MAKE THINGS WITH YOUR HANDS

Recently I had a little exhibition in Chiang Rai Thailand at Prataap Jai which is an art gallery, tea house, cultural, art and movement educational centre . It’s such a special space and I was super happy to have my images displayed there. The vision for their venue is totally beautiful and aligns with how I feel about Chiang Rai. Thats my friend Fai on the flier. She looks so pretty!!

“We aim to provide a clear alternative environment to the typical “bar scene” which is often the place where foreigners interact with Thais. The goal of our work is to enable cross-cultural exchange among foreigners and Thais; to provide a place where foreigners and locals can meet and learn from one another in positive, productive and creative ways. ” Prataap Jai Website.

I think Prataap Jai achieved their goals on this particular night, as ethnicity wise (off the top of my head) there were Lahu, Mien , Akha , Thai, Brazilian, German, American, Chinese, British, New Zealand, Irish and Australians and a few more ethnicities there on the night.

Some of my favorite dudes from the Chiang Rai Photo Club.

My friend Chalit Chawalitangkun ( a photographer  from Chiang Rai/ and uber cool character ) helped us open the night by translating into Thai this small speech to explain how I felt about the images.

"TRIBE AND PLACE - These images are about stories. Long, intricate stories reaching back through families 
and time. We are priviledged to learn from the different ethnicities living in Chiang Rai Province and 
form new understandings of life, our planet and eachother. 
I feel like the people are the riches of this country and well worth celebrating."
 

Nitaya Buayoi who is a local Mien leader ( and a pretty darn intelligent/gorgeous lady ) opened the exhibition with the approval of the Village Headman, who is a supporter of Prataap Jai and even bought along an eight piece traditional Thai musical group for the evening (which was awesome).

P’Nitaya and her son.

The local band.

I haven’t met many people in my wanderings, who when they understand the nature of the cultures in Northern Thailand, dont have a moment where they seem to broaden in their eyes and are taken in by the story of the unique migratory and cultural history in the region. Even if they haven’t been there, it seems to fascinate people because it touches on the part of all of us that wonders how we “belong”.

Below is an image which may shed some light on the fascinating people groups who live in the area and where they have come from. The top province is Chiang Rai and the capital is where I spent last year taking images and learning about different cultures.

One of my favorite things about Thailand is this kind of “Do It Yourself” ethic that threads through almost all areas of life.

I love daydreaming ….looking up …and then realizing that the lamp shades hanging in the trees around me are made of chicken-pen baskets or being surprised by the creative uses of bamboo, from eating it to building houses or musical instruments with it. Within minority cultures in the North there is amazing resourcefulness.

The images I chose for my exhibition were chosen for their educational content and personal meaning. I wanted to give a tiny glimpse of these complex and fascinating people group’s lives. I have included a few of the images from the Prataap Jai exhibition, to illustrate this.

These boys are shooting small stones from their bamboo toy guns. These kids are Lahu and this day was a special festival where a heap of different Lahu Sub Groups met together to share food and dancing and hang out.

This is the dowry of a Hmong woman. I was stayed with a Hmong family  in Nan Province (See map ) and this woman shared some of her story with me and also showed me all of her traditional clothes and dowry.

Nearby in another Hmong village I watched an old woman sew this fabric with these intricate and ancient designs in the doorway of her house. Two boys shot each other with toy guns and played around her. She patiently sewed these tiny patterns. Each people group has unique and specific craft traditions.

The Lahu craft/clothing traditions are very different from the Hmong. The cloth is folded and sewn flat to create the colored shapes. Metal/silver flat buttons are sewn in shapes onto the black fabric. These girls are dancing in a circle.

I love this picture because I was kind of blown away by the older Akha women on this day. They have two types of swing for New Years celebrations. There is this ferris wheel one and a kind of big bungy cord style swing that goes pretty high. All the Grandmas were getting on and having a go. It was totally impressive. The shape in the foreground made of bamboo is a traditional Akha emblem that was/is placed at the gate of villages.

There was images of Lahu, Hmong, Karen and Akha people in the exhibition. I used each of their craft traditions to hang these little explanations from the bottom in Thai and English. The Karen weaving has quite often got raw ends hanging off it so I used this raw weaving thread to hang the Karen images. That little love heart is the sign that some one bought this one. Texta love hearts are so the new black :)

THANKYOU TO Khwan Atthawut (รับงานถ่ายรูปทั่วโลก) for his photos of the night and for allowing me to use them in this blog.

BURMESE FOOD

Last night I hung out with my friend just over the mountain from my house, shes Burmese. When you are the only person of your race it can feel a bit strange. Im kind of getting used to it a bit though.

Anyway so this lady comes running up to me “Ming ga la ba!!!!” (Burmese greeting) and shakes my hand vigorously. I think she may have me confused with someone else but it turns out shes just being really nice. She is the cook and she has cooked for around fifty people , traditional Burmese food. By the time she is finished filling me up and schooling me up on what all the dishes are called Im ready to pass out from so much food. So I forgot to shoot the main dishes stuff sorry, brain fog. There were mainly spicy rice noodles and big pots of stew cooked on wood fires poured over noodles.

But in the kitchen there is this atmosphere of more cruisy food preparations. I like watching how well everyone works together. In fact its one of my favourite experiences with ethnic minorities here in Thailand. It isnt utopia but there is alot of beautiful cooperation that seems to just come natural to some people.

This man is making a Burmese desert called something like “100 layers” its kind of a Roti thats expertly layered and then squashed and fried. Inevitably delish, of course, served with sweetened condensed milk drizzled over it. He studied for eight months to do this. As he flattens it and flicks it over its like a drum beat. Totally precise.

Then there is this fried vegetable. Which with all my efforts I still cant identify. Its served with this “burn-your-face-off-hot” chilli dipping sauce. I thought I heard someone say Naam Xjin which would be Chinese Sauce but I might be wrong. This dish is called Bu Di Jo.

This is Bu Di Jo just cooked.

I find the flow of cultures fascinating. These guys were making Simosas and I was talking with someone about the Indian and Bangladeshi influence on Burmese food. Heres a map of where Burma ( Myanmar )  sits so you can see how it is influenced culturally, China in the North. Thai and Chinese and Indian influences all around.

Some really strong tea that was boiled up in a big pot. It was so strong I got the shakes.

Burmese Simosas

This is the cornflour and legume mix for these hard fried cakes which were also broken up and put over the stews and mixed in amongst noodle dishes. Crunchy bits through your noodles and also with dipping sauce.

Making the 100 layers.

She chipped a tooth. We didnt have a mirror to show her so we took a photo which made her stop crying once she saw it .

DATA LANDFILL

I used to work for a newspaper. Its not a super well known newspaper but Im proud of it and the people that work there. I photographed thousands of people in the the short five years I was there. I think I went through this stage of feeling like it was really mundane work and didnt matter. Because I think I felt like because I wasnt taking any mindblowing photos it wasnt important and I was super proud and arrogant about it at times. Over time as the techy stuff got easier and  I was more relaxed I started connecting with people and I had so many beautiful experiences that in retrospect Im very grateful for the experience.

So today I was thinking about how the mundane becomes exotic in another culture ( Its my first time living in another culture ) . Because of a discussion on Matt Brandons blog. The idea being that a person selling fruit in Thailand is suddenly a much cooler photo to have on your website than a person selling fruit in Adelaide South Australia ( where Im from ). Why are people different to us so fascinating? Why does being in another culture imbue the everyday with this sense of importance and potentially a form of nobility.

I think I had somewhat of a revelation when I realised there are nominal Buddhists here, just like there are Nominal Catholics at home. It seems really obvious and stupid as an assumption that that wouldnt be the case.  Is it what we DONT know about a culture that makes it interesting? I hope not. I hope its like an onion that has layers of understanding.The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton the British Philospher has some really interesting studies on the concept of the exotic.

So getting round to photography. Heres my point and it might be whiney and annoying but …How many “cultural images” are just Data Landfill? Why are they taken? Is it the pretty colors or the wrinkles on the mans face or the cute kids that didnt run away? Asking why someone took a good photo is potentially being a total party pooper but its where I am at so if your reading this then I assume your mildy interested in exploring this topic.

So what if someone is the most amazing cultural photographer, what if they treated people insensitively and manipulatively to obtain that imagery? And what are they going to do with them? What is the purpose of TAKING that persons photo? If it is just because you love doing it than so be it. Personally I find that a good honest answer.

I envy those people. People who have a clear conscience/vision about their images and why they took them. Being here in Thailand has really challenged my views of what using my camera for good actually means. With the power of a Western passport you can travel the world taking pictures. If you have money you can buy very excellent lenses that have very short depth of field. If you go to the right places at the right time you can see the wonders of the world and its people and make images from them. You can put this on a website and call it yours. My question is , what does that do for the world? I personally love seeing images of other cultures than my own so I know for a start it entertains me and makes me curious about the peoples lives. I guess thats a good thing.

This is an open ended question I guess. About why anyone does what they do. What are the core reasons. Job security, Family support, Career Goals. Please feel free to discuss if you want to. As you may notice this entry has a lot of questions in it. Questions not statements.

YOUR FACE LIT UP

Last week there was a nationwide festival in Thailand called Loy Krathong. It was the first time Id seen the golden lanterns floating up into the sky on masse.

I thought it would be the lanterns in the sky that would be the most beautiful thing about the festival but I was surprised that it wasnt. The thing that struck me the most was the emotion on peoples faces as they let go of their lantern.

It was magical. As people let go of their lantern or their little raft “Krathong” they were figuratively letting go of something else. There was a sense of release and joy. I loved watching the faces of the adults transform into children as they let the lantern go.

The Krathongs or little river rafts are traditionally made of banana tree trunk , but these days they are also made of foam or bread. The foam ones are frowned apon of course because the fish in the river obviously dont eat foam and it takes ages to clean it all up. The bread ones break down or are eaten.

“The act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one’s grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. Many Thai believe that floating a raft will bring good luck, and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water” WIKIPEDIA

MARKETING PEOPLE

Do you sell something for a living? How do you sell what you sell? I noticed so many different techniques tonight. The big sellers were the products where you could see them being made, people gathered to see the process, it engaged them. The tea seller made a full blown dance production with vibrant music and a crowd. (See below)  He was selling a heap of tea, its pretty hard to ignore someone who sets their product on fire.  There is a traveling market set up by the river here in Chiang Rai at the moment. I love all the colours and lights and theres something interesting and raw about the people. They are accustomed to quick transactions, they meet a lot of people everyday.

Were you looking for some nunchucks or some hello kitty?

The image below is a man called Pong I met tonight. Pong is Thai and follows the markets allover the North of Thailand. He sells computer memory sticks and leather purses and a small assortment of other electrical gadgetry. He was a pretty chatty, funny guy and this is how he makes a living. This is what he sells.

This man is Burmese , he sells showrides.

This guy was buying his kid a BB Gun. The kid was pretty stoked.

THIS IS WHAT I MADE AND WHY

Someone recently said to me “Its tough being an artist”. I thought about it and wondered whether that was what I was. I want to flesh that out a bit here on this blog.

I seem not to take as many images for beauties sake or fun anymore. I want to get that back. I want to slow down and see again. Find my voice.

Ive spent the last few years producing images for others (commercially and editorially) and didn’t realise how much the service element of that role engaged me till it wasnt there. I really liked helping journalists (seriously ) and people from the community tell their story, it made me feel needed and purposeful in some way. At its core I believe photography should aim to serve. The International Guild of Visual Peacemakers has been an interesting experience for me because it has helped me begin to question what my photography is saying. Who does it serve? I needed to ask myself this question. The people involved with this site have been generous in helping me to understand this question and how starting out as a photographer I can find my path.

So back to being an artist…. Many people I feel very connected to are those gentle/crazy/passionate folk the world calls artists. They have an image or a song or a feeling floating around inside their head that that they are chasing with an internal butterfly net. When you get them started about what they truly love its liberating and exciting to watch. However this idea that we all must live in “the real world” looms in the background like a teacher with a cane ready to discipline us.

My thoughts of late, as I grow, are that the people that really inspire me are the ones that balance all the uncertainties of being “an artist” whatever that may mean. They are not necessarily the successful people, they are the people who are at peace with the role of an artist in this world. 

Sure everyone has their financial, emotional, logistical struggles but I don’t think this is a solely artistic dilemma. I feel that anyone finding their way in this world faces the uncertainty of decisions and pathways. The artist I believe has to stand still for a moment and say with quiet conviction this is what I made and why. At the heart of saying this I feel there is an element of bravery and vulnerability.

A Bangkok photographer I recently discovered did this gorgeous series on powerlines. If youve ever been to Thailand you would know that the electrical system here is an absolute miracle , the fact that it works is amazing. He created images that are so simple and elegant, in stark contrast to the chaotic system of wires. A simply beautiful series of images which would not be here on earth without this person. http://www.richarddaniels.com/ . You can find the powerlines under PROJECTS.

On the Aussie front there is this photographer Steve Coleman , his black and whites in the snow are so clean and clear . The light is truly amazing and on reading his blog you see he is truly engaged with his craft and even shares his thoughts from his journal regarding his process. http://www.lightinframe.com

As a continue to look at artists and photographers from all over the world , it is the ones who are DOING IT that inspire me. The ones that are engaged, positive, generous and down to earth that encourage me. The ones that are unapologetic , energetic and hopeful that I gravitate towards.

Chase Jarvis is someone whose continued engagement with the online community and his own community in Seattle is a constant inspiration. He is a great touchstone for creatives who would like to see artistic endeavor being lived out in a commercial world. www.chasejarvis.com/blog

Is it hard to be an artist? I think its hard to be a human, its beautiful to be an artist. One day soon perhaps I will pass through a moment in time where I feel for a small moment that I am creating something personal and see that moment for what it is. A gift.

We are so lucky to get to make things with our hands,like children.

FACES OF BURMA

‘However, the detention of other political prisoners and the continued house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi remain of grave concern,” he said in the report, calling for ”respect for the fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association for all citizens, including engagement in political debate and access to the media”. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

When we are so far away from a place , its hard to see the complexities of situations through the media and the many eyes and minds that report our news. Burma is heading into an election in early November. When I went to a border town last week to photograph Burmese people for the video I am making about Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand, it was fascinating to see the all the different faces of Burma. Amongst the people I photographed there was people groups such as Akha, Shan and ethnic Chinese, all these people are Burmese. The Burmese woman I was with said “We dont know what it will be like after the election, we dont know if it will be any different or safer. I will vote.” We can only hope that the eyes of the world will be on Burma in the next month, so these people can have a chance to voice their hopes for their country.

If you would like to know a little bit more about Burmas situation..take this link

http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/burma/about-burma/about-burma/human-rights