I just put these old photos up on a Facebook Mamiya 6 camera page. Thought I should post them on my main Facebook connection and also re-post them on the blog. These pics bring back long forgotten memories.
I wonder what happened to Tak (color image). I only went to the area she worked 2 times to make photos. The first time I was very nervous, she saw me walking down a muddy street filled with brothels in rural Cambodiia looking nervous and out of place. Tak came over, gently took my hand and walked me to a nearby area where there was rooster fights. She sort of saved me, Tak spoke no English and I spoke no Vietnamese and we could only manage a bit of Khmer (Cambodian language) along with gestures. So we stayed there with the roosters and a bunch of sports betting Cambodian men and watched that for a while then we left together. Later I made this picture of her and gave her a bit of money. We only met one time after that when I sat with her and a group of other workers drinking cola. They had a small wild bird in cage that everyone was talking to.
So strange to think of all that again today here, all these years later, at work in this guardhouse in Canada. Tak lived in such a terrible world, sold and trafficked, abused in so many ways, but somehow she kept her kind soul. I so hope she eventually found some form of happiness, a loving life of some kind. Here's to you good hearted Tak, thank you for your kindness.
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FROM THE MAMIYA FACEBOOK PAGE
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FROM THE MAMIYA FACEBOOK PAGE
I used the Mamiya extensively on the streets of Thailand and in Cambodia a bit in 1999.. A truly lovely camera in low light, just be careful with your film advancing (lever breaks sometimes)... Have not shot the camera for over a decade, should get back to it, a lovely tool. I really liked how you could recess the lens. I used to use 2 bodies with flash and the standard and wide angle lens. B&W done on Tri-x, Color is Agfa Optima film. More details on the photos.
Update* A comment and response from the Facebook page.
- Gerry Yaum.. Haunted all the time Chris......saddest stuff and places in the world...I guess the best thing to do with that haunting is to try to use that feeling to push yourself and to further the story telling. The goal is always to tell the stories of the subjects, exposing their injustice, making sure their important lives are remembered.
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Tak, Vietnamese sex worker in a Cambodian brothel room, 1999 Phnom Penh Cambodia
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| Mother begging with her young daughter in tourist area, Bangkok, Thailand 1999 |
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| Young boy begging from tourists Patpong (gogo bar/market area), Bangkok Thailand, 1999. (Sorry for the shitty low quality file, the only one I could find) |
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| Ann Freelancer Sex Worker looking for customers on Sukhhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand 1999 |
