The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

I am always surprised by the serendipitous encounters with beauty in rural Thailand.  Once in a while I have my camera with me, as I did one evening at the race track . . . and on the way home.

30 miles north of Bangkok at the Bangkok Drag Avenue.

2:30am along a Thai country road.  This is Klong Haa (canal number five) where a party has sprung up for what could be a variety of reasons: somebody is going off to be a monk, or an anniversary, or a good harvest, or Wat (Buddhist temple) is being dedicated. It is breathtaking to come upon one of these "in the middle of nowhere" in the middle of the night.  I got out, of course, and investigated.

Lights have been strung, a stage has been hauled across the bridge and set up, entertainment hired from town, food organized, all the friends and neighbors have come and gone, and clean-up chores done . . . . and no desire to pull the plug just yet, even though it's been a long day.  It feels of picking up and packing out: It is a time to look at what wonders can be . . . in the middle of the night . . . . in the middle of nowhere. This is like the life of the mind.

I was down near Pattaya, a beach town south of Bangkok, to work on my race car this morning, and on the way back stopped at the sea shore and took these two photos.

A rusty net spool.

The perfect textures and fantastic colors of a decaying Thai fishing boat.

I just bought the new 27" iMac 3.25ghz computer and couldn't help but marvel at it's capabilities with photo processing. The Speed!  The SPEED!  I ran out with my Canon 40D and the wonderful Sigma 70mm macro lense for a few shots around the house. 

The garden is alive!

We think this little fellow walks around the house after we go to bed. Just look at that guilty expression on his face: he's been up to something!

Many beautiful flowers in the garden all year.

Tiny white flowers glow in the tropics of Thailand.

African Violets grow in our garden on their own.

Incredible large green leaves are iconic tropical images.

'Just' ground cover.

A garden scene -- traditional Koh Kred pottery jar.

Yep, I survived eight days with 29 high school students in Northern Italy (mid-February 2010):  Milan, Venice (during Carnival!), Verona, Florence, and Rome. I have tons of great photos to load on this site (eventually). The last time I was in Venice was 1955.

Not that much has changed in Venice since 1955.  That's my brother, Allen, and I in the lederhosen with my contemplative father, Owen, pawing the pigeon feed. I'm the one standing, casually scoping out the nearest location of a spumoni stand. I was no fool at 5 years old. I remember we had a pretty good time on that trip in the old 1953 Studebaker that we drove all over Europe . . . except for when I was pronounced 'legally dead' after a small pox vaccine, required at the Italian boarder, went horribly wrong. But that's another story.

The Pisa Cathedral obscuring the leaning tower.  29 really good young people.

The beautiful Spanish Steps of Rome.  A clear and very cold night.

Always lots of fun with 29 teenagers. St. Paul's Cathedral, Rome.

This is what Venice is all about!

Venice at night - during Carnival.

Venice dressed for Carnival.

The streets below the Spanish Steps in Rome are wonderful to roam at night . . . delicious coffee shops and high end fashion.

The basilica of St. Paul's cathedral: beautiful, but I always think how much good for people's lives could have resulted from using the Vatican money more wisely, instead of paying the premiums on an afterlife insurance policy.

A carnival set up in the back yard of Milan Castle . . . forlorn in the snow.

The streets of Verona are a wonder . . . many medieval period doors, castles, and streets (right and below).

My good friend Jeff Milligan and his wife Sharon joined me for a 1800 kilometres road trip around the small roads of Northern Thailand.  A wonderful experience.  Here are the first photos I have processed.  Many more to come. And captions to come as well.

Near the Lao boarder.

Friendly temple monkeys near Loei, Thailand.

Thailand! A more-or-less abandoned Wat (Buddhist Temple) in the countryside to the east of Khon Khen, in Northeastern Thailand.

This Wat was begun, the exterior completed, but the interior never begun.

So many wonderful flowers to photograph in Thailand.

Sunflower, near the Lao boarder

It seems like all Thai towns have a "Red Light District" - sad lonely places . . . like this one in Khon Khen city.

One block away in the same city one finds this beautiful temple/spirit house.

I am really enjoying my new Sigma 70mm Macro lens.

I love these small towns in Northern Thailand. This is Loei.

Loei is a very special little town.  They do not allow any international franchise businesses in the city.  The result is a wonderful old world feeling. You see something gone almost everywhere else: the local department store. The downtown is not dead.

Those engaged in the commerce of the "Wet Market" gather in downtown Loei around midnight.

Thai market towns at night are a strange delight! This is Sukhothai.

Oh, to be at home in this place . . . is to be at home in the world!

I sat here and had a bowl of delicious soup . . . and added my own chili soaked vinegar. Living large indeed!

So . . . what does it mean to be a Buddhist in Thailand?

A reclining Buddha in a cave.  There are always things to discover in Thailand.

The banks of the Mae Kong River, looking across to Laos.

Then Los Angeles:

  The 'boardwalk' in Malibu . . . lots of charm, lot of characters -- "Darkness at Noon".

This amazing spirit has been riding up and down the boardwalks from Venice to Santa Monica to Malibu beaches on his roller skates playing a battery-powered electric rock guitar since 1968 . . . .  when I saw him last!  He's still there!

Fun with death! Collect the whole set!  Only in Los Angeles!