Travel & Humanitarian Photos
I’m reaching the end of what has been a satisfyingly productive and entertaining week so thought I’d brew up a pot of bergamot-infused Darjeeling tea and take a moment to reflect.
A memorable week
The week started memorably enough when I witnessed what I’m still describing as a minor miracle when relating the experience to friends. The cataract removal operations in the John Fawcett Foundation mobile clinic in Bali were quite extraordinary and I’m looking forward to returning to Bali (who wouldn’t?) in order to document more of the Foundation’s work.
At home in Penang
No sooner had the flight from Bali touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok than I was checking-in again for a flight to Penang to catch up with Matt Brandon who, it may have escaped your attention, recently won second place in a Debonair International Magazine readers’ poll for “The Most Debonair, Bearded, Hat-Wearing, Pipe-Smoking Photographer in Malaysia”. It’s a niche competition for sure but Matt is justly proud of his runner’s-up prize.
I’m joking, of course. He came first.
The truth is that I had such a pleasant time with Matt and his family that I’m still feeling jolly as a result. Matt’s a gracious host and it was a double pleasure to wander around the streets of Penang with him, plotting and planning our next collaboration.
Thaipusam Photography Workshop
Matt and I are offering enthusiastic photographers the opportunity to photograph the unique Thaipusam Festival in Penang in February 2012. We’ve put together an entertaining, week-long itinerary where participants will get our help in planning, photographing and constructing a photo essay around the events of Thaipusam. We’ve also secured a rather swish boutique hotel right in the centre of Georgetown, which I’m especially pleased about as it’s gorgeous. Indeed, it is so boutique that we’ve booked the entire hotel for the workshop.
We’ve also tried to make this workshop as fully inclusive as possible so participants will find that all their accommodation (private rooms, no sharing), meals and transport are included and, because we’re taking care of even the smallest details, each photographer will be provided with a mobile phone and local sim card, so that we can co-ordinate our movements during this colourful and engaging festival. The only thing you’ll need to pay for, if you join us, is your beer/wine and laundry, which, knowing some of the people who might be tempted to come along, could reach a significant figure by the end of the week.
So, if you’re in the mood for something quite different and fancy spending a week with two of the most sought-after, balding photographers in South East Asia, Thaipusam is where it’s all happening. Details here. Registration Here.
Travel Portraiture Feature Article
Back in Bangkok, I completed work on an eight-page feature article for Digital Photographer Magazine. I’ve written a few dozen articles for various publications now but I’m particularly pleased to have been invited to write this one on Travel Portraiture as it gave me an opportunity to get on my soap box and talk about the precious, and occasionally precarious, relationship between photographer and subject. It also gave me an opportunity to invite contributions from two of the finest on-location portrait photographers I know: Matt Brandon, who you’ve already met, and young Ami Vitale.
Workshop with Ami Vitale
If you don’t know Ami’s work well… Hello! Have we met? If you’ve read this far through my reflective ramblings then you deserve to be the first to know that Ami and I have been in secret negotiations in recent months and are about to announce a workshop for 2012. I’ll be in a position to say more next week but suffice to say that I’m really excited about our plans. Ami’s work is inspiring and the approach she takes to her work together with her great integrity is what makes it such a compliment for me that she’s keen to collaborate. Of course, I’m only saying this because Ami promised to write something equally flattering about me 
Bangkok Photo School
And then it was Wednesday and time to meet another class of enthusiastic photographers at the Bangkok Photo School. I’m blessed with a constant stream of positive, friendly and attentive students in our classes and this week’s group kept up the high standard. I’m really looking forward to spending time with them over the next couple of weeks and although classes for the near future are sold out, if you’re in Bangkok you can still register for classes in October and November. On the subject of the Photo School, classes wouldn’t take place at all without the support of our international team: Sabrina lives in Vancouver yet still succeeds in managing student registrations and enquiries so well that students don’t even realise that she’s a dozen time-zones away. Similarly, my fellow teacher, young JJ Michael makes teaching a pleasure and classes would not be the same without his good-humoured and easy-going support.
Photo Workshops
Today found me exploring Bangkok in the company of a real pro photographer. John Shaw started his professional photographic career when I was still a toddler - although he might not thank me for pointing it out. I take it as something of a compliment that even with his great depth of experience, he is modest enough to book a workshop, asking me to introduce him to my favourite photo locations in Bangkok. It’s been a pleasure spending the first of two days with John and I’m sure that we seem like a pair of old gossips as we wander around, swapping tales of our travels and photographic adventures. I’ve dropped a couple of photos from today’s exploits in below. Early tomorrow morning will find us on the road to a little fishing village I know and we’ll end the day at the always-photogenic flower market before settling down to watch the sun set behind the Temple of Dawn, when we will no doubt swap more tales from the front line and perhaps even cool off over a beer – if we’re especially lucky.
Finally
As if a week like that wasn’t already more than I could claim to deserve, I’ve got Saturday to look forward to when I’ll be meeting up with young Mitchell Kanashkevich. It promises to be a memorable end to a memorable week and with so much to look forward to, I’m feeling especially fortunate.
“Quod sit, esse velit, nihilque malit (who would be what he is, deserving nothing extra) – important to know that, when it happens.”
From Any Human Heart by William Boyd.
John Shaw and the friendly Amulet Man. John’s the one on the left!
The rather grand, Grand Palace.
The Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha have been recently renovated – especially for the benefit of colour-hungry photographers.
It’s all go at the busy Amulet Market.
Amulets for sale. Which would you prefer?
Shot from the side of a speeding Canal Taxi as the sun hits the perfect spot.
Just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, here’s another shot from the bumpy Canal Taxi with the sun positioned just where I’d wish it. This was a one-off attempt, I didn’t take dozens of frames to get this. Honest!
A Buddha statue keeps watch over passing traffic on a Bangkok street.
Right. I feel like I won’t need to write another blog post for at least six months so I’ll see you in February
great roundup Gavin. thx for sharing!