Excursion to Ko Kret Island

A trip up the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok is one of my favourite journeys in the world. I’m at a loss to be able to explain why, to be honest. Bangkok doesn’t have the iconic landmarks on offer beside the Thames or the Seine and the Chao Phraya doesn’t have the spritual associations of the Ganges or the Brahmaputra. Perhaps it’s the apparent recklessness with which the long river taxis bump their stern into the floating piers as the deck-hands leap lazily to tie the boat alongside whilst passengers gingerly embark and disembark. You may think that “leaping lazily” is an oxymoron, and it is, but if you saw the laid-back manner of the river taxi guys, you’d understand.

Perhaps it’s the fact that the river taxi follows the twists and turns in the Chao Phraya in such an unassuming manner. Bangkok River Taxis don’t have the self-importance of their Parisian brothers, which puff up and down the Seine with an air of dismissive Gallic superiority. Neither do Bangkok River Taxis possess the rush-rush business-like energy of their London cousins which swish up and down the Thames carrying commuters on urgent business and brow-furrowed art-lovers from Tate Britain to Tate Modern and back again.

Then again, perhaps it’s the fact that a return journey on the Chao Phraya Express from south Bangkok to Nonthaburi, a journey of perhaps 20 kilometres each way, costs the equivalent of 70 pence whilst a return journey from Putney to Blackfriars in London costs £13.50!

All of which is by way of introducing yesterday’s outing to the island of Ko Kret, just north of Bangkok. It took three hours to reach the island and three hours to make the return journey, which left me just under 90 minutes on the island itself. Planning, you see, is crucial for successful expeditions

Not that it mattered, the purpose of the trip was really just to enjoy the view from the river and I had plenty of time to do that. Plenty of time!

January desktop wallpaper and New Year wishes

The first free desktop wallpaper of the year shows the often overlooked Humayun’s Tomb in Nizamuddin, Delhi, India.

Humayun’s Tomb has similar Mughal stylings to the Taj Mahal although its construction was completed over sixty years before Shah Jahan began to sketch out plans for his monument to enduring love. If you ever visit Delhi and can persuade a tuk-tuk driver to meet you before dawn, not a difficult task if you promise to buy the chai, then you may get to Nizamuddin before the sun rises and the tourist hordes descend.

If the Gods are feeling especially gracious, you might even get to the entrance of Humayun’s tomb half an hour before the gates officially open and, for the price of another cup of chai, be able to persuade the security guard to let you into the grounds where you can spend those precious thirty minutes in complete solitude. Indeed, for those golden, cherished minutes on that particular day, I was the only person to see the first light of the day light up the magnificent tomb. In its five-hundred year history, I had thirty minutes alone with it. And now you can spend a whole month enjoying the solitude of Humayun’s Tomb. Free desktop wallpaper downloads for January are below.

Here’s to at least one more such serendipitous moment in 2009 for each of us!

Humayun’s Tomb:

Canon EOS 1Ds MKII, 24-70mm L @ 24mm, 1/125 @ f/8, ISO200

January 2009 Wallpaper (1024×768)
January 2009 Wallpaper (1280×800)
January 2009 Wallpaper (1280×1024)
January 2009 Wallpaper (1920×1200)

Finally, I was recently asked to write a foreword for the Travel section of the Digital Photographer Yearbook and thought I’d share my brief thoughts on Travel Photography. A kind of Mission Statement if you will, it seems like a good way to kick off the new year.

“As a travel photographer your studio is the world outside your door and the only equipment required is a camera and a willingness to look for new perspectives. Lighting comes courtesy of whatever is available; sun, sky, tungsten and neon - travel photographers have access to it all. We are not restricted by subject or location, only by an obligation to record the world we see with honesty and compassion. More than just exotic locations and wild adventures, travel photography is about seeing your surroundings with fresh eyes and childlike enthusiasm.”

Happy New Year!

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.

Next Page »