Reading mode: Light Dark

If I only knew back when this picture was taken..

Go to last post
B

BKKSW

Senior Member
Messages
4,373
Reaction score
1
Location
Bangkok, US
Hello -

Last year during one of my many trips into rural Thailand and Laos I ran across two elderly ladies running a very primative rice farm. It wasn't especially large, just big enough to sustain a small family.

My Thai isn't that great, especially with some of the northern dialects, so at the time I took this picture I took my usual notes to be translated later. I took the first image because I thought it would make a decent environmental portrait.

Now, months later, I'm sitting here tonight translating my notes and I finally understand her full story. From an early age, she said right after "she became a woman" which I take to mean able to get pregnant (11-13), she was taken as a slave and forced into prostitution and then later as she aged (rapidly I'd assume) into slave labour in the fields. She talked a lot about chains, but at the time I didn't understand it to mean chains, but "bound." Looking at the picture very closely I can now see where the "chains" were secured to her wrist to the point of deformity.. I can't believe I missed this at the time, usually I'm pretty good at this stuff.

Now she and her "sister" (no relation, just another survivor) farm a small 2 rais of land and sell enough rice (cow) for a simple life. If I would have known at the time of her earlier plight I would have left her significantly more baht than I did for a standard interview..

Sometimes things happen that make you realise how very lucky we are to live in places where we can sit her on out computers and talk about purchasing expensive cameras whicih would probably cost more than a small farm in many places in the world..

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being born in America.. I know that sometimes my work is used to illicit contributions, especially when my assignments are very clear, provide images of the worst there is. I used to resent that, but not tonight..

BKKSW



 
This is probably the most important aspect of photography. No matter how bad you think your life is, there's always worse. Your pictures are worth a million words.
BKKSW said:
Hello -

Last year during one of my many trips into rural Thailand and Laos
I ran across two elderly ladies running a very primative rice farm.
It wasn't especially large, just big enough to sustain a small
family.

My Thai isn't that great, especially with some of the northern
dialects, so at the time I took this picture I took my usual notes
to be translated later. I took the first image because I thought
it would make a decent environmental portrait.

Now, months later, I'm sitting here tonight translating my notes
and I finally understand her full story. From an early age, she
said right after "she became a woman" which I take to mean able to
get pregnant (11-13), she was taken as a slave and forced into
prostitution and then later as she aged (rapidly I'd assume) into
slave labour in the fields. She talked a lot about chains, but at
the time I didn't understand it to mean chains, but "bound."
Looking at the picture very closely I can now see where the
"chains" were secured to her wrist to the point of deformity.. I
can't believe I missed this at the time, usually I'm pretty good at
this stuff.

Now she and her "sister" (no relation, just another survivor) farm
a small 2 rais of land and sell enough rice (cow) for a simple
life. If I would have known at the time of her earlier plight I
would have left her significantly more baht than I did for a
standard interview..

Sometimes things happen that make you realise how very lucky we are
to live in places where we can sit her on out computers and talk
about purchasing expensive cameras whicih would probably cost more
than a small farm in many places in the world..

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being
born in America.. I know that sometimes my work is used to illicit
contributions, especially when my assignments are very clear,
provide images of the worst there is. I used to resent that, but
not tonight..

BKKSW



Click to expand...
 
I think we need to be aware of the plight of fellow human beings. The world needs to get its act together and stop the exploitation of others. We in the West have been through this many years ago - The Queen in England is a reminder of the dictatorships that were here in the UK not that long ago. We struggled over many centuries and found a way around most of it - still vestiges left here. We need to help others along this road.

I agree photography with words helps this process.--LCD
 
Such an awful story. Sometimes we forget that such things still happen in our world. The ending of her story is at least better than the begining: Even if her farm barely sustains her, at least she is her own master.

Thanks for sharing and reminding us how small our problems are.
 
BTW - I really like the photos on their own. The story, of course, really adds to them.
TrentMcD said:
Such an awful story. Sometimes we forget that such things still
happen in our world. The ending of her story is at least better
than the begining: Even if her farm barely sustains her, at least
she is her own master.

Thanks for sharing and reminding us how small our problems are.
Click to expand...
 
Bob Graham said:
BKKSW said:
Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being
born in America.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's a little bit of both. Thanks for putting the photo's
into perspective.
Click to expand...
Yeah, thanks. Really gives us something to think about.

(Heavy sigh... what were we arguing about recently that seemed soooo important? Oh yeah, the posting of pictures in this forum! Cheeeesh)

Denis
 
I'm with you LCD. I thought long and hard before buying the e-10. And it's one of only a very few things I've ever bought 'new'. Until two years ago, I was still driving my 1955 Chevy pickup. I'm so proud to be a member of a forum with such aware folks as yourself. It's hard to comprehend what people have endured.

This camera has enabled us to see and hear the story of a woman far away. Thank you all.
Gregg
PS Not now, but someday I'd love to hear about those bands you were in LCD.
 
Thanks for posting, I've travelled the world in my younger days, did a lot of looking, reading this makes me realise I didn't see what I was looking at.

Thanks.

Brian.
BKKSW said:
Hello -

Last year during one of my many trips into rural Thailand and Laos
I ran across two elderly ladies running a very primative rice farm.
It wasn't especially large, just big enough to sustain a small
family.

My Thai isn't that great, especially with some of the northern
dialects, so at the time I took this picture I took my usual notes
to be translated later. I took the first image because I thought
it would make a decent environmental portrait.

Now, months later, I'm sitting here tonight translating my notes
and I finally understand her full story. From an early age, she
said right after "she became a woman" which I take to mean able to
get pregnant (11-13), she was taken as a slave and forced into
prostitution and then later as she aged (rapidly I'd assume) into
slave labour in the fields. She talked a lot about chains, but at
the time I didn't understand it to mean chains, but "bound."
Looking at the picture very closely I can now see where the
"chains" were secured to her wrist to the point of deformity.. I
can't believe I missed this at the time, usually I'm pretty good at
this stuff.

Now she and her "sister" (no relation, just another survivor) farm
a small 2 rais of land and sell enough rice (cow) for a simple
life. If I would have known at the time of her earlier plight I
would have left her significantly more baht than I did for a
standard interview..

Sometimes things happen that make you realise how very lucky we are
to live in places where we can sit her on out computers and talk
about purchasing expensive cameras whicih would probably cost more
than a small farm in many places in the world..

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being
born in America.. I know that sometimes my work is used to illicit
contributions, especially when my assignments are very clear,
provide images of the worst there is. I used to resent that, but
not tonight..

BKKSW



Click to expand...
 
DgRogers -

I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. Or maybe "enjoy" doesn't really fit. Not sure. Anyway, this ladies face never left my mind out of the thousands of people I met during my time there. She's a survivor and very proud.

BKKSW
dgrogers said:
BKKSW said:
Hello -

Last year during one of my many trips into rural Thailand and Laos
I ran across two elderly ladies running a very primative rice farm.
It wasn't especially large, just big enough to sustain a small
family.

My Thai isn't that great, especially with some of the northern
dialects, so at the time I took this picture I took my usual notes
to be translated later. I took the first image because I thought
it would make a decent environmental portrait.

Now, months later, I'm sitting here tonight translating my notes
and I finally understand her full story. From an early age, she
said right after "she became a woman" which I take to mean able to
get pregnant (11-13), she was taken as a slave and forced into
prostitution and then later as she aged (rapidly I'd assume) into
slave labour in the fields. She talked a lot about chains, but at
the time I didn't understand it to mean chains, but "bound."
Looking at the picture very closely I can now see where the
"chains" were secured to her wrist to the point of deformity.. I
can't believe I missed this at the time, usually I'm pretty good at
this stuff.

Now she and her "sister" (no relation, just another survivor) farm
a small 2 rais of land and sell enough rice (cow) for a simple
life. If I would have known at the time of her earlier plight I
would have left her significantly more baht than I did for a
standard interview..

Sometimes things happen that make you realise how very lucky we are
to live in places where we can sit her on out computers and talk
about purchasing expensive cameras whicih would probably cost more
than a small farm in many places in the world..

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being
born in America.. I know that sometimes my work is used to illicit
contributions, especially when my assignments are very clear,
provide images of the worst there is. I used to resent that, but
not tonight..

BKKSW



Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Denis Fortin said:
Bob Graham wrote:
Click to expand...
Denis -

Your right, sometimes we get altogther too excited about things of moderate importance.

BKKSW
Denis Fortin said:
Denis Fortin said:
BKKSW said:
Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being
born in America.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's a little bit of both. Thanks for putting the photo's
into perspective.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Denis Fortin said:
Yeah, thanks. Really gives us something to think about.

(Heavy sigh... what were we arguing about recently that seemed
soooo important? Oh yeah, the posting of pictures in this forum!
Cheeeesh)

Denis
Click to expand...
 
TrentMcD -

Yes, indeed our problems are usually small.. I'm glad you liked the photos.

BKKSW
TrentMcD said:
Such an awful story. Sometimes we forget that such things still
happen in our world. The ending of her story is at least better
than the begining: Even if her farm barely sustains her, at least
she is her own master.

Thanks for sharing and reminding us how small our problems are.
Click to expand...
 
Brian -

Your right. To really understand you often need to stop and stay in small villages for days to weeks. Getting to know the people, their families, and how they live is a start.. It's when the stories start getting told that it get's interesting. It's the best and worst part of my job..

BKKSW
BrianF said:
Thanks.

Brian.
BKKSW said:
Hello -

Last year during one of my many trips into rural Thailand and Laos
I ran across two elderly ladies running a very primative rice farm.
It wasn't especially large, just big enough to sustain a small
family.

My Thai isn't that great, especially with some of the northern
dialects, so at the time I took this picture I took my usual notes
to be translated later. I took the first image because I thought
it would make a decent environmental portrait.

Now, months later, I'm sitting here tonight translating my notes
and I finally understand her full story. From an early age, she
said right after "she became a woman" which I take to mean able to
get pregnant (11-13), she was taken as a slave and forced into
prostitution and then later as she aged (rapidly I'd assume) into
slave labour in the fields. She talked a lot about chains, but at
the time I didn't understand it to mean chains, but "bound."
Looking at the picture very closely I can now see where the
"chains" were secured to her wrist to the point of deformity.. I
can't believe I missed this at the time, usually I'm pretty good at
this stuff.

Now she and her "sister" (no relation, just another survivor) farm
a small 2 rais of land and sell enough rice (cow) for a simple
life. If I would have known at the time of her earlier plight I
would have left her significantly more baht than I did for a
standard interview..

Sometimes things happen that make you realise how very lucky we are
to live in places where we can sit her on out computers and talk
about purchasing expensive cameras whicih would probably cost more
than a small farm in many places in the world..

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being
born in America.. I know that sometimes my work is used to illicit
contributions, especially when my assignments are very clear,
provide images of the worst there is. I used to resent that, but
not tonight..

BKKSW



Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
BKKSW said:
Hello -

Last year during one of my many trips into rural Thailand and Laos
Click to expand...
BKKSW said:
Sometimes things happen that make you realise how very lucky we are
to live in places where we can sit her on out computers and talk
about purchasing expensive cameras whicih would probably cost more
than a small farm in many places in the world..

Sometimes I'm not sure whether to feel lucky or guilty for being
born in America.. I know that sometimes my work is used to illicit
contributions, especially when my assignments are very clear,
provide images of the worst there is. I used to resent that, but
not tonight..

BKKSW
Click to expand...
Hi BKKSW, this type of digression (I'm not entirely sure this is a digression) from the strict subject of this forum is healthy and educational. I grew up and spent most of my life in a third world country before moving to CA. I therefore experienced both worlds. Regarding your last comment, I believe you should feel guilty if you ignore the hard time that people go through in other places of the earth. With photography, just like with any other human endeavor, you can help making things different. I think that you are doing that. My admiration to your work, take care,

Jack.
 
Hi Jyamuy -

I agree. What is photography all about if not the final efforts of our work? Sharing within a forum of friends and peers is the ultimate reward (at least when they like it :) and it also serves to have something to compare/contrast with our own work for self improvement. I've yet to hear anyone say they haven't learned on this forum.

Your also right that photography can make things different. When I first started doing this I often questioned the motivations behind the assignment. I'm not a fan of self selving charities, and I found my work sometimes being used to exploit people for these purposes. But there are good charities and organisations out there so I just keep working and hoping for the best.

I think in a way photography takes a normal person who doesn't travel much, or if they did woudl never choose places like this, to a different world. It "takes them" out of the comfort of their living room and makes them more aware.. The more stories told, the more awareness, and hopefully the more that can be done.

Thanks for your thoughts and welcome to the U.S. Depending on the part of California your in I'm not so sure if your better off :)..

BKKSW
jyamuy said:
Hi BKKSW, this type of digression (I'm not entirely sure this is a
digression) from the strict subject of this forum is healthy and
educational. I grew up and spent most of my life in a third world
country before moving to CA. I therefore experienced both worlds.
Regarding your last comment, I believe you should feel guilty if
you ignore the hard time that people go through in other places of
the earth. With photography, just like with any other human
endeavor, you can help making things different. I think that you
are doing that. My admiration to your work, take care,

Jack.
Click to expand...
 
Hi S.,

What a compelling story.....and fine portraits. I love that second shot.

Thanks for sharing the humanity of the photos, and the hard reality of the story behind them.

Best wishes,

David-- http://www.mongoosephoto.com
 
Hello DF -

Thank you for the good words.. Perspective is something we all need to work on from time to time..

And speaking of perspective, and NO, I'm not fishing for compliments, but for the life of me I can't figure out why you like the 2nd photo better? I was very surprised to hear that. Personally I thought the first one turned out well, the natural lighting and facial expression (or lack of) was near ideal.... But sometimes another persons perspective, especially another photographers, can be really helpful..

Thanks

BKKSW
DF said:
Hi S.,

What a compelling story.....and fine portraits. I love that second
shot.

Thanks for sharing the humanity of the photos, and the hard reality
of the story behind them.

Best wishes,

David
--
http://www.mongoosephoto.com
Click to expand...
 
BKKSW said:
Hi Jyamuy -

I agree. What is photography all about if not the final efforts of
our work? Sharing within a forum of friends and peers is the
ultimate reward (at least when they like it :) and it also serves
to have something to compare/contrast with our own work for self
improvement. I've yet to hear anyone say they haven't learned on
this forum.

Your also right that photography can make things different. When I
first started doing this I often questioned the motivations behind
the assignment. I'm not a fan of self selving charities, and I
found my work sometimes being used to exploit people for these
purposes. But there are good charities and organisations out there
so I just keep working and hoping for the best.

I think in a way photography takes a normal person who doesn't
travel much, or if they did woudl never choose places like this, to
a different world. It "takes them" out of the comfort of their
living room and makes them more aware.. The more stories told, the
more awareness, and hopefully the more that can be done.

Thanks for your thoughts and welcome to the U.S. Depending on the
part of California your in I'm not so sure if your better off :)..

BKKSW
Click to expand...
Thanks BKKSW. I see you really love your work. Few things are better than that. There must be plenty of good stories out there. I hope that you can free yourself from assignments and select what you want to photograph. I don't have the slightest idea of how difficult that is. Or, as an alternative, to be able to select the assignments. Can you do that? All this reminds me of the work of Sebastiao Salgado, a Brazilian photographer who I admire greatly.

As for where I live in California, well, it's LA. I am not sure if I am better off either. However, I recognize that there is a crazy mixture of beautiful and sordid things around that deserve to be photographed. Take care and keep the good work,

Jack.
 
Jack -

I do love my work. And yes, there are tons of stories. I often have free time when working which allows me to follow up on personal interest, and lately more often than not I use my E-10 on personal use because I want to learn about digital photography. Film is required of my work, but I hope to upgrade to digital soon.

I don't get to select my assignments, but I can turn them down. It's not recommended though, a few times of that and the calls will stop coming. I'm not as "hungry" as most other though, not for the recognition nor money. I'm retired from the Navy and have other additional income, so I'm always happy to take the "fun" assignments where most others would never go, just for the freedom and lack of pressure. It pays decent though, especially the per diem, and it's hard when working to ever spend money that isn't an "expense." In fact, most places I work your lucky to find places to spend money to eat and sleep, much less on toys, clothes, etc.. I do spend some on "security" and for "interviews" that is often out of my pocket. I get a certain amount of satisfaction when paying someone for their time or hospitality.

I grew up in Santa Monica, and then later L.A., and I'm very familiar with the area.. It has it's bad and good points.. I hope I answered all your questions, thank you for the interest.

BKKSW
jyamuy said:
Thanks BKKSW. I see you really love your work. Few things are
better than that. There must be plenty of good stories out there.
I hope that you can free yourself from assignments and select what
you want to photograph. I don't have the slightest idea of how
difficult that is. Or, as an alternative, to be able to select the
assignments. Can you do that? All this reminds me of the work of
Sebastiao Salgado, a Brazilian photographer who I admire greatly.

As for where I live in California, well, it's LA. I am not sure if
I am better off either. However, I recognize that there is a crazy
mixture of beautiful and sordid things around that deserve to be
photographed. Take care and keep the good work,

Jack.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top