Carpentry, Frame Making Room

One of my many retirement projects is to clean out the room behind the garage and to use that space and the accompanying out door area to do wood working . My carpentry shop so to speak (even thou I have very limited skills).

The plan is to use this large working area to build big diptych and triptych frames for the coming 20x24 and 24x24 inch Ambrotypes. 2 pic diptych and 3 pic triptych stories, for the AMBROTOS KANATA project. 

I can see Ultra Large format framed Ambrotyoe triptychs in my minds eye. Ambrotypes of the coastlines, mountains, forests, cities ad industry of Canada. Works that do not exist yet but that I know will be made.

I do not have the ambrotypes or exhibitions yet but I will have a place to make large frames!!! 

Been working on this the last 4 days but as you can see a LONG way to go,

Khun May , #1 and #2, after Doing Meth, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY

Khun May , #1 and #2, after doing meth, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

#1

#2

Khun May heating meth in pipe, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY

Since my return to Canada I have not had much time to edit photos from the trip. Will try to do more of that in the next few weeks.

Khun May heating meth in pipe, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

First 2 of 100 Books, to Read in Retirement

 

Swimming Under Water

 

VIDEO: Gelli Transfer Prints

Some leaf gelli prints, kinda like them. I am having all kinds of trouble transferring photographic vimages of any kind. Other people online seem to do it quite easily, but not me. I want to try this acrylic paint process to do some of my social documentary photographs.

Someone Tried to Break Into Wetplate Trailer, NEW SECURITY CAMERA

Facebook Stuff after my Return to Canada

 

A Nice Find

A nice find today. Early Time Life book "Mathew Brady and his World". $5.99 CAD with my old age discount of 30%.for a grand total of $4.19 CAD.

Lots of images I have never seen before. Brady used the wet plate collodion process, for a lot of his career, so it is interesting to see what is possible.

Another Pass at a Book Design

Might be able to do this in Blurb, but no serious/real publishers are interested in doing a book. I find this so frustrating. There are so many crap photo books out there, but I can get nothing! Feel like I am letting my subjects, the people who trust me, down.

Here is the opening page text, not sure I will use it and a few pages of possible imagery. Thinking of something small and cheap 20 photos or so.

I don’t like to talk about myself so I won’t. The people in the pictures are all that matters. I chose to use the pseudonym “Yaum” for that same reason. The subjects who allowed me into their important lives to tell their forgotten stories, should be the only ones credited and remembered. Thank you for taking the time, to learn about their stories.

Gerry, August, 2025 

Note* Might try handing out some free copies to galleries, thou I think these will run $40 a book, so expensive. Maybe a PDF version? 

Top 100 Novels

Another retirement thingy! Will try to grow the heart and soul a bit. Will read the top 100 novels. Not sure I can do this but going to give it a go,

Top 100 from Penguin

Learning Gelli Transfer

Learning from my mistakes! I will try these transfers with my social doc photographic work.

Link: IACC Talk, “Images Alberta Camera Club” Social Documentary Photography

I will be doing a social documentary photography at the first photography club I was ever involved in, IMAGES ALBERTA CAMERA CLUB. It should be a powerful night, of photography and discussion. The date is not set yet but possibly, April of 2026. Hope we have a big turnout! Some photos from their linked website. Many smiling kind members.

https://www.imagesalberta.ca/

Club Annual Competition Awards Night May 22/25.

Current Thai Edited THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY Images

Am in Canada now. 

More THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY images to come. Here is a selection of photos edited so far, when I was in Thai. 

7 will be chosen for a story in FRAMES magazine, so that shouuld be nice. I so want to tell the people who live under the freeways stories. They live important but forgotten  lives, the pucs tell their stories.

No scheduled exhibitions yet for THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, but i will continue  trying to get something . 

Will start to make Platinum - Palladium prints of the better photos, then build some simple pine wood frames (Grey Stain? Brownish Stain?). Will do up 25 prints that way for possible exhibition. I want to do 11x14 prints but the process is so expensive. Maybe I will try 8x10 platinum to save money first and then possibly do 11x14 inch pain the cheaper SALT process.

Dao, face and feet, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY

Dao, face and feet, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

Slightly different versions, not sure on how much contrast to give the image, it would probably work better a Platinum-Palladium print with more tonality in it.

Khun Dao and Khun Apple, betweeen trucks doing YaBa, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY

Khun Dao and Khun Apple, betweeen trucks doing YaBa, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok 2025

Dreamed of a Coughing Child from my Past

STRANGE how the mind, how dreams work, how your subconscious holds onto stuff. Last night I dreamed about the sound a young child's cough made in the dump way back in 2018, 7 years ago.

I have not consciously thought about her or that moment for a long time, yet last night I dreamed of her cough, and told her story to a another person in my dream. It was almost like a PTSD thing. I remember that real life moment, affected me deeply, at the time. I guess that sound, and the child's life is still in my subconscious somewhere and it stepped forward in my dreamworld last night.

Note* I wonder if 7 years fro now, I will dream of stuff that happened in the slum, this trip of 2025.

Coughing Child Story

Sent Photos in to Cardinal Arts Journal

Tonight I sent in photos for the Cardinal Arts Journal, at Gadsden StateCommunity College in Alabama, USA. THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY and maybe THE FAMILIES OF THE DUJMP work should be published there at some point. Thanks Tabitha.

https://cardinalartsjournal.org/

Gadsden State Community College

Gotta Love the National Gallery of Canada!

Most places I submit work to, ignore me. The National Gallery of Canada, the best gallery in Canada, sent a nice email, explaining what steps I should follow to send in work/submissions for consideration. I will their procedures on returning to Canada. GOOD PEOPLE THERE! Will try with multiple projects.

Not much chance of course, but what I do I have to lose? A lifetime dream of mine, is to have work exhibited at the National Gallery.

Note* Photo by Tullia 2012

An Ego Boost!

 

Long Sleeved Phuket Shirt

I bought mostly short sleeved black polyester T-shirts in my order but also have some long sleeved ones. As well. 36 shirts total. Some to give away at talks and workshops, but most for personal wear. Here is a sample from the shop. I chose 9 pics from this trip to place on the shirts, 2 from the dump and 7 from the slum.

I hope this picture choice shirt will raise awareness about abuse.

Total cost = 9960 baht ($423 CAD)

Khun Prem after being beaten by her boyfriend #3, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY,  Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

FACEBOOK: Me, Me, Me!

I get tired of the ME ME ME stuff, that seeems so obsessively important in our selfie society. From a Facebook discussion,

LMB

You are a bright light for them, never underestimate what your presence has meant to them. :))

Gerry Yaum

LMB....I just do not think I matter that much, am just a former security guard. For me the only thing that matters here, is the creation of the work, helping those in the photos and telling, honest, true, empathetic stories of these important lives.

Khun Ann, with hand on face, last night, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY

From the last night:

Last night:

Khun Ann, with hand on face, last night, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

Khun Apple , smoking YaBa on the last night, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY,

from the last night:

Khun Apple , smoking YaBa on the last night, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025