Accidents on the Hai Van Pass

Driving on the Hai Van Pass is never the same, no matter how often you do it.

There’s always something new, whether it’s the view, always different weather, a double rainbow, a fire or accidents.

Despite the tunnel being built, some trucks aren’t allowed through the tunnel or just don’t fit through so they take the long road up and down the Hai Van Pass.

Most of the time they just spill some oil on the road but at times, they spill their cargo, too.
This time there were two almost identical accidents on two of he hairpin corners on either side of the pass.

Day 199 – Shutdown and Restarting Democracy in Thailand

After getting sidetracked yesterday, I told myself not do do the same thing again but get my visa done first and then see about the photography.
Well, once I spotted some barbed wire and more signs of the protests it all went out and I went back into photography mode and forgot about everything else.

I walked around the main protest headquarters from the looks of it but (understandably) I was not allowed inside to take more photos.

Afterwards, I took the boat to the main shopping district where the demonstrators have taken over whole intersections and roads. I have to say, I spent almost all day there and think they have done a remarkable job and the way everything is well organised is very impressive.

Unlike the ‘Occupy’ protesters which were mostly just a bunch of bums camping in the city center, the people here all do something, they sell things, create things to sell, provide massages and so on. Not only that but they created a pedestrianized zone and street market right on one of the busiest roads in Bangkok.

If you ask me, they have actually improved the city by blocking the roads and in some way I hope they keep the street market there no matter the result of this demonstrations.

It was hugely impressive and I have never seen so much red, white and blue before.
The stages they set up always provided something, either a speech, music or prayers and so on. The different stages also all had different things going on.

There were a lot of things to buy and food stalls, drinks and so on, the prices were also very reasonable and it meant a lot of people were shopping and wandering around even if they had nothing to do with the demonstrations as such.

Overall this was a very interesting day and shows how protesting is done. If the ‘Occupy’ protesters were even half as organized and did actually think of trying to shut down a city by blocking major intersections they would have had a lot more success and support from the public.
Just imagine blocking a few intersections and bridges around the City of London and you do shut it down because London almost shuts itself down every morning from the normal traffic.
I would certainly support anyone making the city of London into a pedestrianized zone with a street market and showing the government who has the power while doing so.

This was my last day for now in Bangkok and tomorrow, I will be heading north to Sukhothai for a few days and then on to Chiang Mai.

Day 198 – The Day After the News in Bangkok

After arriving with the train at 6 in the morning, I walked to my hotel and chilled for a few hours. Once I was out on the street looking for a place to get breakfast, I got to see what happens the day after the news and the aftermath of what I saw on TV before leaving Pakse.

There were overturned cars, people were painting in the national colours, leaving notes on them and some just posing in front of them for photos.

It was all quite interesting and I kept taking photos while completely forgetting to go and get breakfast. But this is the kind of thing I like photographing, something you can’t find in a guide book and something current.

After a while people started blowing their whistles and rushing to a side street so I headed there, too. It turns out the forensics police team and news teams arrived in front of one of the barricades.

They came to investigate the shootings and killings that took place and gather evidence, the protesters were showing them around and allowed them to go where they needed to do their work.

I kept taking photos and at some pint I guess  even made it on TV when everyone with the camera teams were walking past and around me to go to another one of the crime scenes.

This was one of the most productive days in terms of photography and I not only filled up my SD card but also had to go back to the hotel and charge my camera in between.
For me it was a very interesting day as I also got to chat with some of the people around, although briefly as their English was not always perfect but they were all nice.

I walked through some other areas in Bangkok where they have the demonstrations but for the post, I decided to keep it all from one place.

Getting sidetracked with the protest photos meant that I did not make it to the Myanmar embassy to gt m visa so will have to stay another day in Bangkok but this is not such a bad thing.

Smoke over the Wharf

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1 sec., ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Jupiter-12 f2.8 35mm L)

If you get woken up at 3am by an air siren in London, it either means the Germans are fed up with the European situation and decided to finish the job in bombing London or there is a big fire somewhere at factory or warehouse. ;)
Today, it was the less exciting option and it just meant I did not get much sleep between 3-5am because of a fire at a warehouse in North Greenwich.
Since I was up already I decided to take some pictures of it an got a few from my terrace, I should have probably gone to the Thames for some more spectacular pictures but I was too tired for this.

City House

RD1, f1.7, 1/111, ISO 1600, RAW, 53mm (Voigtländer Ultron f1.7 35mm)

Cut Protest

When I decided to go into town it was with the intention to have a coffee and work on my GXR A12 28mm review. It was not to take pictures of a protest or I would not have carried my notebook around and would have planned the day different. Overall I did not spend too mcuh time taking pictures and it was more while coming across it on my way to get coffee, the restaurant and then finally on my way back to the train.

The protest started in the usual calm way with people marching and waving their banners. This is till the usual yobs and troublemakers came and started smashing windows in and setting fires to bins. I would say if the police would arrest everyone from the start who wears a hoodie and covers their mouth there would be no trouble. There should be no need for anyone to cover their face in public and if someone does they should be arrested because they have something to hide.

I decided to post yet another series, this time a slightly bigger one to show the day and night cycles of the protest as I have seen it.

Fire Through the Pinhole

Sometimes you are limited by the choices you made when you walked out of the door with only your newly designed pinhole lens but then realize a proper lens would give you the results you would like in a situation like this. Well, since it is useless to complain or regret not having brough the right gear along it is best to just try and make do with what you have. I doubt many people have tried any documentary or journalistic photography with a pinhole camera but having a digital camera with a pinhole lens does work to some degree as you can see my small series here.

Also my new design of the pinhole lens is much better and does work very well but most important is that I have a lot of fun with this.

Fire on City Road

"The Day of the Big Protest, Or…

How the Police Managed to Escalate a Peaceful Situation”.

The G20 Summit started and massive demonstrations were expected in the City of London for today. At first there were more police officers and reporters than protesters but this turned soon and around lunctime a lot of people came to protest but also to see what is going on.

In the beginning everything was fine, people were having a good time and were in good spirits, police was present but did not impede or bullied the protesters and other people there. This turned soon when the police got the stupid order to contain people and circled the people in. I was one of the people who got caught in the middle with the police refusing to let anyone out, even an injured person. Only reporters were alowed through.

People were nice and talked to the police at first but after being “contained” for over 1.5h people started to get impatient and angry. They called on the police to let them through and when this failed started to call them faschists and nazis. It did not take long till people decided that pushing was the only way out.
The police thought it was a good idea to bully people and push them to the ground and this is when the situation escalated and everyone pushed their way through. I was in the front line just in front of the police and while I could avoid being pushed by the police I was pushed forward by the people behind me. This resuled in the police line breaking down and the ploce finally moving away and letting people get out.

This whole situation only escalated because some idiot gave the order to contain people, after people pushed their way out they went peacefully about their way. So a note to the London Police, if you want to escalate a situation and turn people against you just go ahead and “contain” people.

Overall it was a very interesting experience and I really enjoy covering protests. Getting caught up in the midle was not great but the people I met, including the police, were generaly very friendly and passionate. Using the GRD only was great and it is the perfect camera for these events, it’s fast, small and easy to handle. Took over 450 pictures today, not all of them good but sometimes it is better to take more than not enough on an event like this.
I even managed to get another photographer interested in my GRD. It was generally also a great opportunity to spot the camera people were using and from big dSLRs over Leicas, Contax G2, Rolleiflex, compact and mobile phones there were all sorts of cameras present.

For more pictures go an see my Dropbox gallery here.

Tomorrow after work I’ll be heading to the Excel Centre to cover the 2nd day of the protests so check back for more pictures.

12:20pm Pancakealympics

After my long walk yesterday, I decided to take it easy and just went out to take some pictures at the Blackheath Farmers Market today. They had the first Pancakealympics in London. The kids had a lot of fun and especially the kid in the green t-shirt really went for it, he was constantly racing along.

All pictures are taken with the LC1.