“Young Yawn” Photograph

Street markets are not for everybody.

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

“Stereo Vision” Photograph

Perhaps these two will be able to put their photos together and make a three-dimensional picture when they get home.

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

“Arms Folded” Photograph

Repetition and variation. The stance is the same but the folding technique a little different and then the expressions very different. The connection between them as one glances at the other adds a lot to this picture.

One of them may have just broken wind but I’m not sure which one.

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

“Sneak Peek” Photograph

There’s nothing particularly interesting on the newspaper – I just like the furtive way he’s looking elsewhere whilst pretending to read.

Photograph taken at the Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Mall Men” Photograph

Not really a “street” photograph but close enough and interesting in its stereotypical view of apparently bored men waiting around in a shopping mall.

I think he’s looking at fish rather than vomiting.

Photograph taken at Future Park, Rangsit, Bangkok, Thailand 

“Salute” Photograph

A good example of the non-sensical strangeness that can be produced when a photograph freezes movement. I have no idea what he was actually doing or gesticulating about but it seems to me that he ought to be wearing a hand puppet.

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

“Night Bustle” Photograph

Can’t see the goods for the seas of people. After dark the street markets in Chiang Mai can become an almost solid mass of people somehow managing to flow in both directions at once. When it gets like this I find that I concentrate so hard on trying not to get in anybody’s way that I never even look at the market stalls.

It also makes me nervous as there’s a serious risk to my camera from swinging handbags and spilling drinks.

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

“Undercover” Photograph

Heat from the sun at it’s highest point of the year rather than shyness, fashion or furtiveness, was the reason for this guy’s unusual dress style. As he was heading for a shopping mall where the air-conditioning is usually set on “too cold” the shirt could also double up as a shirt.

Photograph taken near Future Park, Rangsit, Bangkok, Thailand

“Drying Fish” Photograph

Just about everywhere around Thailand’s coasts there are racks of fish or squid drying on the roadside, which do tend to lend the air a very distinctive “seaside” aroma.

I particularly liked these for their coloring and big, slightly bewildered, eyes.

Photograph taken in Pranburi, Thailand

“Holding On” Photograph

I think he’s saying, “Did you have to bring your surfboard?”

Photograph taken on Wua Lai Road, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Monks Leaving Market” Photograph

Unusual to see monks doing their own shopping like these two were. It’s not strictly within the monastic rules which prohibits them from handling money but Thailand is generally fairly relaxed about rule-keeping and perhaps they were on an urgent errand for their abbot.

Photograph taken at Chiang Mai Gate Market, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Holding Hands” Photograph

The extended family is still the norm in Thailand. Thus, this elderly woman on the left can expect to be taken in hand by her daughter and cared for through her old age.

However, there are some signs that this is beginning to break down in urban areas with some families adopting a more western model of children leaving home and going their own way. Therefore, the daughter on the right can perhaps hope for, rather than expect, similar treatment from her own family when the time comes.

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

“Fly the Floss” Photograph

Almost looks like a protest or proclamation of standpoint but I think she was just holding her candyfloss up high like this because the street was crowded or perhaps to keep it out of the reach of the many kids walking around who might sneak a bite.

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

“Urban Grunge” Photograph

The random patterns and details of urban dirt like on this old wall I found around the back of a temple in Bangkok can look fascinating with grime, wear and graffiti organically layered together.

However, spare a thought for whoever had been using this space as a resting place. I don’t think the “bed” had been used for a while and they may have appreciated whatever shelter this dank corner gave them but I doubt they appreciated the aesthetic beauty of their surroundings whilst lying there.

Photograph taken at Laksi Temple, Bangkok, Thailand

“Armrest” Photograph

A very natural and commendable use for children, particularly if you have taught them to think of it as a game.

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

“In Vest” Photograph

This picture is a good example of cropping a photograph for composition. The original photo included the overweight boy’s head but having his face in the picture made him the main subject with the result that the woman behind and her gesture were too easily overlooked and the photo too easily dismissed as out of focus. Cutting off his head shifts the emphasis to the woman and creates a better balance between her and the young boy’s mammary glands.

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

“Girls’ Street Game” Photograph

I have no idea what the aim of the game is here and seeing them playing like this made me realise how many years it is since I played on the street with other kids (a football was usually involved in my case).

However, it was certainly gratifying to see these kids enjoying a game that relied on imagination not batteries.

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

“Wet Street” Photograph

A few generations ago the rivers and canals of central Thailand WERE the main streets. Roads have since largely taken over but not totally. There are still floating markets, waterway public transport in places and a lot of commerce going up and down the Chao Phraya river.

These barges need a tug to pull them back upstream but are great for downstream transportation of sand, gravel, rice etc. (and are such a pleasing shape, although the smaller ones are even cuter).

Photograph taken on Chao Phraya river, Pathum Thani Province, Thailand

“Surrounded” Photograph

The Chiang Mai “Walking Street” markets have so much going on that it’s hard to know which way to look sometimes. This does cause some collisons.

I do feel slightly guilty sometimes because I spend all my time looking at people for possible photographs and rarely even notice what is actually on offer for sale. The stall-holders don’t make much money from me.

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

“Exodus” Photograph

I like this photograph as it looks like the gates have just been opened to let these people flood out (or in). Particularly with the policeman overseeing from up on the wall.

However, the gates are actually always open and this is just a pedestrian crossing with lots of other people like me going the other way.

Photograph taken at Tapae Gate, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Just People” Photograph

Nothing special about this photograph, it’s just a bunch of strangers on a street (enjoying the typical Thai trait of eating or drinking wherever they go).

One thing I like about these crowded street markets is that being crowded actually seems to make people less self-conscious than if there were fewer people. Perhaps this is the flip-side of the comparative unfriendliness of cities.

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

“Shadow of its Former Self” Photograph

Hairless and a bag of bones, this dog’s shadow looks a bit more filled out like it probably was once. Most dogs that end up like this are abandoned pets ill-prepared for a life on the streets. They are usually found in temples where at least they get a bit of food but a high density of dogs on a poor diet with no health care creates perfect conditions for mange and other health problems to spread like wildfire.

Photograph taken at a temple in Don Muang, Bangkok, Thailand

“Thai Boy” Photograph

At this age it’s hard to know if his jaunty hat angle means he is cool or just badly dressed. However, wearing two pairs of glasses isn’t a good sign.

Photograph taken at Rangsit, Bangkok, Thailand

“Bladder Control” Photograph

This guy clearly waited too long during a drinking session and didn’t quite make it to the toilet in time. But you have to be impressed with his storage capacity.

Alternatively, perhaps the advice here is to “go” with the wind not against it.

Photograph taken at Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand

“Gagged” Photograph

An unfortunate hand position from this angle as I’m sure he doesn’t really try to stop her speaking her mind.

However, from a wider perspective Thailand does still have a long way to go in terms of gender equality.

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

“Third Hand” Photograph

I hope he’s aware that there’s another kid hanging on to his shoulder.

Some elements in (and outside of) Thailand have blamed the on-going political troubles in the country on a mysterious “third hand”. Could they mean this one?

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

“Positive Affirmation” Photograph

Keep repeating it often enough and it might just happen.

Or on the other hand it must just end up looking a little forced.

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

“Restaurant Kid” Photograph

Sometimes kids and restaurants (or trains or airplanes or many other places) just don’t mix well. We’ve probably all been in a situation where our own or somebody else’s child just keeps on tapping away at that window...

However, in this case I should also point out that photography can be deceptive. This boy didn’t actually seem to be misbehaving and was just waving at me as I walked by (he's looking at my face, with camera at waist-level). The man may have been at the end of his tether but equally he could, for example, have just been trying to remember the name of a song.

I think it’s fine to interpret street photographs however we want as long as we can separate the interpretation from the individuals in the photograph.

Photograph taken Airport Plaza, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Geography Test” Photograph

The design on this man’s tee-shirt has the outline of which country in the middle?

Scroll down for answer...

Clue: it’s separated from Thailand by Laos.

Answer = Vietnam.

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

“Belly Button” Photograph

Street photography can be such a glamorous hobby.

Let’s blame the weather. It was somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius when I took this photograph so I'm sure the extra ventilation helped and it would have been understandable if he had left all his shirt buttons undone.

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

“Revealing” Photograph

This is a self-portrait. I’m the one in the middle holding a camera.

Here’s an enlargement that shows me more clearly and is quite revealing of my technique. Note how I’m not actually looking at what I’m photographing.

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