“Temple Statue” Photograph

Many Thai temples have artworks where the craftsman or artist has not simply followed the standard religious pattern but added something unique to their creation. The statues at the very famous Wat (temple) Pho in central Bangkok are a good example. There are many of them and they all have their own individual character and facial expressions but the overwhelming variety and decorativeness of this large temple means that they can easily be overlooked.

Photograph taken at Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand

“Woman And Bus” Photograph

Photographing reflections in windows is always an interesting street photography technique but this is the first time I’ve tried taking reflections in stone. I love the organic patterning in this marble wall at the entrance to a hotel but I think there’s potential to get the reflection to stand out more clearly.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Bored Boy” Photograph

Poor little guy has just spent a boring day at school and now has to wait for his mother to do the boring shopping. Booorrrriiiing! I just hope she gets him a nice snack treat.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

"Sunny Disposition” Photograph

Surveying his domain with the sun on his back this man just seemed content with life.

For this photograph I increased the contrast more than usual and removed some distracting detail from under the umbrella with the clone tool in Photoshop to make the model sun stand out more clearly.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak weekend market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Rainy Season Sky” Photograph

The rainy season in Thailand is a mixed blessing with often pleasantly cool temperatures balanced against humidity and the inconvenience of sudden torrential downpours, but one thing I do love at this time of year is the sky. Ever-changing and often quite beautiful despite its greyness.

Living in a big city like Bangkok can severely restrict the view of the sky but for me it becomes even more important as the most significant remaining link to the natural world.

I just need to remember to look up.

Photograph taken outside Bangkok, Thailand

“Street Fashion” Photograph

Masking tape is extremely useful stuff and undoubtedly could be used to make clothes but I feel this design is just a little too minimalist for the Thai market. It also strikes me that the painful process of taking it off might discourage potential wearers.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Contrast” Photograph

It is no surprise that contrasts like this well-off young woman and amputee beggar appear side by side in Bangkok. Major cities attract and create wealth which in turn attracts the most desperate and unfortunate in society. We all know the disparity exists but it can still be quite shocking when confronted by it on the street so blatantly. But perhaps in this case the contrast is not just about wealth versus poverty or opportunity versus none, it is also about attractive versus eyesore.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Wet Foot In” Photograph

This particular spot in the north of Bangkok is notorious for its temporary flooding during rainstorms and flash floods like this in the rainy season leave commuters at the mercy of bus drivers in many parts of the city. Some drivers avoid the flooding so the passengers can only get to the bus by paddling their way through the water, which in this case was up to about a foot deep. Other drivers don’t mind getting their wheels wet but in driving through the water risk drenching the waiting passengers either with spray or the sizeable waves they create. Often the practical answer is that passengers wait at the nearest relatively dry spot and the drivers obligingly pick them up there.

Photograph taken in Rangsit, Bangkok, Thailand

“Spirit of Wine” Photograph

Enjoying a glass of wine at a roadside restaurant in Bang Pa-in just north of Bangkok I realised that the glass had been quite artistic on the table. As I picked it up this little man leaped out at me (I didn’t even have to add the head) but, unfortunately, the only camera available was my wife’s cellphone so the photographic quality is poor. However, I still think it is worth posting as a “spirit of wine” comment.

Initially I only saw it as a carefree man leaping or sky-diving but the daughter of a friend pointed out that it could also be a pair of breasts, which still fits the spirit of wine concept quite well, I think.

Photograph taken at Bang Pa-in, Thailand

“Bus Boy” Photograph

For the privately run buses in Bangkok it is in their interests to get as many passengers as possible, so the conductor who is often a lot younger than the one in this photograph advertises their service by leaning out of the window and shouting whenever they reach a bus-stop. The standard of these private buses and the way they are driven is not always high but at least they do stop to pick up passengers. Some of the drivers of government buses prefer not to stop if they can avoid it as it is more in their interest to get home as quickly as possible.

Sorry if that sounds a bit cynical. I have watched too many buses fly passed with the driver ignoring my frantic waves. And the later it gets, the more often it happens.

Photograph taken in Rangsit, Bangkok, Thailand

“Belly Exposure” Photograph

I try not to get too hung up about focus although I am disappointed when pictures turn out a bit blurred, which is usually due to me still moving as I take the picture or not being able to check the autofocus when shooting from the hip. In this picture the man is quite “soft” as we say, in other words, he’s out of focus. But does that really matter? Sometimes the answer should definitely be “yes, it does matter” but in this case would you actually like to be able see every individual hair on his belly?

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Roof” Photograph

The whole bus looks a little worse for wear but from the unusual vantage point of an overhead walkway it almost looks like the bus actually gets parked upside down on its roof every night.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Flyboy” Photograph

Not that I particularly look out for it, but since I started taking street photography more seriously and thereby observing more carefully what people are doing on the street it has amazed me how many men I see fiddling with their fly zip for whatever reason.

This is certainly one photograph where I regret the fact that shooting from the hip makes it look like my eye-level.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Backhands” Photograph

Walking around with your hands behind your back like this does look a bit peculiar but then she wasn’t actually walking like this. It is just a trick of the camera. She was in fact walking around with her hands clasped behind her back but just as I took this picture she unclasped her hands and continued walking normally with her hands at her side. The camera just caught the point of transition and made it look like she always walks like this. Naughty camera.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Floral Hat” Photograph

Very common in some other countries, carrying things on your head like this lady is doing with her flower garlands is quite rare in Thailand.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Yes Photo” Photograph

I’m afraid a sign like this is just red rag to a bull for me, although, I did only take a picture of the sign rather than the designs they are so keen to protect.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Headgear” Photograph

Popping a plastic bag on your head may be a practical (if not very fashionable) answer to rainy season showers but I hope she hasn’t inadvertently given the local kids ideas.

Things like this illustrate to me how many little safety points were drummed into my head when I was young to the extent that I am now shocked to see an adult actually putting a plastic bag over her head.

Photograph taken on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok, Thailand

“Cradled” Photograph

Freshly bought from a market stall, I suspect that this dog’s life will go in one of two ways. It will either spend all its days cradled by its owner or it will spend the first part of its life cradled by its owner until she gets bored and dumps it like she might some other fashion accessory. Neither route is one I would want to follow if I were a dog, not that I’d be given a choice.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“On Offer” Photograph

That’s a very suggestive way to sell a pair of denim shorts…assuming it is only the shorts for sale. Whenever I look at this photograph I can’t help thinking how uncomfortable it must be to wear them like that.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Leg Stretch” Photograph

That’s okay, mate, we’ll walk around.

Market stall owners do occasionally seem to develop a slightly bad attitude to the general public, particularly those who do not stop at their stall. Maybe it’s a case of familiarity breeding contempt. This guy wasn’t actually trying to trip people up, he was just indifferent to us.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Path Well-Trodden” Photograph

Many, many thousands of feet have walked, jogged and scuffed their way over this particular path and in this case I think it has given the trail a lot more character.

Photograph taken in Chatuchak Park, Bangkok, Thailand

“Mask” Photograph

The shirt says “Thailand” but I’m really not sure what the mask is supposed to be saying. As a frontispiece for a shop this has me confused; why combine a patriotic shirt with a poorly made and very unattractive rubber mask? Is it a caricature of how many foreigners see the country or a piece of local culture I’m not aware of or just bad taste?

On the other hand, judging by the number of people going inside the shop perhaps it’s just there to grab attention and is actually doing its job very well.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Kennel” Photograph

The strategically placed pair of boots hides the fact that this army-seconds shop is actually called “Dog Tag”.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Gutter Group” Photograph

If you stare at this picture long enough, a rat will appear from the drainage grill behind the guy’s legs, sniff around the girls’ ankles for a while then disappear again without them even noticing.

Photograph taken beside Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Pavement Party” Photograph

This photograph was taken around four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and there were already several groups of young Thais sitting around on this pavement beside Chatuchak market drinking Chang beer (cheap and strong). Perhaps the aim is to finish earlier so they can get home for a good night’s rest and make the best use of their Sunday. Although, I suppose it’s also possible that they just want to get drunk quickly and to hell with tomorrow.

Photograph taken beside Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Pocketman” Photograph

Not only can this guy make the back of a motorbike look as comfortable as a hammock he also has a belt-bag with at least a thousand pockets, which when combined with his jacket make him extremely well-pocketed. Perhaps he could have lent a few to the lady in the background who has just kicked over her bag of eggs.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Market Stripper” Photograph

Having stripped by the side of the road and started to put on a shirt he was interested in buying, this man was informed that he wasn’t actually allowed to try on the clothes being sold. He thought he’d already checked but he or the sellers had misunderstood. Given that it’s a crowded, busy market in the middle of the afternoon on a hot day in Bangkok you can understand why the sellers are not keen on sweaty customers trying on their shirts but I’m sure they could have stopped him sooner if they’d wanted to as I can’t imagine what else they thought he was going to doing.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Wake it Up” Photograph

I’m not quite sure what he is trying to say here. He could be telling me to “wake up, for fuck’s sake” but equally he could be saying “The Fuck needs waking up, would you mind doing it?” or even “I’d be so grateful if you could awaken the Fuck Up”. The coloring of the words suggests that this last interpretation is probably correct in which case my advice would be that it’s usually better to let sleeping Fuck Ups lie.

I was tempted to ask him exactly what he was trying to say but was worried that he might find such a question from a complete stranger a little rude. I’d hate to be considered rude in public.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Silversmith Onlooker” Photograph

As a follow-on from yesterday’s photo of a silver relief from one of the Wua Lai Road temples here is a man making one along the Saturday Walking Street market whilst being studiously watched. The tap, tap, tap of the silver artists is an ever-present background sound in this part of Chiang Mai.

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

“Silver Panel” Photograph

The Wua Lai Road area in Chiang Mai is famous as a silver-smithing part of the city with numerous silverware shops and local temples that include a lot of decorative silverwork. This photograph is not exactly a street photo but this silver relief does depict a rural street scene and I post it as a “tip of the hat” from me as I have just moved away from the area after enjoying living there for almost three years.

Thank you Wua Lai.

Photograph taken at Wat Muen San (temple), Wua Lai, Chiang Mai, Thailand