Trouble for Pashmina Goat-Herders in Ladakh - advice requested

I worked on a story while in India this summer that took me up into the Himalaya and to a Changpa camp. This group of people are one of only a few that care for Pashmina goats – the source of renowned Pashmina (Cashmere) wool.

Within the last few days, there have been several articles in the BBC, AP, etc. about the harsh winter that the goats and their caretakers are experiencing. Thousands of the animals are nearing death due to food shortage, and requests for aid from the Indian government are not being answered quickly enough.

I have a set of images that I’m interested in getting out there, published somewhere, because I think that they may serve to personalize this issue on a larger scale. Please view them here if you have the opportunity, and feel free to send me any feedback and/or suggestions as to what a good approach would be when contacting editors, etc. It is currently a redundant edit without captions, but I think that the images are pretty visual. I’ve been sitting on the story because it lacks an immediate or timely spin, but I am now starting to piece a slideshow together using what audio I gathered and hoping that I’ll be able to relate my images to the current situation.

Do others have good results when approaching editors with finished multimedia packages?

Thanks Much,
Will

by William Widmer at Tue Feb 12 00:10:39 UTC 2008 (ed. Mar 12 2008) San Francisco, CA, United States | Bookmark this | Digg this |

Will, I have bad internet reception at the moment. But it sounds like you should contact National Geo, the Smithsonian, off the top of my head. I have contact info for them somewhere. Let me get back to Baghdad where the internet works better, e mail me as a reminder.

by Eros Hoagland | 12 Feb 2008 06:02 | Baghdad, Iraq |

Try this magazine http://www.orionmagazine.org/ or GEO.

by Angela Cumberbirch | 12 Feb 2008 13:02 | Manhattan, New York, United States |

Will,

Not much I can do to help you. Just wanted to say I really enjoyed viewing the project. I know that region and it’s fascinating to say the least.

Best wishes,
Paul

by Paul Rigas | 12 Feb 2008 16:02 | Grass Pants, Oregon, United States |

Thanks for the advice thus far… I added captions (!)

-will.

by William Widmer | 13 Feb 2008 05:02 | San Francisco, CA, United States |

Hi William,

I am sorry that I can’t help you regarding the magazines, but I like to say that the photographs are beautiful.