The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

My daughter is visiting Thailand so we took a couple of days on the klongs (canals) in and around the Samut Songkhram region.

We hired a long-tail boat to take us through these swamp canals.

The people and houses along the way were very photogenic.

Living on the klongs is a very old way of living life.

A still life in the swamps of Samut Songkhram.

Life on the klongs.

Fishing dog?

The water was very high and full of silt due to the flooding in Central Thailand. The children loved it.

Small villages dotted the main klongs.

But all klongs lead to the Floating Markets.  Although these are popular with tourists and photographers, they are actual working daily markets.

Tropical fruit is brought to market along the klongs.

A timeless scene along at the Floating Market.

Tourists from all over the world come to be photographed!!

The klongs are serviced by a variety of boats.  You can go for hundreds of miles/kilometers on the klongs of Samut Songkhram.

I spent the day at Chatuchak Week-end Market . . . along with a couple of hundred thousand other people. It is an amazing place: 35 acres of over 5000 stalls with everything on earth for sale.  It is just an interesting place.

The narrow isles fill up as the day goes along.  Around 200,000 people visit on an average Saturday.

In addition to the shopping, there are some pretty good places to eat Thai "street food" . . .  and take wonderful photographs.

The weather was not too hot today, but the sun was very strong.

My daughter, Kirsten is visiting and she enjoys the shopping at Chatuchak (called "JJ Market" by the Thais). Nice Magritte touch on this display, no?

Entertainers abound: There are young Thai traditional music buskers too. This boy was very good.

All kinds of buskers: this xelephone orchestra was very good.

A Thai clown musician.

He was happy, but couldn't really sing or play his guitar.

Chatuchak is a photographer's paradise . . . especially if you like color and pattern studies.

Color and pattern . . . .

Color and pattern . . .

Color and pattern.

I'm afraid this shop keeper has had too much color and pattern.

I think this fellow has had more than too much color and pattern.

There were too many interesting things to see and photograph.

And I learned one very important global political lesson today: there are indicators that the Islamic Revolution may be coming to an end soon.  I just get that feeling.

I noticed a new flower in my garden this rainy Sunday morning: a yellow tropical Iris.  It lasts only one day.

Very tiny flower that lasts only one day.

The "Damn Hot and Damn Wet" season has been damn wet this year.  The banana trees are in full bloom.  Like this one.

I do not seem to be able to walk by my Lotus jars without taking a photograph.  They are still so very amazing to me. I have a million photos of the Lotus Blossom.  Why not?

Yep, I celebrated my 5th Cycle (60th birthday) on October 10, 2010 (10/10/10), a day I have been anticipating since my 10th birthday (10 on October 10th).  It was a wonderful day spent with family and friends at the Rang Mahal restaurant atop the Rembrandt Hotel in Bangkok.

Yep, you guessed it: it's 10:10:10 on 10/10/10 . . . . a rare moment.

With my wonderful wife, Onchittra, and her brother Vechai's family.

The whole group of family and friends at the Rang Mahal, one of my favorite restaurants in Bangkok.

The table.  If you can imagine a five star Indian BUFFET, then you understand the attraction of the Rang Mahal . . . .

The Birthday Boy and Bangkok on 10/10/10.

A fun thing to do in Bangkok when friends visit is to take a long-tail boat tour of the Bangkok klongs (canals).