293 highlights from around Bangkok, including:

Wat Phra Kaew, or Temple of the Emerald Buddha

The State Tower, and its restaurants and bars

And loads of shopping, food and entertainment.

See slideshow here:
Bangkok & surrounds, Thailand - Images by Peter Stuckings

And that’s where the topic would lie, if it were not for the fact that visiting the temple is such a blast! The complex itself has loads of architecture to thrill the temple enthusiasts, as well as scenery from the clifftops to knock the socks off all the other visitors.

(Likely lads: Nathan, Peter, Chris)

What’s more, for the adventure and movie fans, there’s half an army up there armed to the teeth – which you see plenty of, since they smile at you a lot . As a tourist, you’re absolutely welcome to wander among the bunkers, artillery guns, and chat to the soldiers. And if you’re really lucky, they might let you pose for a photo with their AK47.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the motorbike journey there (cars and buses are for wooses! ) was one of the most spectacular days of riding I’ve done anywhere in Asia. 215km each way, mostly on newly sealed roads, but also on hard-packed dirt roads, the journey took us through heavily wooded villages in the dawnlight, with buffaloes frolicking in the paddies, alongside farmers with red scarves wrapped round their bodies casting nets into ponds, while the womenfolk stoked the fires and kids played among the houses. An unforgettable ride for sure!

The upshot of such a long and arduous journey was the lack of time for enjoying the temple and its surrounds, so the photos were all shot in a matter of minutes before hitting the trail again to return to Siem Reap by nightfall.

Let me know if you need any details on the journey. Truly a stunner!

The assignment was to give a fresh new look to the photos for their upcoming 2010 books. It’s interesting how quickly some photos age. Even if you’re not into the technicalities of what to look for, we all have a highly tuned sense about it. The colours, the things in the background that look out of date, even the perspective, angle, the way it was shot. If the photo was made more than a few years ago, it’s highly likely it was shot with film, and this shows in the slavery to colour temperature and balance, and take-it-or-leave-it graininess that colour film used to lock us into. Take a look at the make of vehicles and the shop signs in the shot, and think about how long ago it was that things looked like that. 5, 10, 15 years ago?

I think travel media producers do a disservice to a rapidly changing country when they keep re-hashing all the old imagery in a desperate attempt to keep selling tickets and tours to places that don’t exist anymore except in the imagination (I saw a travel website the other day use a photo of the Bagan temples in Burma to represent holidays to ‘Indochina’ – talk about mixing your memories!) Times, people, cultures move on, and so should the travel media. One good example is the cover of the previous Vietnam Lonely Planet book – the girl at the train window. Beautiful photo, but it’s been about 15 years since they put grills on all the windows, making it impossible to lean out like that. Then there’s the girl’s hairstyle and dress. And finally, why would a supposedly progressive company like LP put such an old photo on the cover of their supposedly up-to-date book?!? Nostalgia for things long gone, anyone? (Incidentally, that same photo had been used as a double-pager in Insight Guides’ books for years before LP put it on their cover.) But let’s move on…

I’d spent very little time in Thailand before the assignment so it was a big learning experience. Pluses would be the fun and friendly people, the great weather, the fact that most things work and actually get done in the same century – unlike some other places I shouldn’t name , motorbiking all over the hills, the diversity of things to do and see all over the country, and it’s extremely affordable! Minuses would be way too much Pad Thai , and not enough time to really get to know the country and make more friends.

These photos are just a brief sampling, and soon there will be a lot more photos from Bangkok and northern Thailand for purchase on my online image library at www.IndoChinaImages.com

Look out for the new Bangkok and Thailand books, due out in 2010. Thanks for viewing!


Thailand highlights - Images by Peter Stuckings

And as a photographer, I’m struggling to capture it all. There’s the fact that I have to keep my head down – the organisers only just let me get beyond the barrier and up to the ropes anyway. So I’m trying not to get in the way. Then there’s the lights from all directions, some of them usually shining into the lens. Then the guys flying all over the ring, doing their utmost to smash each other’s ribs and teeth, with no consideration for how I might like them to stand for the shot . And finally there’s the fact it all happens so quickly. Forget checking what you’re getting on the screen – you’re missing half the fight!

I don’t recall the last time I got cramps in my hands from shooting so intensely, but it happened a lot tonight.


Kickboxing in Bangkok - Images by Peter Stuckings

But what I really enjoyed was the ceremony of it all. The guys climb into the ring, shed their cloaks and go through a dance, while a crazy little band plays freaky pipes and drums to one side. They warm up by hugging the corner pads, kneeling and praying, and generally dancing round. Then the bell rings and they get into it. But slowly at first. A few tentative punches and kicks. By the second round, however, they’ve gotten over the initial shocks and they let loose. The feet start flying at head height, the grappling turns into knees in ribs, and every round or so, one of them goes down, to roars from the crowd.

Anyway, you’ll see it all in the photos. And at the end, the victor celebrates on his own, almost abandoned, while the vanquished is carried off and fretted over by his team. And in the background, shady looking guys exchange wads of money and disappear into the dark street…

I’ll definitely be back!

It’s been a fun 3 months! Before this assignment for Insight Guides, I hadn’t spent much time in Thailand. When you grow up having to spend your holidays every summer on some of the world’s best beaches (i.e. Queensland, Australia) you reach adulthood not really wanting to pass your leisure time lying about on a beach in Thailand. Instead, big cities beckon, mountains, exotic cultures – but definitely not beaches! Besides, being a pasty white fella, I got sunburnt enough as a kid to last several lifetimes! No more

Anyway, as the photos will eventually show when published next year in Insight Guides’ Bangkok and Thailand books, this assignment has taken me all over Bangkok, up through the centre of the country to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, and all around the mountains surrounding those two cities. Then a big loop around the NE rural areas, and finishing back here in Bangkok. It’s been a blast and yes, I have to concede, I’m damn lucky to get paid to do this!

And in time there’ll be a hell of a lot more Thailand images that I’ll post for purchase on my online library of Southeast Asia travel images at www.indochinaimages.com

Here’s a few recent highlights. I’ll definitely be back to see more of this country…

Vertigo Restaurant at the Banyan Tree Hotel

Guardians surround the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok

Aisawan Thipphaya-at Pavilion, Bang Pa In Palace

Anyway, how to photograph a war cemetery? Only days ago, I met a New Zealand photographer in Calcutta who has a very odd job – to photograph the war cemeteries throughout the world that contain NZ remains, for the War Graves Trust in NZ. The photos end up in museums and history books. He described the challenges, and triumphs. Like in any photographic project, they go hand in hand.

I arrived at the cemetery in downtown Kanchanaburi only a half hour or so before the sun was due to sink below the trees. A great time for light glancing across the headstones, passing through the flowers, casting long shadows through the trees. There’s something poetic about the whole notion of ‘sunset’. You’ve only to capture one in a photo and it evokes emotions – which emotions I guess vary among viewers.

Sooner or later the ethical question of whether to show names and dates comes into it. But instead I decided to go ultra-wide. I can’t help feeling that with war cemeteries the central issue is the overwhelming number of lost lives. Going in close on one stone doesn’t bring home the message that many thousands of men lost their lives in the struggle.

Of course, an entirely different message could be taken from going in close. An individual, a name, a birthdate, a message or token left by loved ones, evokes thoughts of an individual one-off unique life lost, and the stones in the background help to expand that message out to the reality of the many other thousands who also suffered.

I’ve visited many war cemeteries before, being an Aussie who grew up with stories of heroism and ‘baptisms of fire’ everywhere from Turkey to north Africa to Belgium to New Guinea. I wanted to see the remnants, to breathe the air in those locales, to walk the ground, to indulge in some imaginings of what those days were like and what those people went through. But I have to admit – war cemeteries always leave me confused. Sure, they’re deeply and painfully poignant reminders of the cost of war – that’s undeniable. But if they really had any meaningful impact on the people who viewed them, how could we ever justify war again? (Warning: pacifist on a rant!) If lessons were ever learned from these monuments and memorials, our leaders would be ousted the very moment they raised the possibility of risking lives again and again in the name of geo-political/economic influence. But perhaps that gets us to the point – somehow we DO believe the loss of life is worth it. (Of course, the situation in WWII was very different to the dirty little wars that go on nowadays in the name of oil and influence – I’m not comparing them.) My point is: if we really believed – knew in our bones – that war really was the last resort, as we always say it should be, then we would have nothing to do with the war-mongering lies of Bush, Blair and Howard. We would have marched on Canberra, removed that sinister moral midget from office, and seen to it that our military insignia will not grace any more sad and lonely memorials around the world.

But no, the wars go on, the lies and made-up justifications go on, and the war cemeteries continue to spring up or grow. While walking those rows of stones, I often dream of a day when war will finally universally be held in such horror, that the prospect of volunteering lives for the senseless ambitions of self-centred leaders is so abhorrent, that we will take any and all measures to stop it. I’ve heard the word ‘naive’ bandied about when someone makes such remarks, but those who think this kind of talk is naive are often the same who can express sorrow at the sight of a war grave, and then express anger and hatred towards people they perceive as the modern day threat – those with cone hats or red flags or turbans, depending on their bent. Again, I contend that war itself – like hatred – can and must be defeated.

Then dusk – the most enjoyable light of all – was spent at the River Kwai Bridge, the symbol of the railway that cost so many allied and local lives. Long exposures of this kind demand a tripod, but I didn’t bring one on this trip since I would only need it a couple of times in several weeks. Instead, I used a method I invented some time ago. I’ll reveal it one day when I’ve taken a patent out on it

The lanterns work much like a hot-air balloon, and once released, they drift up into the darkness, carried away on the wind.

In all, a really fun and colourful night out. And there’s more to come over the next 2 nights…

Wat Phra Si Sanphet in the Historical Park, Ayuthaya

Yesterday it was Chiang Rai, today I’m in Chiang Mai. In a day or two it’ll be Bangkok and then on and on.

I’m currently working on photos for Insight Guides, the guidebook publisher from the UK. If you’re not familiar with the books, check out any major bookstore where you should find a rack or section of Insight’s titles. Stacks of them. More titles than Lonely Planet, so they tell me!

Thailand is now the 4th country I’ve photographed for their books, and Queensland in Australia will soon be the 5th. As I travel round, inevitably I get chatting with a lot of people (of course the locals, but apart from them) – backpackers, tourists, expats. When we get around to discussing what I’m doing here, their eyes light up as if in envy. And it makes me feel odd – at once proud to be doing something seen to be fun or glamorous or adventurous, but also surprised that they would think what I struggle through to make a crust is actually enviable!

So let me tell you a little about working on a travel photography gig.

Contrary to popular belief, a travel photographer doesn’t necessarily wander about exotic places snapping away freely, giving vent to their artistic passions day in and day out, just happening to wander into a town when that awesome festival is taking place, just happening to be there at that bridge at dawn when the people with cone hats cycle by, then publishing books and getting famous, and finally retiring to a picturesque villa in Bali or Thailand (pity!). Instead, there’s a lot of groundwork, research, planning and finally, execution. Not to mention the endless days of pre-dawn starts that end at dusk, totally exhausted, filthy dirty and dripping with sweat! And there are weeks and weeks on the road when you never see a familiar face, when you get up early day after day only to find bad weather, when you have more misses than hits, and so it goes on.

There’s also usually a strict framework – a story, a topic, an outline – to be adhered to. And then there’s the deadline – the part that can take all of the fun out of the job if you let it!

Since late September, I’ve been based in one hotel or another in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, working through a photo list for Insight Guides. This work always revolves around “The List”. The publisher and I agree on a detailed, itemised list of all the things, places, people and scenes they want to

use in their upcoming editions. Based on this, we agree a lump sum fee, half is paid upfront, and then I hit the road.

It’s best this way because it would be a nightmare to gather receipts and claim for expenses. And besides, it leaves me in a good position to reduce my costs wherever possible, to leave more money in my pocket at the end. And the more you travel in a country, the more you learn, and the more you learn, the less money you need to get things done.

But back to The List.

It governs my work and therefore my life for months at a stretch, so I try to make it run in a logical sequence, to clarify spellings (not easy in some countries where there are a myriad ways to write names in the Roman alphabet), and cut out anything that’s not going to be feasible (e.g. a far-away little-visited museum that I happen to know looks crap in photos). I can order the items by geography (listed by town/province/region) or by topic (food, museums, architecture, people, etc). But in the end, I have to get out there, find the things on the list, track them down, book them in, and get them photographed.

On the up side, the majority of photography decisions are left up to me. So it might be several temples today, so I check the locations on a map, figure out the best time of day for each place, turn up, and wander round to find ways to make it look interestingly different from the two dozen or so other temples in the city. So mostly it’s fun to try out ways to capture the atmosphere, design and worshippers.

The tricky part is when The List springs a surprise like – “Early morning misty scene with bicycles in XYZ village”. Then I have to get to that village, get an early night, up at pre-dawn and out on a rented motorbike to go find bicycles in the mist. But what if that morning there’s no mist?! Or no bicycles?! Or the people on bicycles see the sneaky photographer lurking in the bushes by the side of the road and so they look away as they ride by, ruining the shot? Well, that’s all part of the job and the tyranny of The List! And it happens a lot. So that’s where I believe the real skill of this job lies. Not in getting nice photos of temples – there’s a lot of people out there who can do that these days. And not in traveling about taking random or artistic photos of everything I see – there’s a lot of people doing that all the time. The real skill is in finding efficient solutions in a place I’m not overly familiar with, don’t speak much of the language, and have extremely limited time, no matter how impossible or how difficult that might seem.

As a Magnum photographer once said, “We are in the business of making photographs, not excuses.” That’s a rule I try to live by. More on this when I get the time…