Author Archives: Tom (Admin)

Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 3)

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Tom (Admin)

In the third and and final installment in this series I have written about a trip we took out to a remote village in Madagascar, to help film a crowdfunding video for a great cause, Onja.  In this post I … Continue reading →

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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 2)

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Tom (Admin)

This is part two in a series.  Part one can be viewed here. So as I noted yesterday, after our long trek into the countryside, the first order of business was to meet with the President of Andovolalina, the village … Continue reading →

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Barefoot in the Malagasy Jungle: the Making of Onja’s Crowdfunding Video (part 1)

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Tom (Admin)

It started back in July when I got an interesting item in my “Google Alerts” for Madagascar.  A small NGO was looking for a filmmaker and a social media manager to support their project in eastern Madagascar.  I quickly fired … Continue reading →

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The No. 2A Folding Pocket Brownie: still going strong after 105 years

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Tom (Admin)

I have most of my collection of 100-plus cameras on a couple of shelves made from old Indian doors whose multiple layers of paint was peeling.  By collector standards it’s not many, but it’s enough so that they grab your attention … Continue reading →

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Madagascar: Visiting the Tsingy de Bemaraha (Part 2)

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

This post is a continuation of my previous post, where I described out trip from Antananarivo to Morondava, and then north across two rivers and to the “petit tsingy” and a boat ride through the Manamobolo Gorge and the caves … Continue reading →

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Madagascar: Visiting the Tsingy de Bemaraha (Part 1)

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

Travel and Leisure has listed Madagascar as one of its 50 places to visit in 2017.  Since we’re talking about a country that would stretch from New York City to the tip of Florida, I’ll help narrow things down a … Continue reading →

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Madagascar’s Majestic Baobabs

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

I’ve been pretty quiet here on the blog – we have been hard at work on some crowdfunding initiatives, and in between, I have been editing some of the video footage I shot on our trip to Madagascar’s west coast. … Continue reading →

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Anjezika: Antananarivo’s “Waterworld”

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

This is Anjezika. Once a vibrant fishing and rice-growing village, it has gradually been encircled and choked off by the surrounding city of Antananarivo, Madagascar.  Now, nobody grows anymore rice here.  A few small fish can be collected from the … Continue reading →

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Photography with a 103-year-old box camera

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

A couple of months ago I took on a project that has frankly consumed my free energy and time, and so I have neglected the blog a bit. But a couple of weeks ago I decided to pack up a … Continue reading →

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Merry-Go-Round, Madagascar Style

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

In retrospect, the kids somehow look terrified.  But they were having a great time, I assure you!

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Heartbreaking

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

As in many parts of the world, when you drive around urban areas of Madagascar, people will tap on your window asking for money.  Frequently these are little people.  There are many theories about how to respond – sometimes the … Continue reading →

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Introducing Analog / Film Cameras to a New Generation

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

You don’t have to be as old as me to remember using analog/film cameras.  But there’s an entire generation entering university (depending on where you grew up) that has grown up with photography as a purely digital phenomenon – often … Continue reading →

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Children of the Street: Ankorondrano

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

A group of about a dozen kids gathers on a small patch of green with a few benches and trees.  Basically a large roundabout.  Imagine an oblong Dupont Circle, except Starbucks is 3,000 miles away.  The sound of traffic is … Continue reading →

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Children of the Street: Ambohijatovo

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

In this third installment on a project Anne and I are involved in, we assist “Zanaky Ny Lalana”(Children of the Street) at yet another location.  This week we went to Ambohijatovo, one of the ten locations where Malagasy volunteers for “Teach for … Continue reading →

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Love Your Neighbor

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

Truth be told, we didn’t ask to come to Madagascar just for the lemurs – although they’re a pretty nice bonus.  A big reason we came here because we want to try and make a difference, somewhere, in someone’s lives; … Continue reading →

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Children of the Street: Ampefiloha

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

Last week I posted about a new project Anne and I are involved in – assisting the NGO “Teach for Madagascar” via a group of street photographers called “Zanaky Ny Lalana” (Children of the Street).  This week we went to another … Continue reading →

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Vintage Camera Test: 1930s Franka Rolfix (I think!)

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

Last week when we visited the Anjezika neighborhood, I brought along a couple of untested vintage cameras from my collection.  One of them was this folding camera with virtually no identifying information, other than the brand on the lens and … Continue reading →

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Children of the Street: Anjezika

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

“Zanaky Ny Lalana” is a group of street photographers that was brought together about a half year ago with the goal of highlighting the challenges faced by some of Madagascar’s most vulnerable inhabitants.  I don’t exactly have much in the way of … Continue reading →

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Travels in Madagascar: in and around Ampefy

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

Ampefy is a little town about 100km west of Antananarivo, in a landscape dominated by volcanic landforms – many of the surrounding hills have the telltale conical shape of dormant volcanoes.  There are a few hotels in town, but we … Continue reading →

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The Rescued Film Project

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

So I like processing “found film” and discovering lost images, and it’s a relatively unique hobby, but this is kind of an extreme way to look at it.  It’s really not as complicated or as amazing as he makes it sound. … Continue reading →

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Scenes from a Moving Car: Antananarivo Commute

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

When I first got to Antananarivo I would stare out the window during the commute to work, and started taking pictures with my iPhone through the window of the shuttle. The water in the rice paddies has dried up significantly … Continue reading →

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Getting Lost in Antananarivo, Just a Mile from Home

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

Less than a mile from our home is a lake that functions as a water catchment area during the rainy season, but also offers a running trail, a place for young lovers to escape, a livelihood for a small informal … Continue reading →

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Madagascar’s Saha Forest Camp: An Eco-sperience! Part 2.

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

As the title suggests, this is a continuation of my previous post, wherein I describe Saha Forest Camp and its surroundings…in case an orientation is needed! We’re not serious hikers. But our local guide had done a good job so … Continue reading →

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Madagascar’s Saha Forest Camp: an Eco-sperience! Part 1.

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

A couple of hours north of Antananarivo, at the end of a rutted, slick red clay road that meanders for about 10 kilometers eastward from the town of Anjozorobe, where the winding rice paddies finally end in a jumble of … Continue reading →

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Found Film in a 100-year-old Camera I got for Christmas

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Tom (Admin)

So my parents gave me this old camera for Christmas – a large, worn leatherbound aluminum case with shiny nickel fittings, that concealed intricate, shiny brass knobs, dials and gauges, along with a set of pristine red bellows.  As my mom … Continue reading →

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