By the time 2006 came along, I was ready to get my passport out again and shoot internationally. After many domestic excursions, I was convinced that photojournalism was more my style and I wanted to bear witness to people living in countries in the throes of development. I was a graduate student at the time, and my adviser presented me an incredibly generous opportunity to join her in Thailand and Vietnam for a research trip. She was studying labor rights in the fashion and apparel industries, and she needed a trip photographer to photo-document factories and production facilities. Unfortunately for this blog, my
university now owns the rights to those images, and therefore I am unable to publish any photographs depicting factory life. Life outside of factories in Thailand and Vietnam however, presented some wonderful opportunities to capture some everyday living in these two culturally rich countries.
I was fascinated by the Buddhism that I witnessed being practiced in Bangkok. I had studied Buddhism in school, but what I was not expecting was the formality and ritualism that permeated the religion. All adult men wore amulets depicting Buddha and every young boy experienced compulsory monastic and military service by adulthood. The contradiction of that duel requirement still sticks with me. Also, for a religion that espoused nonattachment, the structures (both literally and figuratively) built around the Buddhism practiced in Bangkok, were a salient presence in Bangkok. As someone who was raised as a Catholic, the similarities between these two very different religious traditions reinforced a growing belief that globally we are much more alike than we are different.
In Vietnam, I was most stuck by the people living along the Mekong Delta. The delta played a critical role in the Vietnam War, and while on a boat trip up the river, I could not help but reflect on the randomness of history and circumstance. Had I been born 25-30 years earlier, I would not have been a 20something tourist on a tourist boat pointing a camera, I'd have been a 20something US soldier on a swift boat, pointing a gun.
It is amazing how much things can change in 30 years. Life along the Mekong River in 2006 was peaceful, quiet, and simple. Families ran small eateries, sold bottled snake wine and honey, and catered to tourists like me for income. At one stop, I met this young girl lazily rocking in a hammock. Unlike the kids in South Africa, she was extremely shy and barely gave me an opportunity to get a clear glimpse of her face. Next to her, her brothers played cards, mimicking old men with bluffing facial expressions and overconfident betting gestures. Though rough and basic, the childhood for these kids seems all too normal.
When not on a boat in the river, the bicycle is the preferred mode of transportation along the Mekong. The above photo is one of those truly lucky moments when your timing behind the viewfinder is spot on. The fact that this woman looked my way was icing on the cake.
I was fascinated by the Buddhism that I witnessed being practiced in Bangkok. I had studied Buddhism in school, but what I was not expecting was the formality and ritualism that permeated the religion. All adult men wore amulets depicting Buddha and every young boy experienced compulsory monastic and military service by adulthood. The contradiction of that duel requirement still sticks with me. Also, for a religion that espoused nonattachment, the structures (both literally and figuratively) built around the Buddhism practiced in Bangkok, were a salient presence in Bangkok. As someone who was raised as a Catholic, the similarities between these two very different religious traditions reinforced a growing belief that globally we are much more alike than we are different.
In Vietnam, I was most stuck by the people living along the Mekong Delta. The delta played a critical role in the Vietnam War, and while on a boat trip up the river, I could not help but reflect on the randomness of history and circumstance. Had I been born 25-30 years earlier, I would not have been a 20something tourist on a tourist boat pointing a camera, I'd have been a 20something US soldier on a swift boat, pointing a gun.
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2 comments:
i love the photo of the woman on the bicycle. my relatives live along the mekong delta, 3 hours from Ho Chi Minh City. the view from my grandma's house looks exactly like the one you've taken-a dirt road with all kinds of plants and fruit trees. :)
Mimi - Thanks for your comment. It's so cool to hear that my photo captured a personal memory for you! The delta region is a beautiful part of the country. I really hope I can get back there someday to do some more photography.
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