The legendary monthly Full Moon Party kicks off at Haad Rin on the small island of Kho Phangan, Thailand. The party attracts between 10,000 - 30,000 party-goers from all over the world each month. Starting early afternoon, the atmosphere builds in the narrow side streets and on the open beaches. There is a unique sense of spirituality surrounding the way people dress in costumes, paint their bodies in a kaleidoscope of colours, get body tattoo's and drink buckets of booze. Any lingering inhibitions are now gone...and the party begins... DJ's blast a cocktail of house, trance, techno, drum n bass and funky dance music out to fun worshippers who are often high on more than just music and drink.

Liwa Desert, Abu Dhabi by esam hassanyeh

‘Graffiti Alley’ (Also known as Rush Lane or Rick Mercer’s Alley) is in the fashion district of Toronto. It begins at 1 Rush Lane and occupies about 1km of space running south of Queens Street West from Spadina Avenue to Portland Street. The narrow alleys are famous for colorful graffiti art murals sprayed onto the sides of buildings by local street artists. During a short trip to Toronto, I spent the afternoon walking through the alleys and took these photographs. Rather than try to capture the overall creative atmosphere of the vast space with wide angled shots, I chose to focus on the individual murals themselves and shot each image tightly as if we were doing an actual portrait shoot with the subject. Using a wide angled lens, I shot within 2 - 4 ft of the wall, often cropping much of the full artwork. My aim was to be as close to the mural as I would be an actual human model in order to build connection....then compose each image tightly to try to accentuate character or emotion created by the original artist.

Travel photography by esam hassanyeh. A selection of photo's that I have taken along the way...