2013 Snapshots from the Dump, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP

Found these snapshots from the dump today. They date back to my 3rd or 4th day in the garbage with the families. Who knew that 12 years later I would still be with them. From the photographic and donation project THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand 2013

With the Leica and Tri-x. 

More Prints Coming

 Printing up some digi images to show my friend Larry next Wednesday

Woo family mother and son, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP. Mae Sot, Thailand, 2017

Win family son working the garbage, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand 2016

Win family daughter working the garbage, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2016

Nui-Ooh in the garbage, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand 2015

Dump houses and dogs, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand 2017

Young girl holding her baby brother int he garbage dump, THE FAMILIES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand, 2017

Prem doing Meth, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

Dao and Prem doing Meth, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand 2025

Young baby girl with earings, THE FAMILES OF THE DUMP, Mae Sot, Thailand 2016

My Epson P800, a reliable machine

Trailer Upgrades!

Should be able to make some Ambrotypes next week! 

Have done many wet plate darkroom trailer improvements. Added and secured 2-30lb propane tanks, I hope they will not be stolen again. Added a large second hand cooler ($25) for all my liquid chemicals (Vinegars, Alcohol and Distilled Water) and finished the battery lid which allows more efficient storage of my trays.

New table top storage space on top of the battery lid/cover!

New second hand Coleman cooler for liquid chemistry

My new locked down propane tanks!

Monet working at 80!

Monet creating at 80, you gotta love it. They wrote that his love and search for light kept him young. A truly amazing man and artist. 

Lovely book, $7 CAD from the Thrift Shop.

Painting in a suit!

Propane Bottles Back on the Darkroom Trailer, Fanny

I replaced the stolen propane bottles and replaced the damaged propane trailer stand. I locked everything up with a 15 foot chain and lock. The whole setup cost over $350! Hope it is not all stolen again. I need the tanks to run the furnace to shoot in the winter weather of Canada.

Chained together and to the trailer.

Quote: John Lennon

 

Large Coleman Cooler for $25 CAD

Picked up a large 2nd hand Coleman Cooler for $25 yesterday. I will try using it to safely carry chemicals, vinegar and alcohol in the darkroom trailer. Will play with it today, try to set it up to be functional in the space. 

Note* This cooler compliments the super large one I got from work for free (used to carry 4-5 litre bottles  of silver!).

Will store all my liquids, vinegar, distilled water and alchohal in the new cooler.

Link: The 2 Scheduled Social Documentary Photography Artist Talks!

The 2 talks are Images Alberta Camera Club April 9/2026 in Edmonton and CAPS Central Alberta Photographers Society April 22/2026 in Red Deer.

All money earned goes to help the people in the pictures.

Khun Apple eating donated food. The money for the food was raised thorugh the photographs.

Note* Thank you IMAGES and thank you CAPS for this opportunity to speak to your members. Hopefully your people will be challenged and interested in the talk.

Note** I am hoping that these talks will lead to a broadening of the vision for camera club members. So often in clubs, the pics blend, they often lack diversity and strength. One clubs images matches another, everything tends to be interchangeable. I hope seeing some different photos, and hearing a different viewpoint will inspire members to step outside the limited box many seem stuck in. Pretty pictures of sunsets, shadows, mountains and animals is fine but  photography can be so much more important and powerful. 

I belonged to 4 different clubs earlier on in my photo career and eventually they all become redundant and limiting, mostly because the members did not take photography seriously enough, or just used the club as a social outing. In my experience (in 3 of the 4 clubs), if you challenge long term club members, they can become hostile and unresponsive. They close down and stop thinking. People usually feel comfortable in their own little ME BOXES and do not like change or those that are honest with them. Honesty and truthful opinion is often something they do not want to hear, so they attack the messenger. Year in and year out the long term club member continue to create work that melds with countless other members in countless other clubs, it's all the same boring shit. It's kinda sad.

I hope that I can communicate my passion for photography and it's importance as a weapon for positive change in the world. Hopefully my message will be heard by my audience. Maybe the talk will also lead them to push their creative envelope outside of the common club picture box, creating work that is unique and challenging. One can only try! If it does not work so be it, at least some money will be raised to help feed hungry people in Thailand.

Link: $250 CAD to Help THE OEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY

Got word today on the artist talk fee money for the “CAPS Central Alberta Photographers Societ”. talk. I will use the money to buy food for people under the freeway in Khlong Toei slum Bangkok.

Note* There will also be some money earned for the Images Alberta Talk in April. That money will also be used to help the people in the photographs.

Khun Apple eating donated food, money to buy the food was raised through the photographs.

Scavenger-Repair Day!

AMBROTOS KANATA is a very expensive project. Photographing Canada on glass cost lots of doe!! To help save on costs I have to work as cheaply as I can manage without sacrificing the quality of the Ambrotypes.

Today was a day where I did some scavenging and some repairs. On the scavenging side of things I took a bunch of broken glass and recut it to smaller usable sizes. So broken 11x14,14x14 and 24x24 inch glass became 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 inch plates. On the repair thingy, I fixed (broken bottom) and painted a damaged 20x24 inch silver tank and also repaired a broken 4x5/8x10 inch drying rack.

I should be able to reuse everything this coming shooting season. Money saved!

Note* The propane tank trailer attachment assembly arrives tomorrow. Hopefully I can get everything up and running soon. If I do, I will be one step closer to making Ambrotypes.!! I am excited to get back at!! Creating beauty will be a relief (no bad dreams) after the recent emotionally difficult images UNDER THE FREEWAY.

Drying Rack

New Plates

Repaired 20x24 Silver Tank Box

The Need For POWER!!!

One of the problems of doing wet plate in the field in remote areas of Canada is that you need power to run pumps, exhaust fans, cooling fans, timers etc.

How to do I get power? 3 different ways. I use small 20 volt rechargeable batteries connected to a 200 watt inverters. I also have 2 big Jackery power banks.

The most important way I get power thou is to use car batteries (not the best battery but the cheapest). The first year I had 1 - 12 volt car battery system hooked up, then the year after that went to 2 batteries running in parallel. This year will do 4 batteries in parallel. All that means is you basically have 1 big battery to draw from.

Here is what it looks like. Also built boxes for the batteries and lid-table top that I can stack trays etc on to use the space more efficiently.

Note* I have the option to recharge all the batteries via Solar Power but that takes a LONG time. I most often recharge when I have a power source at a campground.

Newly built table top lid for 4 battery parallel set up

4 Batteries in Parallel!

Will run 4 batteries in parallel as one of my trailer power sources this year. I was thinking I might stop using this setup this yeast to allow fort more counter space. Then I accidentally ended up with 2 extra car batteries so decided to go all in this way. 4 batteries running as 1 big battery.

The new battery set up

A coldish and rainy day in Edmonton, kind of hard to work outside. A good day to do some photo editing. Here are some new images from THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY photographic series. Hopefully I can go back and continue these stories in the future.

If anyone knows of a place I can exhibit this work, please let me know. All money earned goes back to the people in the photos in the form of food. See Apple eating donated food here, under the freeway.

Thanks Gerry

Khun Apple eating donated food in the slum, under the freeway

Dao and Prem smoking meth, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY, Khlong Toei Slum, Bangkok, Thailand, 2025

Prem smoking meth under the freeway. PREM and her boyfriend Dao would smoke meth and YaBa under cloth or in a tent under the freeway. These photos were made mid day and they were under a small blue tent