Travel & Humanitarian Photos
After the frustrations of travelling through countries affected by the recent volcanic ash cloud (my trip to Paris was delayed and my time in the UK cut frustratingly short), you might think that I’d be pleased to be home and relish the opportunity to sit back and relax for a while. However, as you may be aware, Bangkok has not been a terribly relaxing place in recent weeks.
When I arrived home, the situation was becoming increasingly tense until fighting broke out in the streets between the army and anti-Goverment Red Shirt protesters. Those of you who are regular visitors to my blog will know that I covered the early days of the protests, which began almost three months ago. Back then it was good natured and the atmosphere was that of a carnival or music festival. It got worse. It got much, much worse.
The most recent estimates suggest that almost 80 people were killed, hundreds more injured and when the violence descended to it’s lowest point, many buildings were set alight and the city now bears hideous scars that will take a long time to heal. Sadly, the scars of division that we cannot see are likely to remain even longer. 54 people were killed on the streets of Bangkok in the last week alone. Several journalists were killed or injured in the course of trying to bring us news and pictures of the fighting.
As a visitor to Thailand, I remain bewildered that such violence can exist in such a beautiful place and between such apparently kind, generous and hospitable people. It says much about the fallibility and fragility of our human nature and, to state the obvious, is just terribly, terribly sad. I sincerely hope that a peaceful compromise is soon reached. As I write this, the city remains under a nightly curfew. It’s frustrating having to be indoors. Even when I have no plans to go out, the fact that I cannot begins to bother me. I hope that some kind of normality will begin to return to the city next week.
Despite the trouble, I was sorely tempted to continue to photograph the events. Even if not at the front line, I felt that I wanted to document what was happening, perhaps at hospitals or in the company of medical teams. However, there was no safety, complete unpredictability and people were being wounded by shrapnel, by snipers and by bombs. It became a lottery and, fortunately, my dearest and closest friend, who has far greater sense than me, asked me to promise that I would stay away from the trouble. Despite the occasional sense of frustration, it was a promise that I kept. I’m no conflict photographer. I don’t possess body-armour or a kevlar helmet and, despite what I’d like to believe, I still cannot run faster than a speeding bullet.
Fortunately for you and me, there are photographers who are far braver than I and who regularly risked their lives in order to bring us news of events on the street. I was fortunate to be able to meet up with Jack Kurtz a couple of times during his recent stay here. Jack’s photographs are exceptional and he’s not one of those photographers who parachuted-in when the fighting reached its most bloody and violent. Jack was already in Thailand covering climate change stories and he knows the country well. His blog posts not only include his outstanding photographs but also lots of background information, which provides much-needed context. Few, if any, of the other photographers whose work I have seen have been able to provide such a comprehensive break-down of the situation. Check out stories from Jack’s compelling blog.
And so to happier things. I worked for the Vietnamese Tourist Board last year, compiling a series of images for them to use promoting tourism. Suggestions that the best slogan for Vietnamese Tourism right now might be “Vietnam – it’s not Thailand” are proving to be strangely accurate as bookings for flights to Thailand drop dramatically whilst they increase in other South-East Asian countries. However, Thailand has a way of bouncing back and I know that visitors will soon be sampling the many delights that Thailand has to offer. The good things that you’ll find here still outweigh the bad by a huge factor.
But I digress. I’m returning to Vietnam next week for another job and will stay a few extra days in Hanoi. It will give me an opportunity to meet up with a couple of people that I met on previous trips and also to offer photo workshops in the city. If you are interested in joining me for half a day or even for a full day, learning various techniques that I use as a freelance travel photographer then please send me an e-mail and we’ll arrange something. I’ll be in Hanoi from the 26th to the 30th May and the format for workshops will be similar to that of my Bangkok Photo Workshops.
There will, of course, be plenty of opportunities for practising your panning technique and as with all of my photo workshops, you won’t be allowed to leave until you’ve nailed it 
If you’re in Bangkok rather than Hanoi and would like the opportunity to improve your photography then you might like to check-out the summer courses for the Bangkok Photo School. I’m also leading various photo tours in September, October and November so if you are interested in visiting Bhutan, Laos or Burma with me then this is a good time to register your interest.
Thanks for writing this – and glad your friend challenged you to avoid it all – it’s certainly hard to see your home torn to pieces, a feeling I, unfortunately, know to well recently.
I know its frustrating staying in, but we are glad you are safe and back “home”
Hope it all clears up soon and wishing you the best, as always.
Brian
Hi Gavin,
I am glad you kept the promise you gave to your friend – it was far to dangerous out there. I still can’t believe what happened around us last week and will take long time to heal the wounds in the Thai society.
I really admire the photographers and journalists who took the risk to be out there to bring news and pictures – their pictures will all be evidence material when we try to understand what happened.
Best
Kerstin
Any chance that you’ll be in Vietnam during the month of June? I’d like to take a workshop, and that’s when I will be there. Hope you’re safe.
Tom
Hey mate,
Pity we missed each other this time. I was able to catch up with Jack Kurtz on both ends of my recent trip. Great photog and even greater guy. He was kind enough to lend me a lens for a month when one of mine died.
I got out of BKK just as things were getting crazy. I was in the Red Shirt area when Seh Daeng was shot, just one street over, but had to leave for the airport shortly afterward as I was on the midnight flight out. Can’t believe Jack and I were photographing him just the day before!
Stay safe mate. Hope things return to some semblance of normalcy soon.
Cheers,
Tim
Thanks for the mention and link. It was gooding seeing you and meeting Tim. I plan to come back to Bangkok as soon as I can.
jack
I loved Hanoi the last time I visited and wish I could go back there again.