Shelter Dogs Receive Vaccine

Just thought I would post and update on the dog vaccines that were bought and delivered to the shelter (Piam Suk Dog's House) before I left Thailand in July. These photos are a bit older but show a few of the 100 dogs being injected.

For those that helped thank you so much. The dogs at the shelter are now protected, they received vaccines for rabies and 4 other types of dog diseases. Thanks to you!

Am hoping to help this shelter again if we can next trip. The dogs are former street dogs from Bangkok, now well taken care of. Will also try to do a series of photographs highlighting the lives of homeless stray dogs in Thailand next trip. Their barks need to be heard.

Note* These injections were done after I left Thailand.

Donated vaccines, thanks to you.

The former street dogs now have a happy life, and lots of friends!

Many of the dogs are scared of needles.

The last day I was there this dog (forget his name have it written somewhere) was very friendly to me. He would come up to me and want to be petted. As soon as he saw some of the other dogs getting needles, he left in a hurry!! Guess he has needles somewhere in his past and was frightened by them. In this photo he looks not to bad thou, more like a 'GET IT OVER WITH!" attitude.

All the vaccines have been used now. 100 dogs protected, thanks again folks.

Quote: Mark Twain

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot."

Cool Story On An Iconic Photo

Here is the story behind the iconic Burk Uzzle Woodstock picture.

NY TIMES, Burk Uzzle Wood Stock Couple Pic

Couple, Woodstock 1969 by Burk Uzzle

Quote: Danny Trejo (Actor)

"Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else, Everything."

Danny Trejo Saves A Baby

A wonderful photograph of Danny Trejo

Quote: Jimmy Carter

"What is needed now, more than ever, is leadership that steers us away from fear and fosters greater confidence in the inherent goodness and ingenuity of humanity."

Quote: Beto O'Rourke (Politician)

On President Donald Trump.

"He’s not tolerating racism; he’s promoting racism.”

Mom Smile/Laugh

A happy pic of mon made today. Not sure the later photos in this mom illness project (dementia) are going to be happy, so it was nice to get smile and laugh shots today.

Mom from today, @=25600 ASA

Hasselblad X1D, First Photo Of Mom

This is my first attempt with my new-used X1D Hasselblad. The photo is of mom for her health photographic series, documenting her fight with dementia. Not sure what the pictures will be like just now, how I want to shoot it, but this is a nice start. Will probably do photos using a variety of cameras, the X1D will be used to create a series of head shots, made through the months and years, as the her disease progresses. So this photo might be one in a series of several hundred heads made over the next several years.

I want to tell moms story with honestly but with respect and kindness as well. The high quality files give so much detail, am not used to that just yet. Need to use the added file sizes and the detail to their best effect. I can use my 35mm Tri-x shooting for 1 look, allowing blur and non detail to tell a story, with the X1D it will be the opposite. It is nice to have both tools in my camera bag now. Telling important stories in as many ways as possible is always more fun and challenging.

Note* With my two new used X1D batteries I will have a total of 4 to use!! I still owe about $3000 CAD on the camera but should be able to pay it off over the next few months. Then I can shoot guilt free! So far I quite like the X1D, the auto focusing and the manual focusing (especially the manual) are a joy to use. The tonality and extra detail from he larger files are amazing!! Am eager to try the unit out in Asia, in 2020, wish I would have had it last trip!

Mom, July 31 2019, X1D Hasselblad, 800 ASA, 1/40 F4, 45mm Lens (slight crop).

Picked Up 2 Used Hasselblad X1D Batteries

I picked up 2 extra batteries for my Hasselblad X1D today. Finding these items new (hard to) is expensive, usually over $100 USD. Picked up two supposedly lightly used batteries for $190 CAD with free shipping to Edmonton. Buying used batteries is dodgy, hope they work well for me. I needed back ups for working in the field especially in places like the dump, the X1D is a bit of a battery hog. Buying and carrying lots of batteries is one of the joys of the digital photo age. I now have 4 batteries for the camera, more than enough if these 2 latest ones function properly.

Hasselblad X1D Rechargeable Battery 3400 mAh H-CP.HB.00000238.01

Quote Diane Arbus

A photograph is :

“Like a stain, You can turn away but when you come back they’ll still be there looking at you.”

Quote: Marvin Hagler (Boxer)

"It's hard to wake up at 5 am to do road work when you're sleeping on silk sheets."

Quote: James Whitmore (Actor)

"I have no regrets, real regrets about any darn thing . . . I think second-guessing one's self and your life is the most futile thing in the world."

Quote: Pablo Picasso

“Art is a lie that tells the truth.”

“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.” 

http://www.pablopicasso.net/self-portrait-1901/ 

 

Self Potrait, Blue Period 1901

Wrote Magnum Photo Agency

On Jim's advice I did send a message to the world famous Magnum Photo Agency. They promptly applied with a thoughtful and friendly email. Am sending a second email tomorrow with more details on "Families of the Dump" and especially the donation work done there. Magnum Photo seems like a nice place, filled with good people. I have 2 experiences with them, I met Josef Koudelka at the agency in Paris a few years back and now this nice email reply.

https://gerryyaum.blogspot.com/2010/05/mr-joseph-koudelka.html

Having some good days as of late! "Ain't Photography Grand!!"

Email: Another Nice Email

Got another nice email from Jim, the person at the gallery who wrote me a few days ago (see previous Email blog). We exchanged info and will stay in contact. Feel quite good that the photos had a positive impact on him, maybe the photos do have some power. He wrote something interesting about failure, and how not to think of it in that manner. Wanted to share it all with you folks out there in internet land.

We will try to stay in contact, we exchanged personal contact info. The internet can be such a great thing. I am making so many friends in this cyber world, people I would never have met otherwise.

Will be calling another friend Larry from Texas on Monday-Tuesday who is helping me out with my digital printing. :). There are so many good people out there.

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Good Morning Gerry.

Thank you for your e-mail. 

In my opinion, your work is as important as W. Eugene Smith's Minamata Series. Please do not underestimate your talent or the quality of your work. A very important element of your work is the passion and commitment which you bring to it. 

Rejection, unfortunately, is an element of the creative process. Instead of interpreting it as a failure in you or your work, take it as a challenge to work harder, do better, be better and to prove the Nay Sayers wrong. J. K. Rowling was told numerous times that Harry Potter did not interest the publishers. Now, she is one of the richest authors in the world. Who was right?

The more you shoot, the more you will grow and learn from your experience. Keep up the great work.

My contract with the Art Gallery ends in 4 months. I would like to stay in touch. My personal e-mail is  ----------. My cell # is -----------.

Take care. Good luck with everything. 

Jim ---------

Acting Coordinator, Programs & Exhibitions

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Tel:---------

Fax:--------

Installed Newest Firmware Into My New-Used Hasselblad X1D

I updated the firmware in my Hasselblad X1D (1.22). The camera seems to function a bit better now, no freezing and rebooting. I also have access to many more camera abilities after the firmware install. For example I can select different functions for different buttons as well as shoot in a multitude of format sizes. Will start out shooting in 6x6 and move on from there.

Am still playing with and learning the camera. Setting up the custom modes, figuring the best way to shoot what. Plan on using the camera next week to do some portraits of mom (part of the series documenting her Dementia illness) and will do a few portraits of my friend Larry, who has a strong face for pictures.

Email: A Nice Pat On The Back

Got a nice email yesterday. After all the rejections it is a good feeling to get something positive feedback sent to you. I had sent in a link to to the Asia Photo Review interview and "Families of the Dump" photos to a mid level public gallery here in Alberta Canada. I removed the personal information to protect the identity of this kind person.

The Asia Photo Review, Interview And "Families of the Dump" Story

Note* Today on a bit of a long shot lark I sent an email with a link to the Asia Photo Review story to the MAGNUM PHOTO AGENCY. This a long long shot at best, but just wanted to make them aware of the photographs, maybe the email below is pushing me to be a bit more aggressive in my promotion of the families story.

Note** For those of you that do not know, MAGNUM is a the best photo agency in the world, started by the legendary Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Seymour George Sanders and  William Vandivert in 1947. The place is the holy grail of social documentary concerned photographers and photography.

Note*** Sebastiao Salgado is a former Magnum member and in my opinion the greatest photographer alive. I idolize the man and have all his books, movies and interviews. To have his name in an email anywhere near security guard Yaum's, is the highest of honors.

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Hello Gerry,

For much of my adult life, I was a freelance photographer in the Ottawa region. I worked in many fields of photography. Some of my clients included TIME, Maclean's and Harrowsmith Magazines, as well as others.  Your pictures are very powerful, as is the story which accompanies them. Have you ever submitted your work to the World Press Photography Competition which, I believe, is based in the Netherlands. I feel your work would gain quite a bit of exposure if it was selected as having merit by the World Press Photo group.

In the article, you mention Henri Cartier-Bresson. Have you ever approached the Magnum Photo Agency with your work? Your images remind me of the work created by many of their talented photographers. The images also remind me of Sebastio Selgado's images of diamond miners. 

I do not have any input on the work which is selected for the Art Gallery's exhibitions. Speaking personally, I hope you have great success with your career. You are doing very important and significant work which needs to be seen. 

Jim ------

Acting Coordinator, Programs & Exhibitions

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Tel:-----------------------

Fax:----------------------

The New Used Hasselblad X1D Medium Format Camera Has Arrived

On July 8th I bought a Hasselblad Medium Format Digital Camera. My new-used X1D Blad arrived today from Greenwich Village New York.

The camera is extremely expensive, especially for someone like me on a security guard salary. I was able to get this slightly beat up version and camera body with the 45mm lens for an OK price of $4700 USD (my max bid was $5001 USD). I still need to scrounge to find all the money to pay for, but it will get paid for eventually. Luckily I have some extra time to pay off my credit card as the camera payment will come not in this months bill but next months.

I have 2 projects planned for the camera. Next year I hope to take a 16x20 camera to Thailand to do a project on evolving Thailand, the mixing of the old and the new, the Thailand from before and the Thailand now. I thought having 2 cameras from 2 different eras, from 2 different technologies might work well. It would fit the theme of old and new, mixing to make one. The plan is to do the landscape, slumscape, cityscape work with the 16x20 Chamonix and all the people portraiture with the Hasselblad X1D digital.

The second X1D Blad project will be devoted to the last years of my mother life. I plan on doing a series of portraits of her using this new digital. Mom is in the early stages of Dementia. With her love and permission I will use the high end digital files to tell her story. A story that might help others in the future who suffer from the same disease. I want the photos to be both uplifting and honest.

Here is the camera complete with a burn from an incense stick, near the hot shoe. That superficial stuff means nothing to me. I just need the camera to work as it should. Need those higher details filed so I can make 4 foot by 4 foot sized detailed prints if needed.

My new used Hasselblad X1D

Hard Copy Book Layouts

For fun am working on a couple of hard copy book layouts. I bought 2 nice binders from Goodwill today, $1.75 each. So thought I would do up a couple of hard copy form book print outs. My friend Larry is my inspiration here. He is printing a major and important book of his life in photography, at a cost of over $60000. I do not have the money to self publish as he is doing, and no publisher will pay to publish a book of my photographs but I can make up these little home made binder book efforts myself. I will just do it for the joy of doing it.

The 2 binder books will be on "Families of the Dump" and "The People Who Live Under The Freeway"series. Most of the images will be from this last trip. I will give this my best effort. I plan on putting no titles with the pictures, will just do up a basic written intro about the 2 projects, explaining their history, with 50 or so pics followiing. I will let the pics speak for themselves. There is a simplicity and honesty to that. I like the single photo with a white mat look, with no photograph to the edge bleeds, no images half hidden in the books binding, and no multiple photos per page stuff. Having a single picture all by itself with no text, surrounded by white allows for simple and beautiful look. Text can be helpful but it often  detracts from the viewing experience. I want the viewer to put their own, thoughts, feelings and stories to the photographs, that is what a great poem, song and novel does. Good art allows the readers-viewers to fill in the blanks, using their own imaginations and life experiences to complete things.

Update* Some relevant  comments from a personal and facebook friend Pieter, on captions for photos. Thought I would share it here so we could all benefit from his well thought out reply to my post.

"It makes sense to strive for clarity and simplicity. I prefer an approach that is factual and straightforward when it comes to documentary work. I try to avoid captions or titles that editorialize other people's lives or sensationalize the content. Melodramatic captions reveal more about the photographer's biases/assumptions/privilege than they about any external reality -- and they often reinforce negative stereotypes about "the other" by reducing people to victimhood. (And sometimes introductions and captions serve to glorify the photographer, which is even more cringe-worthy -- playing into tired old tropes of heroic adventurers and selfless humanitarians.) Another consideration is to provide a thorough and balanced description of the context in which the photos were taken and our relationships to the people we are photographing. This moves our work to a deeper and more ethically responsible level. If we are serious about the work, we need to avoid being "accidental tourists" who parachute into communities looking for award-winning photos only to return to lives of relative affluence. I appreciate your commitment to work in a responsible manner. Authentic relationships are more important than images."

2 prints from "Families of the Dump"

New ULF Soft Focus Lens

A beautiful new ULF soft focus lens is being made. It is simply wonderful to see a NEW ULF lens being built in 2019!! Older types of photographs can now be made with brand new gear, WONDERFUL! The best of both worlds, new and old combining to create great art.

New Soft Focus ULF Lens

TT Pictorial Soft Focus Lens

New 5x7 Images

This week off in between times setting up my mom in her new home, been doing some printing of new photos. I am working on putting some small sample prints together for the Library manager person. 

Since this display of dump imagery is at a public library setting,including lots of kids. I am getting the library manager to do the final selection of the prints to be used. I am making up 35-45 small 5x7 prints for her to choose 10-12 photos from. I will then print her choices large on 17x22 paper before matting and presenting them. 

I also have some dump artifacts (old dirty teddy bears) I hope to include in this display thing-exhibition. They will be kept in large glass bottles for safety-sanitary reasons. Will also make up a display of the donation-humanitarian work window for the library visitors to see. Showing donation work might lead to some more generosity, compassion and kindness. Good things usually happen when we show the work, hope that will continue.

An old lady walks the garbage, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thialand, 2019

Dumpscape, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thialand, 2019

Mother dog with her young friendly puppy, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thialand, 2019

Dumpscape 2, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thialand, 2019

Smoking after waking up in the garbage, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thialand, 2019

Two men in their dump shelter, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thialand, 2019

Bags Repaired

Well Air Canada came through in the end. A week or so ago I took my damaged bags to the Edmonton airport Air Canada baggage area, I left my damaged bags with them. I had filled out a report over the telephone a few days earlier, so it was a quick 5 minute drop off procedure. Today my bags returned!  I came home and they were sitting on the front steps, in 2 wet boxes. The bags had been repaired and replaced!! My dads old Samsonite has a new-used combination lock on it and the second bag which was torn badly was replaced with a brand new bag of similar style!

So now I have the 2 bags I can use for my 2020 Thai trip. I am very happy that I can continue to use my fathers gifted hard case Samsonite bag for my future Asian journeys. Dads thoughtful gift to me will continue to to haul all kinds of important gear to the "Land of Smiles".

Note* I might be taking my 16x20 camera and gear next trip!! I will probably get a pelican heavy duty bag of some kind for my Chamonix 16x20.

Repaired Samsonite Bag

Replaced new bag

Print #2 Library Show

Was working on library show print #2 today after my security night shift. Still have the margin centering problem (watching some Lightroom tutorials tonight on YouTube) and am trying to figure out how to get the soft brownish tone I want in the print. I experimented with a number of setting to achieve the color I want. I will probably settle on something not too creamy but with a hint of brown in the prints blacks. In the darkroom I have always been a fan of that Agfa warm tone look in a print, am trying to achieve something similar digitally.

This young boy was photographed on one of my last days in the dump. I hung out and spoke with numerous people from the family (5 or 6?) in their home and made this pic along the way. The little child was dancing around all the time I was speaking. Making this kind of photo requires multi tasking. Your speaking Thai a bit of Burmese to 6 people at once (your always the center of attention), while making photos at the same time. Meanwhile your covered in sweat and flies.
I often wonder how the families can stay in the dump day after day, for me a few hours and I am wasted, can't wait to get away. Am dreaming of a hot shower and my A/C room with refrigerated cold water. If you have no choice thou you must put up with it, learn to deal with things as best you can. I admire the strength of the families so much. Even little babies like boy in this photo are stronger than I an.

Sometimes I think compassion and understanding only comes when you put the other guys shoes on for a while. Wouldn't it be cool to put a right wing billionaire into the dump world. To force him/her to live there for 1 week or 1 month or 1 year. Make them eat, wash, sleep, sh-t, and WORK in that world. A world this child can not. even dream of leaving. Someone like Donald Trump not being able to leave the filth of the dump. I wonder if that would change his views on certain things. Would it open up some compassion and empathy for the OTHER person, the OTHER life, the OTHER religion, the OTHER culture, the OTHER sex, the OTHER race.

Different shades of brown.

Quote: Chief Dan George

"A child does not question the wrongs of grown-ups, he suffers them!"

Printing Begins For Library Show

This morning after my night shift I spent a few hours trying to make up the first photograph I will show in the coming small library exhibition thing. Never had a show with only digital photos before, or with digital photos in b/w.

I have settled on the MOAB ENTRADA NATURAL RAG 300 paper. Seems acceptable. Hopefully I can make 10-12 prints with this stuff for the exhibition. Going to concentrate on printing the new digital shot work but will also try scanning some older negs and digitally printing them as well. I prefer darkroom made photographs to digital prints but thought I would give this a try.

Note* As you can see lots to work on yet, screwed up the margins and there is a red tint in the large 13x19 print.  I plan to print on 17x25 inch paper for the show.

Note** This photo was made less than a month ago. Young Woo Wee Kai might still tonight be sleeping in this same shelter. When I was there in June the family donators gave the family, small money (used for food), boots, headlamps and food (rice, canned fish etc.).

Woo Wee Kai in the dump tent she slept in with her father, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thailand 2019