Night
1
Jewel
30.0 sec at f/20, ISO 100
Bangkok 4/28/17, 7:49:44 PM
Sony Alpha 6500 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Taken during rush hour, shooting up through a wrought-iron fence with two feet of my tripod up against the wall of the soi, and the third in the gutter; no sidewalks! As the motorcycles swirled out from between the cars and along the gutter, I would point down at the tripod leg, and seeing me the driver would carefully inch past. Smiles on both sides.
2
Fabric
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 2/28/17 8:12:00PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Whoever called the security guard thought that because I was crouching in the bushes I was up to no good, but the sight of my camera equipment mollified him, and the woman who came with him, too.
3
Sky Train
6.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/24/17 6:50:47PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
I don’t know where the tire-tracks come from.
4
Blind Spot
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 2/6/17 6:48:13PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
A selfie. I’d like to go back and take this again wearing a shirt that would create a spot of red in the mirror, but the wall has been painted (pale green), so I can never take this picture again.
5
Food Cart
8.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 10/22/17 6:04:12
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
The slow exposure captures the trash can delivery man.
6
The Green Light
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/19/16 8:02:58
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
As I walked closer, amazed, the single green light resolved into two.
7
Working Late
25.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 10/18/17 6:14:37PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
8
Broken Bottles
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen, 5/4/17 6:35:34PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
9
Guard Dogs
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya, 3/25/18 6:50:36PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
I have visited Wat Khun Mueang Jai so often that the soi dogs are relaxed in my presence.
Dignity
10
Ochre
1/25 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya 1/15/17 4:35:30PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
When this gentleman has collected his greens, he will walk back the way he came to cook them.
11
White
1/10 sec at f/22, ISO 100
Lamphun 2/21/18 5:25:00PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
12
Brown
1/8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Pattaya 1/14/29 12:21:32PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 250mm F2
13
Green
1.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 4/9/17 5:19:33 PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
14
Pink
1.6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Pattaya 4/22/16 6:19:32 PM
Here, my friend helped me to step back from one-point perspective.
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
15
Yellow
2.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Pattaya 12/5/2016 5:12:19 PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
16
Lavender
0.8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/1/17 5:51:38PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Taken in a cul de sac. Presumably — from the markings on the wall — the spirit house was moved closer to the bodhi tree to open up a new parking spot.
17
Rust
6.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 2/15/17 6:14:30PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
18
Red
30 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 2/15/17 6:46:50PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Sky
19
Bird on a Wire
1/6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/22/16 5:30:04PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Rules for spirit house placement are sometimes hard to obey in crowded Bangkok; in this case the size of the lot is the size of the building, and there is no room for a spirit house at ground level, on the land. So the ritual experts put the spirit house on the roof. I had passed down this soi many times, and never lifted up my eyes.
20
Brushwork
1/6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/31/16 6:02:24PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
21
Break in the Clouds
1/6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 4/10/17 6:00:15PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
22
Chiang Mai Women’s Correctional Institution
1/8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 3/14/17 6:23:05PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
This spirit house was perched on spoil from an archaeological dig in the prison yard. I wandered in around 5:00PM through the open front door, and for the whole session I kept an ear cocked for the slamming door that would mean I was trapped overnight (though later I checked Google Map’s Satellite View and found some of the walls surrounding the prison had been demolished, so I was really OK the entire time).
23
Mae Ping
1/20 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 4/11/17 5:30:57PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
24
Chinatown
8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 1/18/19 6:36:00PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
18
Red
0.8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 2/15/17 6:46:50PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
25
“Shabuindy”
6.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 1/27/18 6:32:45PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
26
Bottle Weight
30.0 sec at f/22, ISO 100
Khon Kaen 11/22/17 5:56:02PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
Taken from the front porch of a shop house that had closed for the day. When I had finished framing the shot, I sat down on the porch with my back gratefully against the wall (my kit is heavy), when suddenly the homeowner appeared with a blue plastic chair for me to sit in.
27
Cell Tower
20.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 4/10/17 6:46:17PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
The sign says: “Rooms for rent.”
Shrines
28
Wax
0.4 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 3/10/17 5:27:42PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
I followed the scent of honey.
29
Cycle
0.5 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya 1/15/17 4:20:32PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
A year later, this shrine has vanished.
30
Siamese
1/15 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/18/17 5:58:01PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 12mm F2.8
31
Stool
30.0 sec at f/14 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/21/17 7:03:48PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
So much of Thai material culture is here.
32
“Scary!”
30 sec at f/13 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/17/18 2:28:02AM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
I took first version of this photo next to a food cart. When I squatted down to rest, the owner brought me a red plastic chair to sit on. I showed the image on my iPad screen to him, and then to his assistant, who had been to New York and spoke English. “Scary!” “Yes!” I left an offering of sticky rice.
33
Rat
2.5 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 2/14/17 5:56:37PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
34
Cat
5.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 2/14/17 6:07:14PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
35
Laborers
4.0 sec at f/22 1SO 100
Bangkok 5/19/18 5:08:43PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
A shrine near several construction sites that I’ve tracked for several years, whose offerings are constantly changing. Here, I imagine a man and a woman, having come down from the North or Myanmar to find work, offering up these two figures for good luck (along with the energy drink in the little brown bottle).
36
Taxi-Meter
0.4 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/21/17 12:06:27PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Taxi drivers’ shrine.
Offerings
37
The Golden Land
1/13 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Pattaya 4/21/16 5:22:40PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Strawberry Fanta for the spirits.
38
Power
1/8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 5/8/17 4:31:50PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
39
Plate
0.5 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 4/8/17 5:46:35PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
The slightest drip, a riot of plants.
40
Rule of Thirds
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya 1/17/17 6:15:53PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
The charring in this and other images from Ayutthaya occurred during the Burmese sack of 1767.
41
In Memoriam
1/40 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya 3/26/17 1:36:59PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
Pumpuang Duangjan.
43
End of Shift
1/13 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya 3/29/18 5:06:00PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
43
“Me”
0.6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/12/18 5:49:54PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
44
Tobacco
1/8 sec at f/18 ISO 100
Pattaya 2/26/17 5:27:06PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
In Thailand any space, seemingly, can be made sacred.
42
Pinhead
1/4 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 11/20/18 5:14:27PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
Figures
46
Boy
10.0 sec at f/22, ISO 100
Chiang Mai 3/8/17 6:20:22PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
When I returned to the site on the following day, the blue figure was gone.
47
Umbrella
1.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 3/10/17 5:15:43PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
The bhodi tree’s shoot shades the broken figure’s face with its leaves.
48
Phra Mae Thorani
1/15 sec at f/18 ISO 100
Pattaya 2/26/17 5:43:59PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Abadoned when a small business failed, but Thais are dauntless in their optimism.
49
Phra Phikanet I
5.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 1/23/18 5:13:26 PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
A ghostly foot.
Why are there stitches in Phra Phikanet’s trunk? No idea.
50
Phra Phikanet II
1.3 sec at f/5.6 ISO 100
Bangkok 2/17/18 7:00:17PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
51
Putto
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Lamphun 4/19/18 7:04:44PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
52
Family
1.3 sec at f/2.7 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/28/16 5:37:59PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
53
Wall
1/3 sec at f/22, ISO 100
Bangkok 5/21/17 12:09:03PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
54
Contemplation
10.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayyuthah 1/13/17 6:15:34PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
People
55
Apron Strings
15.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/7/18 6:44:59PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
56
Christmas
10 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 12/23/18 8:17:37PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
57
Hoardings
1/8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 4/25/18 3:35:20
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
Laborers setting up fencing round a construction site.
58
Wai
0.4 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/18/18 5:50:36PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
Another blind.
59
Attendant
0.6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 2/10/17 4:36:14PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
60
Seamstress
3.2 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/10/16 5:34:21PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
At right, a customer at the sewing lady’s stall (further right, not shown; now vanished).
61
Father and Son
2.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 2/14/17 5:47:00PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
In back of a warehouse; I started out working at the front, but the workers were careful to guide me to this one, in the back.
62
Diversity
1/8 sec at f/10 ISO 100
Bangkok 11/1/18 6:07:38PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
63
Pain Clinic
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Lamphun 1/15/18 6:51:42PM
Sony Alpha 6500 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
Wind
64
Horse
4.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/28/16 5:35:51PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Maintained by a restaurant next door, now closed; the garlands and the red horse are gone.
65
Camouflage
3.2 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/9/16 6:24:54PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
66
Gift
8.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/11/16 6:33:29PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Taken through the bars of a fence as the dusk wind rattled the dry leaves. A rail-thin gentleman in shorts and flip-flops passed by and dropped a candy bar into my open camera bag.
67
Nang Mai I
13 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/17/18 5:51:31PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
68
Muzzle
1/3 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayuttayah 3/26/17 3:43:55PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
69
Roots
8.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/29/18 6:31:47PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
70
Fronds
1.6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangok 4/5/16 6:04:09PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Symmetry that is never quite symmetrical.
71
Straw
1/5 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Pattaya 4/22/16 5:30:40PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Room at the inn?
72
Post Office
6.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/17/2017 6:43:38PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Progress
73
Tinted Glass
1/30 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya 1/15/17 4:46:01 PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
74
Pools
0.4 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/15/18 3:25:55PM
Sony QX1 + Rokinon T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED
75
History
0.4 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Ayutthaya 1/13/17 4:29:07PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Firecrackers re-enact the Burmese sack.
76
Yamaha
1/4 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 2/11/17
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Story hook: A boy with a motorbike loses his girl to a man with a car; half the country songs in Thailand.
77
Chicken
0.8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
78
Bank Branch
1/80 sec at f/22 ISO 200
Chiang Mai
Sony Alpha 6500 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
79
Hugz Mall
1.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 1/19/18 6:02:56PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
80
Mannequins
1.6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 1/20/18 6:32:28PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
81
Black Tarp
1 sec at f/20 ISO 100
Bangkoo 2/17/17 9:39:45AM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
Speed
82
The Good Grandmother
1/20 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Pattaya 4/21/16 5:02:14PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Thais do not throw away sacred objects willy-nilly, but abandon them in already sacred spaces. The presence of even one sacred object can make a place sacred, and so you see piles of discarded Spirit Houses, as in the background here. The site has been bulldozed. This photograph may be the only record.
83
Chair
1/30 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Lamphun 2/21/14 5:45:32
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
84
School Uniform
1/6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 11/20/17 5:05:11PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
85
Saen Saep Boat Service
5.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/21/16 5:50PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
86
S.R.T.
1/25 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/5/17 7:57:19PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
87
“Happy New Year”
6.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 1/7/19 6:47:29AM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
88
Tree II
2.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Lamphun 2/19/2018 6:27:15PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 25mm F2
89
Rope Lights
30.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/22/16 6:30:17PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
Taken from a wooden platform bridging a khlong, which I realized was a driveway only when a car pulled into it.
90
“Wong Manufacturing”
13.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 10/15/16 7:57:10PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
A motorcycle station, feeding the tide of pedestrians from a nearby BTS station “upstream,” deeper into the sois.
Thailand Today
91
Gecko
13.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 5/5/17 6:59:17PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Geckos move by fits and starts.
92
Private Property
30 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 4/8/18 6:51:13PM
Taken at rush hour on Sukhumvit Soi 40, across Khlong Toei.
93
Facets
0.6 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 10/17/16 5:10:12PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
94
Drill
1/8 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 11/8/17 3:10:20PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Spirit Houses change day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year.
95
Nang Mai II
20 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 5/3/16 6:43:59PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Taken at a little farm near Thong Lo in Bangkok, land not yet sold for development, and constantly being cared for and improved with new crops, mostly by thin, tough, small Northern women, who one day quietly came to see what I was doing. The Sony QX1 + iPad Pro combo was strong here, since I could show them a good-sized shot.
96
Glamour
1.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Khon Kaen 5/6/17 5:58:30PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
Spotted while by taking a tuk-tuk to my hotel, found it later on Google Maps Street View, and came back, just as the wind rose before the rain.
97
“Best”
10.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Bangkok 12/31/17 6:21:42PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
My sophisticated, cosmopolitan Thai friend shivered.
98
Maya Lifestyle Shopping Center
15.0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 2/28/18 7:32:18PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 85mm F1.8
99
Axe
1/0 sec at f/22 ISO 100
Chiang Mai 3/10/17 5:48:20PM
Sony QX1 + Zeiss 50mm F2.8
The shape of Thailand.