from Facebook...
In the coming issue of "Silvergrain Classics" magazine I wrote a story about a young girl named iiye-iiye who I met in the dump on first day I entered the garbage back in 2013. I wrote how that child helped me grow up and realize I needed to commit to the story of THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP. Unfortunately I was not able to find the negs I wanted of her. I ended up scanning a different negative for the folks at "Silvergrain". They wanted a smiling picture (not really my thing) and I was able to find one for them to use.
Here is a story about the making of the pic, and a screen capture from that 6 frame negative strip around the photograph. The photo that will be in the mag is the top left one of iiye-iiye laughing (she was usually always smiling and laughing, what a wonderful child).
In 2003 I took two trips to Thailand. On each of those trips I made numerous (8 or more) trips to the dump to do donation and photo work. As I became better known by the families some of the older woman would give me heck about not wearing a hat (that first year I never wore a hat), they would point at a their hat/ head gear and then at my bear head and SCOLD me in Burmese which I did not understand. After 2 or 3 scoldings you get the gist of what is being said. That is what happened just previous to the iiye-iiye laugh photo. Her mom was being a mom and scolding me for not wearing a hat and then young iiye-iiye took off her dainty white girl hat and put it on my head with a laugh. I took a digital photo of my new look (not sure where that photo is either) then put the hat back on her head. I think the top left photo was made when I showed the LCD photo to iiye-iiye (laughing), and the bottom right photo was taken while wearing the hat (family laughing).
You got to love getting nagged on, and teased by people you photograph. You know then they trust you and are comfortable around you. Being treated like another Burmese friend is always rewarding. One of things that has come up in recent years is teasing me about my weight, how I gained weight from last year in the dump to this year in the dump.
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