Travel photography from Cambodia

Stupid Shit I’ve Taken Photos Of

22 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by Bangkokbois in Bali, Cambodia, Malaysia, Travel Photography

≈ Comments Off on Stupid Shit I’ve Taken Photos Of

Tags

The nice thing about digital photography is that no longer having to be concerned with paying for film and processing you can set your inner artist free to your heart’s delight. Or in my case, allowing my inner artist to take photos of stupid shit. Granted, if you’ve followed this blog for a while and have seen some of my travel photography in the past, you’ve undoubtedly already come to that conclusion. But those were all works of art. Bitch. And since they made it to a post on my blog, the subject matter at least fit with some article’s theme. Today’s photos, not so much.

Which would probably have been a better title for today’s post. It’s not so much that these are photos of stupid shit as it is that there is no good reason for them to ever be posted. Unless you are posting an article about stupid shit you’ve taken photos of. Because they are still works of art. Just like that finger painting I did in kindergarten that my mom posted on our refrigerator for a six year run. They still work under my definition of good travel photography (that’d be a photo that instantaneously transports you back to a time and place you’ve visited) even if they don’t mean a thing to you. Kinda like a few future post themes that culling through my stock of pictures for this one inspired in me. Like Photos Of Complete Strangers I’ve Taken. And The Other 5,000 Photos I’ve Taken At Wat Chedi Luang. Stay tuned.

And, yeah, there will be a Stupid Shit I’ve Taken Photos of Part 2, too. Because I take a lot of photos of stupid shit. Not that I didn’t think there was a good reason to snap that shot at the time I took it. The first posted above, for example, is from the first time I visited Laos without actually visiting Laos. Noom and I took a Golden Triangle tour out of Chiang Mai, which included a boat ride on the Mekong over to a small island that officially is part of Laos. It’s a tiny, dirty, dusty bit of land that serves no purpose other than as filler for Golden Triangle tours and an opportunity to sell some souvenirs to stupid tourists. Which at first glance may appear to have nothing to do with an old dusty tea kettle sitting on top of an abandoned rooster cage. But that photo perfectly sums up that part of the tour. In fact, it defines that part of the tour. Just in case you were considering taking a Golden Triangle Tour. Not that the rest of the packaged tour was any better. Other than the preponderance of ladyboys encountered at every stop. But that’s a different photo.

The second photo is from Georgetown, Malaysia. Which from a photographer’s viewpoint is all about color. And if you are shooting color, blue counts. Besides, anyone can take a photo of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. Ya know? #3 is also about color, it’s a display at Chatuchak. In my defense on this one, I took the photo instead of buying those little woven balls so I consider that a win.

The fourth shot is from Siem Reap. It’s of a restaurant I didn’t eat at. I would have, but I’d already had diner that night. And I’m not Asian so I don’t take photos of the meals I eat when on holiday. Speaking of stupid shit to take photos of. But it is a cool, dramatic shot. I do however take lots of photos of any wat I visit and while #5 probably doesn’t scream Wat Phra That Hariphunchai to you, it does to me. Possibly because after the long and somewhat boring drive out to Lamphun – the highlight of which is trees – you’re conditioned to take photos of whatever you find there just so the afternoon doesn’t become a complete waste.

Lastly, some stupid shit I’ve taken photos of aren’t stupid shit but are just photographs that didn’t quite turn out the way I’d planned. No problemo. Some of my best photos didn’t turn out as planned either. I think I share that trait with Ansel Adams. This one was supposed to be a Monk Shot! And it is. But the camouflaged monk was a bit more camouflaged by the time my shutter did its thing than he was when I spotted the photo’s potential. That’s the problem with Monk Shots. Monks tend to be a bit camera shy. And for people who are supposed to be busy contemplating the Buddha’s teachings, they move damn fast when they want to.

Someone once told me that what makes art art is that it has a story to tell. I don’t know that that makes sense, or does much to explain what passes for modern art, but since each of these works of art now has a story to accompany them, I’m gonna go with it and say these are not just stupid shit I’ve taken photos of, but shinning examples of the art known as travel photography. ‘Cuz I’ve got lots more photos of stupid shit I’ve taken photos of that are story-less. And I’m sure I’ll be posting some of those soon too.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy:
7 Shots: Unamerican Graffiti	A Perspective On Travel	Bonus Shot: The Loha Prasat

Bonus Shot: Born To Be Wild

09 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by Bangkokbois in Cambodia

≈ Comments Off on Bonus Shot: Born To Be Wild

Tags

Cambodia, Photography, Transportation

No longer being a kid (by age if not maturity level) I have to admit I’m a bit jealous. The little ones today have got it pretty good. I grew up with black and white television, now kids can stream their favorite television shows to their cellphone. I had cheap metal toy guns to play with, revolvers at best that if you were lucky would include a working hammer so you could insert a cap to make a noise when you fired it. Today they have realistic looking fully automatic assault weapons that actually fire projectiles. It must be a bitch to be an Indian these days.

When I was a young ‘un, we didn’t have video games. Or the internet. Or, for the more studious, even calculators. And when puberty was in sight, the momentous event was when someone stole their older brother’s copy of Playboy and you got to see a photo of naked tit. Not that that did much for me back then either. Today, as soon as a kid figures out how to unblock parental guidance filters (that’d be around the age of six) the internet will provide him with more naked bodies than he ever dreamed existed. And for the little gay boys to be, that means dick instead of female mammaries.

On the downside, even though a good bike cost less than twenty-five bucks back then, we were free to ride our little hearts out without looking like special needs children. Helmets and pads were only worn by football players back then. Now if you let your kid ride his bike without full protective gear Social Services will come down on you like a ton of bricks. And forget about disciplining you kid with a good whack to his butt . . . that’s jail time today. In my youth if you misbehaved your school teacher could, and would, slap some smarts into your silly little head.

Technological advances have made being a kid today pure joy. Advances in customs and laws, not so much. I guess helmet laws, for example, are a good thing but there’s an argument for fate and the natural culling of the herd too. Whether on a bicycle or motorcycle, requiring all riders to wear crash helmets undoubtedly saves a lot of lives, but many of those people are those whose only contribution to society would be as organ donors anyway. So when I see the littlest riders sans helmet zipping down the roadway, a fairly common sight in SE Asia, I don’t react in horror like some do but instead think how cute the kid looks and appreciate how much fun he’s having. I think kids need to be allowed to be kids. Even when that means they’ll never make it to being an adult. But then that may be why the gods made sure I’ll never have one of my own.

Nonetheless, a cute kid on a motorcycle always makes for a good photo op. I spotted this little tyke parked along the street in Siem Reap. No telling where his parents were, but he didn’t seem to care. And he’d mastered looking cool on a motocy to boot; he’s got the born to be wild look down pat. Which is pretty hard to pull off, even at that age, when you are on a Honda.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy:
Bonus Shot: Georgetown Delivery	Bonus Shot: When Fetish Meets Faith	Bonus Shot: Making Merit

Bonus Shot: Traveling In Cattle Class

30 Friday May 2014

Posted by Bangkokbois in Cambodia

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cambodia, Photography, Transportation

In response to my post yesterday, 7 Shots: Beasts Of Burden, a reader sent in this shot from his recent trip through Cambodia of a truck that went with horizontal instead of the typical vertical load. Looks like since American fast food chains haven’t made much of an in-road into the Cambodian market yet, the locales haven’t quite nailed down the idea of drive-thrus.

Thanks Wen!

Bonus Shot: Museums Are Boring At Any Age

14 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by Bangkokbois in Cambodia

≈ Comments Off on Bonus Shot: Museums Are Boring At Any Age

Tags

Cambodia, Photography

I’m not sure why I end up taking so many photos of little kids in Cambodia. Usually I avoid the wee ones like the plague that they are. Maybe it’s ‘cuz they are all for sale. More likely it’s because they are all over the place. Thanks to the Khmer Rouge, the population of the country is more on the youthful side and breeding is always a good pastime when you’re young and don’t realize the burden that activity results in. But then ignorance is bliss and the Cambodian kids and their parents all seem to be a happy lot. Usually. Most of the kids I captured on film had a grand smile on their face. When you are forced to be inside on a beautiful sunny day and that inside is a stuffy old museum, there’s not a lot to smile about. Which is probably why I took this shot. ‘Cuz I felt the same way too.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy:

Bonus Shot: Solitude at the Parade

Bonus Shot: Sugar Cane Kid

Bonus Shot: Curiosity at the Wat

Monk Shot! #62

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by Bangkokbois in Cambodia, Monk Shot!, Travel Photography

≈ Comments Off on Monk Shot! #62

Tags

Cambodia, Monks, Photography

A reader who’s been busy enjoying everything that Cambodia has to offer recently sent in this Monk Shot! from Siem Reap. Angkor Wat and the other ancient temples in the area are great locales for snapping photos of monks, though I can’t say I remember ever seeing any working those sites. Nuns, or what look like nuns, you run across frequently. Their male counterpart, not so much. But the temples are a popular touri destination for SE Asian clergy. So you’re almost guaranteed spotting a few on holiday. Good thing too, their robes liven up what would otherwise be a fairly monochromatic scene.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy:

Monk Shot! #23

Monk Shot! #41

Monk Shot! #52

Bonus Shot: Wet Blessings

14 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Bangkokbois in Cambodia, Travel Photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cambodia, Photography

The nice thing about digital cameras is there is no longer a need to conserve film, so you can shoot off dozens of shots of one scene. The downside is you may end up with several perfect photos. This shot is from one of my visits to Angkor Thom, just outside of Siem Reap in Cambodia. I posted a similar one in my article about that trip, but with Songkran as an excuse I’m getting to post another now. I took this photo at the beginning of the year and assume the basic idea of the bowl of water being dumped on this guy’s head served the same purpose as it does during Songkran. Even if it was more similar to one of the major water fights than the traditional sprinkling of water over an elder’s head. One of the reasons I managed to take so many shots was that the monk kept dumping bowlful after bowlful, totally drenching this man. He must have had lots of bad luck needing to be washed away.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy:

Bonus Shot: Blooms For Buddha

Songkran In Thailand: The Top 10 Dos And Don’ts For Songkran

Bonus Shot: Offerings

Bonus Shot: Cambodian Shutters

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by Bangkokbois in Cambodia, Travel Photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cambodia, Photography

Shutters on windows and doors are important in Cambodian architecture. Clean buildings, not so much. The monsoon waters of the rainy season coupled with year round high humidity encourage lush growth in local vegetation, even when it is the lesser flora growing on buildings and walls. I suspect some of that coloring is thanks to the exhaust from cars and trucks too. The heat of the tropical sun does its share of damage too, so buildings painted in vivid colors soon fade to grungy pastels. I don’t know if the wood shutters over doors and windows get an extra coat of paint sooner than the rest of the building, but they often are the only bright splash of color left once the elements have had their way.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy:

Bonus Shot: Curiosity at the Wat

Bonus Shots: Along Cambodia Roads

Bonus Shot: Siem Reap Delivery

Bonus Shot: Easy Rider

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by Bangkokbois in Cambodia, Travel Photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cambodia, Photography

When snapping shots of complete strangers, generally I prefer old folk as subjects. Their faces often tell a story, the history of their life. Kid’s faces not so much. Theirs are usually more about waiting for you to tell them a story. They’re greedy little bastards and expect the world to entertain them. On the plus side, a snarl is much more effective when used on kids than on the elderly. Kids assume you may do them harm and quickly run away. Old folk just figure you have gas.

Not that any of that has a thing to do with this photo other than as an explanation of why I don’t post many pictures of little kids. I too am a greedy bastard, and unless they entertain me they ain’t worth wasting a shot on. This kid made the grade, though he was totally oblivious to my presence. But then if I had a scooter of my own at his age, I’d ignore much of the rest of the world too. I took this shot in Siem Reap, where like in a lot of SE Asian countries it’s common to see entire families mounted on a motorcycle. Just the smallest family member, not so much.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy: