In my late 20's friends asked me to go travelling in Thailand with them. I could not refuse. I had just spent all my reserves on a Nikon F3 system so could ill afford it but consoled myself with the thought I could sell the images on my return. I phoned a couple of magazines to see if this was possible and one person told me to take photos of children, especially working as that would stand a good chance of being sold. As it was, there were plenty of children around but none seen working. Adults were harder to find to photograph and I assumed they were either all working or inside out of the heat. I never did find anywhere to sell my work, I didn't try looking and don't think any was sellable anyway. Apart from the first year of return when I printed some of the shots, the 32 rolls of film, one for each day of travel, stayed inside a blue folder for 40 years.
The new Sigma fp L camera has allowed me to finally get them copied and published. The set up was distinctly Heath Robinson (photos at page bottom) but it worked and with luck wont be needed again.
There are many different ways I could have catalogues these black and white imagas of Thailand and each had its own problems. I decided to display them collated in chronological order. Many photos are missing as they were not worth displaying and a couple of entire rolls are missing as they were boring; the trip to Koh Samui and Phuket as it was mostly just beach, sea and sand and a trip to a waterfall in a wild-life park.
1: A temple in Bangkok.
A temple roof intersection showing lots of tiles and Thai architecture.
Our first day out in Bangkok was to go to a local temple. My first day in a country other than a couple of weeks in Malaga, Spain. I had never experienced anything so different and I was immediately impressed with the Thai people. They were happy, friendly and relaxed. They worked together too, as a team, helping out when necessary. I remember all four of us in a bicycle Tuk Tuk, the back wheels in the deep of the road's camber and a few other drivers immediately came to help push the whole thing out without our driver even asking. They just knew and never shirked the duty. It was a good indication of how these people lived.
This slideshow contains one of my most favourite of my photographs ever; the young woman looking away from me. We had just got on a coach or bus to travel within Bangkok and she was already in the window seat, looking out. Her face was serene, wistful, melancholy - at least to my eye. I took two photos quickly so as not to disturb her and stopped myself from taking more.
The younger woman selling flowers, I wish I had bought some to pay for the shot but it never occurred to me at the time - I was too busy being overwhelmed by . . . everything.
I love the shot in the cafe too, with the young woman with her father spotting me taking her photo.
One of my travelling friends was a biologist and wanted to stay at a National Park. While there I wandered off on my own to look for an interesting shoot.
I came across a large lake with lots of dead tree trunks sticking out of the surface, all black from being burnt. How those trees burnt above a lake still eludes me.
I took a couple of photos and noticed three young men in the water on the opposite side. I waved to them and they waved back, all smiles. To my surprise they jumped onto their log raft and pushed it all the way over, beckoning me to jump on. I happily did, took off my trainers and promptly sat down, only a little traumatised by the proximity of all that water to my very expensive camera (a Nikon F3).
It was worth the fear. They got straight back to work looking for fresh water snails and collecting them, presumably to eat. I knew no Thai and they knew no English. There were plenty of smiles between them and they chatted as they dropped in and out of the water, feeling around the tree trunks below the surface.
At one point they all stopped talking, went deliberately quiet and starred at the opposite back, whispering to each other. Nothing was there, it was a false alarm. I still don’t know what they thought it was but I did hear that about 2 weeks before we arrived someone was killed by a wild elephant. Or maybe it was a tiger, I can’t remember.
The memory of that event has never left me, I think of them with great kindness.
A trip to another temple and a bit of walking around. These little trips out always gave me the opportunity to snap away at people as they went about their business and living their lives.
They were descending the stone stairs and spotted me as I raised my camera. I think I might have annoyed them a little as I'd never seen such a sight and could not stop photographing them. But they were kind and gazed back at me with tolerance. There were smiles and I'm sure I would have bowed in gratitude and respect for their patience.
The General Post Office (Thai: อาคารไปรษณีย์กลาง, RTGS: Akhan Praisani Klang) is also known as The Grand Postal Building. Slideshow added, text description to come soon.
