“Handling the Merchandise” Photograph

Even the sawn-off mannequins are such a seductive shape I can almost understand the desire for a quick grope.

He was actually the stall-holder and was distractedly using ‘her’ as a drum.

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

“Boring Toys” Photograph

Knitting cuddly toys may well be a boring way to pass the time but it could also be a clever marketing strategy: “Look! Being surrounded by my calming cutey animals makes me want to go to sleep – why not buy a few for your high-energy kids?”

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

“No Hope” Photograph

Well, that’s not welcome news out on the Walking Street! And a complete contrast to the “things will only get better” message from three days ago.

Usually with black-and-white photographs I like to add a touch of warmth to the tone but in this case the cooler un-toned version seems a better fit to the morbid outlook of the subject.

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

“A Hint of Happiness” Photograph

I find this photograph interesting because although we can see almost none of his face the boy’s expression is immediately obvious. An indication of how important reading other people’s moods is to us as social, visual mammals and hence how good we are at it.

I now have a strange urge to put a winking smiley at the end here so you can read my expression but I’ll resist.

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

“Viewpoint” Photograph

A child’s-eye view of a child’s adult-level view.

Must make a nice difference to the usual butt-level view young children get in these crowded markets.

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

“Spare” Photograph

I like the attitude that “things will only get better” but I must say that’s the most realistic looking ‘spare tire’ I’ve ever seen.

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

“Drummer Boy” Photograph

The poor lad clearly wants a go and no doubt thinks he could produce a much better sound. His parents are probably in for a noisy evening, quite possibly a noisy few years until he joins a band and leaves home.

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

“Street Shadow” Photograph

When you first notice peoples’ shadows on a street as a photographic subject, any shadow will do. The first pictures will be okay but the novelty of shadow photos will quickly wear off and begin to look a little unimaginative. That’s when anyone with potential as a good photographer develops the idea. Not just any shadow will do. Take the time to wait for people doing things or for contrasts or something unexpected.

The photo here is a very simple example. Just a woman with her arm raised. But that simple gesture makes it so much more interesting and encourages some level of interpreting of the image.  She looks as if she is checking her hair but is actually just shielding her eyes from the sun.

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

“Bargain Hunter” Photograph

This lady’s demeanor makes me think that she’s a tough bargainer.

But that’s a snap judgement [photographic pun intended].

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

"Scavenger” Photograph

A stray dog with its own ring-pull doing just what it was designed for. In a city like Bangkok, if the dogs didn’t get so much of our edible rubbish, the rat population would probably become a more serious problem.

Photograph taken in Rangsit, Bangkok, Thailand

“iPad Portrait” Photograph

Not owning one (yet) I’m only guessing that this is an iPad.

Please note that the young man having his picture taken next to the young woman in ethnic dress has a 100-baht note in his hand which he is about to donate to her even before she starts dancing.

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

“Mixed Message” Photograph

What is a nice young lady like this doing wearing a shirt that says, “Eat S*** F*** Off”? However attractive the font and design, I couldn’t imagine wearing a shirt prominently displaying a message that I didn’t understand.

The other possibility is that she does understand and isn’t quite such a nice lady.

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

“Style Pirate” Photograph

Not only does he wear a strikingly colorful shirt, he also walks down the street with a parakeet sitting on his shoulder. Quite eye-catching but, personally, I don’t like seeing animals as accessories and would be more impressed if the bird hadn’t had it’s wings clipped.

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

“Height” Photograph

However much you pull on the top of your head it will never make you grow taller. Believe me, I know. Particularly if you’ve got a taller friend leaning on your shoulder.

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

“Waiting for Muse or Money” Photograph

In this case the muse is a portrait subject willing to pay for a portrait. Chiang Mai has a lot of talented artists but unfortunately for most it seems that the only way to earn from their talent is to work the markets like this or from pencil sketches of famous photographs. An old story perhaps but a large part of society has apparently decided that it doesn’t value original art very highly unless it appeals to one's ego.

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

“See-through Cooking” Photograph

During the rainy season the walking street market stalls become draped in protective plastic covers and curtains, which will keep out light rain showers but usually turn out to be totally inadequate against the power of the tropical storms common at this time of year. Whenever one announces itself with strong gusting winds many vendors pack up and go home straight away and sometimes the whole market has to be cancelled just after everybody has set up.

However, an easy-going, carefree attitude still remains such as with this guy happily cooking away behind his plastic-wrapping and ready to accept his fate.

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

“Hand Phone” Photograph

Phone-free cellphone technology is surprisingly easy to master.

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

“Political Market” Photograph

The message says, “Welcome from Thailand’s first female Prime Minister”. There was a group of “red shirts” (supporters of the PM’s political wing) campaigning along the street market on this day and whatever my political opinion I don’t like seeing the markets used like this – it’s such a distraction from the consumerism.

Chiang Mai is one of the red shirts’ strongholds and, unfortunately, it would have to be a very brave “yellow shirt” to campaign through one of the city’s street markets.

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

“Blotched” Photograph

The blotchiness of this man’s skin was real but has been greatly exaggerated by the post-processing of this photograph. It has also exaggerated the graininess elsewhere in the photo which came about as a normal result of the high ISO used for night-time shooting when wanting to keep a reasonably fast shutter speed. The result is not pretty and is a bit unfair on the man but I love the contrast of this blotchiness and the tidy stripes of his shirt. This could be called a photographic caricature in the same way as a cartoonist takes an individual’s features and exaggerates them.

I actually like this picture because it is not attractive. Sometimes we aim for visual appeal without considering the alternatives.

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

“Looming” Photograph

This is a typical view many Thai people have of westerners who are often much taller and thereby tend to “loom”. This is simply a factor of height but an inferiority complex would be an understandable result. However, particularly in urban areas, this is changing with diet and there are many Thai teenagers who now loom over me. Well, okay, as I’m only 170cm (5’7”) tall this isn’t saying much but the fact is that the Thai population is starting to catch up height-wise.

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

“Running Girl” Photograph

Not sure if she is running for chaps or from them.

I often see children running along the Walking Street markets in Chiang Mai and occasionally I see an adult doing so. The adults always look like they’re in a hurry, whilst the children look like they’re running for pleasure.

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

“Ornate Mange” Photograph

This dog could be admiring the marbled flooring or perhaps bowing in respect to Buddha at this temple in Bangkok but most likely it’s just suffering from the effects of heat and mange. As I have said before, pet dogs abandoned at temples may appear to have an easy life but in reality they face hard times on a poor diet in often crowded conditions that mean disease is rife.

Photograph taken at Laksi Temple, Bangkok, Thailand

“Keep Your Head On” Photograph

Lost in his own thoughts this man’s gesture could mean many things. He might have just realised that he’d left the iron on at home or perhaps he’s checking his new haircut or it could be a nervous gesture during a conversation, for example. Seeing him at the time would have at least given a good idea of his underlying emotion although the reason behind it may have stayed hidden. But as a photograph it’s unclear.

Perhaps this means that something has been lost through the act of photography, which is true in part, but I prefer to look at it as opening up other possibilities that didn’t exist at the time.

Another possibility is that he’s thinking, “Good grief, it’s my sister’s birthday today and I haven’t sent her anything!”

Happy Birthday, Debs!

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

“Leaning” Photograph

This was one of the first street photographs with which I tried the High Dynamic Range (HDR) technique. Looking at it now I think I went too far and overdid the effect a little but at the time I was so impressed with how bright it made the interior of the “songthaew” pickup truck that I left it as it came out – in the original photograph the inside of this vehicle was very dark with almost no apparent detail.

This is probably typical when discovering a new technique and more subtle use develops over time (hopefully!).

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

“Respect” Photograph

I have no idea who this man is, perhaps a teacher, but several young Thai people came up and paid their respects to him, which he received just as a respectable Thai person would with a smile and well-executed traditional “wai” in return to theirs. Such a small gesture but it made me want to also give him my respects for adapting so elegantly to the customs of his adopted country.

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

“Distracted” Photograph

One of the best ways to take candid photographs of people on the street is to wait next to something interesting, like a street performer or striking object, and then watch for the reactions of passersby who are less likely to notice that they are having their photograph taken.

In this case their was nothing particularly unusual about the stall they were looking at but the fact that they were distracted helped me get nice and close.

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

“Gripping” Photograph

This is just another plea that you do not forget hands when taking photographs of people. They are very expressive.

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

“Synchronised Scratching” Photograph

My guess is that all three of these stray dogs at a temple in Bangkok gradually lost most of their hair over the next few months as mange took over.

Photograph taken at a temple in Rangsit, Bangkok, Thailand

“Showtime” Photograph

A shy young girl being very careful with her shy young dog and tentatively putting it on show.

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

“Bike Push” Photograph

She makes pushing a bike look like hard work but at least she’s considerate enough to get off and push whilst on the “walking” street.

My favourite part of this photograph is how the sitting woman’s buttock spills out the back of her chair.

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