance review, will seek to bring out a balance on the efficacy of the expenditure incurred by the state government out of the public purse to promote tourism.

Priyanka Chopra Consults Mary Kom On The Script Of Her Biopic

After visiting Mary Kom at her home in Manipur, buzz is that Priyanka Chopra has asked the makers to incorporate some changes in the biopic on the boxing champ.

Apparently, during her meeting with Mary, the two discussed certain aspects of the script and found some differences in the real and reel facts.

Apparently, a scene in the film shows the protagonist shaving off her hair in anger to register a protest at some disagreements she'd had with her coach and federation authorities. But, it turns out, Mary told PC that she had actually tonsured her head for new, thicker hair growth.

Consequently, the actress suggested to director Omung Kumar that he make the necessary changes before the film's next schedule in October.

Taking a cue from Milkha Singh, who was actively involved in the scripting of his biopic, PC is keen that Mary is kept in the loop.

My Experience Photographing the Yakuza

By Christopher Jue

After watching the movie “The Last Samurai” at a theater back home in Southern California (where I’m originally from), my curiosity for Japan inspired me to go and discover what it’s like. I took a couple of vacation trips out there and met a lot of good people before I found a job that sponsored my working visa to officially let me move out to Japan in 2005.


I actually majored in IT while in college, so the company that hired me was an Internet service provider in Tokyo. At that time, photography was entirely just a hobby that I had no intentions of making a career out of. While doing the IT stuff, I would shoot a lot of personal work related to Japan on the side, ranging from tourist landmarks to Japanese cars, people, events and fashion.


In 2008, I got an email from a CEO of a small Japanese modeling/talent agency asking if I was interested in working with him as a photographer and coordinator, so I jumped ship from the corporate IT life and have been working on interesting projects ever since…

Although I work with a diverse range of clientele, one of the most interesting assignments that I was able to take on to date was with The Times. Whenever I get commissioned with this newspaper, it begins with an “are you available and interested” type of conversation between myself and their Tokyo bureau staff, followed by a final confirmation from the desk in London.


The brief that was presented to me this time explained that there were lots of crimes happening within the community of Kita-Kyushu area, ranging from arson, to threatening phone calls, to people being slashed in the face by machetes. Basically, my job was to illustrate the dangerous goings on that were happening in the community and behind the closed doors of the Kudo-kai — the organization that the police and local people believed was ultimately responsible.

As this was a first-of-a-kind type of assignment for me, I was looking forward to it. After all, it’s not everyday one is allowed into the headquarters of a large mafia organization.

Even though I wasn’t too familiar with this particular Kudo-kai Yakuza group in the beginning, I thought to myself that sometimes it’s probably best not knowing too much. If I knew the organization, it might have changed my perspective and how I photographed them. It’s just like consistently looking at other photographers’ work, you become influenced by their style and the pictures you take are not really yours anymore.

In the beginning, I imagined the Yakuza would be stiff and serious — you know, mafia type personalities — but it was the total opposite. They were surprisingly welcoming and we were all treated with complete respect.

We saw a lot while inside their closed quarters, but there was one particular floor we couldn’t go into because they mentioned it was just a typical “messy” office with papers all over.

There are always challenges when I step out on a commissioned assignment, but the one main challenge for me every time is whether or not I can bring back usable pictures that are also visually stimulating. On this story, however, I was super focused rather than nervous and trying to make sure I had a variety of shots to choose from at the end of the assignment.

Nothing insidious or particularly eventful happened, but the Yakuza did insist on driving me in a separate car from the rest of the The Times staff at one point. Focused as I was, I thought they were going to drive off in another direction, but I assumed it was just so I could shoot from the car comfortably.


Afterwards, The Times staffers were joking with me that they were going to kidnap me and have me work as the organization’s staff photographer. It made for a valuable lesson in safety and understanding that it’s always the first priority while on any assignment.

It’s always better to ask permission rather than running and gunning the shots, especially when you’re dealing with the Yakuza.

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About the author: Christopher Jue is a photojournalist based our of Tokyo, Japan. He considers his images vibrant, honest and straight to the point. Visit his website here.