Yauk Doo!!!!!!!!!

At one point today after I arrived at the gym I decided to see if I could go to the gyms running area and take a few photos of some of the children. I wanted to do some heads, upper body and heads of the children. Lets flash forward about 10 minutes, I now have children all around me, they are playing with my film holders (not touch, please do not touch!), they are swinging from my tripod, and everyone is trying to take photos with my cable release. At one point I start lifting a lineup of young boys and girls aged 9 to look through the camera. The camera is to high for them mounted on the tripod but they all want to see through the 4x5, so one at a time I lift them up so they can look through the camera. Every time I think I am done, I look down and there is another little one saying to me "Yauk Doo!" ( I want to look!). I think there must have been 20 of them and they got heavier and heavier! All saying to me "Yauk Doo!!!!!"

Thai kids are a joy to be around, so curious, polite and usually smiling and laughing. I tried to make some honest portraits of them, they were children of the slum after all, hopefully they will rise above their circumstances and live long happy lives.

I still can see their faces in my minds eye, darn cute kids, so full of life. I hope the photos do them justice. Making pictures in that crowd was difficult, I had to try and control the attack to be photographed. The children asked my name and later on one young girl named Dong and one young boy Bank both remembered my name and asked when I would return, I told them 2 months. Later on Dong told me, "2 months right?" I said "Yes will come back in 2 months." I think a lot of people say they will return but never do, I plan on keeping my promise to her.

I want to come back in 2 months and give them all some nice photographs. I will have to work my butt off when I get back home to get all this film developed and to make free prints to give out. I only have about 6 weeks between trips, when I return to Canada I go right back into my 12 hour night shifts. I would like to laminate the RC prints if possible, in the humidity and dirt of the slum normal prints will not last long.

First Head Portraits With 4x5, Klong Toey Bangkok

These are the first Klong Toey head portraits, a different type of photography for me. The photos were made in available light on Tri-x with a Linhof 4x5 and 150mm lens, exposure was about F11-F16 at 1/4 or 1/2 second, the faces were placed on Zone VI with a Pentax spot-meter. The children are the ones I photographed from mentioned in the earlier "Yauk Doo" blog, and were great fun to photograph.

Yauk Doo Blog Entry Story

Mon 9 Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

Naugda Choonta 59 Foodstand Cook Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

Gan 9 Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

Tong 25 Gambler Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

Dong 7 Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

This young girl Dong aged 7 was very shy and quietly accepted when I asked to take her photo, the next day thou she was the leader of the Yauk Doo brigade when I went back to shoot some headshots of the children (see linked story) and not shy at all.

Yauk Doo

Dong 7 Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

The Next Batch Of 4x5 Available Light Linhof Photographs

Young Boy Klong Toey, Bangkok 2011

This is one of the young boys I owed a photo to from last trip. I photographed him originally in September but the negative was not sharp (he was originally one of the yauk doo kids), so I did not print it. When I returned to Thai he asked for his photo, I felt lousy for not having one for him. This print is the second time around when I re photographed him in November, have to make sure I get him his photo this time! Here are the two stories:

Original Yauk Doo Blog

Let The Children Down Blog

Female Garbage Worker #2 Klong Toey, Bangkok 2011

Old Man #1 Klong Toey, Bangkok 2011

Old Man #2 Klong Toey, Bangkok 2011

Children Of Klong Toey

After I visited the Muay Thai gym I went back to see the areas where I had made the children yauk doo portraits.

Gan 9 Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/search?q=yauk+doo

The children immediately remembered me and surrounded me asking questions, at one point I had 15 young boys and girls all speaking Thai to me (and a bit of English they were excited to try). The girl above Gan was not shy and apprehensive anymore and came right up to me asking questions and became frustrated when I did not understand all her Thai.

When I left in September I told them I would return in 2 months and one of the young boys said to me (without me mentioning the 2 month thing), " Has it been 2 months already?" Very smart kids, that are so full of life and have a thirst to learn and improve themselves. I am happy I kept my promise and returned to them, I wish thou I had more photos to give them, only 3 of the people I photographed led to good pictures, the others were so so or out of focus so I did not print them, I am so limited for time in Canada but now I wish I had printed the out of focus stuff as well to give them something now.  I will try and make more photos of them this trip and then give it to them in my next trip to Thai, this last trip will happen sometime in the first 6 months of 2012, after that I will probably not be able to return (no vacation time and no money) to Thailand for a year or longer.

I keep thinking now of all those smiling happy faces, all wanting to talk to me at the same time, was swamped with questions, with smiles and with giggling, was also asked my name 3 or 4 times. Hopefully if my health stays good I can return and photograph these children through the years as they grow up, I want to follow and learn what happens in their lives.

Klong Toey Children Portraits

Another series of portraits I want to continue working on is the Klong Toey children sub-series. Last trip I did some headshots of some of the children and in 2010 I shot groups of children on the railway tracks near their homes.

Klong Toey Children, Bangkok 2010

Mon 9 Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok 2011

I want to continue to make these photographs, the children of Klong Toey is a very important subject, and will be an imprtant addition to the "Common Lives" series, plus their just a joy to be around and work with!For some stories about my times making photos with the children of Klong Toey, check out Yauk Doo and Mouth blogs linked below.

Yauk Doo Blog Entry

Mouth Blog Entry