Digging For Jewelery

Last night after dark when I was photographing the garbage digging I came across a old couple. The couple had discovered a stash of costume jewelry in a white plastic bag. There were some damaged items but some were still in good shape. There was a bunch of old glasses and sunglasses, earring still mounted to the plastic display pieces and a few bracelets. The couple excitedly dug through it all and I helped out, we pushed aside the dump garbage and broken jewellery pieces which were scattered on the moist ground. Another lady joined in and 7 hands (one of my hands was holding a camera and shooting) dug about the garbage looking for the good stuff. This was all done under the illumination from our head flashlights.

I ended up taking a discarded key chain for the found objects part of my proposed exhibition in Canada.

Hidden Treasures

Yesterday I was shown 2 hidden treasures by 2 different women yesterday while sitting with them in a lean-to. One lady who's family I have photographed extensively showed me an carefully folded up 1000 (?) Vietnamese bill. She took such care folding and unfolding the bill into a tiny square of paper, rather incredible how delicate the procedure was. The second lady showed me 4 very very small red cut stones (rubies?) folded up on white paper. She opened, handled them and let me take them from here with great care.

Both ladies let me handle their treasures, a certain amount of trust there. Not sure why they did this most likely they were looking to sell them to me.

Children Fishing

The best photos of the day might have been the full body and half body portraits I did of several children fishing. They were walking and crawling in very shallow water feeling through the mud for the tiny fish.  Everything they caught they kept even if the fish was only 1.5 inches long. I shot with both the digital and the Rolleiflex, the Rollie work was much better.

I hope to continue to make good photos with the 120 cameras tomorrow. I need to do 12+ quality rolls of film.

A Pain In The Foot

I have been fighting with a bad large blister on my right foot big toe. Last trip I stepped on a nail and it went throw my bout and into my foot. So I decide to play it safe and bring safety boots this trip. As a reward I now have this large painful blister!

Today when I left for the dump I could hardly walk, the blister had gotten progressively worse over the last 3 days. During the day when the photos were being made I tended to forget the pain, photography has that power. Hopefully this blister issue will not interfere too much with the dump work, heck it's such a tiny thingy. What's a blister in comparison to what the families face?

Working In The Dark??

Working in the dark has become quite difficult. Focusing my cameras is the hardest thing to do, the autofocus on my Canon 5D is having difficulty focusing and I am having difficulty focusing when I switch to manual. Another problem is how do you compose for the action when you cannot see it? Working in the dark is tough!!

I need to shoot more film, tomorrow I will return to my two 120 film cameras. And leave the digi camera in the hotel room.

Gerry x 3

The Gerry stuff continues to mushroom. Today at one point while I was on top of the garbage shooting down on the workers in the dark one person (not sure who as it was pitch black) said "Gerry!" and motioned me to step back so that they could dig at my feet without hitting my toes.

Now the."Gerry" thing has become a safety word.

Second Big Food Buy

I did my second big food buy today. The total cost was 1525.50 and included:

- 7 bags of rice
- 20 cans of fish
- 7 bags of clothes soap
- 4 bars of soap
- 6 instant noodles

My New Superstar

Every new time I visit the dump I seem to find a child that I photograph a lot, that becomes my superstar. My new photo superstar is not a young child but a 74 year old grandpa. I spoke my first Burmese kinda sentence in the dump today to him.

Oo-Lay Antheh Beh Lao Lay? Uncle How old are you?

He is 74 and over the 2 days I have photographed him 3 times. He loves it! A star is born.

In People's Homes?!

I had the opportunity to photograph in one of the dump family homes today. After I gave the young girl her barbie doll I asked the father if I could enter his home, he told me yes. He even offered me a cup of well water which I thanked him for and drank quickly. Being inside the shack was a relatively new experience for me. I had done it one time before back in 2013 when I was loading 4x5 film holders. Inside this second shack allowed me to make photos from a new perspective.

The digi camera was ideal for this type of shooting. I did my best Larry Louie impression (an out handing photographer friend of mine) and shot horizontal photos with my 24mm f 1.4 lens at 2000 ASA.

I will try to gain access and shoot more family home interiors in the coming weeks. I need to be carefull moving my 245lb frame about a small fragile bamboo home is perilous. I do not want to crash through the floor and onto the dog and chickens living below the shack.

Barbie Finds A Home

Today I photographed a very cute young girl outside and inside her family home. I think I made some point and shoot photos of this same child in front of her grandfathers home my last trip. I gave her one of the Barbie dolls that was donated by the young daughter of a co-worker.

The girl was thrilled with her new toy and she immediately became my best friend playing to the camera with big eyes and a great smile, a future super model there. After watching her introduce her new mini Barbie to her original very beat up almost hairless old Barbie I watched her play with tem both. It is moments like this that make up for all the difficulties faced this trip lugging very heavy baggage about the world. As I type this I can still see her laughing and giggling with her new second hand toy.

Tonight as I lay exhausted in my room memories of the day's giving make my foot and back not so sore. Making a child happy, sand giving out food makes up for a lot of back pain.

More Requests

Got lots more requests today. Boots and food and flashlight for people's heads. The workers wear the flashlights when working at night. Will go buy 2 more sets of boots and some head flashlights tomorrow at the Mae Sit market. Am keeping track of all these buys, they are starting to cut into the $1065 CAD that was donated back home. Am happy that money is directly benefiting the families here, the folks back home should be very proud of what their donations are doing.

Handed Out Girl Clothes

The second hand little girls clothing I got from co workers in Canada went fast and furious today. Basically the first time I opened my bag to give some little dresses to the bride and grooms new bay girl child other people came and got the rest of the clothing for their own children. I still have several pieces in my hotel room will try giving those to the Barbie doll family I met today.

Link: The Magic Bag

When I was a young child I used to watch Mr. Dressup on CBC TV. Mr. Dressup was a wonder to me. He would draw wonderful creative pictures and create handicrafts but what I loved most was his "Tickle Trunk" . The trunk was filled with all manner of clothing, hats and costumes. Mr. Dressup would open the ticket trunk vetted dressed up and all manner of fun would ensue.

Yesterday as I was giving out things at the dump I opened up my very large camera bag, the children and adults gathered round to see what as inside. At various times I handed out photos, hats, rubber boots and small dolls. Everyone smiled laughed and had fun. When I first arrived one 30ish lady ran over to get her boots smiling from ear to ear. When I handed out the dolls the children started playing first fixing up the hair.

Today the magic bags wonders will continue. I will hand out more hats, boots, a doll, photos and children's clothing. The kids of the dump eye my bag with wonder and excitement just as I did in my much more privileged background while watching Mr. Dressup's "Tickle Trunk".
Mr. Dressup 1986

Time To Put On My Mosquito Cream And Sleep

Gish there is nothing more exciting as taking a cleansing hot shower feeling great the covering your body with cancer causing, stinky, burning bug cream before sleeping. I just did that, ickity ick, nighty night folks!

Hope I do not wake up at 4am covered in itchy swollen welts.

Whats With All The Yelling?

As the years pass and my visits continue. I have come to know more and more people in the dump and am more trusted now. I have noticed a change. My first trips to the dump, everyone was sort of quiet with me, they sort of warily watched me from a distance. Lately I have had lots of older woman yelling at me. I cannot speak Burmese or the various dialects but I think the yelling is a friendly thing. A cultural way to push and tease-joke. Quite often I seem to be the center of attention (even though I try to avoid it) with a group of ladies speaking very directly at me, usually to the amusement of their friends. I will be walking about making pics when all of a sudden a lady 40+ (younger girls too shy) will stare at me and start speaking loudly, almost yelling. This has happened dozens of times over the last 15 or so dump visits.

I need to learn me some Burmese so I can figure out what the heck is going on. I think I am part of the family now or at least a bit closer.

Night Shooting

Did my first night shooting in the dump, sort of surreal experience. At one point there I am stumbling about on top of the garbage, people singing, very young children working with lights on their caps. Four large files of garbage being fevorously worked over by 60 or so people. I guess it makes sense, it is a lot easier to work at night than the day when the heat is so oppressive.

Seeing the very young. children working was sort of a Lewis Hine moment from the early 1900s before child labor laws came into effect in the USA.

I originally shot with the 6x7 film camera but was having trouble focusing in the dark so switched off to the autofocus Canon digital. Will go back tonight and continue the work.

Dehydrated

Gosh I was dehydrated on returning to my room from the days shooting. I went through 5 bottles of water and an ice tea before I lost my thirst. I need to take better care of myself, ran out of water 2+ hours before I got back to my room. I only had one bottle with me all day. I sweat tons here, even a 10 minute mid day walk leaves me soaked. Today towards the end of the day I felt quite bad, I need more fluids.

It is so difficult to carry extra water. Today I hauled two heavy bags of food, all my camera gear and two sets of boots to the dump. I will take a second bottle of water with me tomorrow as I plan to shoot pics till 8pm or maybe 9.

Boots And Money

Handed out 2 pairs of the cheaper style Chinese today. Have to buy a size 10 for a grandma tomorrow. Also gave out money to 2 families so they could buy some new working tools (a metal hook device on a wooden handle).

"Gerry!"+

Getting called "Gerry" by more and more folks n the dump. It is happening with more often each visit. Today I met the groom and he called me Gerry, also the bride I think, an older person and several children. I got asked my name a few times as well.

"Mod-Day!"

On seeing me all red faced while huffing and puffing and covered in sweat today an older grand motherly women looked at me and said "Mod-Day?".  I had heard this Burmese term before but never quite understood it. Later on I asked JKhun Noy (my Thai driver) To translate, he said it meant "Noo-Iye" which is the Thai word for TIRED-EXHAUSTED.

So basically a much older and in better shape non huffing or puffing  Burmese grand ma took pity on me today. She probably thought I was going to collapse with exhausion right in front of her while foaming at the mouth. Hope I did not frighten her too much.

New Exhibition Items

Picked up two more possible exhibition found items today.

- A old rigid tanned hat (made in Thailand)
- A few child super star cards

Bride And Groom And Family

I met the bride and groom today, the first time this trip. They called out to me when they saw me from one of the dump shanti town lean-tos. I got to meet their second child a young baby of 2-3 weeks I think. When the bride was breast feeding her child she was a bit shy, it was rather cute as she covered her breast from the camera and smiled. I will give them some food tomorrow, bag #1. A very happy couple, fun to be around. Took a photo of the bride as she was looking over my shoulder at pictures I had taken, will post that later. Will also post some pics of their new baby.

Later in the day I met the father of the bride who greeted me very warmly. It was quite dark when I met him and he was wearing a toque so it was hard to recognize him. It was a nice meeting, we have become old friends in a way (the man I gave boots to last trip).. He told me he lives in a different location now, not sure exactly where that is. His old home was in the area that has now been demolished.

It seems that most of the people who lost there homes still work in the dump so their new places must be geographically close.

Larger Food Bags

With the larger amounts of money raised this trip I have been trying to take larger bags of food to the dump. The problem is that more food equals more for old (52) Gerry to carry. I have also had to double bag everything (ran out of bags). Tomorrow I will have to do a second food buy either before or after the days shooting.

An average donation food bag contains:

- 2 bags of rice (heavy)
- 3 cans of fish
- 1 bag of clothes soap
- 1 instant noodle
- combs, toothbrushs, hand soaps
- 3 hats

Covered In Welts

It is 3am, I woke up covered in very itchy large welts. I counted at least 6 mosquito bites. It is quite is tough to sleep when your so itchy. There is lots of malaria in Thailand now, heard stories of people dying, I hope this does not lead to something worse. Put on mosquito repellant  cream will try to sleep asleep again.

Gerry

Today as I was walking with a sore foot from a blister in the heat of the dump I heard from behind me "Gerry". I turned to see the slightly familiar face of an older Burmese man. I think he is one of the leaders in the dump. He smiled at me and said "Ming Gau Lau Bau". Not sure how he knew my name or remembered it but he did.

 Note* One new family that I do not know referred to me as "English" maybe in reference to Fred Stockwell who is English and does a lot of good work in the area.

First Found Items

I picked up my first "Found Items" in the dump today. I want to include some of these pieces in any future exhibition I have of the work. I want to drive home this story to the show viewers in Canada. Today's objects include:

- Two small bottles of caffeine drink
- A stuffed child's toy
- A old comb

I also photographed the item before picking it up, CSI like.

Handed Out Two Dolls Today

One of the very young girls who was quite afraid of me last trip became m friend today. Gave her two dolls that the young daughter of a coworker back in Canada donated. After I gave her the dolls she followed me about very closely, smiling and staring at me silently. Her young brother combed the small dolls hair with a toothbrush then tied it up with a elastic band before giving it back to his sister. Made some photos will share then later.

Boy Covered In Flies

For a second I thought he might be dead but he was only sleeping, One of the young boys I photographed back in Nov-Dec was laying in his family shack with flies all over his mouth and eyes. When he moved to brush them away, I knew he was still alive. I have seen flies here before but this was a whole other level. How can he live like this day to day? Made a video and took some photos but I think I failed to tell this poor child's story properly. This is the ugly, ugly part of the lives the families have here.

Boots Better Late Than Never!

Today my first day back in the dump I kept a promise I made back in December 2015. I gave some size 11 boots to a family that had requested them. That day back in December when they asked for the boots was my last day in the dump. I had hurt my back and was rather exhausted, I was unable to get the boots to the. before I left Mae Sot.  I always felt bad about that, felt I owed the family, that I let them down. Today I made up for my screw up, the mother got her boots.

Who? Me? Fatter!! No Way!

Now I could be completely wrong on this, Burmese is not my language but one of the ladies today who was working the garbage seemed to be teasing me that I had gotten fatter! Now like I said I am probably 100% wrong on this one but several of the ladies were laughing and pointing at my ever so slightly more chubby face and stomach! In between "Ming gau lau bay's" (Hello's) there was plenty of giggling and joking. :(( They were probably actually saying how unbelievably handsome I had become, almost Brad Pitt like! :))

Dr. Gerry?

I heard about illnesses from multiple people today. One man showed me his swollen right knee and spoke of his inability to walk. Another grandma told and acted out stories (the dropping ohf a pail from her head) of the pain and difficulty her 14 year old grand daughter had with her right wrist.

Not sure what they expect me to do.  Maybe I need to do some medical training, Dr. Gerry to the rescue?

Will Photograph At Night

I have decided to try and photograph after dark in the dump. I plan on using a flash with the Plaubel Makina 67. Not sure how well this will work. Focusing should be difficult. I also do not wnt to blind the workers or interfere with their ability to do their jobs. What they are doing for their families is more important than my chasing photographs. I have a head band flashlight and a small hand held unit hopefully they will help me from falling on my ass and allow me to work.

Big Food Buy

Did a big food buy today after the dump visit. Bought 10 bags of rice, 19 cans of fish, 6 bags of clothes soap, 6 instant noodles. The cost was 1641 baht. Will start delivering the food tomorrow. Not sure where I will start as many of the homes I donated to in 2015 are now gone. I might have to start giving to areas farther inside the garbage dump or on the dumps outside edges. Many workers live in these fringe areas. This all means I will have to carry the goods and my camera gear farther. It will be difficult. Today was only my first day back but my whole body hurts.

Requests For Boots And Rice

I got multiple request for supplies today. Got asked for two boots, size 10 and 10 1/2as well as rice. Will deliver that stuff tomorrow.Word has definitely spread that I buy boots.

Children Sledding On Garbage! AMAZING

Saw something amazing today, something I have never seen before. Two young boys wearing old beat up motorcycle helmets sledding down a hill of garbage, incredible! Children will find joy and fun in the most difficult environments. When I was. A child I used to sled down clean cold hills of Canadian snow, here in the dump they do it on garbage. The boys used a shiny piece of metal possibly from the wheel trim area of a car to ride on.

I made a few portraits and a far off wide angle video, will post them later.

You should have seen the joy on the faces of these young children. The feeling of the beauty and the ugly in this scenario is mind boggling. Why do children have to live and play in worlds like this? People in the West are more in concearned with their cats and dogs than the young lives I saw today. And yet even in this most difficult of situation these young boys found a way to laugh and have fun.
The human experience is so deep and confusing.

Many, Many, Many Hellos! "Minga La Bah!"

My first day back with the families I was showered with "Ming Gau Lau Bau's" (Hello's). More than 10 different people maybe 15 said hello to me first. A few people who did not know me were afraid or stand offish, not smiling, heads turned away but the vast majority greated me warmly with a smile and sometimes a laugh. It was relaxing and good to be back with these families again.

One older man who's family I have photographed extensively ran up to me yelled out a hello, waied me (a sign of respect , you raise your hands together at face level) then as a bonus shook my hand vigorously. Through this whole procedure he laughed and smiled showing missing and red stained teeth. It was all rather remarkable as most Burmese people are rather subdued when greeting others in social situations. A memory I will take back with me to Canada when I am working my long security night shifts.

First Day Back In The Domp: "Shell Shocked!"

Am overwhelmed a bit shocked at what I found today on returning to the dump. I have so much to write about that I do not know where to start.

The first thing that I saw which was a huge slap in the face was that 10+ homes were gone! Where were they? Nothing remained! The well was still there but noting else. Where were the families I had photographed just 4 short month ago? When I saw that empty space it was shocking, there was so much life there before, and now nothing! There was a nearby shanti lean-too type area nearby. I am not sure if this is temporary housing or just an area the workers spend time in during there work day, sorting bottles etc,

After asking question, lots of questions I learned that most of those families had been relocated. I am not sure if they still work the garbage or not. I found one man from that group of families in another part of the. He greeted me with excitement, calling out to me from the distance. He told me he lived alone now, not sure what happened to his wife and children. He asked me for some boots after showing me his old damaged pair, he needs Thai size 10 1/2.j

Update* After my second day at the dump I came to realize the shanty area is where the families sort their scavenging and rest during the hottest part of the day.

In Mae Sot!

After a 8 hour overnight bus ride from Bangkok I arrived in Mae Sot. I just checked into my hotel and unpacked. There were 4 security checks along the route today, 2 more than normal. The Thai immigration and police folks are working overtime, checking for drug and human trafficking activity.

The hardest part of the trip for me was lugging my heavy camera bag along with my 59lb donation suitcase.through the streets of Bangkok and through the Northern Bangkok bus terminal "Mochit". Just when I thought I had finally found my bus platform #38 things got worse. A Thai boy showed up with a lit up orange wand (Harry Potter like) then led us all through the running bus clogged streets up and over multiple curbs to another waiting area. 15 minutes later a Thai woman led us over another 4 or 5 curbs to our tour bus, thank goodness my bag had wheels or I would never had made it!

After that things went well. I was given a prime seat on the bus up top in the front allowing me to stretch my legs. Was seated next to a young police recruit and we spoke a bit. On my left was a young gitl from Burma and an older man I do not think he was family (trafficking the young pretty girl?)This poor girl seemed frightened, she had scared eyes especially the multiple times she was asked to show her passport by intimidating men hovering over her in uniform (including the rude bus driver). What will her life be like? Took her photo will post it later.

Will get  some sleep and then do an afternoon visit to the dump. Many blogs and updates to follow, stay tuned. Nighty night!

Note*  My second donation suitcase is in storage waiting in Bangkok for my next trip to Mae Sot in around 20 days. Hopefully less lugging through the streets with that 50+ pounder.

Am Off To Mae Sot!

Finally taking the overnight bus to Mae Sot tonight. I am on an extra tour bus with no set seat as it is Songran festival her in Thai and the buses are jammed full. This is dangerous time of year for traveling in Thailand, there are thousands of deaths a year on Thai roads each Songran.

If I do make it to Mae Sot intact I will start shooting and handing out the boots immediately. I am taking one 50+ lb bag with me plus camera bag with me this trip and the second bag with rest of the goods next trip to Mae Sot.

Saying Goodbye To "The People Who Live Under The Freeway"

Today was my last day in Klong Toey slum. I visited the two people who live under the freeway Khu Anapon and Khun Ooh to say goodbye till next year. I think I visited them 5 times this trip. Not a lot of visual action around them. Sort of do the same photos of the again and again. This trip I did photograph them with the Canon digital which was a bit different.

When I arrived this morning Ooh was very happy, she smiled and waved me over with her skinny arm saying "sawatdee ka" (hello). I had not been there for 2 days. I think she was surprised to see me again. She kept telling the nearby motorcycle taxi drivers that I was "Jai Dee!, Jai Dee!!", which means he has a "Good Heart" (a kind and good person).

I photographed Anapon and Ooh for 45 minutes or so before telling them I would return next year. I gave each of them 100 baht (3.80 CAD) which they were very happy with. Khun Ooh was extremely happy, she gave a cry of joy when I handed her the money and kept looking at and counting the 5-20s over and over again after that.

Note* I might be returning with a small present for Khun Ooh. She has a dog who lives with her in her small room. The dog can be rather aggressive with strangers (always barking at me) and tends to bite. I am going to try and buy him a mouth strap, to prevent him biting people. Hope I can give it to her this trip, if not then next year.

Digi Point And Shoot Photos #2

A few more digi"Dream Scape" shots.

Self Portrait #1

Homeless Man #1

Taxi Driver #1

Street #16

Street #17

Street #13 "Dinner"

Thai Flag #2 (Slight Crop)

Street #11 "Lady White Hat" (Cropped)

Street #12 "Masked Man"

Fair #7 "Couple"

Train #2

Street #9 "Som Loh Driver"

75 And Kicking!

After fighting my way through a very hot Thai afternoon in Mahachai I met a fun and joyful person who worked on the fishing boats. He was a 75 year old man who was so filled with life that it was a pleasure to be around him.. This man was constantly laughing and sharing stories. He spoke at length with me about the 6 Buddhist amulets he wore round his neck. He was still a strong man and at one point hopped to work tying down the boat. I never did ask his name (my bad), will post some photos of the portraits later.

With Some Fisherman

I visited Mahachai today which is 1 hour by bumpy train from Bangkok. Mahachai is a fishing town with a large seafood market. The highlight of the day was 1 hour or so that I spent on 2 docked fishing vessels interacting and photographing the crew. It was fun to joke and speak to all of them. The only 2 that were too shy to talk were two young teenage(15?) boys from Burma. I shot a bunch with the Canon digital which luckily I had brought along. Will post those photos on my return to Canada. Today's adventure was another example of the importance of speaking some Thai, it helps gain access to photo ops.

Digi Point And Shoot Photos

Thinking of calling this series made with my dying Sony RX100 II, "Dream Scapes".

Street #7 "Som Loh Driver" (Cropped)

Street #7 "Som Loh Driver"

Street #6 "Ferry Man"

Thai Flag #1 

Child #2

Fair #2 "The Queen"

Child #1

Street #4 "Street Man-Beggar" (Cropped)

Fair #3 "Viewing Pickpocket Criminals"

Fair #1 (Cropped)

Street #2 "Bus"

Street #3 "Moving Bus"

Street #4 "Street Man-Beggar"

Bangkok Digi At Night

Over the last several days I have been making digital shots at night in Bangkok. Am just quickly shooting handheld with the Sony point and shoot as I move about the city on various adventures. I like the feel of many of these photographs which are filled with motion and swirling colors.

My Sony used camera seems to be breaking down as it often makes strange grinding noises which sucks big time. Sometimes when you buy used you get screwed! So far the camera continues to make   pictures. Later I will do up a Blurb magazine and maybe a gallery submission of the best stuff.

Covered in Sweat!

The last two times I went out to photograph "The People Who Live .Under The Freeway" I was not able to do a portrait of Khune Ooh because she had left to work. Today I went out earlier leaving my hotel at 9am and walking down to the freeway. She was at home and I did some photos of her of Khune Anapon (who is always at home) and some nearby train cars.

I was out for about 45 minutes, from around 9am to 945am and came back to my room covered in sweat! Back in my hotel I needed to take yet another shower. Gosh it's so damn hot in Bangkok even in the morning after 10 minutes your all sweaty.

The plan is to go out later in the day to the boxing gym and do some more close up portraits after the boxers work out and have sweat on their faces. I will also return to the "The People Who Live Under The Freeway" portraits one more time tomorrow morning. Will move onto other subjects after that, not sure what. I plan on heading to Mae Sot around the 8th.

Finding My Rhythm

I am finding my rhythm now, today was my best days of shooting. I photographed a number of children in KlongToey for "Forgotten Laughter"' Khune Annapon for "The People Who Live Under The Freeway" and several boxers for "Muay Thai Slum Boxer".

I worked with one camera today. The Rolleiflex and Tri-x calmed my shooting. Using film only was refreshing and invigorating. It was a good day. Hot as hell all day, I sweat like a pig but some good photos were made. I need many more good shooting days like today.

Link: Ilford ULF Film Buy

Am making inquiries into the pricing for Ilford ULF Film. Ilford does an annual run of ULF sizes in there Delta, FP4 and HP5 film types. I am checking the pricing of 16x20 25 sheet boxes and the HP5 20 inch x 100 foot fim roll. My best bet will probably to order throu Calgarys Camerastore then pick the film up (save on shipping) when I do my camping trips through that area later in the summer/fall.

The deadline for the buy is May 26. More to follow. Here is the ULF Ilford buy link (Thank Jim G).
http://www.ilfordphoto.com/products/page.asp?n=137

Dump Plans

Trying to figure out the best way to get all the donations and gear to Mae Sot from Bangkok. The best plan might be to do 2 trips like last time, each trip running 7-10 days. That way I could split up the gear and donations allowing for much easier travel. It might go like this:

Trip #1, half the boots and hats, children's clothes. My 120mm film and cameras plus the digital camera.
Trip #2, the rest of the hats and boots, toys, clothes. My 5x7 camera and gear plus the 35mm. Leica.

In between trips I need to do a visa run. I have to leave Thai and renter to get a second arrival visa allowing me another 30 days in Thailand. Where to go thou? I could go to Cambodia or Laos but might do something more exotic, a European country? Italy? Amsterdam? It would be for a short time, maybe a week or so. Worried about the cost of Europe. Always dreamed of seeing the Sistine Chapel in Rome,

Going Slowly

Not much happening here. I did a few forgotten laughter Rolleiflex portraits yesterday in Klong Toey also some digi stuff at the boxing gym. Shooting a fair amount of bad photos, I need to pick up my game. Will take out the Rollie only today and photograph the people who live under the freeway and the Muay Thai boxers.

One possible stronger subject yesterday were some portraits of a extremely drunk Thai man named Champoo 58 years old. Made the photos on the edges of Klong Toey slum, near the Migrant workers home. He was climbing all over me drunk as a skunk, barking out orders, reeking of booze, even the local Thai women were put off by him. Maybe something visually compelling there.