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I’m not particularly a fan of either kids or old people. Extremes have never been my thing. The young and the old both tend to have the same problems – they get grumpy for no apparent reason, drool unexpectedly, have trouble forming a coherent sentence, and occasionally need their diaper changed. In my book, it’s best just to avoid the experience. But when it comes to photography either the very young or very old make for a good shot. They’re very expressive. Kids don’t know how to filter what they are thinking yet, and old people can’t be bothered. So I end up taking a lot of shots of both age groups. With kids I’m usually a bit more circumspect thanks to the fans of Sunee Plaza and my not wanting to appear to be one. But old people are fair game. Plus they don’t move quick enough to avoid my camera lens.

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They say that life is the road to death; all you choose is your speed. Aging is inevitable, getting old not so much. There is a quiet dignity in old people’s faces. At least in those who age gracefully, who wear their wrinkles like a badge of honor. I think part of what attracts me to the old ‘uns as photography subjects is that there is so much life in their faces too, representing both the life they’ve lived and how much youth remains. And while I’ll generally snap shots off of faces in a crowd that interest me, I tend to engage the old folk I meet when I travel and often end up taking far more than my allotment of 7 shots of just that person alone.

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I could have easily made this a 7 shots post all of the lady in the first photo above. I ran into her in Bali, indicated I wanted to take her picture, and then watched, amazed, as her face transformed itself through an entire gauntlet of emotions. This one – the first I took of her – looks like she’s giving me stink-eye, but instead it was a look of disbelief, questioning my sanity. Even though she spoke no English she’d understood my approach. I told her how beautiful she was. ‘Cuz flattery works in any language. And by the time she managed to affix a smile to her face, she really was beautiful. That’s a great shot too. But afterwards, when I showed her the shots I’d taken, this one caused her to laugh. So it ended up being my favorite.

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From the old backpacker local in Luang Prabang, to the possibly a nun lady keeping a minor temple clean in Cambodia, to the old man taking tickets (from farang only) at a wat in Laos whose decrepit face mirrored that of the temple’s crumbling facade, it amazes me how willingly the elders in SE Asia are to spend some of their time interacting with a visitor, when nine times out of ten the two of you share no common language. And yet you manage to carry on a conversation anyway. Maybe it’s that my own age is advancing to a point where they feel I’m almost a contemporary. Or maybe it’s just they have nothing better to do with their day.

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Considering what the Khmer Rouge did to the people of Cambodia, life could not have been easy for the old pseudo-nun who posed, beaming a glorious smile for me at Angkor Thom. Her smile was a testament to how enduring the human spirit can be. And the advanced age of the veggie seller at the morning market in Luang Prabang should be what sticks in my mind, but it was her pride in the produce grown on her family’s farm that came through. And while the last shot of the two women at the Burma boarder may not qualify as oldies in the ancient sense, that contemplative look of what tomorrow may bring fits well with the other shots in this post.

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More recently during my travels I’m finding myself being stopped and asked to pose for some amateur photographer. I’d like to think it’s because I look so much like Brad Pitt. Or even that it’s just the strangeness of meeting a farang. But fear that it’s those wrinkles that have begun appearing on my face, those badges of honor that attest to the life I’ve lead, instead. I hope, at least, those photographers sensed my youthful spirit, or the dignity of my years. Because if they just thought it’d make for a funny shot then all I’ve managed to accomplish is to have become an old fool. Even if that may be closer to the truth.

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