Sunday, October 8, 2017

2 More Forgotten Dump Negs, 2013

Here are a couple more found images from my recent magazine scanning. I am not sure if I will submit these to the mag (Photographers Forum) but might. These were made in the dump in Mae Sot back in 2013 with Leica 35mm cameras and Tri-x.

Update* Here is some background info about the 2 pics from my Facebook update.


Here are 2 new photos from the dump, discovered them in the recent scanning. They were made in 2013, with Leica 35s on Tri-x. The Leicas are great to use in Asia as they are tough and very well made. I black tape all the LEICA stuff to help avoid notice.

The first picture is of 3 dump children, their father was the man with one eye posted earlier. I never learned their names. They have left the dump, not sure where they went, hopefully to a happier place. The tallest-oldest boy always seemed so sad, I would see him wandering the garbage by himself, working sometimes other times just lost in thought, never did hear him speak.

One of the most difficult things in the dump is my lack of communication. I have to learn more Burmese this trip, feel so trapped with my few Burmese word vocabulary, and my limited Thai fluency. Many folks in the dump cannot speak Thai, in fact most cannot. In all my time in the dump I have probably only been able to speak to 4 or 5 people in Thai. When I do things get so much easier, we can joke, talk about many things, they can understand my purpose better, and they can ask for what they need so much more easily.

The second photo is of the same young baby girl who is on my Facebook profile pic, the photograph here was done a few years earlier in 2013 before she was walking much. She is being held by her aunt. The young girls is also in the video linked at the 1:45 mark (her name is Noi-Oo, thats what her brother says in the video to me). Noi-Oo always stared at me. I must have looked like a big white terrible ugly monster to her. Later on (2016) I gave her a doll donated by a coworkers daughter, and she became my friend smiling and following me about. The hammock in the picture was at the dumps edge and sort of a communal usage type thing, everyone shared it at times, it was nice to use as it was in the shade of some trees, slightly hidden away from the blazing hot sun.
https://vimeo.com/150754772

3 young chileren, Mae Sot garbage dump, Thailand 2013
Aunt holding her niece in the garbage dump, Mae Sot Thaiand 2013