I liked the mother and her son from the moment I saw them, and I love this series of photos. I took them in Andong Village, a slum that I often visit about 25km outside Phnom Penh. The people who live there have been through great hardships, and they are still in a tough place. The stress of living in such conditions often erupts into fighting within families and between residents. Yet a mother’s love for her son will shine though almost any circumstances.
This is just a photographic sketch I made one afternoon in Phnom Penh. I take photos like these as a way to observe and learn; and I enjoyed talking to the people as I photographed them. It was in February, just before Chinese New Year. I walked into Wat Lanka, a Buddhist temple, and saw several young men and one older man at work. I don’t think any of them do wood working as a profession, though I could be wrong. My impression was that they showed up and learned. Perhaps they are carving images of Buddha to earn merit, or dollars (the statues were being made to sell). Buddhism in Cambodia is very practical. Young men become monks for spiritual reasons and/or because they want a place to live, food to eat, and an education. Most are monks for a few years, and some continue for life. I didn’t know what motives these men had for their labor, but I admired the care they put into the task.
I went to Meiji Jingu today to photograph the New Year’s rituals. I saw lots of interesting people, including lots of young women in kimonos (because it’s “Coming of Age” day), but these Shinto wedding photos were my favorites.
Today I submitted some photos for photo contest hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club in Thailand (here). After all the work I did to re-work them, I wanted to post them here. Here’s one that I entered as an individual feature photo. I was walking through Phnom Penh returning to my hotel when I saw a small factory, so I veered in. They were very friendly, and I’d love to go back some day and learn some of the workers’ stories. Most of them wandered in looking for work, or came at the invitation of a friend, and just started carving. If they could do it, they got hired. There’s no training program, but I assume they work very slowly for the first few weeks or months.
Here are a few photos to give you the feel of being at a children’s sports day at a school in Japan. Well, they can’t really capture all the feelings of parents watching the events which range from pride and wonder to boredom and pain. I felt all of these today. When only Reia was participating we were always waiting and waiting for her next event. Today it seemed like our kids were constantly coming up next. They were all very proud of their dances, and Maika was selected for the relay (one of just a few girls in her grade). Mari is actually faster than Maika, but they were on different teams — and Mari happened to be on the team with most of the fastest 1st grade girls.
I haven’t posted any photos of my kids, because I like these shots better. Mostly I shot video of my kids with a scattering of photos in between events.
The highlights of sports days are often the running events. Even though they aren’t supposed to be very competitive, at least not in elementary school, it still works out that way. They also have fun relays, dances, and the older kids do “gymnastic exercises” (for lack of a better word in English). It’s a long day in the hot sun, and if you’ve seen one… But if you ever have a chance, I recommend attending one. They’re free. They’re happening all over the place at this time of year, and anyone can walk in.
Today on the last lap of the final relay a boy came from behind in 3rd place to win. It was amazing, because he made up more than 20 meters over such a short space. When the final score was announced the red and white teams had tied: 288 to 288.