Riddip Design & Photography

Feb

Arashiyama-Sagano district in Western Kyoto. The parks and bamboo forest were set aside in the 14th century by the then shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, in a gesture of mourning for the Emperor.

Kyoto, Japan’s Spiritual Capital

Atheism, Buddhism, Japan, Kyoto, Shinto, Zen

The old capital of Kyoto is home to about 1600 temples and countless smaller shrines.
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Sep

Tiered reading room in the National Library of China in Beijing.

China’s Firewall and the Siku Quanshu

50c Party, Beijing, Golden Shield, Great Firewall of China, National Library, Reading Room, Siku Quanshu

The National Library of China holds an artifact that represents what must be the most ambitious attempt to control information in history.

Aug

A neon box-canyon in Yanta district of Xi'an.

China’s Frenemies

Beijing, China, Japan, Politics, Taiwan, Tiananmen

Beijing incorporates all of the contradictions of Chinese society.

Aug

The tiny photo booth built into the wall of the Cliffside Plank path on the south peak of Mt Huashan. Below is a thousand meter drop.

Huashan is a mountain located about 120 kilometres east of Xi’an- China’s old capital. It’s home to some very dicey walking tracks, a really spectacular set of cable cars, a tea house perched on a cliff face and a photo studio with some genuine occupational health and safety issues.

Aug

Workers outside a department store in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

Chengdu & the Chinese Dream

Bifengxia, Bo people, Chengdu, Hanging Coffins, Sichuan

The entry point for my brief tour of China was the southern Province of Sichuan-famed for its incredibly spicy food and baffling theatrical performances. I flew into the capital Chengdu at the start of October and explored the city between bouts of rain before venturing out into the nearby mountains.

Dec

Longtail boats at the shoreline of Tonsai bay.

Climbing in Ton Sai, Thailand

climbing, Krabi, Thailand, Tonsai

When I first decided to visit Ton Sai ten or so years ago I discovered getting there was a little tricky.

Dec

Diving with Sharks

Cage diving, Gaansbai, Great White Shark, South Africa

On South Africa’s western cape we visited the coastal towns of Kalkbaai, Hermanus and Gaansbai.

Dec

Elephants at an artificial watering hole in Addo Elephant Park. The Park is more than one and half thousand square kilometers and supports an elephant population in excess of 600 animals.

Africa’s Charismatic Megafauna

Addo, Conservation, Elephants, Ivory, South Africa

In South Africa, the saying goes, ‘wildlife must pay its way’. It’s not enough to be endangered you have to generate revenue to be conserved.

Nov

Ceres Mountains from the Fynbos Nature Reserve in South Africa.

Ceres Valley, South Africa

Ceres, landscape, South Africa, sunrise, Western Cape

Another bleary-eyed morning spent rock-hopping in the pre-dawn light to get to a vantage point before sunrise.

Nov

Clouds lifting up from the valley at sunrise in Lesotho.

Sani Pass, Lesotho

4x4, climbing, clouds, Lesotho, Sani Pass, South Africa

Sani Pass is a stretch of road on the border of South Africa and Lesotho. The stretch of road between the South African border post and the summit is one of the most treacherous roads I’ve ever come across.

Nov

A hazy morning on the Drakensburg escarpment.

Drakensburg, SA

Baboons, Drakensburg, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth we spent a few days exploring the great Drakensburg Escarpment that cleaves its way way along the eastern cape and forms the border of South Africa and Lesotho.

Nov

Byzantine Bunkers

Anatolia, Assyria, Biosphere, Cappadocia, Caves, Derinkuyu, Timur

Across Europe and Russia you can find the remains of bunkers and air-raid shelters- a legacy of the Second World War and the Cold War that followed. In Cappadocia, in central Turkey, you can find much older and much more extensive underground shelters.

Nov