Monday, 31 January 2011
House of Son Tinh
My work from a recent product shoot for a limited edition Gold Leaf Ruou, Miniature Bottle Set and my nemesis the Hip Flask. Tram phan tram.
Probably overdoing the Thaipusam posts now, but these are some outtakes from the festival. They won't make the final cut for various reasons but I like them all the same.
...here's one of my favourite 'kavadi' bearers from the festival. He had huge, staring eyes and his tongue, stained pink, was flicking quickly from side to side. I like this photo although I don't really think it does him justice.
...here's one of my favourite 'kavadi' bearers from the festival. He had huge, staring eyes and his tongue, stained pink, was flicking quickly from side to side. I like this photo although I don't really think it does him justice.
Towards the end of last year I went to take photos of young Roisin for my good friends Kieran and Huong.
From the end of year review, city art article, and recent cheese spread. Thanks to Ian and Julia for the work.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Thaipusam: Evolution of a Hooking
I'm going through the images from the festival which are now all finished (long live Lightroom) and as usual am having difficulty cutting my selection down. Not because all my photos are so great (although I hope they are), but because I'm an overly timid editor. I'd like to be better at it. So while I dither and worry over my presently obese photo essay, here are some images of a devotee getting a 'kavadi' attached to the skin of his back with hooks:
Monday, 24 January 2011
Thaipusam: Evolution of a Haircut
A little girl gets her head shaved at Thaipusam in Batu Caves, Malaysia. As a lifelong hater of haircuts I can identify with the emotional rollercoaster this girl rides. Perhaps it's just me but in the last picture her eyes are a touch accusing no?
Most of these probably won't make the final cut, but perhaps it's interesting to see this man's journey from his normal state to entranced:
Always surprising, often weird, sometimes great, never dull.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Strange Days...
...require strange pictures from a strange place.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Cheese. Just Cheese.
As you can see from the title of this blog, I need cheese. I love the stuff with an insane and sometimes frightening passion. Spend a day with me and the chances are at some point I'll start gibbering at you about it, for hours - it's never far from the surface. That's exactly what happened to Ian from The Word on our recent trip to Halong Bay, and he had the good sense and kindness to assign me to the next issue's food section which will be on CHEESE. He also kindly agreed to give me a cheese buying budget, so the last few days I visited the local cheese sellers to purchase my top ten cheeses of the moment with a stupid grin on my face. At home yesterday they were lovingly unwrapped before I spent hours circling and photographing them, followed by more hours at the computer sweating and dribbling in front of the photos. Today we had a small cheese lunch at the magazine office and everyone had the questionable honour of witnessing my bug-eyed cheese-love firsthand as I crammed morsel after morsel into my moaning maw. Embarrassing. Here are photos of 9 of the 10 cheeses. Unfortunately one of them - the Cambozola - got swallowed before ever being captured on camera. Evidence of a serious cheese addiction right there, that and a mind like emmental. Thanks again to Ian for putting me on this. Best assignment ever. Enjoy.
Cheddar:
Cheddar:
Some pictures of Hanoi's Guiness World Record mosaic, the art director Nguyen Thu Thuy and her team of artists. These were taken late last year and I forgot to put them up. Now I remember.
Monday, 10 January 2011
Inglidjz
For some reason when I started this blog I decided to freestyle a bit on the punctuation. I have no idea why. Was it a grim-middle finger held aloft to the 'Linguistic Establishment' (whoever they are)? Was it a desire to show that the images were more important than the words? Did I have a coffee too many and start thinking I'd be 'edgy'? More likely it was laziness. All I know is that when I look at it now I feel a creeping, illiterate sadness. So I'll spend the next wee while rectifying my mistakes. Mrs Hardy would be proud.
