The Documentarian (Page 2)

Shanghai | City of the Future

A couple days ago, a guest mentioned she had lived in Shanghai for a year. This got me to thinking about the trip I had taken there five years ago. It was, and so far, has been the only time I have been to China. It was an amazing trip.

Road Trip | Milwaukee to Topanga

I just recently returned from Milwaukee after spending over two months there doing home improvements and finding a new tenant. I think I have done the round-trip road trip from LA to Milwaukee five times. Normally, I take between three and six days to do the trip and try and

Random Photos and why I like them | book project

I was given an opportunity to do a self-published book with Saal-Digital while I was in Milwaukee. Because I only had access to what was on my computer and one hard drive that I had brought with me, I decided just to select images that I like or have some

Panoramas | Milwaukee

After testing out the old Kodak Brownie cameras during daily pooch walks, I started taking panorama photos with the iPhone last week. I concentrated on churches and monuments as they are quite visible and easy to spot when walking Holly, my Siberian Husky (she appears in some of them). Also,

Photography | Contrasting iPhone with Kodak Brownie cameras (1920s and 1952)

I tried out a new camera Kodak Brownie C No.2 dating from the 1920s and shot another roll in the 1952 Brownie Hawkeye Flash model. This time I reassembled the camera and the results were much better in terms of sharpness and exposure. I do, however, like the strange

Photography | Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash Model

The third camera I tried was the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash Model which was manufactured between May 1949 and July 1961 and was one of the most popular cameras in the US during that time. As with the other cameras I used Ilford Delta 100 ISO Black & White film.

Photography | Kodak Brownie Target Six-20

The second camera I tried out was the Brownie Target Six-20 which was manufactured from July 1946 to May 1952. It has a shutter speed of around 1/30th of a second and two apertures of F11 or F16 The first thing you will notice is that the negative is

Photography | Kodak Duaflex IV

Some years ago while traveling from Seattle to Topanga along the Oregon Coast, we stopped at occasional thrift shops to check things out. It is a good way to learn about the place you happen to be passing through especially in the smaller towns. I decided to see what old

Remembering Mom

A year ago today, 14 May 2020, my mom passed away from COVID-19 In the coming days, I'll share photos and recollections remembering my mom, Patsy Merrill Nelson. That car, a Chevy Malibu station wagon has some stories. That car rolled over an embarkment after a branch got

Press On | Adventurers Club of Los Angeles interview

Here is an interview done by Ken Hudson from the Adventurers Club of Los Angeles on April 8th about Al Willner and my adventurers investigating the Holocaust survival story of his father, Eddie Willner. Timeline | 0:24 - start of interview introduction 10:30 - Gathering Earth retracing footsteps of

Press On | Walk in Remembrance | Documentation

In January 2020, Albert Willner, his hiking and army buddy Mike Bayles and I travelled to Poland for his endeavor to walk the Death March his father survived in January 1945. In preparation for a presentation to the Adventurer's Club of Los Angeles, I wrote down my recollections

Gathering Earth | Following in the footsteps of Eddie Willner

In September 2019, Albert Willner and I travelled to Europe to follow in the footsteps of his father, Eddie Willner's traumatic Holocaust odyssey. In preparation for a presentation to the Adventurer's Club of Los Angeles, I wrote down my recollections of our travels and Albert edited

In the Footsteps of My Father | Radio Opole

On the anniversary of Albert Willner's and Mike Bayles' completion of The Walk in Remembrance in tribute to his father and those that suffered and perished on the Death Marches in Poland and Germany in January of 1945, Radio Opole correspondent Agnieszka Pospiszyl released "In the

Hannibal's Footsteps | preparation

Hopefully sometime this summer (2021) | COVID-permitting, I along with Al Willner and Mike Bayles will embark on an adventure to follow in the footsteps of the great Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca. Our plan is to follow Hannibal's famous campaign from Cartagena, Spain, across the Pyrenees, through France and

The Nabrad Road

My son, Shams, wrote a poem and used my pictures for a book birthday present for his sister and my daughter, Nabra, on her 26th birthday. Beautiful words full of love.

USS America

Eric Smallwood, a former US Navy officer (Attack Squardron) attached to the USS Saratoga and who served during Desert Storm (Gulf War), sent me this picture that I took while based in Cairo, Egypt of the USS America aircraft carrier passing through the Suez Canal. It was published in the

Cuba Tripping

Here is a self-published book I did when I got a coupon from Picaboo for a severely discounted price on the book. However, I only got around to putting together the book the day before the coupon expired. So it was very rushed and I was playing around with backgrounds

Finding the Message in Mauritania

This is the first self-published book I did. I had traveled to Mauritania to do a story for Aramco World magazine on a radio program called "The Message" where citizens could post messages to inform fellow radio listeners. It was a way to, not only unite a new

Tunaenda Safari

This is a self-published book I did after taking a safari to Kenya with my son, Shams and daughter, Nabra. I had done a number of safari as I would pass through Nairobi on my way to cover stories in Africa. Visiting game parks, the absolutely beautiful geography of Kenya,

The Hajj | A Journey of Faith

This is a self-published book I did after covering and completing the pilgrimage to Mecca in January 2004. It was one of the most fascinating and difficult adventures (in terms of the physicality of completing the rituals as well as actually covering it as a photojournalist) that I have had

Darfur | August 1985

This is a book I did many years ago from a visit to Darfur, Sudan to cover the famine. It was before the outbreak of hostilities that infect Darfur to this day. However, the disruption drought and famine brought to Darfur, laid the groundwork of the war, atrocities and suffering

Shams Nabra | Attitude | book project

I just completed another book project and thought I would post some thoughts about documenting one's life, family, experiences, and whatever interests you. I was given the opportunity to produce free book by two self-publishing outlets (Zno and Saal-Digital) in the last couple of weeks. This book was

My Nubia | book project

I just completed a book project on Nubia. It is primarily a personal view of Nubia and how I view the place and its people. It has a lot of family photos as that is very much what Nubia is about.

Nubia | Land of Gold

I have had a long and personal history with Nubia. I first encountered Nubia during a 1978 visit to my parents who were stationed in Egypt. Since then I have travelled along the Nile from Khartoum, across the Nubian Desert and by ferry boat down the length of Lake Nasser

Walk in Remembrance | Honored by Press Photographers Association

2020 Q1 Photo Stories — Press Photographers Association of Greater Los AngelesClick here to view 2020 Q1 ResultsPress Photographers Association of Greater Los AngelesKhai Le Walk in Remembrance, a project I have been working on with great friend Al Willner on his father's amazing Holocaust survival story, has been