4 Photos of Khun Dom

 

Khun Dom from 2016, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand

Prem High, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY

 

Khun Prem, high, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

Some More "Under the Freeway Images"

Self-portraits, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025 

 

Refining The Social Documentary Power Point

Note* I have a video that might be a bit shocking for the average old person in a photo club, used to pictures of sunsets, birds and flowers. Not sure I should include it in the talk. It would make the talk memorable and wake up those in the back row!! The video was made in the dump back in 2013. A family living on the garbage had a small black baby pig, a piglet. The mother of the piglet had died. So the families human mother (Burmese refugee family) was feeding the piglet from her own breast, trying to keep it alive. What do you think? Include it in the talk? About 40 seconds long.

Thoughts on Shakespeare!

Today’s Thrift Store find, a hardcover biography of William Shakespeare.  After the old geezer 30% discount, $10.50 CA. Quite a bit cheaper than Amazon. 

Am eager to learn more about Willie’s life!

Social Documentary PowerPoint Presentation Slide Count Climbing!

How will I keep this talk to only 1 hour?

The Importance Of John Thomson To Asia

John Thomson was such a strong and important photographer in Asia at this time, 1866. I have never seen this work before, from a wet plate collodion negative. Shooting wet plate in that heat must have been extremely difficult.

A wonderful book, picked up for $10 CAD 

Thai Learning and other Thoughts

In retirement I am trying to get back to learning to speak Thai. I have found understanding the language and the culture is an absolute necessity for my social documentary photography within Thailand. It would be so wonderful to be fluent!! Or at least speak 50% better than I do now.

Thai people have often spoken from their hearts to me when I photograph them but I only understand a portion of what they say. Sometimes it’s 80% other times maybe only 10%. To be able to understand everything, every word, what a gift that would be. 

 

When I was photographing in the bar world “Body Sellers”, many woman workers would cry and tell me their life's story. I would get more and more lost the longer they spoke. The same thing happened last year when I photographed the people “Under the Freeway”. Old women in their 80s would tell me long elaborate stories of their lives and I only understood maybe 40%. It was extremely frustrating. You listen as hard as you can but so much is missed.

 

My hope is that more language skills will lead to more understanding of my subjects, my friends, and lead to better photography. 

 

When I return to Thailand in 2026. I will continue working on THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY but will need to find a new secondary project as THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP seems complete. What project? Several come to mind. Possibly covering the lives of "garbage workers' in Bangkok. That is something I shot for a few hours last trip. I think their stories are important, they seem forgotten within the society, that makes me want to shine a light on their meaningful lives.

 

Note* For me one of the keys to learning to speak a language is to be able to read and write in that language. Thankfully, many years back, some Thai monk friends at a local Edmonton temple taught me to write in Thai. Am trying to remember all that as well!! 

 

FRAMES Magazine Promotion Shared Talk

 

New Music Choices

Picked some new music to listen to while I TRY TO WRITE MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY. These are from the Dennis H classical music collection.

More PowerPoint Work

 

The War Before the War, Fugitive Salved and the Struggle for America's Soul

Reading this sad book. Mans inhumanity to man is always so difficult to accept and understand.

Larry's Help with my Social Documentary PowerPoint Presentation

 Got some good advice on talks and PowerPoint presentations from my friend Larry yesterday. Will rework some of my PowerPoint and add other things. 

Thanks Larry for your help and suggestions.

FRAMES PROMOTION Time/Zoom?

 

Quote: Louise Bourgeois (Artist)

 

Missing Photos from "The Polygons" Exhibition of Lee Miller

Miller made so few outstanding images, you gotta use them all. The shocking drowned SS guard image and the photo of her in Hitlers bath HAVEE TO BEE INCLUDED in any of her exhibitions. The Polygon Gallery in Vancouver failed to show the work at their exhibition. 

Here are the missing images.

Quote: Virginia Woolf

 

Pet Peeve!

 

Quote: Carl Sagan

 

Lee Miller Exhibition at the Polygon a Disapointment!

The Lee Miller show at the Polygon in Vancouver is big let down. 

 

80% of the exhibition is old rather boring fashion pics. A small room has itty bitty poorly printed prints shot during World War 2, these are the strongest photographs but their presentation stifles their power.

A highly disappointing exhibition that lacks substance. This show is all about celebrity phtohrpher promotion (recent movie anout her) of a minority artist, but lacking any good art. 

 

More and more exhibitions I view are all about the artist with shotty art.

 

Her 2 most famous images are not even displayed. “Dead SS guard” and “Lee Miller in Hitlers bath” (a useless 1x1 inch version is in a magazine wall display), are not even in the exhibition.

What has happened to placing the art over the artist?? 

 

The exhibition also has a British newsreel of limited interest .

 

Even free, this exhibition was mostly a waste of time. This is my 3rd trip to the Polygon and the third time I have been disappointed. Time to get a new curation team or have the old team wake up!

 

Presidential Hypocripsy

American Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Munroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor and Andrew Johnson. All owned slaves.

PHOTO: Peter, a slave from Louisiana, in 1863. The scars are the result of a whipping by his overseer

“Cry, the Beloved Country”

Started reading the compassionate and beautiful novel “Cry, the Beloved Country”. Written in 1948 by Alan Paton. Am enjoying it. 

Reading is so joyful, you can travel to far off distant worlds, living the lives of the protagonists.

It makes me want to tell my own stories. While reading, I need to stop now and again to write down a memory.

Nice Trays

Picked up some mini bus pan trays that will work well with the 11x14 plates. 3 for $4.50 each from Goodwill. Thrifts shops provide most of my working tools in the trailer. Gotta love that, cheap and well made.

Honey Works Well

I did further tests using honey on 11x14 Ambrotypes. Mixed a 2 part honey to 1 part water solution. Let the first plate sit for 1 day before washing, the second sit around 1 week. No issues with either plate post 2 hour wash.

I think I got something good here! This should revolutionize my remote shooting in the trailer. Now I can depart a location much sooner and wash the plates at my leisure when I have time and a good supply of water.

Note * I am finding/making more and more storage trays, that I can use to place the honey covered plates in before they are washed. 

Things are looking good!

Today’s Gym Work

 I am pretty inconsistent with my gym work but today was  pretty good.

- Walked fast on the track for 30 minutes plus.

- 200 calories on the bike. Read a cool book about the Italian renaissance .

- 4 muscle machines, reps of 10 x4 for each machine.

- Stretching

 If I could do this workout at least 3 times a week it would eventually have a positive effect on my conditioning!!

Social Document PowerPoint Presentation, IMPROVING

My PowerPoint for the coming two camera club talks in Edmonton and Red Deer are improving. All money earned at these talks will be used to help the people in the photographs.

Working On My PowerPoint

Spent several hours tonight working on my Social Documentary Photography PowerPoint presentation. I have two talks coming up. One in Red Deer at a photo club in Late March and a second in Edmonton at my my old photography club “Images Alberta” in April.

Lots of work needed yet on the presentation. I will cover 3 projects. THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, MY FATHERS LAST DAYS, and THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY.

Quote: Dr.Martin Luther King

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

300mm versus 360mm Schneider Xenar Lens Camera Differences

Trying to figure out which Xenar lens will be better for my 11x14, 14x14 inch tight head ambrotype portraits. Should it be the 360mm or the 300mm?

I like the less bellows extension and the more distortion from the 300!! Leaning that way.

360mm bellows extension and head

300mm bellows extension and head

Practicing Headshots

Looking to start doing wet plate headshots this year. Will be making shallow focus tight heads onto 11x14 and 14x14 inch clear glass plates, ambrotypes. Experimenting today with my 360mm Schneider Xenar lens. Am using my thrift shop hair model head to focus on.

Note* I have a couple of heads planned for the spring. My friend Larry and my cousin Frankie (in cosplay makeup).