Gosh had a frightening moment today. I was in an area of hovels (not sure what to call them, rooms for Burmese workers) and making some pictures of the peoples living conditions. I had photographed 2 or 3 empty rooms through the open doorway or over top of a partially closed door. I came up on the 4th or 5th room, which was part closed, part open and blindly shot in. At about the 3 or 4 exposure mark a young girl suddenly jumped up out of the darkness, she had been sleeping. I saw her only after she sharply rose up in fear. SCARED THE FRICKIN HELL OUT OF ME!! I think she was just as frightened, maybe more so!
She was like this ghost rising out of the dark. In real if the area was quite dark, much more dark, the digital camera added more light. I immediately apologized in Thai to her, 4 or 5 times and she nodded, seemed to understand and accepted it. She came out of the room and we started to joke about it. After her and my initial shock things settled down and became a joke. I went on to tell some men nearby (her friends) what had happened, and they laughed, she laughed again. Then I showed her the photo and she laughed even more, quite loudly with her hand in front of her mouth.
She was a shy girl, as many young Burmese ladies are. I need to be more careful, am sort of new to these situations as well. I need to remember these are peoples homes and to be more respectful.can't be wielding my camera like a frickin weapon, a bit more care and subtly required stupid Gerry!
Here it is! She must have thought a snake was approaching (zzz zzz of the camera) or a Thai official was coming to arrest her! In the end, I kind of like the shot, it shows a bit of the emotion and condition (fear) these people live in on a daily basis. It might be an important photograph-story at a future artist talk when I try to explain a bit about the lives of the people here. Accidental, and stupidly made on my part but still an effective visual, telling an important story.What must it be like to live in a country that is not yours, without the proper paperwork, always fearful of arrest?
She was like this ghost rising out of the dark. In real if the area was quite dark, much more dark, the digital camera added more light. I immediately apologized in Thai to her, 4 or 5 times and she nodded, seemed to understand and accepted it. She came out of the room and we started to joke about it. After her and my initial shock things settled down and became a joke. I went on to tell some men nearby (her friends) what had happened, and they laughed, she laughed again. Then I showed her the photo and she laughed even more, quite loudly with her hand in front of her mouth.
She was a shy girl, as many young Burmese ladies are. I need to be more careful, am sort of new to these situations as well. I need to remember these are peoples homes and to be more respectful.can't be wielding my camera like a frickin weapon, a bit more care and subtly required stupid Gerry!
Here it is! She must have thought a snake was approaching (zzz zzz of the camera) or a Thai official was coming to arrest her! In the end, I kind of like the shot, it shows a bit of the emotion and condition (fear) these people live in on a daily basis. It might be an important photograph-story at a future artist talk when I try to explain a bit about the lives of the people here. Accidental, and stupidly made on my part but still an effective visual, telling an important story.What must it be like to live in a country that is not yours, without the proper paperwork, always fearful of arrest?
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| Surprised while sleeping, oops...sorry! |
