A Year in Pictures: December 2008

How best to conclude a pictorial summary of 2008? I think this is appropriate. 2008 has been a year of change and readjustment for me. It concluded with me planning several exciting projects for 2009 and I think the final entry in next year’s blog promises to be really interesting.

One of the projects I have been working on has been something of a departure for me. I’m used to showing the sunny, smiley side of exotic locations and I love bringing out the best in a place. However, I’m also aware that there are deeper, more personal stories to be told. This was brought home to me in quite a stark fashion recently when I heard a young lady relate her experiences as a Falun Gong practitioner in mainland China. She spoke calmly and eloquently about her life and the reasons why she eventually decided to flee China, leaving her home and family behind. I have met with the lady on several occasions since, recording interviews and taking photographs in the hope that I can do some justice to her story and perhaps bring it to a wider audience. I will post the result of our efforts here soon but in the meantime, here is one of the images I’ve taken. You may see something much softer in this interpretation but having heard this lady’s story I have called this photograph “Determination”.

A Year in Pictures: November 2008

November saw me starting an association with the Bangkok Refugee Centre, an association that I’m sure to expand upon in future blog posts. For now, suffice to say that I’ve taken pictures at several events at the Refugee Centre and am never failed to be impressed. I’m impressed by the commitment of the volunteers who work and teach there and even more impressed by the tenacity and good-humour of the people who find themselves there having fled their home countries. These two girls were wearing their traditional dress as they rehearsed for an open day.

A Year in Pictures: October 2008

October found me in Bhutan for what proved to be the most memorable month of 2008. It’s difficult to choose just one image from Bhutan but despite looking for a more obscure or abstract photo to illustrate my trip, this one keeps popping up and is difficult to ignore. It’s perhaps because it was one of those serendipitous moments where things come together at the right time. There’s a classroom behind the windows and the novices had been taking turns to poke their heads through to see the strange man in the floppy hat who had climbed the stairs on the opposite side of the courtyard. I’d snapped quite a few frames but when this young man appeared I knew I had the shot I was looking for.

A Year in Pictures: September 2008

“You can’t come to Thailand and not photograph elephants”, somebody told me recently. Quite so. This elephant is employed in Ayutthaya, carrying tourists around the central temple complex. I never quite get over the fact that something as large and powerful as an elephant can seem so apparently friendly and docile. They really are the most improbable and fascinating creatures. The eyes are all-important in portraits of people and it seems the same is true of elephant pictures too.

A Year in Pictures: August 2008

August’s photo comes from Ayutthaya, once Thailand’s capital city. Although the ruined temples and shrines are extremely photogenic, it’s frequently the activity surrounding them that catches my attention. I had planned to get to one of the main temples shortly before sunset and these boys were playing right outside the main entrance. So engrossed in their game they barely noticed me and I was able to take photos for a full twenty minutes before the changing light demanded that I move on.

A Year in Pictures: July 2008

This red wall is just two minutes from my Bangkok apartment. Although it looks like it’s in a wide, spacious area it’s actually on the corner of a busy intersection of back roads and there’s barely enough room for one car and a pedestrian side-by-side. It is always busy with traffic and catching a space between cars and tuk-tuks to photograph passers-by requires some considerable patience. And when the sun is shining on that corner it also requires some pretty strong sun-screen. I think if the girl perched on the back of the bike hadn’t looked in my direction this shot would be quite different.

A Year in Pictures: June 2008

This image shows Bangkok’s Wat Arun shortly after sunset. I stayed in a hotel by the Chao Phraya river when I first arrived in the city and the sight of Wat Arun on the opposite bank was clear evidence that my surroundings had changed drastically from the bluebell woods and placid lakes of an England now far away. I took this shot from the balcony of my hotel, the light trails are from passing cruise ships and barges that chug up and down the river.

A Year in Pictures: May 2008

It is perhaps no accident that the first five images from my Year in Pictures show very typically English scenes, given that I was planning to move half-way around the world at the time they were taken. This is the last of those five and shows a bluebell wood in Hampshire. In a country that seems to suffer such long, dark, damp, grey winters the sense of relief and expectation that comes with Spring is almost palpable. There’s a feeling of rejuvenation and re-birth that a walk through a bluebell wood seems to epitomise. The prospect of photographing this kind of scene is one of the few things capable of getting me out of bed long before dawn.

A Year in Pictures: April 2008

Also from Swanage, on England’s south coast, is this image of the town at dusk. This photo was taken at the end of a long but satisfying walk along the coastal path, arguably one of England’s most beautiful sections of coastline. I arrived in Swanage as the sun was setting behind the town and this golden glow made for a most appealing view. The light changes pretty swiftly in England at this time of year so the mood was soon lost. What good fortune it is to be a photographer with the sole aim of recording such fleeting moments.

A Year in Pictures: March 2008

My March photograph is, for me, quintessentially English. It was taken on a damp platform at Swanage Steam Railway Station and shows two steam train buffs either reading their newspapers or, more probably, checking the train timetable. I love the deep green of the railway coach, such a typically English colour. The British Racing Green once favoured by racing car teams is almost identical. It’s also a colour that invokes memories of English woodlands and spongey moss. The drizzle-covered window adds the right touch for the mood and the fact that the man on the right is still wearing his mac is the finishing touch for me. If they’re not both carrying a flask of hot tea then I’m a Dutchman.

Next Page »