iamdat

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 2

iamdat — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 01:04:00 GMT

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 1

iamdat — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 12:51:00 GMT

The visual story about a country cloaked behind the mountains.

Photos: My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

iamdat — Tue, 8 Nov 2011 13:59:00 GMT

This is a photo story about the children from an HIV shelter called Mai Hoa in Cu Chi District, the outskirt of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is run by the Catholic society in Vietnam. At the time that this project was carried out (during May and June of 2011), there were 18 kids aged 5 - 18 living in the home. Each of them has a different background, but they all lead a very spiritual life in the shelter together. Due to their health condition, the kids spend most of their time within the shelter's premise daily. Every morning, they attend a chapel service at 6.00 am. After that, they go through their daily activities of attending classes, eating and playing together. At night, the children gather again at 8.00 pm for a prayer service before going to bed. The story of this place is just as simple as that, and I was compelled to record the lifestyle of these children at the shelter as I observed them. They are all contracted by this deadly virus, but their spirits are more than healthy. As a student, I have been privileged to be exposed to photography for long enough to learn about the value and impact of a photo story rather than just a single image. I appreciate the facts, the faces and the happenings that I go through when I try to document whatever that is going on. Photography to me is a means to learn about the different facets of life and to appreciate the gift of sight that I was born with. I believe that being immersed in the situation of the assignment is one of the greatest feelings for a photographer. Therefore, being able to experience this scholarship in South Africa with Mr. Jason Edward would be undeniably a huge step in my photography path.

Photos: My Photo Scholarship 2011 entry

iamdat — Sat, 5 Nov 2011 15:13:00 GMT

Born with HIV

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 8

iamdat — Wed, 6 Apr 2011 20:00:00 GMT

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 7

iamdat — Wed, 6 Apr 2011 19:59:00 GMT

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 6

iamdat — Wed, 6 Apr 2011 19:56:00 GMT

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 5

iamdat — Wed, 6 Apr 2011 19:52:00 GMT

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 4

iamdat — Wed, 6 Apr 2011 19:47:00 GMT

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - Day 3

iamdat — Wed, 6 Apr 2011 19:42:00 GMT

Photos: Lost in Bhutan - All

iamdat — Sun, 3 Apr 2011 01:22:00 GMT

Lost in Bhutan - Last Day

iamdat — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:50:00 GMT

Last Day – Dec 11 2010

We left Punakha for Paro at around 8.00. The weather was great. On the way we met some monkeys and stopped for a short while at Dochula Pass. It was so cloudy that most of the mountains cannot be seen. In the end we took a group photo and headed to Thimphu.

It was interesting to go backwards the journey so far. I got to observe Thimphu from a higher view. It was truly a fast-developing city with lots of constructions going on. At the same time, I found some problem with the pollution from the big trucks of India. They were releasing lots of gas exhaust.

In the afternoon, we got to meet up with Mr. Tashin, who is the manager of the tour. We then went for a trekking up the Takshan mountain to see the Takshan Dzong. The path was not as tough as that from the previous day. We climbed for around 900 meters of height. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the Dzong. However, while walking down, I came across a workshop where there were two men making all the butter lamps. I decided to spend quite an amount of time there to document a story about their process.

By the time we trekked down to the car, it was near pitch black at around 6 pm. Then we had a great dinner at a local home and took a hot stone bath. It was really refreshing to relax yourself in the hot tub. As the trip was coming to the end, I just wished that we could have got a bit more time because most of the time we were behind our schedule. There were so many things to photograph, from still life, landscape to animals, humans …. The culture and religion of Bhutan are tightly connected in Buddhism.

As the end-note, the only difficulty that I had during the trip was that most of the locals thought I was a Bhutanese boy who was acting like a foreigner. Hence, they always looked at me every time I tried to take some photos or interacted with them. Usually, the Bhutanese people were very much unbothered by the foreigners.

Lost in Bhutan - Day 7

iamdat — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:49:00 GMT

Day 7 – Dec 10 2010

The day did not start so early. We woke up at 6 drove to Gasa Dzongkhag. It was a misty morning. The vision was probably only 5 metres at most, but I managed to get some images out of the environment. There was a roadblock in our way, but luckily Mr. Kakhasap managed to get us through. The bumpy drive took around 3 hours before we could reach the place. Many times we stopped halfway to record images of groups of horses carrying goods down the hill. I also saw some ladies digging the trench by the roadside.

When we reached one point, we had two options, either to explore the forest or to trek up to the Gasa Dzong. I and Mr. Simon hiked up together to the Dzong. It was a long and tiring walk. We literally ran up and covered around 900 meters of height. Actually, the path was rocky and rough. There were so many branches of the trail and funny enough, we climbed up to the wrong hill. Eventually, after around 1.5 hours we reached the Dzong but only had around 20 minutes to photograph. I was not permitted to enter the Dzong so I wandered around and found a community just around and behind the Dzong. They were renovating the Dzong, so I took some photos of the carpenters who were cutting the wood nearby. By the time we went back to the car, it was 4.15 pm.

However, the best fun of the day was perhaps the Buddhist story that Mr. Kakhasap told us: There was this young monk who met a beautiful young girl. Since the monk was trying to behave properly, the girl asked him to do one of these three things: drinking a bottle of wine; or killing a goat; or sleeping with her. Because a Buddhist monk cannot refuse somebody’s request, even if it’s a sin, the young monk thought that the third thing was too sinful because every drop of sperm contained millions of lives. The second thing also involved killing a life but the first thing was perhaps the safest because he would not kill any life and the sin was not as grim as the other two. However, after finishing the bottle of wine, he became drunk and went on to kill the goat and rape the girl. The moral of the story was that the monk should have thought deeper. If he could not stand the alcohol, he should have either killed the goat or slept with the girl instead. The story was so funny because all of us were having a drink then.

Lost in Bhutan - Day 6

iamdat — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:40:00 GMT

Day 6 – Dec 9 2010

Today was a very special day of the trip. We woke up at 4.30 am to go and photograph the White Bellied Hereon. Much rarer than the Black Necked Cranes, these birds had a humble population of only 26 in Bhutan. According to an ecologist that we met on the way, the construction of hydro power plants had been disrupting the lives of these birds because they drove their predators to the small rivers where the birds laid their eggs.

As we could only spot one bird and I did not have a tele lens powerful enough, I decided to wander around and looked for a story about the people living by the river. I came across a lady who worked in the field since as early as 5.00 am till noon. Also, I joined a group of kids for an exciting dart-throwing game. While I was doing all these, Jason got some fantastic close-up shots of the highly sensitive bird.

In the afternoon, we visited the historic 17^th century Fortress “Punakha Dzong”, the biggest Dzong in Bhutan. This visit made the day really special. Jason asked me to photograph things using his film rangefinder, mounted with a 35mm lens. Because we had been talking about old school photography, which included topics like Magnum photographers, composition and zone design system, he said this exercise would put me in their shoes. The experience was unexpected. I unfamiliarly looked through the viewfinder, feeling the unknown. Composition was tough as there was a thin small white frame within a big picture, so many times I was unsure how much to cut out or include in the photo. Manual focusing required fast reaction, especially with moving subjects, objects and I sometimes forgot to look at the centre focusing rectangle in the viewfinder. However, the biggest challenge was perhaps exposure. Shooting on aperture priority mode, I had to carefully select the different elements of different light intensities and choose the appropriate shutter speed. There was no preview so every time that I snapped the button was full of uncertainty. That was the core of the zone design system: calculating how to compensate the exposure correctly.

At the Dzong, we had an opportunity to go through a pictorial story about Buddha’s life. Inside the temples were wonderful architecture and textures, made up from all the artefacts and subtle lighting. Though we could not record and image inside the temples, the courtyard and architecture around were very captivating. Therefore, we all decided to skip lunch and stayed at that place throughout the whole afternoon. I shot around 25 frames and was very excited as well as worried about the result.

Also, while using Jason’s rangefinder, I dropped by a local high school and met a guy called Wangdi. He was taking his final year exam and I got a fun chat with him. We were of the same level so he was very keen to share with me about Bhutan’s education system.

Lost in Bhutan - Day 5

iamdat — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:36:00 GMT

Day 5 – Dec 8 2010

This morning we woke up at 5.30 for a crane shoot again. Like in an operation, Jason and I slowly and secretly went a long way around to sneak close to the flock of cranes in the centre of the wetland. Afterwards, we camped inside a bush at a higher ground for around 2.5 hours, observing and photographing the cranes having their breakfast below. On the way back we came across a group of people collecting straw in the forest nearby. I then took some photos to document their job.

On our way from Phobjikha to Punakha, we went past lots of things and happenings. First were a group of mountain bulls and some shield bugs. Second was a roadblock with huge landslide. Third was a busy town that was going to be abandoned. We stopped for long at this town to catch some stories about it for the last time before it disappeared. Because of its location near to a monastery, the public businesses caused much disturbance to the monks at the monastery. I could see this easily from the presence of the monks hanging around in the town. Jason gave me a 10-minute assignment to come up with a cover photo, some story photos and a closing photo. It was really thrilling to work in such time constraints. Besides, I also got an interesting side story about the business of long-distance taxi drivers there. Next to the petrol station was the parking site where this business was going on. The drivers were shouting out the names of the destinations and passengers would come to them. There were many cities and towns being called out, and everything went fast. Customers came, got into the vehicles and left, then new vehicles moved into the site.

We reached Punakha, the ex-capital of Bhutan, at around 7 pm. After 2 days, we came back to electricity.

Lost in Bhutan - Day 4

iamdat — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 23:53:00 GMT

Day 4 – Dec 7 2010

I was well awake at 5.30 am. The sub-zero temperature plus the dark sky promised an adventure. We were “shooting” the Black Necked Cranes this morning. From the road looking down, the highest wetland in the world looked so small. Yet when we stepped into the region, I realised how small we were compared to nature. No matter how much you walked, it seemed to never end. Moreover, I found that trying to keep your feet dry in a wetland was useless. No matter how much I tried to avoid, the mud was everywhere. My feet went numb as I soaked my shoes in the icing mud.

As we approached the cranes, Jason instructed everyone to be discreet, slowing and crouching down so as not to alert and disturb the cranes. On this day, the closest distance that we managed to get to the cranes was around 1 km. These endangered species are highly sensitive to any movement and sound surrounding them. Without a tele lens, I could not do much but stood back and observe the surrounding habitat. The scenery was dreamy with mountains ranging in the background; the vast valley stretching all the way, dotting with village houses on one side, and the thick mist flowing down along the slopes. As the sun rose over the mountains, the cast of dawn over the valley revealed the twinkling frost on the small plants. Far away, sign of people waking up can be seen as smoke billowing out of the rooftops.

However, the peaceful morning went into some problem as the rangers from the conservation centre approached and complained that we were breaking the rules by entering the wetland without permission. Obviously there was some miscommunication between the government offices because Jason was invited in advance to come and photograph the cranes. Anyway, the problem was solved eventually. However, Jason actually discovered a cover bag of pesticide, which might have been contaminating the water system of the wetland. From here he taught me about how to look out for other details and add more dimensions to the story. As he was documenting about the Black-necked cranes, the fact that such pesticide being used meant that the people were boosting the economic growth of their agriculture. At the same time, this would largely affect the habitat around them, especially the cranes.

After breakfast, we visited Gangtey Goenpa, which is an old monastery undergoing renovation. There I observed the young monks hanging around without any task to do. Some were climbing on the roof; some were sitting alone …. It seemed as if there was no keeper in charge around. Afterwards, just down the road we got an opportunity to attend an annual ceremony of a Bhutanese family. They celebrated it by inviting lots of neighbours and relatives over to their home for a meal. Besides, a group of monks was invited to conduct some rituals for the ancestors. The ceremony is seen as perhaps the most important event in a year for the family because it is after the harvest season. It was an unexpected experience to get close and intimate imagery inside a local house, especially during such a time.

In the late afternoon we returned to the wetland for some photos of the cranes. Unlike the morning, this time we approached from the opposite side of where we entered in the morning. Besides the cranes, I found several skulls of horses, cows or bulls scattering in the area. It was a chilling shoot as again I stepped into the frosty mud. However, it was worth the effort as I got the chance to catch some photos of the cranes flying over the whole valley during the sundown.

Lost in Bhutan - Day 3

iamdat — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 23:41:00 GMT

Day 3 – Dec 6 2010

In the morning I went across some early shops which sell various items. After walking around, we ended at the Clock Tower of Thimphu. It is noticeable that everywhere in Bhutan has a religious imprint. I spotted two rows of prayer wheels placed in the public. The public who walked by always came to roll these wheels. This shows how strong their belief in the religion is.

After packing up our luggage, we parted Thimphu and drove to Phobjikha valley. On the way, we stopped at the Do Chula pass (3150 m), where we could view the Himalayan range and Gangkar Puensum, the world’s highest un-climbed mountain. For the Bhutanese people, mountains are respected as deities, so no expedition to any mountain has ever been allowed in Bhutan. We tried to photograph its peak, but unluckily, a cloud covered it. Behind that Himalayan range is the border between Bhutan and China.

Just as Mr. Khashapa predicted, we spent more than 3 hours at the Do Chula Pass because there were so many things to photograph and document about. There were 108 Chortens built by the forth King for the well-being of the public. Nearby them was literally a forest of prayer flags. It took so long to photograph all because we were camping for the sun to come out of the cloud. When the sun shone onto the prayer flags, complex and colourful textures appeared beautifully. I had to climb onto one tree to catch a clearer view of the flags.

Due to much stopping, we were very much behind the schedule (and this occurred everyday throughout the trip). We had our lunch at around 4 pm and only reached the Phobjikha valley at 7.30 pm, pitch black. Therefore we missed the visit at the RSPN centre, which is a conservation centre for the Black Necked Cranes. What I found particular about this place was that there was no electricity and the sun disappeared behind the mountain as early as 6 pm. Since most of this valley is a conservation area, the area was not electrified. At night the temperature dropped to 0⁰C or even lower. The only source of heat was from burning wood. However, it was great because everything went so quiet and so dark that you could easily take a good sleep.

Lost in Bhutan - Day 2

iamdat — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 13:03:00 GMT

Day 2 – Dec 5 2010

7.00 am – I didn’t sleep much, thanks to the dogs barking all night outside the hotel. It’s quite strange that you can see dogs almost everywhere around here. Anyway, a walk around the hotel shows me an interesting fact about the traffic in Thimphu: All streets are one-way, except for the main street that runs through the capital.

After a filling breakfast, we dropped by at the Memorial Stupa for the 3^rd King. I observed some interesting cultural aspects of the people here. There was a room with perhaps more than a hundred of prayer candles being lit. It was definitely the best place to warm you up from the cold morning. There was another room with lots of prayer wheels being constantly spun by the people who were sitting nearby or by those who were walking by. It was dark inside, but luckily I found one corner with some sunlight shining through, creating a fantastic ambient source on a lady’s face.

Then we headed towards the animal conservation area and observed the Takin, Bhutan’s national animal, and goats ... Since there were fences in the way and I did not have a proper lens to photograph the animals, I decided to visit a Bhutanese household nearby. It was fun as I climbed onto the rooftop and had a chat with this 9-year-old girl called Xing (that was how she pronounced it). Her English was really good and she was very friendly. We talked about school, family and our hometown and I got some background story about her as well as the students' life there. It was during their winter holiday and school only resumed in Spring.

The next location was Pangrizampa Astrology School. Right at this place I and Jason had a long talk about exposure. Most importantly, he introduced to me the concept of zone design system which connects the photo’s composition and the exposure in it. It was new and complex to me but basically, zone designs requires you to compose your photo so that there are certain zones of different light intensities, then you have to calculate the proper exposure to fit the photo, as well as your intention. Before, I often used exposure lock to get the lighting that I wanted, but this concept seemed much more flexible.

Also at that place, I climbed onto the top of one of the buildings and staged a photo of a monk reading a book by the window. I must say that it was a really great photo that I constructed, but I did not find much satisfaction in it because it might not be true. I was supposed to document factual stories, not to fabricate any. After all, the fact, not just the reality, is what makes photo-document and photojournalism powerful.

The final destination of the day was Cherry Monastery, which was 20 km upper Thimphu. It was a long trekking up the mountain slope in the cold air of the late afternoon. The sunlight shot through the dense forest, creating intricate textures of the trees’ shadow on the ground. Eventually we reached the top of the mountain where the Monastery was situated. The quietness cloaked the monastery. Unknowingly, I climbed higher into the restricted area, overlooking a broad view of the entire valley. The late afternoon sunlight disappearing over the mountains made the scenery much more simply yet beautifully lit.

Lost in Bhutan - Day 1

iamdat — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 14:48:00 GMT

Day 1 – Dec 4 2010

7.15 am – I was just in time for the flight from Bangkok to Paro. Only halfway through the flight did I meet Mr. Jason Edwards and Mr. Simon Monk. We got to know each other and enjoyed the landscape outside the window. Far away, the horizon was broken with the white tips of the Himalayan mountain range, and to the extreme left erected the world’s rooftop, Peak of Mount Everest. Almost everyone rushed to the left side of the airplane to catch glimpse of such stunning natural landscape. The mountain ranges created multiple layers within the cloud, giving a surreal feeling. On the ground were intricate textures of the Earth’s face, the snaking river, the vast desert, and the green patches of forest. The legendary Silk Road might have been just down there too. These geographic details already thrilled me with the encounter of Bhutan, a country locked away behind thick mountains.

Then the scattering buildings appeared before us on the mountains’ slopes as we approached the Paro International Airport. They all carry a very unique architecture feature, especially the roof, with 4 corners being pointed upwards like that of a temple.
Stepping out of the airplane, I was overwhelmed with the refreshingly clean air of the morning, and also the chill of the November wind. It was 4 degree Celsius they said, and I was wearing only two layers of shirts. However, the bright sun already warmed me up for the journey ahead.

Our guide, Mr. Khashapa, gave us a welcome in style, putting a white scarf over each of our necks. 5 minutes into the car, we already started what we were here for: photographing. Stopping at a bridge, we came into a wonderful view of the yellow row of trees along the Paro river. Particularly, what captured my attention most were the many colorful flags hung on the bridge. Mr. Khashapa said that they were flags of lucky prayers, with mantra written on each of them. For the Bhutanese people, hanging these at windy places helps carry the mantra around and bring luck to everyone. Moreover, the white flags are specifically prayer meant for the dead, and are often seen on the roofs of any household in Bhutan.

Then we visited the Paro Dzong, which is a fortress used for defense against the Tibetan invasion back in the 17th century. Outside the fortress people were bustling around, yet when we went inside, it was cloaked with a serene atmosphere, completely isolated from the outside world. Most of the walls are built of white bricks, which come in strong contrast with the red rooftop. Observing how the monks went about their daily activities was interesting.

After lunch, we headed for Thimphu. Around sunset time, we came across this large group of white prayer flags by the Thimphu river. It was beautiful to observe these tall poles standing firmly straight through the strong gust of wind. The sunset casts long shadows of the poles, sending the moving shapes of the flags stretched parallel on the ground.

By evening, we reached a market, having a good look at all the organic fruits and vegetables. There was even a glass house at the market.

Photos: My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

iamdat — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:50:00 GMT

During a visit to a public school for the poor in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, I came across a classroom, in which I saw a very special girl sitting at the front row. Her appearance is very different from the rest of her classmates. Her hands and legs are deformed, while her friends are all normal. Watching how her fingerless hands hold the pen, I felt an urge to approach her family and seek permission to document about her. Through this series of photos, I tried to tell an intimate story as I observed a little part of her daily life, how she plays and lives with her brother, mother and father. Thus, the place that I visited is Ngoc's world, where we can catch a glimpse of a childhood filled with disadvantage and uncertainty. As I submit this entry to the competition, I hope to raise an awareness to the international friends about the life of the underprivileged people that we often overlook ourselves. I strongly feel that my life-long duty with a camera is to narrate stories that reflect the life of the people in societies. After all, I believe that it is the people who make the place. At the same time, I believe in my ability to strive on and go beyond the surface of physical aesthetics to expose the essence of beauty which lies in the human spirit, particularly of Ngoc in this story. Personally, I would say that my adventurous and explorative personality should fit me well in what this photography scholarship requires. I have always been enticed by the experience of interacting with new cultures, new faces and new perspectives. However, it would be a dream-come-true to be with Mr Jason Edward on such an assignment to discover Bhutan.