This morning I came across an interesting article on travel photography that really resonated with my own experience: "The best travel photos I have taken--and have seen--occurred because a relationship [with the subject], often brief, was established." Like the author, my strongest images of people have also been captured following one-to-one personal interactions with my subjects, even if our communication had been assisted by the help of an interpreter.

National Geographic has just published a magnificent new photography coffee table book, Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs, containing its best 250 images and encompassing all regions of the world. I had a chance to browse through it last night at Tower and, I have to say, though weighty it might be, it contains page after page of stunning photography and is definitely worth spending some time over. It can be picked up for only US$21.00 on Amazon; at 504 pages, it's an absolute steal!

A couple of nights ago, I attended a very interesting FCC dinner meeting with a presentation given by Lewis Blackwell, Vice President of the Creative Division of GettyImages on researching visual trends and forecasting future creative imagery requirements. Reuters reports that the company, the world leader in the stock photography market, posted record profits for the latest quarter.