Posts Tagged ‘dogs’

The type of things I like to look at

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

December 16 was Victory Day in Bangladesh, which is a pretty huge deal. It celebrates the same day in 1971 on which the Pakistani army surrendered, finally granting Bangladesh their hard fought independence. AUW students put on a huge parade around our neighborhood, but I’m leaving photos of that to another post. After the parade, I spent some time with my camera meandering around the neighborhood. I didn’t think it possible, but I was actually even more popular with Bangladeshis that day than usual, due no doubt to my Bengali face paint that one of the students had been nice enough to do for me in the morning.

Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)

Photo taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on December 16, 2009.

There wasn’t anything especially spectacular going on outside, but (as is always the case in Bangladesh) there was plenty to see, begging to be made into images. I suppose the title of this post could serve as a (rather lame) subtitle for my entire blog… I’ve just noticed that while I was in South Asia, I predominantly took a large number of just a few types of photos, and I think the sampling in this post is a rather representative slice. I like Bangladeshi men who quietly revel in giving the camera solid inexpressive faces, and I like kids who ask for pictures and then carry on the tradition by imitating those men. I like people at work. I like dogs, and shadows, and I love splashes of bright color.

Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 16, 2009)

Photos taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on December 16, 2009.

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Children of Chittagong, and more

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

Near the beginning of December, right after the big four day AUW special visitor event that I photographed (which I think for now I’ll just let slip into general unmentioned obscurity), I had the opportunity to once again go out into Chittagong with Mow (the student who took me to some of the slums and other interesting locations around the city). She had the goal of talking to some child laborers, and also revisiting the refugee camp that we had been to once before. We did both, and combined with a short walk I took afterwards around my immediate neighborhood, it all made for an interesting and colorful day. I think I’ll leave it at that for now and let my images do most of the talking.

Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Dec 6, 2009)

Photos taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on December 6, 2009.

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Walking around Bandarban

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

On the first day, after our trek through the jungle and the river boat ride, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the large town in Bandarban and on through what I might call the “suburbs” to a Buddhist temple. This was a fun pedestrian journey as the town provided a lot to look at – including people, goods and shops, and general ‘bustle’ – and in the more rural area there were countless children excited to see a white man with a camera, not to mention beautiful green fields and livestock.

One amusing moment occurred when I was photographing a small group of boys on the side of the road. It was clear from their body language that they were gunning for a photograph, and I was happy to comply. When I lifted my camera to my face they got pretty giggly and started goofing around, continuously trying to push one another into the background and make themselves the front-and-center star of the composition.

Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)

Photo taken in Bandarban, Bangladesh on October 30, 2009.

I took a few like that and then I heard a man nearby on their side of the road tell the kids “Hey! Get in a line!”, at which point the boys quickly got their act together and maturely stood in a single row so that everyone could be clearly seen.

Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)

Photo taken in Bandarban, Bangladesh on October 30, 2009.

My personal preference would be for the first ’style’, but I like both photos and in this particular case I actually think the composition worked out better in the orderly line image. The experience though was just another funny installment in the ongoing game of “What do Bangladeshi men want in pictures of kids?”. Clearly the answer this time favors simple unobstructed visibility over spontaneous fun or candid moments. To each his own!

Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)
Bandarban, Bangladesh (Oct 30, 2009)

Photos taken in Bandarban, Bangladesh on October 30, 2009.

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And it wasn’t even that scary

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Success! Catie and I took an early evening walk from the main AUW campus to Panchlaish (where the faculty and a number of staff live) and I brought my camera along for its first real journey on the streets of Chittagong. I’m glad I had Catie watching my back this first time, but in all honesty I don’t really know why I was so nervous. I think it just boiled down to the fact that I’m not comfortable being the center of attention in the first place, which I invariably am as a tall (strike 1) blonde (strike 2) white (big strike 3) man, and when I hold a large camera I certainly draw even more attention than usual (no matter what country I’m in). Plus, when I look through a camera I feel somewhat exposed because I can’t really pay attention to anything else at the same time. So I knew that combination would result in a situation where I felt vulnerable in an already uncomfortable setting, and that made me reluctant to bring my camera down and walk that (literal) road. I don’t think I was ever physically nervous about the idea though, like I was going to get harassed or mugged or anything – it was really just a social and personal apprehension. In any case, I know that the more I do it, the more comfortable I’ll feel. I’m leagues more confident now even just after one short walk outside, and I think over the next few weeks I’ll get to a point where I can be out photographing on my own without a second thought. Maybe I’ll even start to venture further than our block (or, triangle, if you want to get technical).

Of course, since I am that tall blonde white male with a large camera, I did draw a great deal of attention. We especially had a lot of people around us on this one street where Catie says there are always a lot of beggar children. Some of the children and women were indeed begging, but some of the kids were actually just making a camera motion in front of their face, asking for a picture. I obliged, and Catie and I also gave a couple of the more persistent kids a samosa from an Iftar stand that we stopped at across the road.

Chittagong, Bangladesh (Sep 15, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Sep 15, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Sep 15, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Sep 15, 2009)
Chittagong, Bangladesh (Sep 15, 2009)

Photos taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on September 15, 2009.

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