Thai Portraits - I'm Back!

Whoo-hoo. I spent 6 weeks volunteering at a home for children in Thailand directly after finishing my second year at university (biggest time suck) - so i haven't been catching up with my TPF news, however it looks like there are tons of new faces and a few old ones.

During my stay I had the neat experience of being able to go up to an Akha village with one of the staff during her breaks - WOW.. it was amazing. Not only did I get to stay in her mother's bamboo house after a couple three hour bus rides and one and half hours going pretty much straight up in a not fully functioning Toyota truck, yee-haw! So.. I will stop blabbering and let you see some pictures.

On a side note I am delighted to say I delving into the world of self-developing BWs... so let's see how much I can butcher that up

1.Upon first arriving at Busa’s mother’s house, her nephew Siriwut greeted me quite tentatively at the doorway into their bamboo house. I was fascinated by the craftsmanship of their house and later learnt that two men can build a single house in two days which will last for about 10 years (except for annually replacing the thatched roof). The house was divided into two ‘rooms’ by a bamboo wall, one side had a 3″x3″ cooking area built into the floor, the other was used as a sleeping area. Every morning you would wake up to the sound of pigs and chickens underneath the house, once the fire was started in the cooking area the house would fill with smoke as the roof has only two small triangular ‘outlets’.


2. Okay, shirt is distracting but those eyes can just make you melt


3. Busa’s mother dressed on Sundays in traditional Akha clothing. The headdress itself is composed of at least 6 portions, primarily made of silver ornaments including colonial rupees, beads and ornate sewing. A traditional Akha ‘costume’ takes up to a year to make


4.


5. This is Busa's cousin. I was actually surprised to learn this was Busa's relative as he has a very nontraditional 'Akha' face - if that makes any sense at all I am not certain


6. If a guy can be called adorable while still maintaining his dignity this is him.


7.


8. Busa's gradfather (the mother of the lady in the traditional Akha outfit)


Thanks for looking and hope to see ya around!

 

They are all amazing, but number three made me say WOW out loud. Always great to see your work.

 

they're all great. You've handled some precision shallow depth of field well!

So are you a film girl now?

 

b&w came great...and the only colour photo of Busa's mother is exceptionally good with a tremendous outfits....what a wonderful time u spent. one more colour pic of Busa's cousin, i forgot to mention. thanks.

 

Wow, and melt indeed I did. And all are beautifuly captured....

 

Phenomenal photos - but I think the first is my favorite. Beautiful work.

 

Your shots are absolutely stunning. Very nice work and sounds like a great experience too.

 

Thanks for all of the comments. The people there were absolutely spectacular and so friendly. Regardless of the language barrier they were constantly displaying their hospitality. On the second day I went with Busa to the head of the village's house (she is friends with him.. he is in his late 20s) and his mother who must have been 4 foot nothing brought out warmed peanuts, tea (the tea there is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!), lychee (addicted!), mangostein and cashews.. this is as we watched on the one tv in the village Pirates of the Caribbean in Akha

JohnMF: I am not quite. I did start with film but haven't used film for 5 years now. Yikes! I am hoping to get back into film and maybe even set up my own darkroom. The main priority is to apply what I learn about BW to digital as the look is just to die for. It is nearly impossible to match it but I am goign to try my best!

 

A fantastic series. I like them all, but 1 and 3 especially. Thanks for all the background into too....very interesting stuff.

 

Same here, I've recently dug out my old film gear.

If you ever find out how to get that film look in digital let me know, I've been trying myself or years!

 

Awesome photos glad you had a great time