39,000 ft over Algeria

The Dubai to NYC flight offers plenty of time to reflect on a trip. One thing that struck me the most about Mauritius is that it is one of 4 or 5 countries in the world without a military. Given that approximately 23% of fiscal spending in the USA (782 Billion Dollars) in 2009 went to Defense, it has to make you think. Mauritius has a plan for it's future. It is using the money that it doesn't spend on the military to improve education, transportation, health care, social welfare and culture. They are positioned to quickly create wealth and a higher standard of living. I know that the USA is not in a position to abandon the military all together, but it is clear that we are out of balance. -copyright INTERSECTION PHOTOS / Brown Cannon III

Hindu Wedding, Mauritius

What struck me most about this wedding were the colors and the attention to the details. This is a photograph of the bride minutes after the end of the wedding ceremony. She was art.
-copyright INTERSECTION PHOTOS / Brown Cannon III

Mahebourg, Mauritius Dec 7, 2010

Mauritian Generations

Anjani Luckhan (Age 67) and granddaughter Vidhi Lukhan (Age 6)
One thing that I appreciate about the Mauritians is that most are tolerant and accepting of each others differences. I went to a Hindu wedding dinner tonight and found that among those attending, religions differed between Catholic, Muslim, Hindu and Christian. In the Mauritius, tolerance and openness are values which are passed along from one generation to the next. - copyright Brown W. Cannon III / INTERSECTION PHOTOS

Mauritius Day 4

Mauritius is a land of vistas. This one is from Black River Gorge National Park which is located in the central highlands.

Port Louis, Champ de Mars race track

I had to include this shot because it shows that despite the island being so incredibly isolated it is still part of a very international scene. This was an international jockey event which featured racers and horses from France, Switzerland, India, South Africa, England and Maruitius. Thousands attend the event. - copyright Brown W. Cannon III / INTERSECTION PHOTOS

Day 2 on Mauritius

It seems that most people on Mauritius enjoy the water experience. On Ile aux Cerfs, a small neighboring island, many local Mauritian families come to picnic and swim. I should mention that on this island a local man told us he had never seen an American before and asked if we lived near Madonna. Apparently the man had a crush. Later in the day we visited the horse races in Port Louis at Champ de Mars race track. This was a very unexpected treat. - copyright Brown W. Cannon III / INTERSECTION PHOTOS

Arrival into Mauritius

Dubai to Mauritus was a 6.5hr flight due south. We hit the ground running and found ourselves immersed well into the night. This first day would end with hypnotic Mauritian sounds and dance. - copyright Brown W. Cannon III / INTERSECTION PHOTOS

December 3rd

I flew the behemoth A-380 from NYC to Dubai. This Emirates plane was incredible. It had a double decker configuration with a wingspan of 261.8 feet. Think about that the next time you go to a football game. The downstairs compartment had 89 rows many of which are 10 seats across and can seat a max of 850.

En Route to Mauritius

I opted to break up my 40 hour travel schedule to Mauritius and stay for a night in NYC. December 2nd was a perfect crisp, clear, blustery, 35 degree Fall day in the city. And it turned into my first time visiting the Statue of Liberty. - copyright Brown W. Cannon III / INTERSECTION PHOTOS

New Peru + Malaysia Images Available

Peruvian Markets, Machu Picchu, Amazon Rainforest, Kuala Lumpur, Petronas Towers, enter and explore.

http://intersectionphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery-list

New INDONESIA Gallery

This new gallery includes images from the Mentawai Islands which are located in the indian Ocean off the coast of West Sumatra. The photographs will give you a sense of island life both in and out of the water.

http://intersectionphotos.photoshelter.com/gallery-list

NEW BOTSWANA GALLERY

Katmai National Park, Alaska

I had one thing going for me. I could have out run everyone in my group if it came down to that. Our guide referred to these Grizzly Bears as very scary cows. They were in a grazing pattern awaiting the arrival of the Salmon that were due in anytime. This medium sized female was around 450 lbs. The large and in charge males can top 1500 lbs.

You will be able to see the full story in AAA Living magazine in a few months.

DUBLIN

Photographer Cedric Angeles is on a plane headed to Dublin to shoot for T&L. He will let us all know where to find the best pint should we find ourselves there.

ALASKA

Photographer Brown Cannon III is headed to Alaska to shoot for AAA Living magazine. He will be shooting Alaska through the eyes of the locals in Sitka, Homer, Talkeetna and Denali National Park.

Alaska tip #1: Do not pack a fish sandwich to take on your bear viewing tour.

Encampment, Wyoming

Jingling in the horses, Encampment, Wyoming

Golden Gate

Following a recent surf under the Golden Gate Bridge, I thought it was time to learn a fact or two:
8,980 feet in length
4,199 feet - the length of the longest span
Orange Vermillion is the paint color
220 feet of clearance under the span
11 men died building it
Weight - 887,000 tons
1,874,100,431 - vehicles that have crossed as of Nov 2009

8980 feet

Agua Boa River - A feeder river to the Amazon

Deep in the Amazon, the silence of night was broken by the incoming storm. One that was big, and swift and strong. A storm that quickly reminded me of how far I was from home. And how fortunate I was to witness it. -Brown

This is a road trip to a country that have always fascinated me. I was commissioned by a magazine to be there, to look and come back with pictures. Memories of Iran pieced together through images. I wanted to photograph everyone and everything that I saw when I was there, realizing that I would never have the chance to go back again. The photographs are from Tehran, Shiraz, Esfahan, Yazd and smaller towns in between. Towns that I know, full of hearts and minds that will voice out their opposition on June 12, the anniversay of the re-election of Ahmadinejad. This film is for all of them. Iran will always be a dream for me. - Cedric Angeles

Iran is one of my favorite places. This is a photo I took of the capital Tehran right before the snow blanketed the city. I have not seen any news lately from Iran in the front pages of the newspapers but I am sure that would change on June 12, the anniversary of the the re-election of Ahmadinejad. The latest news is that Ahmadinejad has deployed about 2 million paramilitary into Tehran to thwart any protests, jailing activists.

I lost all my contacts for my Iran negatives. I am slowly scanning the negs, hoping to put together a visual memory of what I experienced. I will share this before June 12

-Cedric Angeles

AT WHAT COST?

INTERSECTION PHOTOS / Brown Cannon III

Last week in Nayarit, Mexico

This time I almost stayed for good.

Intersection Photos offers Prints!

We are excited to announce that the Intersection Photos collection of images is now available for those interested purchasing Prints. Signed Collectors prints are being offered in limited editions as well a cheaper unsigned option. For more details see the About Page our our site. www.intersectionphotos.com

Then and Now

I have this album that I shot and put together in 1978. I was 8 years old. When I look through the pictures I feel as though I remember every moment of that family trip to Yellowstone National Park. But I am not sure if I truly remember or if the pictures themselves create the memories. Thirty years later I revisited the park on a shoot for Sunset magazine. At some point following my return I pulled out my 1st album. There was something about the way I used the camera when I was 8 that I appreciated all of these years later. Something that came naturally. I believe it is imperfection. At 8 you don't care if your horizons are crooked, if your exposure is off, if the time of day is right or about the rule of thirds. You simply point the camera because you like it. My goal now is to unlearn so much of what I have been taught, or been told about photography. Knowledge, politics, responsibility, your editors, it all plays a part in the way in which you approach your subjects. But when you are 8 none of this exists. One similarity that I do recognize between then and now, is that the appreciation I shared for open space when I was 8, still exists in me today. - brown

To see other pages from the album visit the INTERSECTION PHOTOS facebook page.

Thank You

We are very excited and relieved to have Intersection Photos up and running. More than anything we appreciate all of the emails and excitement we have received during our first week. We will be updating the site regularly with new stories and material. Keep checking in to see what we are up to and where we have been.

thank you, Brown + Cedric

THOUGHTS ON LOOKING AND SEEING

I have never blogged before and I felt lost for words this morning until Mia showed me an excerpt of writing by John Steinbeck that resonated with me. So, I will let Mr. Steinbeck's words start my first blog:

It occurs to me to wonder and to ask how much I see or am capable of seeing...

Some Years ago, the US Information Service paid the expenses of a famous and fine Italian Photographer to go to America and to take pictures of our country... The man had travelled everywhere in America, and do you know what his pictures were? Italy. In every American city, he had unconsciously sought and found Italy. The portraits--Italians; the countryside--Tuscany and the Po Valley and the Abruzzi. His eye looked for what was familiar to him and found it. This is interesting as an incident, but I think we all do it. This man did not see the America which is not like Italy, and there is very much that isn't. And I wonder what I have missed in the wonderful trip to the south [of Israel] i have just completed. Did I see only America? I confess I caught myself at it. Travelling over those breathtaking mountains and looking down at the shimmering deserts, cut to wadis by the occasional flash floods, I found myself saying or agreeing--yes, that's like the Texas panhandle--that could be Nevada, and that might be Death Valley. The frightening thought...is that they weren't andy of those places. They were themselves. But by identifying them with something I knew, was I not cutting myself off completely from the things I did not know, not seeing, not even recognizing, because I did not have the easy bridge of recognition?

This is a serious thing and it extends in many directions. Because we do not use quarter tones in music, many of us do not hear them in Oriental music. How many people, seeing a painting, automatically dislike it because it is not familiar? And, most important of all, how many ideas do we reject without a hearing simply because our experience pattern can bring up no recognition parallel?

I took the picture above of the kids playing in the ocean in the French Polynesia, along the coast of Raiatea Island...but the image could have been from anywhere. I realized that, like Steinbeck in his trip to Israel, I was guilty of seeking out the familiar.

The scene of the kids swimming in the water reminds me of my childhood in the Philippines. I could be any of those boys jumping in the water. In my search to find something different, I unconsciously found the familiar. Coconut plantations just like in my hometown, fishermen fixing their nets, families in the water, men gathered under the trees--these are the images I took. Granted that Raiatea Island, the whole French Polynesia has a lot of similarities to the Philippines, it is not.

But is that really bad thing?

Aren't we suppose to photograph who we are, to be personal. One's work should be a reflection of oneself.

But I think Steinbeck is talking about experiences. To be open to all of them, specially to the unfamiliar.

The danger is when we start dismissing experiences that we do not identify with and that would be death for a Photographer.

Cedric Angeles

INTERSECTION

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

-Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869

Over the years, travel has taught us that people are generally thoughtful, open and good. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, how you’re raised, your culture, or whether you’re rich or poor, we all want the same things. The basic need of a roof overhead, food on the table and a better life for children is the same in every corner of this planet. And while, as a culture, we are fed information designed to keep countries and people apart, travel has taught us over and over that the world is, in fact, receptive to our differences.

Intersection Photos is technically a boutique travel stock site that offers an extensive catalog of high quality travel images for editorial, advertising and fine art use. We also think of it as our journal and as a place to freely experiment and grow. Through exploration and observation we will continue to evolve and so will Intersection Photos. We are excited to have you be part of this journey.

Brown Cannon III + Cedric Angeles

SRI LANKA • TURKEY • PERU • MENTAWAI ISLANDS • COMING SOON!

INTERSECTION PHOTOS is dedicated to anyone who has traveled in search of anything but what they have already known.