Givers And Takers

In Mae Sot I saw many farang people being givers, volunteers for various NGOs, people like Fred Stockwell who helps so many folks at the dump, there were farang a plenty that were giving back, helping others.

Here in Pattaya I see people laying around on the beach/pool, getting serviced in various ways by the local workers, whether its massages, being served in high end restaurants or a sexual service of some kind.

I guess everyone needs some time off but when I was eating my all you can eat breakfast this morning at the hotel I kept thinking of the people in the dump, "What were they eating?" Yesterday as I was making photos an old lady in one of the shacks offered me some food, she pointed to the rice she was eating and gestured to me, asking if I had eaten? People who have nothing offering food to a stranger, rather incredible.

Burnt Out

Gosh I feel so tired after 8 days in the dump making pictures and the bus rides here to Pattaya. The heat and carrying all the gear I carried wore me right down. When your in the dump shooting you are slimy with sweat, the flies, smell and the heat are overpowering, you have to communicate in foreign languages and make pictures in unknown (potentially dangerous situations) on top of that you have to try to be creative and make strong photographs. Even with all the difficulties I am glad I did it, I cannot get the people I met there out of my mind but gosh it was hard. I need to get into better shape the next time around , maybe I need to get me a HAT!

Once Again The Quiet Meal

My first day back in Pattaya and I am seeing plenty of the quiet meal syndrome. I have written about it before but every time I come here it hits on me on the head. The farang man with money (older or younger) comes and rents (the only word for it) a girl from a bar and the next day after a night of bedroom activity they have nothing to say to each other the next day during their meal together. He buys her one night and buys another woman the next night followed by another quiet meal.

There was one girl I saw later in Central shopping center, she was young and attractive, dressed very nicely. The girl was with a old man farang (Western white person) who had his hands all over her, when she turned towards me I could see the embarrassment on her face (Thais do not typically show affection in public), she must have been new to the bar world.

Overheard On The Computer Next To Me

A Thai lady is doing internet video chat next to me and I can hear the falling.

"Do you miss meeee?"

"No darling I never lie to you, I cannot lie to you."

"I enjoy to see you. I be happy"
"Do you miss me tee-rauk (darling)? I miss you."
"Not forget to send money from the bank in German to the bank in Thailand"
"Bangkok bank charge 5% how much you send now?"
"Ok darling, have rain everyday here now, I horny for you to, you have a good time a nice time and good day, kiss kiss, bye bye."

Wonder what she would think if she knew I was next door taking notes? Probably smack me upside the head!

In Pattaya

After a 8 hour bus ride to Bangkok I caught another bus to Pattaya for another 2 hour bus ride. I am now in the nightlife capital of Thailand, this place is filled with  normal tour groups (lots of Indian, Chinese, Russians and Koreans tourists). The other major group in Pattaya is the sex tourists and sex pats, this place is filled with bars of all kinds, massage parlors, beer bars, go go bars and free lancers.

Walking the very crowed streets here today it occurred to me that I saw more smiles and felt more comfortable in the dump yesterday. Pattaya is a huge money maker a tourist town filled to the brim with strangers, everyone here is chasing money. In the dump I was with hard working families, extremely poor but kind and friendly people. I will leave Pattaya tomorrow morning and spend my last few days in Bangkok before returning to Canada. I want to shoot the last of my film 38 sheets of 4x5 and 1 roll of 35mm at the Klong Toey boxing gym.

Off To Bangkok

Well I am off to Bangkok in a few hours, I need to finish writing these blogs, have a quick meal then a quick shower before heading to the bus station for my 7-8 hour trip back to the capital. The rest of the trip should be pretty laid back which will be a relief after the last 8 difficult days. After reaching Bangkok I will catch a connecting bus to Pattaya for a few days of R&R.

I have 38 sheets of 4x5 film and one roll of 35mm left, I want to go to the boxing gym in Klong Toey to do a few more portraits before I leave. Another thing I would like to do is to check out the new Toot Yung gallery so I have a better idea what to expect for the coming show.

See you all in Pattaya!

Singing Along

Forgot to write this up yesterday so thought I would mention it today. I have noticed that Burmese people love to sing while they work, I have heard maybe a dozen different people sing here. Yesterday as everyone was digging in the garbage looking for recyclables I decided to give it a try (I never sing!). The problem was coming up with a song? What song? I did not know any songs. I remembered when I was young and would travel to the Rocky Mountains with my family my mother would sing a song from her youth, and the family would sing along with her, the song was "She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain When She Comes!"

So I thought why not, not sure I remember all the words so when there was a quiet moment I started singing this song...

"She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain When She Comes!"

"She'll Be Coming Around The Mountain When She Comes!"

"She'll Be Riding 6 White Horses When She comes!"

That was about all I could remember, I repeated this verse 3 times and added a little body shake dance thing to it. People were surprised and  looked at me with a bit of amazement then smiled and laughed. Betcha mom never thought her song would be sung in that way and in that place so many years later.

Day 8 Saying Goodbye At The Dump

Well today I said goodbye to the people living and working at the dump site. I have sort of become a regular there (being called by my name now), especially in one section of about 6 shacks. This morning I went from shack to shack doing 4x5 group portraits, using my 75mm lens. I also did some shots with the Leica and the small color digi camera. I will return in 3 or 5 months with prints for everyone.

It was sad to say goodbye today, these people cannot go forward to other countries or back to their own homes in Burma, they are caught in a no mans land. They work in the dump site because its the only way they can make a living, the only way they can feed their families. Seeing children running barefoot through the garbage or covered in flies is heartbreaking. You feel so helpless being in a situation like that, you want to help but how? I did my normal little bit today, I gave out my 2 bags of rice and canned fish to 2 homes and also secretly handed out some money to a few families. I have been told that if you give to some and not all you can cause problems, so I try to give out equally to everyone and if I do give a bit more to one or another I try to do it quietly.

I also donated 3000 Baht ($105 CAD) to the Sky Blue School. The school has 9 teachers who do not make a salary and 90 students who will be starting their term on May 15th for 10 months. The school is facing a financial crisis this year so I am trying to raise awareness. If you would like to donate anything you can contact them through this email address which belongs to the headmaster (principal of the school).

thanhtazaw@gmail.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWle6_g-i74

New Orleans PhotoNOLA Show A Go!

Got this email today from my contact/friend in New Orleans.

Gerry,

Hope all is well. I have heard back from Rene at Zeitgeist and he would like to hang your work during PhotoNOLA! I trust you are still interested. Is it still possible for you to come to New Orleans at that time? 

Look forward to hearing from you,

......

It looks like both my international shows for the sex worker pics are a go, one in New Orleans and one in Bangkok. Not sure what will be showing in Bangkok, possibly the color brothel photos from Cambodia made in 2003, possibly the white background ladyboy shots as well from 2007, 2009 and 2012. The work showing in PhotoNOLA will be the cross section of sex workers on white photographs, men, lady and ladyboy workers.

It looks like as soon as I get back to Edmonton I will be back doing some serious printing.

Western Arrogance?

I have noticed a disturbing trend over many trips to South East Asia, there is a tendency from the expat community to be arrogant and superior to the locals. There is often a "I am smarter then them" thingy.

Just because people do things differently than you, does not mean their way is wrong or your way is best. I generally have no problem with locals in whatever country I visit but when it comes to hanging with the expat community in these places, sometimes my skin crawls. The locals come from vibrant ancient cultures with grand traditions, lets give them their do and not be so superior.

Why No Hat?

Still getting heck from some of the ladies here about not wearing a hat, maybe I need to pick one up. For the second time I got a talking to by one of the older women about the importance of wearing a hat. In a way some of the people I have met are very motherly at times. Every morning for the last 5 days or so I have been offered food from people sitting in their homes. I arrive at the dump at 715am or so when everyone is eating their breakfast and am invariably offered something to eat. I usually say I just ate but thank you, these people have enough to worry about without feeding the fat Canadian.

Wonderful Tools

The Leicas, Linhof are working very well, you got to love first rate tools. I am happy I decided to get both the Leica and the Linhof, now I can concentrate on making photos not buying cameras, I can spend all my money on film and photo paper, not the latest toys.

Yesterday it was raining in the dump and I had no fears taking out my Leica M6, 28mm lens and shooting away.

Coughing More

Think I am wearing down, I am coughing more and more each day. I am not sure if its the a/c and extreme heat or if its working in the dump site but am developing a nasty cough. The dump site fumes, heat, dirt etc cannot be helping my health, I often see people coughing and in a bad way at the dump site, children and older people seem to be affected the worst.

More Burmese Language Needed!

Everyday I learn a bit of Burmese but I need to learn so much more. When I speak Thai with my subjects things work out very well, I can joke and tell them what I am doing etc. When I speak Burmese (when the subject speaks no Thai) I am down to maybe a 20 word vocabulary, not good enough!

4x5 Working In The Dump Portraits

Now that I have some relationships with the people here, I have started to ask the people I know to pose for portraits as they work. The sun can be extremely harsh and contrasty, am using a combination of my Linhof along with a 90mm, a reflector and the grafmatic backs. The reflector is allowing me to bounce some light on my subject but with the extreme contrast and the very dark skin of some of the workers, I am not sure how much detail I am holding.

I will shoot a few more of these tomorrow my (8th) last day at the dump along with at least one family portrait in front of their home (shack) which is inspired by the Fields family Walker Evans shot. Later on if these photos work out I will try to shoot more of them, my next trip here will be in 3 or 5 months.

Nationalism Versus Humanism

Been watching a lot of Fox TV here when I get back to my room at night, its filled with jingoism, stories about American flags and such. Nationalism divides us as human beings, it creates separation. We need to think of each other as Human Beings not Canadians, Americans, Burmese or Thais, then maybe we can look out for each other better and the worlds poor would have a more equal footing.

Today I watched a women dig through a bag in a garbage pile at the dump, the bag contained discarded food. This woman (do not know her name yet) has a family and young children, she was looking through the bag to find anything that she could use to feed her family. As the woman scavenged through the garbage food bag a dog on top of the same pile of garbage was also eating and scavenging for food. What kind of world allows this? We are not Burmese or Americans, flags and countries do not matter, what matters is that we are all human beings, the sooner we realize this the sooner we can stop digging in garbage for food.

Flies? What Flies? Day 7 At The Dump

After 7 straight days of visiting the dump I find that I am less freaked out by flies! Yesterday as I was crouched down and shooting away it took me like 5 minutes to notice the flies crawling all over me, guess you can get used to anything.

The heat thou still causes me problems. Each day when I put on my 2nd and 3rd sets of sunscreen I often feel like I am doing it in the shower, there is water just streaming down my face, if I was set on fire I believe my sweat would put me out!.

Subjects Everywhere

Here at the dump site everywhere I look there are things to photograph, sometimes when your making photographs you have difficulty finding subjects here it is the opposite, I have to pick and choose what I will shoot as there are many options.

I still have not photographed a family in front of their home, maybe I can do that in the coming days. Part of my inspiration for this project was the Walker Evans photograph of the Fields family during the depression. I want to make a photographic portrait similar to this before I leave, I have shot 6 days in a row, I will try to get some family shots in the next 2 days.

Boredom In The Dump

The people in the dump live a life of boredom. Today went to make photographs it was about 715am and everyone had was sitting around waiting for the first garbage truck of the day to arrive. There work comes from the garbage so all they can do is sit and wait for a public or private vehicle to come to the site. One private vehicle came to the site early in the morning and several people ran to check out what was being dumped off, I would guess private vehicles would leave better more valuable items.

This life outside of being dirty and very hard must be extremely boring and repetitive, day in day out things do not change much.

Raining At The Dump Day 6

Today I climbed up on top of the garbage in the rain to shoot down on people who were scavenging for recyclables, there were also garbage tucks and a grader pushing a path through the garbage. I think I am getting more used to all of this as I did not hesitate to climb up the steaming 8 foot mound of waste to get a better angle for my pictures. The one thing you have to watch out for is that you feet sink deeper into the fresh garbage as its not packed down very well. The light and the rain limited what I could do with the 4x5 today, thou I might have gotten some good 35mm shots. I have around 100 sheets of 4x5 left and 14 or so rolls of 35.

1 Or 2 More Days

My plan is to go to the dump site maybe 1 or 2 days and also to go back and donate some rice and money. Tomorrow I want to go with the 4x5 camera (shoot 60 sheets?) and do some full body and head shot portraits, I will also take 1 Leica with 10 rolls of film.

I have 130 sheets of 4x5 left and 20 rolls of 35mm Tri-x. I might take some 4x5 film back to Bangkok so that I can re shoot the boxers after having the lens problems I mentioned earlier.

I also need to telephone Fred Stockwell to try to set up a meeting, he promised to show me around.

Hopefully I can come back to the dump in August or October to continue this important series of photographs.

Hairpins

Saw something sweet and beautiful in the garbage dump today. There is one woman average looking with short hair and maybe 35 years old who I have seen 5 or 6 times, who never makes eye contact with me, she always looks away when I am near. This morning when I saw her with a group of children (hers I think) and said "Minga La Ba" to her she sort of just grunted a hello with distant eyes.

Later in the day I was photographing a group of workers digging through freshly dumped garbage (garbage trucks bring fresh garbage all day). This woman (got to learn her name) was working in the group of about 8 workers. She was looking away from me and not making eye contact as usual as I photographed away, one of the men, the father of the bride from yesterday found something in the garbage and tossed it to this woman. I went closer to see what it was, it was 2 hair pins with pretty plastic beads inside a small bag. The women excitedly opened the bag, she had big eyes as she did this, you could see she was happy. She then put the 2 hairpins directly into her dirty, sweaty hair and she looked quite nice, the hairpins made her a bit more feminine, a bit special in this dirty smelly place. I smiled and said something, she looked up at me and I gave here a thumbs up signal with my hand and a smile, and she smiled back shyly! It was the first time I ever saw her smile, it was a very sweet moment. Later on maybe 20 minutes later I was on top of some garbage shooting down on the group and this woman looked directly up at me, directly into my eyes and smiled, she had become a pretty woman.

There are beautiful moments here, you just have to look a bit harder to find them.

Singing A Song

From an email I wrote to friends:

this little story is a followup to the marriage email..

funny story from today...the garbage was dumped from a big garbage truck and 8 or so people were digging through it...all quielty working...when all of a sudden in the distance I heard singing and saw a man walking towards the group...he yelled out a hardy minga la ba (hello) to me, he joined the group and started working, he sang some more as he worked (he was almost dancing)..he sang for over 1/2 an hour...while everyone else worked quietly...this guy kept singing loudly, I recognized him, he was the young man from yesterday...THE YOUNG GROOM FROM THE WEDDING...guess he had a pretty good night! The bride also worked in the group but was much more quiet, shyly looking away when I took her photo.

Flies And Sweat Day 5 In The Dump Site

Today I tried to take some low angle shots up at the workers digging through the garbage. The unfortunate part of shooting from such a low angle is you get closer to the flies, so you have sweat running down your face and flies all over your body, hands and face, it can get pretty grim. Sometimes when your in the garbage you feel something running down your neck or face and are unsure if its a bead of sweat or some kind of insect.

The garbage has lots of broken glass in it so you need to watch out where you walk. I watched one man (not sure of his name but he only has 1 eye) today as he emptied out a big bottle that was filled with syringes. The man wanted the bottle for recycling but did not want the used needles that were inside, so instead they all ended up on top of the garbage where everyone was walking, some people with only flip flops.

The people here are starting to help me with my photos, they stop what there doing, they wait for me to take my photo before proceeding. Today when I was photographing the one eyed man he apologized that he had to go to work, the truck had just arrived). After establishing these relationships, working with the 4x5 tomorrow should be a bit easier.

I think my Burmese is now good enough to get the age and name of the people I photograph, I will make a greater effort to do that tomorrow.

No Days Off

One young man who I know quite well now (he speaks Thai) came to the wedding and we spoke but after 1 hour he left and after saying good bye. There are no days off in the dump, people have to work to survive, I later photographed him digging in the fresh garbage (he had changed to his work clothes), he was shy, maybe a bit ashamed as he worked, glancing at me in quick glances. The people do not want to be here, they do not want to do this kind of work (who would?) but they have no options, no choices and no opportunities, the dump work is the best option of those they have.

This place is filled with sadness and desperation but there is also a strange beauty here. Goodness comes from the heart, how people respond to the abuses they face can make them sink or swim, many of the people I have met are not only swimming but thriving in unbelievable hardship.

Extra Effort Made

Today I made it back to the school but I had miscalculated the time and it was only 1035pm, my pickup by motorcycle was at 1130pm. I was very hot and tired but I still had 3 35mm films left to shoot so remembering the famous effort Dorthea Lange gave to make the "Migrant Mother" photograph, I decided to go for it. I put my heavy camera bag on, threw the tripod and 4x5 Linhof and my shoulder then walked back out into the hot sun (had run out of drinking water earlier). I found some children playing in nearby water then found something that might lead to some good photographs, I found men and children in a muddy pond they had mostly drained of water. The men were using a net to try and capture fish that were in the remaining waist high very muddy water. It was a good visual opportunity and I shot different geometric looks of bodies, mud, the back hill and water. I only had the 28mm and could get only so close before I started slipping down the muddy slope (was worried about going swimming with the Leica). I think I got some good shots, I wish I had the 50mm with me, that might have worked a bit better.

Anyway I hope the extra effort led to some effective photographs.

I was rewarded with a big glass of water later on at the school, a young girl brought to me the glass along with a big smile, warm water never tasted so good.

Beautiful Bride

The young bride Mai (her name is longer than that in Burmese but its what I can remember) looked very beautiful today in her gold dress, and pink shall. She was made up with white thanaka paste on her face and sat shyly under the dump shack home she shared with her family (5 or more in this hut). Later on in the day I took a photo of her in the small hut next to the family Buddha shrine as she demurely kissed her grand father on the cheek. Such a shy beautiful girl, what will her future hold? She is married at 15, she will be starting a family in the next few years, will she continue to live illegally in Thailand? Will Burma find peace? Will she only have scavenging in the dump for an income? What about her children, what futures will they have? I guess all of those thoughts are for another day, today she was a special person, a beautiful young bride and on top of the world! I will remember the shy happy look in her eyes for a long time, a truly beautiful bride, good luck to you Mai.

Child Crying In The Dump

I photographed a young girl baby (2 years old or so) stumbling around in the dump today, she was with some other children not to far from her home, walking in in garbage when she stumbled and fell. This poor child was covered in dirt, her face dirty, her mouth and nose ran with saliva and snot and the flies swarmed around, it was un f-cking believable. What kind of world allows children, people to live like this?

Quote : Mexican Migrant Worker

Speaking to American politicians who are planning immigration reform:

"At the end of day all that needs to be remembered is, we are all human beings."

Amazing Day

From an email I sent out to some friends today:

Hey folks I had an amazing day thought I would share a bit...

I went to the dump site (Mae Sot Thailand) where the Burmese families scavenge for recyclables (plastics and metal) today for the 4th consecutive day. I arrive early at 7am or so and and stay till 11-12pm...by 11 I am pretty much spent, the heat here is something else, I have never been so hot for so long before, I put on sunscreen 3 times a day and still get burnt, drink 2 more bottles of water in those 4 hours but still end up dehydrated. The temp daily with high humidity has been from 36-39C

The people at the dump are amazing, I am trying to learn to talk to them and am picking up Burmese words daily, I also speak a tiny bit of English there and lots of Thai, there are certain people at the dump who can speak Thai. The first day there I was a bit overwhelmed by it all the smell is quite bad but its the flies that get me, they crawl all over you every time you stop walking and sometimes when you walk there were times during that first day I must have had over 40 disgusting flies walking all over me, in the video you can see them buzzing the camera (this is when your on the garbage when your in the homes there are less flies but still plenty).

I have come to know several families quite well, after the 2nd day I was greeted with smiles and waves, now its more common, today I must have smiled and waved and said hello (minga la ba) to 10 or so folks. From day one I was taking a bag of rice to a different hut (like a jungle shack made of scrap and bamboo) everyday, today I expanded that program took 3 bags along with some canned fish and other things. These people are unbelievably poor but they have a friendliness and a kindness that makes you feel one with them, like your not a stranger from a strange country. Their huts are built right next to the dump, maybe 20 feet from the wreaking garbage.

Today something rather extraordinary happened. I gave a bag of rice/fish to one family who helped me yesterday (they let me change my 4x5 film in their shack) and the mother and father said something to me in Burmese which I did not understand, they offered me food then put the first 2 fingers from 2 hands together and said something in Burmese. I smiled not understanding and said Tabong (photo) and pointed in the other direction then went on my way. About 1/2 an hour later I looked back down the path to their home and there was a big table in front of the shack. I was curious so walked back and what did I find? A WEDDING! bride 15 and groom 18 sitting in their best clothes (the bride looked beautiful in gold and pink, the dress was probably borrowed)...I started doing photos and the next thing you know I was part of the wedding meeting/dinner. I had some rice to eat and some coffee, took a bunch of pics with both film and digi cameras, later on I lent them my digi camera and they all photographed each other. When I get back to Canada I will make up some prints for them and return with them next trip to hand out. It was a beautiful and surreal thing, garbage all around us, but they were dressed to the nines and very happy (bride quite shy)...a beautiful thing in a terrible place...instead of a white backdrop for the portraits many were taken against a 8 foot wall of garbage. Quite a day, got offered all kind of food, a bit of booze etc...gave 100B to the new couple as a wedding present.

Will post the pics later on my blog if your interested.

Changing Film In Dump Site Shack

Today a family in the dump allowed me into their home to change film. I shot 30 sheets and needed a film change so asked if it was OK  (they had asked me to come in earlier) then went in and set up my changing tent and changed out my 5 Grafmatic backs. Working in the home was a bit difficult I sat on a raised bamboo floor with chickens running underneath me, there as a small Buddhist shrine to my left, the wife sat beside me the husband was outside cutting wood with an hatchet. As I worked huge beads of sweat fell off my face onto the backs, I had to repeatedly wipe them down, in the dump today it was around 37C.

I made a video of this families home will post it later on my YouTube channel, along with other vids from the trip. Tomorrow I will return with some rice for this family.

Things are going well, I will take home many memories and hopefully a bit of humility from this trip. We are so lucky in the West, we whine about the least important things. When I left I photographed a group of 5 children, I need to buy some things treats tonight to hand out to them tomorrow.

Lens Problem

My shutter on my 90mm lens was malfunctioning yesterday, I might have not been taking any pictures with it in the boxing gym in Bangkok. I hate having equipment that malfunctions when I am in these far off locals, when I return to Canada I will buy the 90mm Nikon SW lens. I do not want to play the equipment screw up game, I make enough mistakes on my own, I do not need help from my tools.

Day 3 In The Dump

Today I took out my 4x5 camera for the first time here in Mae Sot. My kit was a 90mm lens along with a 150mm plus the Linhof, tripod, spot meter, reflector and 5 Grafmatic backs. The whole set up was carried in a single bag, I also took along 2 small digi cams, one for doing ID shots and one for doing short videos. I carried the camera mounted on the tripod over my shoulder. I awoke at 615am, had a shower and a sandwich, grabbed 2 bottles of water, put on my sunscreen, and ran downstairs to the waiting motorcycle driver (Khune Noy), we left at 7am. The drive to the Sky Blue slum school (our regular drop off and pick up point) took maybe 20 minutes, it is a distance of 7 km from my hotel room.

Having already established some relationships in the dump, I was created with smiles, nods and waves from several people. I started out in the early morning light doing some dumpscape style photos before people started coming up to look at and through the camera, when they came up to me I asked them to pose. One of the most difficult things to do was getting peoples name and age, Burmese names are LONG!! and the people had to repeat it to me many times. I have gotten the Burmese sentence of "What is your name?" down but I am having trouble with the "How old are you ?" thing, sometimes that is not understood.

It was lots of fun being with these folks today, my only worry is getting them in trouble with the Thai authorities I am trying not to be seen by Thais when I am at the slum and go and come from their (a pretty difficult thing to do). I photographed various individuals (young and old) along with the dump site and homes today.  Some people are wary of me but I hope to break through to them eventually, these people have faced persecution for many years so I do not blame them to be somewhat suspicious. All of the people living at the dump site are illegals in Thailand, all can be arrested and expelled on the whim of local Thai officials. I was talking to one young Burmese boy in Thai today, he is from the Kamel ethnic group, he told me life here in the dump was better than being in Burma. Living with flies and garbage is better than living in your own country! How terrible must it be in Burma?

Will go back tomorrow with 3 bags of rice and some small treats, I will give the rice to 3  different families.

Video Play

Some of the children at the dump Dooy-aye and her younger brother watch and followed me around a lot today. They asked me to shoot more video of them and laughed and laughed when I showed it to them later, video of them sticking their faces in the camera, of kissing the camera etc. Gosh these children are sweet, so full of life, what will their futures hold?

I will put some of the vids online later, maybe make an overall video of all the footage shot here. Maybe I can link the video somehow to a charity, more thought needed on this.

You Need A Hat!

Forgot to mention this yesterday, it is a cute story so thought I would share it before I forget.

I was crouch sitting (you go down on your feet and your sitting but not on the ground with your butt, your on flat feet) with a group of Burmese at the dump, there were 3 children a older woman a older man (father of the children). The father told me that I should not be walking around without a hat, he told me  in Burmese (which I did not understand) and acted it out for me. The children seeing I needed a hat made a joke and the little boy there took his sisters hat (Doo-aye's) and put it on my head which made everyone laugh. I then adjusted the hat and did my girl act thingy where I imitate a girls voice and lift my hand to my chin in a feminine manner, everyone laughed, it was a sweet moment.

Its memories like this I will take back to Canada, good memories but memories that will haunt me.

A Cool 37C

Today it cooled down to a chilly 37C from a high of 39C yesterday. I actually (foolishly) brought a light jacket with me, guess I will not be using that baby! In the videos I saw of Mae Sot everyone was wearing jackets, so I took mine, figuring this place was somewhere high in the mountains, oh well! will know better next time. Put on sunscreen 4 times so far today and drank over 3 bottles of water.

Sky Blue School At Mae Sot Dump Site

Today I met 2 more teachers including the head master from the Sky Blue school at the Mae Sot dump site. The school is for students from grades 1-5 and has about 170 students and 9 teachers. The teachers are volunteers and do make any salary, from what I understand the entire school is funded by donations. I guess there is a funding crisis at the school now so there was a meeting held between the teachers and the parents.

These people are doing very important work so I want to make a donation of a large bag of rice and some money when I leave. I will have to arrange for my motorcycle driver (pee noy) to drive his truck out there for me so I can transport the rice.

Thai TV Strange Viewing

Got to love Thai TV, last night I watched some Muey Thai boxing wondering if some guys from the Klong Toey gym would fight (they had a match scheduled for Lumpini Stadium). After the boxing I turned the channel and there was a beauty pageant on, Miss Tiffany Universe Pageant, which is a ladyboy beauty contest. There were more than a dozen smiling tall ladyboys competing against each other all dressed to the nines in beautiful gowns.

From the toughest of sports, to the strangest of pageants, both highly rated and admired by the Thai public on TV, blood and beauty!

Miss Tiffany Universe wins

1) 120 000 Baht ($4072 CAD)
2) A Car
3) Her Crown (Made of various precious stones)

Burmese Language Lessons Continue

Today I learned two important Burmese phrases from the teachers at the Sky Blue school (at the dump site).

What is your name?
Na-meh be-loo koh-deh-leh

How old are you?
At-the bela shee tha-leh

I will ask these 2 questions when I pull out my 4x5 camera tomorrow to do some 90mm lens portraits. Hopefully with the combination of English, Thai and Burmese I can get the name and age of all the people I photograph.

I hope to do a series of 4x5 work of the children here then try to print up a calender that hopefully will help raise some funds to help the people (Fred Stockwells Charity, or Sky Blue School)

I Think I Just Ate A Fly

When your walking in the dump, especially if your walking on the garbage you need to be careful, I almost ate a fly today. There are so many flies, sometimes you can see hundreds crawling over everything, often when you stand to long in one place there might be 30-40 or so crawling on you. It is often necessary to just walk quickly to get them to move off somewhat. One danger as I learned today is you need to keep your mouth shut when walking, or you liable to eat a fly, I had one in my mouth before I realized it, luckily I was able to spit it out.

Homemade Icecream

Pee Noy the man who takes me to the dumpsite daily on his motorbike stopped on the way home today and gave me some of his homemade icecream it was quite delicious. The icecream was a mixture of coconut icecream, peanuts and sweet sticky rice.

Pee Noy seems to have many businesses happening, he drivers a motorcycle taxi, he has a homemade icecream business, a small store and is a barber! A multi tasking hard working man.

2nd Day At The Dump

Today at the dump was more relaxed than yesterday, I took the 35s and just wandered around shooting people around their homes. There did not seem to be to many people working in the dump site, I asked around and I guess the trucks come very early around 3am in the morning.

The people are very kind, everyone I meet seems to be gracious and friendly. I have only had one person out of maybe 50+ who has said no photos, everyone else seems to be welcoming me in. I got asked to share meals today, have been asked to sit in peoples homes (very barren type shacks). On this day my second in the shop I have already been greeted by 4 or 5 people I met yesterday, in a few more days most people at the dump should recognize me.

I gave out my second bag of rice to a young family who had a baby and a sick mother, when I walked by 3 hours later the mother sat up and greeted me with a smile and a nod from her home. Tomorrow I will try to give the rice to another family I photographed today, this family also has a very young baby and many children. I need to go buy more rice today, this time I will get it from the local store pre packaged, the first 3 bags of rice I bought whole sale and seperated myself.

Tomorrow I will try taking my 4x5 camera, I feel quite comfortable there now and the people know me a bit so I think its OK to move in format.

First Day At The Dump Site

Arranged a motorcycle driver to take me to the dump site and pick me up 4 1/2 hours later. I left my 450 baht ($15.50 CAD) clean a/c room at 730am and photographed at the dump all morning, then was picked up at noon and taken back to the hotel.

The dump was something else, never ever experienced anything like this in my life. People, children should not have to live like this, its fucking sick, the dump is a terrible world to live in. When I was photographing a young girl digging around in the trash for bottles I was covered in flies, must have 20 or more on me at once, I was freaking out a bit but for the little girl of maybe 10 years old it was her life, she smiled at me and continued digging about. Later on I made a video of this young girl as she stuck out her tongue, when I showed it to her and she saw the tongue part she laughed for 1 minute straight, a beautiful sweet laugh. She liked it so much she asked me to show it to her friends and others near by then laughed again, it was a beautiful thing in a terrible place. I found out later her name was Doo-aye.

I gave a 2 1/2 kilo bag of rice to the first family I met today, I will do the same everyday. I might also try to make a donation to Fred Stockwell (a local man who helps people in the dump, his charity link is a few blog entries before this one), or I might just donate something to the Blue Sky school (the dump school) directly. I met a teacher at the Sky Blue school who spoke English and he said during the school season they have 160 students up to grade 5.

Today I spoke 3 languages, English, Thai and some Burmese. The people loved to hear me try Burmese and laughed at my pronunciation, I got them to try some English and they did their best. I made a few friends I think, lots of joking, lots of smiles, showed my little photo album 3 times. I was a bit apprehensive going in today but I think things will go well, I shot 13 rolls of Tri-x 35mm on this first day using the Leica's. Next trip I might bring a 3rd body so that I can switch between the 3 lens more easily, 21mm, 28mm and 35mm. I will probably come back and hand out photos in August. I need to be careful, the Thai police do not like farang (Westerners) visiting the people who live at the dump site, in the past the dump residents have had their homes destroyed and then been arrested as illegals by the authorities (even the children and the mothers with babies).

I will go to bed early today, I have a 730am motorcycle ride awaiting me tomorrow. Today I drank 2 bottles of water and put on sunscreen 3 times, but was still got dehydrated badly (brown colored urine). I ended up drinking 2 large bottles of water on my return to the hotel, I drank and drank until I started to hear swishing sounds in my stomach.

Today I had Burmese people talk and joke with me, offer me things to drink and places to sit, they recommended I stand in the shade and that I wear a hat. I also gained a bit of insight into the pain they are going through (when I spoke in English to a teacher from the school, he told me about his life). How can people be so kind, so good, so unresentfull even when living in such abject poverty? These people have endured untold horrors but they still can greet me with a smile and a kind word as they dig through garbage and are covered in flies. I can learn so much humility, goodness and compassion from the Burmese I met today, for me this was a life altering experience.

Some words from today, not sure if they are Burman-Karen or some other ethnic group.

Water - Yee
Hot - Moh
What is your name? - Neh-may baloo kohleh
Buddhist Monk - Pond-doh-gee
Young Monk - Go-yen

I will give my rice gift tomorrow to Dooy-ayes family, it's 450pm time to head home and go to bed!

Bus To Mae Sod

I had a nice 7 hour overnight bus ride to Mae Sot Thailand from Bangkok. The bus had plenty of legroom, provided you with a blanket, water and a little box of treats. The one really annoying part was the guy sitting in front of me who might have been Indian or Bangladeshi. This guy went to the rudeness hall of fame to study, let me list the annoyances:

1) Loud 1/2 hour of talking on his cellphone
2) Loud nose blowing into tissue
3) He almost amputated my legs above the knees when he did a quick vertical recline in his chair without any warning to me, sending all the stuff I had on the seat tray flying.
4) More loud nose blowing followed by various snorts, hoots and howls.
5) Running out of tissue he took his bus provided blanket and start blowing his nose into that, he would blow away then rub off any excess wastage with the blanket.
6) Continued blowing of the nose into the bus blanket, this went on all trip, I counted 4 times. Feel sorry for the poor sod who has to wash these things.

Outside of Mr. Rude I had a nice trip, I fell asleep a few times and the time flew by, they also provided a midway trip meal of boiled rice with chicken, all for about 680 Baht ($23 CAD).

Back To The Muay Thai Gym

Today I went to the Muay Thai gym for the second time and shot 3 rolls of 35mm and 30 4x5 sheets. I was a bit awkward using the 90mm lens with Grafmatic backs but today's shooting was fun and it will help when I am in the more foreign environment of the Mae Sot garbage dump.

The Grafmatic backs were fun to use thou I think I did one loading mistake today. The backs are so much lighter and easier to carry, plus I can shoot faster which allows me to be a bit more fluid. It was nice to be around all the boxers again (thou many were new to me) and see all the familiar faces of the trainers and the people who run the gym. I gave them a bit of money as a thank you for letting me shoot in the gym and also helped doing some translating with some new farang (Western) boxers who were training there. The gym only charges 400 baht ($13.59 USD) per session the farang boxer gets lots of personal training from former champion boxers so its a great deal for them, it also helps the trainer who loves his sport but has a difficult time making a living. This place has almost become like a second home for me, I feel very comfortable there now, I will try to visit before I leave Thailand and maybe on subsequent trips.

Off to Mae Sot in less than 2 hours, it will be a 7 hour bus ride, I should arrive at 5am in the morning. The next blog should be about the dump site and the lives of the Burmese people living there.

Met Mimi From Toot Yung Gallery

Last night I had a nice quiet dinner with Mimi and some of her friends from the Toot Yung Galery here in Bangkok. It took me a while to find her place but I eventually found my way to her gated home and we ate talked art and about my show for several hours. She still is very interested in showing my photographs, all of this might happen later in the year possibly around October. She is a lady filled with passion and wants badly to raise the profile of modern art in Thailand and to help promote the work of both Thai and Farang (Western) artists. The new Toot Yung Gallery is opening in June and it looks to be a top notch beautiful space complete with an artists residence. I would be staying at the residence for the show and might be doing things like having ladyboy sex worker shoots in the gallery. She wants to incorporate the art, the viewers, the media, aid organizations etc into a multi dimensional presentation, a complete package for the art to have its full impact.

My one fear is that I will let her down, that I will not repay the faith she has in me. She speaks with such enthusiasm, such passion. The art world of shows and selling art is so new to me, I worry I will let her down. I will try as always to work hard, be truthful and reliable and see how it goes from there, I hope the faith she is showing can be repaid ten-fold.

Mimi is working with several artists over time, and helping them evolve in new directions with follow up shows in later years, she wants to that with me also and is encouraging me with suggestions of new projects and ideas to create work. I have been thinking of some of her ideas and I like several of them, I would probably be working in color with a digi camera to accomplish some of the series but heck who cares, tools are tools, its the final work that really matters most.

Anyway a fun evening, I have lots to think about. I will go to Mae Sot tomorrow night to photograph at the dump but might come back a few days early so I can visit the the Toot Yung Gallery, I will shoot some photos for the blog.

http://www.tootyunggallery.com/#num=content-790&id=album-52

Dizzy

Well instead of having a nice relaxing massage today, I fought my way through the hot streets and Bangkok traffic today to make it down to the Klong Toey Muay Thai gym. I was able to catch up with some old friends there and also shoot some film at pushed ASAs which allowed me faster shutter speeds. I shot my Tri-x at 800ASA and 1600 ASA using the 21mm and 28mm Leica lens.

Exhausted now, my feet are throbbing, head hurts and I just feel all foggy. I need to finish off this blog and take a shower before drifting off to a well deserved sleep. Its strange how life is, 2 days ago I am working security in Canada, 1 day ago I am flying over the Pacific in a very crowded plane and tonight I am drinking with the Muay Thai trainers and friends in the Klong Toey slum gym (them beer me orange pop), the world is such a small place now, it was nice to be there with everyone again. Tomorrow I will try the 4x5 with 90mm lens to do some eviromental portraits, I got to get the light right thou, position the boxers properly in the best available light.

Night everyone.....

In Bangkok

After a tiring very cramped flight I arrived in Bangkok this morning. A few hours ago I arrived at my cheap hotel, $30 a night, settled in, had a shower and a meal. I have not had a Thai massage for several years but might try that next before going to buy some supplies at 7/11 and taking a nice long sleep. I slept on the plane (sort of) but am suffereing from jet lag (everything seems foggy), I plan to have my sleep then get up early and do a bunch of stuff tomorrow. I will go buy my bus ticket for Mae Sot, I will go down to the Muay Thai gym in Klong Toey and I think I might try to do some bus window/people photographs. I also need to telephone Mimi tonight to set up a possible meeting tomorrow to discuss my coming show at the Toot Yung gallery here in Bangkok (if that happens!).

Sucessful Final Test

After banging around my Pentax spot meter a lot (did some damage to it) I thought I better test it before I did some important shooting. So today before work I shot 6 photos, this allowed me to test the spot meter, do some more 90mm tests (heads and full body shots), today's test also allowed to check out a recently found Grafmatic back. Everything turned out well, the meter worked bang on, the 90mm lens distortion on the heads and full body photographs turned out well (I like a bit of distortion) and the Grafmatic back did not leak light. I will take all this good fortune as a positive sign for the coming trip.

Webpage Makeover

I am going to be working on my webpage on my return from Thailand, I plan on doing nightly work on it using my laptop, there will be some changes but not many. Most times when I look at peoples photography webpages online I am frustrated by my inability to see a lot of work and scan through the photographs quickly. People tend to set up fancy dancy pages filled with time consuming and difficult to  use web designs. My idea is simple, make the pages look like contact sheets that load quickly and that can be navigated without waiting around. People online are inpatient and quickly get distracted, its best to keep things simple. My simple design will allow people to view the maximum amount of imagery in the shortest amount of time. I am looking to make up a page of substance over style.

My new page will be a simplification of my already rather stark and bare design. I plan to add a bunch of new photographs made over the last 5 years and dump a whole bunch of crap photos. I will add galleries for the 4x5 available light portraiture made in Thailand and Laos and all the 35mm documentary stuff shot in Thailand, Cambodia. I will also had color medium format sex worker shots from 2010 and the new ladyboy white background sex worker photos made in 2012.