SOCIAL MANIA – ORWELL - CYCLING ACROSS LAOS – SMART RANGERS – FILM PHOTOGRAPHY IN 2020?
Social media
I’m still struggling with my determination not to be dictated to by social media. The reality though, is that sharing my stories, images and thoughts with you all is a big part of why I do the things I do, and what gives meaning to my photography. There is no point to documenting my life, only to lock the book away in a box under my bed.
I am a storyteller, we are all storytellers, we cannot not communicate. Even my attempts at not communicating on social media, is an attempt at communicating that fact …. on social media! Actually, its really not at all the communication that’s the problem for me, it’s the knowledge that every line we write, item we click, photo we post, page we view is been collected and sold to the highest bidder, a bidder whose motives, values and purpose is largely unknown to us, except for one sure thing, the exploitation of who we are and what we think.
So I decide to print out a book instead, there, that’s content definitely off the grid right?..... except for my 360 revolving online subscription of Photoshop, Lightroom, and InDesign, a trail of YouTube how to tutorials, a series of email exchanges to the printer followed by an online transfer of files via my Dropbox account and an online payment transaction, followed by a thank you post to me from the printers, on their Facebook page!
Ok so how about I get off Facebook and Instagram for a while and focus rather on a website, that’s it! That will keep me off the mainstream social media, so I redesign my website to accommodate more regular and varied content and create a subscribe button which I share with you all on Facebook, subjecting everyone I know to have to decide if what you really need in your life is yet another request to click, like or subscribe, and the boomerang of hypocrisy once again fly’s around the corner only to hit me squarely on the back of the head.
Aggghhh, can’t live with it, can’t live without it. In my book review of George Orwells novel; Keep the Aspidistra Flying this month, I see the harsh reality of fighting against something that mainstream society has openly embraced. Of course you can do it, and many do, but few can avoid the loneliness that comes from being the only person in the room who is “right”.
There must be way, a path down the center, or to the left a little, then to the right, but until then, we
Like,
Comment,
Click,
Subscribe,
and let the algorithm report that, at the very least, we’re still alive.
Cycle trip across Lao
My cycle across Lao continued on through much of this month ending near the Cambodia Lao border 18 days after starting at the China Lao border in October. Covering a distance of a little over 1,700 km in 16 days of actual cycling, it was wonderful to be out of the city, the office and the routine of everyday life. Reduced to a single purpose, one backpack and a bike, life can be very uncomplicated indeed.
Riding across the country in such a short time frame really highlighted the uniqueness of the various regions, mostly sampled through my interactions with the locals, especially the kids along the route. The outcome of COVID travel restrictions imposed around the world were evident across the country with most of the guest houses closed up and needing to be opened specially for me.
Southern Cross, my custom bike built for me by David Mercer proved herself perfect for a trip of this nature. By the time I reached Hiem town after a few days riding, I had reduced my kit to only the bare essentials, making my kit light enough to just enjoy the actual cycling.
I need to put my thoughts down and go through all my photos of the trip, sorting through 1,000’s of mostly bike selfies! Although I have riden in a few countries now, this is only my second actual crossing of a country by bike, but what counties! Bhutan and Laos! Can hardly wait for the next……..
Ranger training
The remainder of the month was taken up with forest ranger training in Thakhet, a town I had just cycled through on my bike trip across Laos. The Rangers and management team are responsible for managing Khounxe Nongma Provincial Protected Area in the central Annamite range of mountains separating Vietnam from Laos, an area of high biodiversity in the region.
Training involved field navigation using maps and GPS, recording patrol tacks and observations and collecting information of incidents encountered while on patrol. This information is then all downloaded into a software program called SMART, where the PA management team can analyze the data, and generate patrol reports and maps depicting the location and distribution of these key observations. Its an incredibly useful tool as it immediately highlights the; what, where, when of snares, hunting camps, people arrested, ranger patrol efforts, both spatially and graphically.
I love this kind of work, always so inspiring to work with rangers in Lao. While their capacity may be low, they are hungry for knowledge and quick to learn, and as a result, any positive input results in immediate improvement in terms of protection of these areas.
Photography
Life on the street - Thaket Laos (Ilford HP5 - Canon EOS 1N)
Coming back from my cycle trip across Laos, I sent in a batch of film shot during the past month to be developed by our local “garage” film developers, young Lao hipsters who have developed a passion for film. So great to have these guys operating here in Lao, otherwise I would have to stop shooting till after COVID has come under control and I can once again travel regularly to Bangkok.
Every time I see the results of one of my rolls of developed film for the first time, I experience a sense of disappointment and even frustration at why I am bothering with film at all. Visible grain, strange color profiles, artifacts, scratches and dust on the image, and more than a handful of frames out of focus thanks to poor technique on my part. But then after a second look and some reflection, a handful of images start to grow on me, and by the end of the process, I am in love with them. I load another roll of ILFORD HP5, KODAK POTRA 160 or KODAK EKTAR 100 into one of my 20+ year-old film cameras, closing the film door with a satisfying clunk.
“This roll will be different” I tell myself, “Better, for sure!”.