I've seen ...

A big hit in 1970 was "Fire and Rain" by James Taylor.  It seemed just about anytime of the day or night it's lyrics could be heard in and around the University of Rhode Island - as well as many other locations around the world I am certain.

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend ... "

In my life, I too have seen fire and I have also seen rain.

I have seen sunny days that I thought would never end - literally and figuratively.

I have seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.

Although James Taylor did not mention it in his song, I have also seen many wasted days with people who I thought were my friends.

Those were all learning experiences and became the foundation upon which my life has been built.

Since I was 9 years old, I have been photographing my world.  I started with an 8 or 10 shot Kodak box camera with a fixed lens.

As technology evolved, so did my cameras change.  My first 35mm camera was a Kowa 35mm circa 1968 which I still have.

I have always had a wanderlust and using a camera has allowed me to share the sights and scenes that I have encountered along the way.

Today with the wonders of digital photography and the Internet, I am able to share so much and so much easily with so many people - throughout the world.

As I have matured, my photography has also matured.  Prior to 1987, I estimate that 90% of my photographs were of landscapes and animals.  Since then, my photographs are more like 90% of people and 10% of landscapes.

Hamar Maiden in Ethiopia

My goal and ambition in photography are to show extraordinary people doing ordinary things.  In so doing, I wish to show how different people can appear, to provide a glimpse of other cultures, to celebrate the diversity of mankind, and to demonstrate that despite our appearances we are so much alike.

 

Suri Women Smoking in Ethiopia

 

I consider my work to be documentary style photography in that my goal is to capture a real and true moment at a specific point in time; sort of like “If you had been there then, this is what you should have seen”  As such there is very little posing, imposed direction or post processing manipulation in my work. 

Bhutanese Monk Preparing for Cham Performance

 Although my genre can be considered documentary photography, which some people believe can only be done in black and white, I prefer to work in color for no other reason than the fact, for me, color more accurately and more completely captures the scene.

Cham Performance in Central Bhutan

 My journeys now are to find, witness and photograph those unique cultures, people and rituals which define the limits of the human experience.  Mankind is immensely diverse and with countless perspectives.  I have the opportunity and resources available to seek them out.  I enjoy sharing these findings with other people.

Devotee Participating in Vegetarian Festival, Phuket, Thailand

 Many of the opportunities that I have to photograph people and to begin to learn of their culture as well as way of life are at festivals and special events.

Life events such as weddings, funerals, initiations, ordinations define a person's life and typically showcase a culture.  These are events that a people revere and are typically proud of.

Hmong Girl at New Years Festival in Laos

 In my quest to show extraordinary people doing ordinary things, I have to the opportunity to learn some and to start to understand a little of people's religions.  I have discussed and witnessed Animist, Brahman, Hindu, Islam and the various traditions of Buddhism with practitioners, devotees, and clergy.

I avoid discussing politics for it seems to be more an emotional issue than one's faith.  Most people are very willing to talk to you about their religion.  If you know a little about their religion to begin with and show respect, it is a great ice breaker in getting to know people.  Showing respect is not the same as agreeing with what is being shared with you.  Showing respect is accepting what you are being told as what the people believe and how it guides their daily life.

Monks in NE Thailand

Most of the events and opportunities that I have seen have been happy, joyous or, at worst, solemn occasions in the lives of the people.  In Thailand several of the occasions have been funerals.  The funerals are much different from the funerals that I had attended in the USA.  Several of my blog entries are about the funerals and funeral ritual of Theravada Buddhists here in Isaan.

A Mourner in NE Thailand

My main concerns in photographing the people is that the photographs be truthful in the depiction of the people, their cultural and most importantly - be respectful.

Shan Boy Being Prepared to Become Buddhist Monk

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend ... "

However, I have seen things that I could not photograph.

I could take a photograph that was staring at me in the face - a photograph that was reality.

But I could not take the photograph that I felt was exploitative and defined the limits of what I can control. 

It was last October on the Sahel in Chad, Africa.  I was attending the Gerewol Festival - the annual gathering of the nomadic Wodaabe people.

Wodaabe Men at Gerewol Festival, Chad

Wodaabe Young Woman Singing

 It was around lunchtime when a few of us wandered back to our campsite and sat in the dining tent charging our batteries - literally and figuratively.  Occasionally tribes people would wander by close to our tent on their way to and from their campsites.  This was an opportunity for them to observe some foreigners up close and in their natural surroundings - tables, chairs, electric fan, generator, bug netting ...  When traveling it is very important to know, understand, and accept that we are just a subject of curiosity as the people that we travel to see.

A small group of young women and children came by and stopped to take a closer look at us.  We left the tent and approached them.  It was all pleasant and light until I saw a young mother and her baby.  The mother appeared to be around 15 or 16 years old.  The only reason that I knew that she was a mother was the fact that was carrying a newly born baby tenderly and affectionately.  The mother showed no signs that her milk had come in.  The baby was very malnourished.  Its ribs showed through its thin translucent skin and its eyes were sunken into the skull orbs with an empty glassy stare about them.  This baby was in crisis and suffering.  It was too weak to even cry. It was obvious that this baby was starving to death.

Healthy Wodaabe babies are fed a water sorghum mixture from an open cup.  This new born was not able to eat that and needed more nutrition than that.

 

Wodaabe Mother Feeds One of her Young Twins

 This put an entirely somber air about the encounter.  I realized that there was nothing that I could do to save or help this child.  My friend, a doctor, could not do anything to save or help this child.  This is the life that many people suffer through in this world - short and suffering through no fault of their own.

This poor child would be dead, most likely, by the end of that day.

There was nothing that we could do but to be respectful, take no photographs, and make a controlled return to our dining tent - more somber and aware of the fragility of life.

It is a moment like that which puts our life into a completely different perspective.  Our powers to do good are limited.  We can not always get what we want.  We are often not in control. Life is ...

Saddhu - A Hindu mendicant, Holy Man

Siddhattha Gotama, an Indian nobleman of 5th century BC, had a life crisis at the age of 29.  He had a sheltered life and all the material wealth one could expect.  However outside his palace he encountered a very sick person, an old man, and then a corpse.  He realized that he could not do anything to help.  He then came upon a mendicant, a holy man, and decided to renounce his wealth and life to become an ascetic. For 6 years, Siddhattha lead the life of an ascetic but found no answer or solution to his question of why there was suffering in life. He eventually realized that the path to peace was through mental discipline. He sat meditating beneath a ficus tree until he awakened -  achieved enlightenment. From that time on, he was known as the Buddha.

The Buddha taught the "middle path" as the key to life and happiness. - the road to enlightenment.

The incident in Chad made me wonder why there is such suffering of the innocent in this life.  I had considered becoming a children's doctor when I was young but knew that I was not strong enough to accept that babies would die despite my efforts to save them.  I became an engineer instead - far less emotions and simple universal truths to deal with. I know and accept that a made the proper decision for me.

From my Islamic friends, I have learned to accept the ways of God. "Who are we to question the way of God?"  I am familiar with the "right and straight path" and incorporate elements of it into my life.

My Christian faith provides comfort in a world with suffering. There is always a better day coming.

Now as a much older man, I accept what I have seen - the bad as well as the good.  I take comfort in knowing and trying to ensure that I do the best that I can and especially in "doing no harm".