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To celebrate the end of academia and my year at the German School of Journalism in spring next year, me and my girlfriend got plans for a road trip: Germany to India via Central Asia. A couple of weeks ago I bought a Landrover Defender for this journey and I’ve started to equip for two months on the road. The planned itinerary is through Eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, Pakistan to India. It will take us through the deserts of Central Asia and the some of the highest peaks, and the highest road in the world. Though, permissions for this route - especially for taking your own car to China - are complicated to get. So probably we have to go directly from Iran to Pakistan. In any case, I think it’ll be an amazing journey and I’m really looking forward to it.

“dispatches aims to help meet a desperate need in a 21st-century world that can barely keep up with itself. At the pace we all function, there are no solutions, only promising directions. No one power can dominate the rest, nor can any single philosophy prevail over others. As resources rapidly dwindle, human ability to wreak havoc develops at a harrowing pace. In the face of this, nations, societies, and individuals need to act together based on a common understanding and mutual respect.”

Dispatches is a new magazine by VII photographer Gary Knight, reporter Mort Rosenblum and Simba Gill a pharmaceutical executive. Every issue features political essays, and one major photo essay - up to 80 pages long. There is also a section called “On Photography” written by leading figures of the photo industry.

The current issue is called “In America”. In a reminiscence to Robert Frank, they sent Antonin Kratochvil across the US for a month. The next issue will be on Iraq with a photo essay by Yuri Kozyrev, who spent the last five years covering the war.

And, nope, it’s not an online magazine, but it’s available by subscription internationally.

Wooh, I’ve just realized that haven’t updated this blog for more than 5 months… Anyway, this is something to prove all the people wrong (including me) who thought the cool photojournalistic events happen anywhere but in Germany: The first Lumix Fotofestival in Hannover from June 18 to 21.

The Festival is features the work of young photojournalists up to the age of 35. And the line up is pretty impressive. Here are some examples:

Justin Jin - “Midnight Blue”

Rafal Milach - “Disappearing Circus”

Christoph Bangert - “Iraq: The Space Between”

Moises Saman - “The Gangs of El Salvador”

The programme leaves nothing to be desired. There will be lectures by Steve McCurry, Thomas Dworzak, Brian Storm of Mediastorm and many others. More information on the website of the Lumix Fotofestival.