Underware Vendor

by Posted in Black & White, People Leave a comment
underwearvendor-1

This was taken with a Pansonic Lumix LX-3 at a flea market in Connecticut in October, 2011. It was early (around 8:00 a.m.) in the morning and the sun was low and very bright. The light was extremely contrasty. At first I’d thought it would make a good color photo (the garments were brightly colored) but in the end I decided to go with black and white. Somehow the colors were a little too much “in your face”. The woman was aware that I was taking pictures, but it didn’t seem to bother her. In any case I didn’t stay around long enough to find out if she had a problem.

My first elephant ride

by Posted in People, Places, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment
HonElephant-1

My first, and so far only ride on an elephant – seen here in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthya (you can see some of the ruins in the background). It’s not much of a picture, but I can take solace in the fact that I clearly didn’t take it (that’s me on the left in the picture). It must have been taken with my camera though, as I have the negative. For all it’s failings the picture is worth having to document an event that may never (and probably won’t) take place again.

An Hour With Sally Mann

by Posted in Photographers Leave a comment

I very much enjoyed this interview. I’m a fan of Charlie Rose and I greatly admire his ability to make his guest feel at home. Watching his interviews you almost feel privy to a private conversation between two friends in a room somewhere. Somehow it doesn’t feel as if you’re watching something on TV.

This is his second interview with Sally Mann (the first can be found at Charlie Rose interviews Sally Mann – 2003)
. This one is on the occasion of the publication of her book “Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs“, which is extensively covered in the interview.

A couple of things stood out for me. First the way she described her earlier efforts as being largely ‘documentary’ in nature i.e. the merely recorded things. Beautiful photographs, but merely a record. She feels that her later work has had more to say. I can see what she’s saying, but don’t entirely agree. I think some of her early photographs also have a lot to say.

Second there’s an interesting discussion on the role of talent in any artistic endeavor. In the 2003 interview Ms. Mann felt that there was no such thing as talent: it was all practice and hard work. Mr. Rose seemed to feel the opposite. They both now seem to have reversed their opinions. I remember having a similar discussion with a friend in a pub many, many years ago – back in the days when I was pretending to be a musician. He felt that all that was needed was practice and lots of hard work. I felt that this would take you take you to a certain level of competence, but that to get beyond that you needed a certain amount of in-born talent. I still feel that. I also agree with Ms. Mann that there are also the genius level creative artists (she mentions Proust and Mozart as examples) who are on a different creative plain altogether.

Third, I enjoyed her use of old photographic processes (e.g. wet plate colodion, calotype etc.), a very different look to modern digital images.

An hour with renowned photographer Sally Mann. Mann is best known for her stark, mysterious portraits — evoking family, death, and decay, and deeply influenced by her life in the South. Her new memoir, "Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs" is out now.

via Charlie Rose | charlierose.com.

Thailand – Bang Pa In

by Posted in Buildings/Structures, Places Leave a comment
bangpain-1

Statue and Lake.

Some old negatives (about three rolls of 36 exposure film) recently came to light. I believe they were taken during a work related trip to Bangkok, Thailand around 1999. Usually when I travel on business I don’t find the time to look around much – mostly seeing the hotel, the road to the office, and the office itself. On this occasion though I must have had a weekend to myself because I was able to not only look around in Bangkok, but also to get out of Bangkok and see some sights outside of the capital. I’d already been to the Philippines, but somehow because of the deep connection the Philippines had with Europe (400 years under Spanish colonial rule) it didn’t feel much like what I expected Asia to be like. Thailand definitely did, with its bright (almost gaudy) temples; exotic looking palaces; mysterious ruins etc.

This post will be the first of a series and covers Bang Pa In: a royal palace about 40 miles north of Bangkok.

According to Wikipedia:

Bang Pa-In Royal Palace (Thai: พระราชวังบางปะอิน), also known as the Summer Palace, is a palace complex formerly used by the Thai kings. It lies beside the Chao Phraya River in Bang Pa-In district, Ayutthaya Province.

King Prasat Thong constructed the original complex[1]:211 in 1632, but it fell into disuse and became overgrown in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, until King Mongkut began to restore the site in the mid-19th century. Most of the present buildings were constructed between 1872 and 1889 by King Chulalongkorn.

Amidst vast gardens and landscaping stand the following buildings: Wehart Chamrunt (Heavenly Light), a Chinese-style royal palace and throne room; the Warophat Phiman (Excellent and Shining Heavenly Abode), a royal residence; Ho Withun Thasana (Sages’ Lookout), a brightly painted lookout tower; and the Aisawan Thiphya-Art (Divine Seat of Personal Freedom), a pavilion constructed in the middle of a pond.

The palace remains largely open to visitors, as King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his family use it only rarely for banquets and special occasions.

bangpain-2

Phra Thinang Withun Thatsana or “Sage’s Lookout”.

bangpain-3

Phra Thinang Withun Thatsana. A colorful Thai-style building in the middle of a pool, with the rather intimidating name of “The divine seat of personal freedom.” Apparently the only example of classical Thai architecture within the palace. It was built by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and houses his statue. It’s a rectangular building and this a view of one of the ends. The front facade is more spectacular, but I didn’t realize that at the time – only later when I saw a picture taken from a different angle.

bangpain-4

Buddha

bangpain-5

Pavilion

bangpain-6

Phra Thinang Wehat Chamrun. Apparently built in China and given as a gift to King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in 1889.

Paul and Family

by Posted in Black & White, People Leave a comment
Paul and Family-1

I’ve recently started a small project with my friend, Paul. He’s an actor and former Soap Opera Star (General Hospital, Love of Life, The Edge of Night, and Days of our Lives). He also appeared in a number of other TV shows including Kojak, Police Woman, Good Times, The Blue Night etc.

He wants to do a photobook of old pictures of himself and his kids (now in their 50s and living in California) so I offered to help him. We’ve now scanned the pics and the next step will be to start building the photobook.

This is a picture of him and his two girls, taken about 40 years ago. I didn’t take it but he kindly agreed to let me post it.