Don't Be Dazzled!

The longer I am involved in photography I find that I am becoming simpler and simpler in my approach. Years ago I read about Edward Weston meeting Alfred Steiglitz and the one piece of advice Steiglitz gave Weston was that less was more and that simplification led to a greater depth.

The best photographers I know use the simplest tools to produce their work, that is something the novice hobbyist photographer has trouble understanding. The part time do photography on the weekends crowd is generally dazzled by all the flashing lights and toys (something I was also guilty of for years). They are constantly playing with new cameras, multiple lens and many films and developer combinations. These folks never really settle on anything they never learn anything really well, but instead know a bit of this and a bit of that. I often think that photogs that go the many tools route are fascinated more by the toys than the end photographs, they like the techniques of photography more than the art of photography. The end statement they are trying to make is not nearly as important to them as the tech crap. I think the fun of photography for them is the gizmos, the gadgets, the testing, the formulas and the like.

If I was going to advise a young photographer on what is really important I would say, throw away all the toys, settle on a few tools to tell your stories with them (Jock Sturges told me this a few years back). I would tell them to spend all there time and effort making pictures, not buying and playing with the tech stuff (digi or film), they need to simplify and make photographs, nothing else is of importance.

Lost Innocence Update Thoughts

Since PhotoNOLA I have resurrected an old Thai portrait project idea. The original idea was to do head shots on wet plate of bargirls in Thailand, preferably gogo dancers (the most beautiful visually striking girls). The photos would be of girls-women new to the bar world, maybe 1 or 2 months in before they are  changed by the life. The project would be called "Lost Innocence" and show the workers in their original innocent form, a pure virginal look that has not be damaged by the bars.

I am now thinking of adapting the project somewhat, if I did girls that were 1 or 2 months I could counter that feel in a dyptic form with a girl that is 10 years plus in the bars. On the left side I could do a wet plate of the innocent 1 month girl and on the right a hardened/jaded 10 year worker.

What has re-sparked this idea was seeing the wet plate work of many PhotoNOLA participants, work they created not in camera but instead in the darkroom. My technical concern with this project was getting all the dangerous chemicals into Thai and creating the work in that hot environment, in the field, on the street etc, it would be a very daunting thing to accomplish. The photogs at PhotoNOLA taught me I can do the work in the darkroom instead, from a negative that has been copied onto transparency film (they gave me the name of the stuff its in my notes). Another option I was thinking of last night would be shooting directly onto slide film with a medium format or 4x5 camera and using that as my enlarging positive in the darkroom. If I did the wet plate image in the darkroom and not in the field I could work on it for weeks, I could get true exact image I wanted to and I could enlarge it very big (11x14, 16x20 or even 20x24). The way I understand it, it is a enlarging process not a contact process, so the possibilities are endless, I might try working with old enlarging or shooting lens as well.

This  could be very exciting! I could do two large black glass ambrotypes (glass) or two large tintypes (metal) and then frame them as a diptych in some kind of floating image frame set up, maybe even try something like ruby coloured glass (saw one of those in New Orleans and loved it). To tell the story of the workers in this way with simple head shots that show the effects of the bar life could be very rewarding and visually powerful and effective. These things are not created yet but in my minds eye I can see a nice white gallery wall covered with 10 large red wooden frames each containing two floating 16x20 ruby glass diptych head shots of sex workers. The title would be "LOST INNOCENCE: FACES FROM THE GOGO BARS OF THAILAND" (I might be able to do some shooting in the Philippines as well).

November Trip Scans 1

Here are a bunch of scans from the last trip, they group mix from multiple locations and series.

Khune Go"People Who Live Under The Freeway Series", Bangkok 2013

Young Girl In Dump

Khune Anapon"People Who Live Under The Freeway Series", Bangkok 2013

Child with doll  "Families Of The Dump Series", Thailand 2013

Girl waiting "Street Kids Series", Kathmandu Nepal 2013

Young girls cooking rice 1 "Street Kids Series", Kathmandu Nepal 2013

Crying child with father, Bangkok Thailand 2013

Freeway and trees Klong Toey  slum, Thailand 2013

Young girl Mae Sot dump"Families of the Dump Series", Thailand 2013 

Khune Ooh and train"People Who Live Under the Freeway Series", Thailand 2013 

Child in garbage"Families of the Dump Series", Thailand 2013

Mechanics hand "Klong Toey Slum Series", Thailand 2013

Boxers Bangkok Muay Thai gym, Thailand 2013

Bus Bangkok, Thailand 2013

New 5x7 Series?

I have been thinking of several options in regards to the back log of 5x7 Tri-x I have. I have many boxes of 5x7 that were outdated in 2008 and also a bunch of boxes outdated in around 2010, I need to get shooting that stuff.

During my next trip to Asia I currently plan on using the Linhof 5x7, with 210mm and 120mm lens to shoot portraiture in Asia. I would need to shoot in available light s well as bounced/direct flash (possibly a portable flash on a separate stand). Possible subjects include

- a series on bargirls in their room (a good idea suggested to me by a documentary photographer who saw my work at PhotoNola)
- more work on the muay thai boxers, everyone knows and accepts me there.
- the people who live under the freeway in Bangkok, this would be my second time there.
- a continuation of the families of the dump portrait work in Mae Sot. This should be easier to shoot then before now that I have established myself in this community a bit.

I might be able to do the bargirl in their room series as part as my artist residency at Toot Yung gallery. I might be able to take a 5 week trip next year and shoot 300-500 sheets of 5x7.

Am Back In Canada

Well I am back in Canada and went straight back to work last night. I am exhausted and will up date the unfinished blogs as well as upload film and video when I have time. I am working extra security shifts in the next 2 weeks, xmas, boxing day and new years which should allow me to pay off some debts. I will try to work on as much photography as I can, I have many films to develop and scan.

Thinking of a new project for next trip, it was suggested to me by a documentary photographer at PhotoNOLA, it might be fun to try with the 5x7, more on that later as well.

The Last Day In New Orleans

Well today was the last day in New Orleans, it was another day of fun, photos and good food. I went to see the wonderful Salgado prints again at "A Gallery For Fine Photography", I also got a chance to speak to the photographer and owner Mr. Joshua Mann Pailet, a generous and friendly fellow.

Earlier in the day I went to photographer Richard Rinaldi's artist talk and bought a wonderful book of his called "Figure and Ground". Mr.Rinaldi is talented photographer doing imprtant work.

Later in the day I had a delicious meal of oysters before ending the night and saying goodbye to all my new friends at the wrap up party.  Now it's time to go to bed I have to get up at 230am for my 6am 3 airplane flight back to Edmonton. I arrive back in Ednonton at 225pm and need to be at work at 530pm for my 12 hour security nightshift. It will be an exhausting journey and first night shift but PhotoNOLA and all my experiences here in "The Big Easy" made it well worth it.

My Short Artist Talk

Note*, am writing this blog after my return to Canada.

The PhotoNOLA artist talk for "Body Sellers" went very well. I have been trying to achieve a 9/10 with my talks and this one might have been a 7 or 7.5. After the talk I received many compliments the rest of the evening as the PhotoNOLA visitors traveled from show to show, about 35 or 40 people heard the talk. I even got a compliment the following day from a beautiful young lady as I was standing in line to buy Richard Renaldi's book, "Hi, I loved your talk yesterday!"

I basically broke the talk down into the parts mentioned earlier

-Thanks
-Who I am
-Bar world stuff
-Project history
-A few subject stories
-Questions

I only had a short time to talk so spoke rather quickly, it probably lasted about 15-20 minutes. I want to do longer and slower spoken, more eloquent speaking in the future. I also want to humanize things more and add a bit of tasteful humour to lighten it up at times.

People were laughing and very serious at other times in the talk so I think I hit most of the good notes, the right notes. In the future if I include a powerpoint presentation I think things could really be effective then I can move up in to the 8s out of 10s. Overall this thing went very well and I was quite relieved when it was done. It was a great experience and one of my favourite memories of PhotoNOLA.

Making Great Friends!

PhotoNOLA has been a great experience for me. I have met new friends, seen some astonishing work and learned so much from so many. The artistic community is very vibrant here in New Orleans, that coupled with the open friendly relaxed nature of the people of the city has made this trip a truly memorable and beautiful experience for me.

Tomorrow is my last day in Louisiana, I will leave the state with many fond memories and positive emotions. I look forward to the day I will return to the city, possibly for another PhotoNOLA festival or to do a platinum printing workshop with new friends Thom and Seth.

Mr. Salgado

Last night I had the great privilege of viewing 27 Sebastiao Salgado prints at the prestigious "A Gallery For Fine Photography"in the French quarter of New Orleans. In my opinion Mr. Salgado is the world's greatest living photographer, to view a collection of so many of his hits in one location was astounding. Seeing all those prints just waiting for me to find them was a PERFECT end to this trip. The prints were all valued at $8 000 plus but I got to study them up close and personal for free, another, memorable New Orleans experience. I am writing this 12 hour after the Salgado viewing and I a still excited, this is as good as it gets.

PhotoNOLA Gallery Night Tour

Last nights highlights included a personal guided tour to multiple galleries taking part in PhotoNOLA. Thom drove us to many large and small galleries showing a variety of work, we visited so many places I lost count. To be around so many people showing, talking and viewing photography was a truly joyous experience. I will post photos from the night when I get back to the land of ICE hockey.

PhotoNOLA "Body Sellers" Opening Night

Note*, blog written on my return to Canada

The opening night went great, it was a wonderful night at my show and also I got the chance to view work from a number of galleries around New Orleans. After visiting 8 or so galleries the night ended with a great meal of Oysters at a restaurant in the French quarter.

PhotoNOLA had set up a party bus filled with PhotoNOLA photographers, reviewers, gallery owners, museum curators etc traveling from show to show. The bus was a great idea, it allowed people to move from gallery to gallery and spend 30 minutes or so at each site. Just before I gave my artist talk, 35 or 40 people rolled off the bus and into my space at "Zeitgeist".  The bus allowed me the chance to show and speak about my work to some important photography folks.

I will try to post a video of the night later on, thou I have very limited video of my opening as I was doing the talk! I can only do so many things at a time and running a video camera was not part of the agenda.

Anyway it was a great memorable night, thank you PhotoNOLA for this wonderful opportunity!!

Met Many Photogs Today

I met, saw the work, and spoke to many photographers today,  a wonderful day. (more to come when I have time to write, also a short video).

Ego Boosting Blog Number 2

Here is another little blog mention of the PhotoNOLA festival. This time my evil twin Mr. Yaum is mentioned as "Internationally Prominent" (I wish that we're true) in the same sentence as Edward Burtynsky, and  Andres ("Piss Christ") Serrano. I found that sentence shocking, I am only mistakedly spoke of in that way because I fit into the unique international category at PhotoNOLA. Still its a nice mistake and thank you John for posting it.

Having all this attention is very nice but it is not all that important. I just wish I could make enough money at the photography so I could stop working as guard and devote myself 100% to the people and making pics. To have the freedom to make photos everyday for the rest of my life , is all that matters to me.

Below is the post and a link to the blog, it is written by the photographer John N Wall.

http://southphotography.blogspot.com/2013/12/photonola-this-weekend.html

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2013

PhotoNOLA This Weekend

PhotoNOLA opens today, December 12th, for its annual 4-day run.

PhotoNOLA is quickly becoming a major event in Southern photography. The folks in New Orleans pack a lot of life, energy, and photography into just a few days' time.

Organized by the New Orleans Photo Alliance, in partnership with the galleries, museums and photographers of New Orleans, PhotoNOLA offers a wide range of photography exhibitions, many of which are ondisplay not just this weekend, but also throughout the month.

Work on display includes images by photographers with (dare I say) a Southern focus like Deborah Luster or Emerson Matabele (see image above) but also nationally and internationally prominent photographers like Andres Serrano, Edward Burtynsky, and Gerry Yaum.

The festival lineup also  includes portfolio reviews, workshops, lectures,demonstrations, book signings and the PhotoGALA.

And, wherever you are during PhotoNOLA,  you've got New Orleans itself right outside the door. Let the good times roll!

PhotoNOLA Article And "Notable" A Really Nice Word

Here is a nice article on a PhotoNOLA festival by Will Coviello for "Gambit" a local free newspaper. Mr. Coviello even kindly mentions my show, it's pretty cool (and very usual for me) to be mentioned in the same article (way down at the bottom) with Edward Burtynsky and to be listed as a NOTABLE show at a important photo festival. I think my new favourite word is "Notable", it's a beautiful sounding word with nice connotations. :))

I love the photo in the story which is made by Deb Schwedhelm,  I have to try to check out that exhibition if possible. There are so many activities, talks and exhibits I want to see here, but I only have a few days left. Geez I wish we had something like PhotoNOLA and The Photo Alliance back in Edmonton. The People here in New Orleans have so much passion and love for the arts, it's a beautiful thing, a beautiful feeling to be around folks like this.

Here is the mentioned article, and its link, check it out if you have time.

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/preview-photonola/Content?oid=2285369

Preview: PhotoNOLA 

Will Coviello snaps a look at the annual exhibit by New Orleans photographers

by Will Coviello

Sky Tampa by Deb Schwedhelm is in her solo show at the New Orleans Photo Alliance gallery.

When Russell Lord arrived in New Orleans to begin work as the New Orleans Museum of Art's (NOMA) Curator of Photographs, Prints and Drawings in October 2011, he barely had time to participate in PhotoNOLA, the citywide photography festival featuring shows, portfolio reviews and other events. But he signed on as a portfolio reviewer anyway, and then again in 2012 and this year.

  During PhotoNOLA, NOMA has four photo shows up, including the project Lord had started in 2011, Photography at NOMA. For it, he culled 133 photographs from more than 10,000 photos in NOMA's collection, and they represent all sorts of photos: fine art, documentary, scientific, advertising and more.

  "It tries to get to the cultural ambitions of photography," Lord says. "How it's been part of every facet of our life since its introduction in the 19th century."

  NOMA also has two other photo exhibitions open at the museum. Gordon Parks: The Making of an Argumentfeatures pictures the photographer and filmmaker (Shaft) shot in the 1940s in New York. There's also a show of gifts to the photo collection in the recently opened A. Charlotte Mann and Joshua Mann Pailet Gallery. Lord also curatedWater, the show of large-scale photos by Edward Burtynsky on view at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). The show features mesmerizing pictures of water works and aerial views of waterways, and Burtynsky wanted to premiere the exhibition in an area affected by water issues. Lord wasn't able to house the show at NOMA and suggested it could be part of a growing relationship with the CAC. Lord also wanted to take advantage of the timing.

  "PhotoNOLA weighed in our decision about when we would have all of this material up," he says. "PhotoNOLA is a pretty substantial effort to bring in all these scholars, curators, gallery owners, publishers and photographers.

  Lord adds that his goals for NOMA are similar to PhotoNOLA's: making New Orleans a bigger part of national and international discussions of photography. Lord cofounded Focus, a group of photography curators and scholars from institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Getty Center, the Yale University Art Gallery and others. He convened a meeting of the group in New Orleans in November, and many are returning to see shows at PhotoNOLA or to review portfolios.

  Two major PhotoNOLA events happen at NOMA. Local photographer Deborah Luster delivers the keynote lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday. Luster is known for photos of Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and exploring scenes of violent crime in New Orleans. The lecture is followed by the PhotoNOLA gala (tickets $25), which features music by the Norbert Slama Trio, circus entertainers, a photobooth, hors d'oeuvres and wine.

  Major PhotoNOLA events include two days of portfolio reviews, in which photographers get individual feedback from photography professionals (photographers must sign up in advance on the website). The public can view photos from the portfolio review at Photowalk. Seventy photographers display their work from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday in the Ogden Museum of Southern Art's Patrick F. Taylor Library. Admission is free. There are three current photo exhibits in conjunction with PhotoNOLA. They include The Mythology of Florida, Annie Collinge: The Underwater Mermaid Theater and Into the Light, featuring photos from Ogden's permanent collection.

  The Contemporary Arts Center is showing Water and The Great Picture, the largest photograph in the world (see "The Great Picture and PhotoNOLA," p. 60). During December, the museum also features Unfolding Images, a temporary library of photo books.

  There are approximately 65 photography exhibitions in conjunction with PhotoNOLA, most of which opened the first week of December and run through the end of the month or beyond. A few notable shows include New Orleans photographers Louviere + Vanessa's The Oblivion Atlas at A Gallery for Fine Photography (241 Chartres St.), David Halliday: Threadbare at Arthur Roger Gallery (434 Julia St.) and Gerry Yaum: Body Sellers, about young sex workers in Thailand, at Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center (1618 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.). Several St. Claude art district galleries hold opening receptions for photography shows Saturday, which is the district's monthly night of gallery openings.

  In Jefferson Parish, the East Bank Regional Library (4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie) presents a show of M. Kucera's cyanotypes.

  At the Old U.S. Mint, the Louisiana State Museum presents photos from Pictures of the Year International's photojournalism competition, culled from more than 50,000 entries in sports to war reporting.

  The New Orleans Photo Alliance (1111 St. Mary St.), which organizes PhotoNOLA, hosts a show of 2012 PhotoNOLA Photography Review winner Deb Schwedhelm's work featuring underwater photos. For a full list of PhotoNOLA events and shows, visit the website.

Working On Talking Points

Today I need to work on a few simple talking points I want to speak to at my talk.

- thanks to everyone.
- a bit about me.
- a bit of the history of the work.
- a bit about the bar world, life, working life.
- stories of some of the subjects.

Burtynsky's "Water" Exhibition At The CAC

I spent a few hours with 50 of Burtynsky's very large "Water" photographs at the Contemporary Atrs Center yesterday. I will post a shirt review on the show later when I have more time to digest it all.

PhotoNOLA Gala Fun

Went to the PhotoNOLA gala last night, I had lots of fun even thou I only knew one person going in. I got introduced to many folks by contact and new friend Thom. I also heard a wonderful photographer lecture by Debrah Luster and had the opportunity to view all the great photography at NOMA one last time.

My opening is on Saturday at 5pm-7pm. There will be a bus load of visitors traveling from show to show, my show is the first on the agenda, I will speak to the group for 10-15 minutes and then stay for the duration of the opening to welcome folks. The opening should be a fun and exciting night.

2 More Galleries Today

I did two more galleries in New Orleans  today, the  Odgen Gallery of Southern Art and Contemporary Art Centre (CAC). I saw 50 large prints from the new Burtynsky series "Water"
Other highlights included a wonderfully presented Sally Mann Southern landscape collodion neg print and prints by Bellocq, Shelby Lee Adams. I also saw work by several photographers I do not know, work I liked a lot, I wrote down several names and will study these new photogs when I return to the land of snow.

A fun relaxing day, am now getting ready for the PhotoNola Gala.

PhotoNOLA Gala

Tonight is the PhotoNOLA gala. The Gala is being held at the one place in New Orlean's I know how to get to, NOMA. It should be a fun evening, I will meet my festival contact Thom here for the first time, I will have the chance to also meet some very knowlegable and influencial photo-arr folk. I am looking forward to tonight, it should be a great learning experience, what's super cool is that in the same house will be prints of many of my idols, Hine, Riic, Evans, Arbus etc.

Here is a link to the event, they added my photo of Bee to the websites slideshow which was nice of them.

http://photonola.org/photogala/

The Friendly People of the Big Easy

Note* blog written on my return to Canada.

The famous term "The Big Easy" is very fitting for the folks of New Orleans. I do not know if I have ever felt more welcome anywhere (especially in the USA). The people of New Orleans are very friendly, they are so laid back and welcoming, heck even the beggars are friendly. As soon as I arrived in New Orleans I noticed a different feel to the people, I felt very comfortable in quick order. I hope someday I can return to New Orleans and spend more time there.

NOMA

I spent about 5 hours at the New Orleans Museum of Art today (NOMA), I found the shows wonderful and the museum friendly and inviting. NOMA has a very friendly volunteer and security staff, the whole feel of the place was relaxed, it did not have the feel of high end arty farty snobby museum. I liked being in the place, I enjoyed th big easy atmosphere, sometimes art places take themselves way to seriously ( AGA), NOMA does not, I found that very refreshing.

Today I saw work by Edward and Brett Weston, Adams, Evans, Penn, Arbus, Friedlander,Riis, Hine, Frank, Parks, Cartier-Bresson, Brassai, Picasso, Degas, Monet, Manet, Chagall, Modigliani and Braque.

Mr. Red Toes

I am usually very careful choosing what I pack on my trips but this time around I made a bad mistake. Thinking I could save some weight I decided to take only one set of runners a rarely used nice looking black pair I could wear at the opening on Saturday. Problem was the shoes did not fit properly, especially after the flights and the swelling that occurs. I ended up limping my way out of the airport and through the streets of New Orleans, a very painful and uncomfortable experience.

The first order of business after checking into the hotel was finding a proper pair of FITTING shoes. My style over substance choice meant I was left with two bright red little toes and 48 hours of pain and soreness. As good a feeling as I will have this trip was sliding on my new $50 runners and walking in those instead.

*Note to self, choose substance over style in the future.

In New Orleans

Arrived in New Orleans today at 145pm , am now safely in my hotel after a long exhausting day. Tommorrow I want to go to the New Orleons Museum of Art (NOMA) to see Burtynsky's "Water" exhibition.

I just looked through a local free paper called "Gambit" and found a listing for my "Body Sellers" exhibition it's listed in the art show section along with many other shows from PhotoNOLA. It's kind of ironic that in my 3 Edmonton shows I had no exhibition listings in any of the free papers but here in far off New Orleons I do!

Grumpy American Customs!!

What's the deal on grumpy American customs officers? I hate travelling to the USA for 1 reason dealing with the constantly pissed off, constantly sour faced  customs folks. When they wake up in the morning they must eat a grumpy gus pill before coming to work.

I recently went through customs in Thailand, Nepal and Canada and the officers ranged from pleasant to down right inviting and friendly. The lady officer in Edmonton"s USA customs today seemed angry for some reason, very efficient, very fast  but if she smiled her face might have cracked, she sort of gave me the stare of death.

Am now typing this at the Denver International Airport I am waiting for my flight to New Orleans,

Edward Burtynsky's "Water" Exhibition

I am looking forward to seeing lots of great photography when I am in New Orleans.  Edward Burtynsky's new show "Water" is showing at NOMA (New Orleans Museum of Art), his work will the first on my list.

http://burtynsky-water.com/?page_id=86

PhotoNOLA "Body Sellers: The Sex Workers of Thailand" Show

I got some new photos (higher resolution shots than earlier) sent to me today from my PhotoNOLA Exhibition show "Body Sellers". This will be my third solo show (if your count "Human Voices" : ) as a solo).  There are 22 prints in the "Body Sellers" which is a pretty big exhibition. Thanks Thom for hanging the show you did a great job. In a few hours I fly down to New Orleans (my first visit ) to do the opening and artist talk on Saturday the 14th, this should be fun! Now I just need to get over this nasty cough.

http://photonola.org/event/zeitgeist-multi-disciplinary-arts-center/

Scanning Issues

Am having some issues with my scanning, some negs are two curled up to fit into the neg holders. Other negs for some strange reason are coming out sepia toned looking (very brownish). Oh well its only a scan, when I do the real printing I will make your the neg is nice and flat, might put it in a glass carrier if needed.

Cambodian Compound

I made these photos in a Cambodian workers compound not far from my hotel in Bangkok. The compound contained Cambodians and some Burmese, cheap labor used in construction in Bangkok. I am not sure if the workers were legal or illegals. The people were very friendly and quite often I saw children there who lived with their parents.

Young boy Cambodian compound, Bangkok Thailand 2013

Had all kinds of problems scanning this young girl negative. The neg under a loop looks sharp enough, I might be able to do something it later when printing, there is quite a bit more picture on the bottom of this composition (lost it in the scan).

Young girl with father in Cambodian compound, Bangkok Thailand 2013

Video: Khune Go

Khune (Mr.) Go is 53 years old (only 4 years older than me) he sat in this area everyday, later in the day he would  travel down a sometimes busy road sitting on his small skate cart to his nearby home. He would travel down the road very slowly, only a few feet at a time then a long rest and then another few feet and another rest.

I would like to return to this area and photograph Khune Go and the others with the 5x7 camera next trip.

Video: The People Who Live Under The Freeway

Here is a video I made in the first days of the trip when I was photographing a group of people who lived under a freeway bridge along some railway tracks in Bangkok.

Video: Burmese Children Of The Mae Sot Garbage Dump

I have a bit of time now so I thought I would upload a few vids today, this is the second one, the children in the Mae Sot garbage dump were oh so curious!! This is the reason I love people photography, the interaction, the joy of meeting new folks, the fun of being with them and sharing. Living breathing people trump rocks, trees and landscapes every time for subject matter, at least in my eyes. What could be better than spending time with another human being and sharing our common humanity (common lives). The kids below were great, I will share more vids with people from the last trip in the next few days.

Quote: Mother Teresa

"I see God in every human being….Is it not a beautiful experience?"

Video: Looking At Photos In The Dump

Here is a bit of video of the simple joy and fun families had looking at some of the colour snapshots I handed out. The photos were made in May and handed out in November when I revisited the dump. This video was made on my first day back in the dump, the first of 6 days in a row.

Toot Yung Gallery Bangkok Update

I have been exchanging some emails with M... from the Toot Yung Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand. Right now it looks like I will be getting an artist residency there sometime in  late 2014 and a solo show sometime in 2015. I might use the residency to continue the sex worker on white background project, we will have to see how it goes. 

Here is the latest note:

------------

For the residence, I can provide you with the lodging space and space for work. We can also try to get funding perhaps for your plane ticket and daily expenses?? 

I can also have a budget for production of some artwork.

Let me know what you think. I'm now planning the calendar for 2014, I let you know very soon how it goes.

Thanks

M...

Work Part Of The St. Petersburg Florida Museum Of Fine Arts Permanent Collection?

Got a note from a collector friend in Florida today when I told him about the New Orleans show.  Hopefully the work Mr Drapkin bought from me a few years ago is now part of this permanent collection.

-------

"Thanks Gerry. I think some of your prints from the Bob Drapkin collection are now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Fl. Bob and his friend have given over 18,000 photos to the Museum in the past 5 years. I will copy the Museum's curator of contemporary art, Katherine Pill, on this exhibit.

Please keep me posted on your doings. Best, B… …….."

Dump Photos 1

Sometimes I wonder if I can focus a camera, am losing way to many images to focusing problems. In the future I might have to change off to an auto-focus Nikon system, F5 or F6. That would mean buying more lens thou (F1.4 lens), and I do not want to spend money again.

Hygiene garbage still life Mae Sot dump, Thailand 2013

Man sweeping in the dump, Thailand 2013

Daughter, Father, Mother, Thailand 2013

There is a bit of negative at the bottom of these photos of a crying girl (boy?), it was missed in the scan. I wrote about this photo and the photos around it in a earlier blog entry, its linked below.

Child crying in garbage and flies.

http://gerryyaum.blogspot.ca/2013/11/crying-baby-with-flies-on-face.html

Blurring

I am losing lots of images because of focusing issues. The problem is partially a result of some choices I made, I wanted to try and have more motion, more blur in my photographs so this trip shot more freely. If I was in a situation where the focus was off, if the shutter was very low or if the exposure was possibly wrong, I shot anyway. If I saw a possible photos I made the exposure. Its the only way I can learn what works, and what does not, shooting and learning, shooting and learning.

Here is a blurred shot of a female worker in the dump, the image lacks sharpness but has a certain atmosphere to it.

Woman worker, Mae Sot Garbage Dump 2013

Another Early Scan

Many of the negs developed so far this trip are not focused correctly. I need to improve my correct focusing speed and concentrate better on not only getting good compositions but on sharpness. I might have to resort to autofocus cameras if this issues persists into the future.

Here is another early scan of a young boy with dog, made with a 21mm lens. So far are out of focus. Sometimes happy accidents can help a photograph, I had shot 3 or 4 photos of the child when unexpectably up top a slightly ominous looking black dog walked into the frame. The dog adds an element to the photograph that the other negs lack.

Burmese boy child Mae Sot dump, Thailand 2013

Pics Of PhotoNOLA Show Layout

Here are some low quality cellphone snaps of the layout of the "Body Sellers" show in New Orleans at the Zeitgeist Multi Disciplinary Arts Center.  There are 22 photographs in the show, the layout looks good. I hope the humanity and the individuality of the subjects speaks out to the viewers. I hope I have given the workers a voice and told a bit of their story.

http://photonola.org/event/zeitgeist-multi-disciplinary-arts-center/

"Body Sellers" show layout December 2013

First Photo From The Trip, Khune Anapon Cooking

Khune Anaphon (Mr. Anaphon) was amongst the first group of people I shot this trip, strangely enough this negative was amongst the first films I developed and the first I scanned. I shot him in a variety of ways, he almost never seemed to leave his little scrap wood cubicle home and the location was very dark. At various times I tried shooting him with Tri-x rated at 200 a 35mm lens at 1.4 and a very slow shutter maybe 1/15th of a second. I also shot him with bounced, and direct flash and some at Tri-x exposed at 800 ASA (guess I should decide on one technique and stick to it, not hop about so much!).

The bounced flash was used for this photograph. In the pic he is cooking rice from the doorway of his little closet home. I think he bought the rice with the money I gave him.

Khune Anapon cooking dinner, Bangkok Thailand 2013

Here is a link to a Khune Anapon story at about the time this photo was made:

http://www.gerryyaum.blogspot.ca/2013/11/fish-headbone-soup.html

Note* There is a slight crop to the picture, a tiny bit off the bottom and right side, to help sharpen the composition a bit.

The First 8 Rolls

Jet lag or no jet lag I had to see if the film was OK. I developed my first 8 rolls of Tri-x 35mm from this last trip. The first 8 of 207 look fine, that's a frickin relief! No worries about X-rays, no worries about outdated 2012 film etc. Things are looking good! I managed to avoid most X-ray machines this trip, I asked most often if I could get my film hand checked of the 7 machines I faced half the film was only X-rayed 1 time and the other half 2 times (even got it hand checked in Vancouver!!). In the past I have 35mm Tri-x X-rayed up to 5 times without any apparent damage. Now to wash the film, hang it to dry and then to bed. I have a work shift tonight, the first of 7-12 hour night shifts.

$50 Gift Card From B&H

I got another nice surprise on my return from Asia, I got a $50 from Sima for my little artist talk at the UofA a while back. With this card and with the free money from my next blog advertising check of $100 in 4 or 5 months I will have almost enough money to buy 50 sheets of 8x10 Ilford HP5.

Free film is always a great deal, its exciting to think of what you can create with it.

Interview? Behold Photo Blog

In the few hours since  my return from Asia I have been going through the emails from my contact@gerryyaum.com. I could not access this email account from Thailand or Nepal so there was a bit of a back log, most of the emails said I had won 1 000 000 from a Nigerian bank but there were also a few of substance including the one below. Not sure this will happen, I got to the email a bit late but if it does happen it should be fun. The photographs at PhotoNOLA seem to be creating some interest.
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Hello Gerry,

J….. …….. writing from Slate Magazine.

We'd like to do a story on your exhibition, "Body Sellers: The Sex Workers Of Thailand," at PhotoNOLA on our photography blog, Behold.

Would you be interested in doing an interview over Skype or email and showing some of the photos on the blog?

Best,

J…..

Nice Visual Arts Alberta Rejection Letter

I got a very nice rejection letter from the Visual Arts Alberta today, I have shown there in the past and hoped to show work their again (Families of the dump), I will try again next year with the new families photos and maybe some other work. There is also some info on some coming show opportunities, not sure its up my alley but some of you out there might be into it.

Here is the nice personal note sent to me.

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Hello Gerry

Our exhibition met to evaluate the submissions to the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery from our recent call. The quality of submissions was very high so we were unable to choose all the quality work submitted.

Unfortunately your work was not selected for a gallery exhibition. The committee appreciated you taking the time to submit and share with us your wonderful images and concept for a show. I want to tell you about a couple of opportunities that will be coming up shortly.

Next year Visual Arts Alberta will be having two calls for group exhibitions. In mid January a call will go out for "Marking the Valley, " an exhibition that explores the North Saskatchewan  river valley from Devon to Fort Saskatchewan, realistically, conceptually or abstractly in paint, mixed media etc. This juried group exhibition will be displayed at both the Northern and Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditoriums in late summer and fall 2014. This exhibition is a partnership between the River Valley Alliance and Visual Arts Alberta - CARFAC.

In the summer of 2014, Visual Arts Alberta Gallery will be having a Members Show possibly titled "Bread Basket." In our small gallery we will be hanging works that are smaller than a Bread Basket salon style. In our larger Front gallery, we will be displaying selected works that are larger than a Bread Basket. We will be advertising this Members Show in January 2014.

Again I would like to thank you for submitting to our annual call. If you have any concerns, please get in touch.

Sincerely

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Back In Canada!!

Updated On My Return To Canada*

Well after a long but relatively comfortable flight I am back in Canada. The flights are always easier when I can get a bit of extra seating and the way it worked out for me this return trip was great, I had 2 seats on the first plane, 2 on the second and 3 on the third. When you have room to stretch out your legs your journey is so much easier, especially for big dude like myself.

As a bonus one of my sitting companions was a Japanese chef who gave me the heads up on worms in wild salmon. I guess with almost all wild salmon and with some of the farmed fish dead white worms are removed from the fish during the sushi, sashimi preparation (the fish is frozen to kill anything bad and thawed out sometime during this process).

Anyway I am back in Canada safe and sound, now its time to develop the film, do some scans for the blog and eventually submit and print the work.

I Would'nt Want To Be The Chicken

On my last day of shooting in the countryside at the brick making rural area outside of Kathmandu I saw a young man and 2 women walking towards me. The young women were carrying various beautiful flowers, the young man a nice plump content chicken. I was sure exactly what was going to happen but I would not want to be the chicken, they do Hindu sacrifices of chickens and goats here.

Kathmandu In The Day And At 3am In The Morning.

Did a 3am to 530am walk through Kathmandu the other night, it was a totally different world. The streets here have no lights, so after about 2am its almost completely dark outside. You have to walk carefully because the ground is so uneven and its a bit spooky at times, especially near the bat flying area. It seemed so strange to be able to see such bright stars at night, Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal yet the stars were as clear and bright here as they are in the rocky mountains during a camping trip. In the day its chaos, people everywhere, cars honking, people selling, Nepalese and Tourists every few feet and night, nada, nothing at all!

The only down side to the nights walk was it was quite cold and I was bare foot wearing sandals and a light vest (no jacket), I ended up catching a nasty cold as a result. I am struggling now to get over the running nose, sore throat and body aches before I return to Canada. The last thing I want to do is be feeling crappy, coughing and blowing my nose for 24 hours on 3 different planes back to Edmonton. At least this illness happened after my shooting was over, so its not really that big a deal.

Workers Smoking Some Kind Of Narcotic

*Updated in New Orleons

When I was photographing in the brick making area of Nepal outside of Kathmandu I was given access to a bit of the private lives of the workers. I was photographing in an outside area when a group of 5 or so young male ( Bangladeshi? ) workers asked me into the small compound of their living space. In this little bricked in area a small fire was going, everyone was hovering around it for warmth. As they placed their hands over the fire and I was photographing one young man brought out a pipe with some kind of substance in it. He.lit the pipe in the fire and then several workers took very long deep drags off it. They must have been smoking some kind of narcotic because when the big boss man showed up he immediately said to me  "No photos please!" and  waved me off with his hand. the strange thing was the workers asked me and were happy when I photographed them smoking. They probably used the drug to get through their long physically demanding day.

Note* The big boss man is always the guy with the nicest clothes and the most gold. Watch out for him he wants to keep his source of money flowing.

Blind Child Needs Help

I met a young boy child of (maybe 2 years old) a few days ago at the larger Leprosy clinic. The child was born blind but I was told with some funding his sight can be restored through surgery at a local hospital. I got all the contact info the child and will speak to my friend Larry about him, he is a great photographer and a Doctor (Optometrist) and should be able to give me some advice.

Foreigners here in Kathmandu spend thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands on pursuits like mountaineering and trekking, and lesser amounts on things like bungee jumping and boozing it up nightly. Why so me me me oriented, why spend everything on your own selfish pursuits, why not help a young boy be able to see again, why not give him back his life?

Film Done!

I shot the last of my film yesterday, 206 rolls are ready to be taken home and developed. Am pretty exhausted after all the traveling and photographing but as always it was a wonderful trip filled with memorable moments. Hopefully in those 206 rolls there is another show or two, maybe I can also raise some funds with the photographs to help some of the people that allowed into their lives. Doubt I can help much but even a few dollars here makes a difference.