“Cliché Couple” Photograph

“How about that one?” he says.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she replies.

Photograph taken at “Saturday Walking Street”, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Rebels” Photograph

Perhaps the way people leave their shoes can reveal a little of their character. Here we have mainly tidy, perhaps cautious, people with one or two slightly more carefree individuals, plus one person clearly lacking any sense of responsibility and then the (selfish? mean? possessive?) guy who very carefully put his shoes on top of somebody else’s. Whether this actually says anything about them as individuals or not, the fact that they have all taken off their shoes beside a sign that says, “Don’t take off shoes here” puts them all in a slightly rebellious category.

An alternative explanation would be that they are all victims of alien abduction.

Photograph taken at Wat Doi Suthep (temple), Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Angled Man” Photograph

A slip of the wrist as I turned sideways meant this picture came out at an unusual angle. What I find interesting about it is that I bet most people who looks at the man in this photograph will tilt their head to look at him correctly upright. Facial recognition only seems to work well when things are vertical. If you have never tried, I recommend looking at some photographs of people upside down – you might even have trouble telling if they are male or female.

Photograph taken at “Saturday Walking Street”, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Backward Child” Photograph

This young boy is doing a very good job of keeping his flip-flops on whilst walking backwards.

But then again, perhaps it is actually his parents who are going backwards.

Photograph taken at “Saturday Walking Street”, Chiang Mai, Thailand

"Back Seat Rider” Photograph

It’s quite simple really. The bicycle was built to carry a passenger and has a padded seat at the back. The street has been turned into a market and is crowded with shoppers so cycling normally is not really an option. Sitting on the main saddle means the legs don’t quite reach the ground. Therefore, sit on the back and “walk” the bike down the road.

On the other hand, I have seen people here actually peddling their bike from this position. I’m not sure why they do it but I really ought to try it out before commenting.

Photograph taken at “Saturday Walking Street”, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Against the Tide” Photograph

For me this picture says a lot about the human-dog relationship in Thailand. This street dog is obviously very comfortable in a crowd of people most whom it has probably never met before. Similarly, the people are comfortable with an unowned dog in their midst and happily ignore it to focus on the more important task of shopping.

But what I particularly like is the independence suggested by the dog walking in the opposite direction to the majority of people. This is an animal that chooses its own activities and wanders where it wants to wander, finding its own space.

Photograph taken at “Saturday Walking Street”, Chiang Mai, Thailand