The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

We couldn't stand sitting around the house worrying abut whether the canal (klong) next to our house would rise and flood us out . . . so when an invitation came from good friends to go to Jomtien Beach to sit on the beach and play golf with them, we jumped at the chance.

Our friends happen to own the Siam Country Club, where my wonderful wife played for two days . . .

. . . . and a beautiful oceanfront condo . . .

. . . with a very beautiful Thai style interior . . .

. . . a very, very high Thai aesthetic at work here.

I roamed the beach and adjacent fishing port with my trusted 5D Mark II.

While walking down the beach, I came across students from the Thai-Austrian School, who had walked across the street from their school for a break on the beach.  Seeing I had a camera, they HAD to pose.

Thee are many, many expatriates living in this part of Thailand (Pattaya area), including many newly affluent Russians. They all like to sit under a parasol and drink beer all day.

Without a doubt, the number one beach chair.

Or one chair for yourself, and one each for your seven friends.

At the beach there were Hot Dog Kite Surfers (HDKS) showing off at all hours of the day.

Some of them were very good.

Some of them were excellent!

It was a family beach.  These boys were having lots of fun.

I could not make my mind up which photo to post of the boys in the surf . . . so here are both!

I remember doing this as a boy: just you and the sea.

On one end of the beach was an old fishing basin.

Very nautical, no?

I loved how the bows of so many boats lined up.  Beautiful.

Such a bright day . . . . with a polarizing filter on my camera . . . . and a mass of colorful Thai fishing boats.

There were workmen repairing the Jomtien pier, so I walked out in a supervisory capacity.

The Jomtien Pier, with a small tree, offered many photographic opportunities. This B&W is only OK.  I will work from the raw file for a better B&W shot.

Really, there was no reason to manipulate the image; it was quite wonderful as it came out of the camera.

Then again, with a slightly different exposure . . . . it becomes very moody.

It was a day for moody, almost Biblical, skies.

Heavily back-lit, this person in a tube gave the impression of floating in moonlight when converted to B&W.  Nice. Strange.

I woke up early on the second day and went down to the sea.  A fisherman was out casting his nets.

He set and retrieved his ring net many times, but, after an hour, I didn't see him catch any fish.

He finally gave up and left.

I walked back down the sea shore to the fishing boat basin.  The light was beautiful.

The fishing boat basin was man-made.  You can see the big hotels and condos of Pattaya in the background. Jomtien is about 20 kilometers east of Pattaya.

The sun was bright and clear, the colors vivid.

There was so much material for photography . . . so many evocative images.

Many curious details of the fisherman's life.

Dropping anchor.  Many small boats came in during the morning's high tide.

Wonderful colors and shapes . . . .

. . . . that could be photographed from several angles.  I was overwhelmed with trying to figure out all the possible compositions!

In the end, I just sat and watched this old fisherman make and repair nets.

The source of the current flooding in Bangkok is too much water flowing south in the Mae Nam (river) Chao Phra Ya.

My friend, Peter van Heren, and I got up early and went down to the Pakkret pier to see if we could rent a boat for a few hours to go out on the river and take some photographs of the flooded areas near the river.

We struck a deal with a boatman (for way too much), and we were on our way.

There were many boatmen under the Rama IV Bridge where our journey began.

 Taking a boat from the Pakkret pier was the only way to access the Western shore of the river, as the roads were all flooded on the other side.

As we headed out others were coming in to the Pakkret water front.  The water looked swift, but the surface was even.

As soon as we left the pier we began to see just how high the river had risen.

This part of the river, north of Bangkok city center by about 20 miles, has many old wooden houses on the river banks. They were all swamped.

It was difficult to determine which houses had been abandoned and which were still occupied, though swamped.

Many traditional Thai houses have the kitchen, toilet, and eating area on the ground floor and live on the upper floor, knowing that flooding is an ever-present danger.

Perhaps one should abandon one's favorite fishing dock when it is a meter and a half under water.

We saw many people in old wooden boats checking on what might have been their own flooded homes.

Mine as well leave the windows open.  Ain't nobody home.

It seemed like the oldest Thai style houses were built higher up . . . in a time when flooding was more common.

Then again, some weren't.

The spirit house is high and dry.  I have a feeling there are going to be many spirit houses thrown away soon.  It is a Thai tradition to throw away a spirit house if bad luck has come to the family.

Periodically our boatman cut the chug-chug of our motor and we enjoyed the silence and splash of wooden oars.

The extent of the flooding, over such a vast area, is incomprehensible.

OK, now that I saved the television, what should I do next?  Hey!  I'll go fishing.

We went up some small canals (klongs) and saw that there were some low lying area where the water was very deep . . . up to the eves of buildings.

Although the flooding is a huge problem for the people of Bangkok, people on the klongs are living their lives as they always have.

The island of Koh Kred, a favorite place to stroll on the week-end (there are no cars or roads there), was completely flooded. Although the Koh Kred Wat was under water, they had kept the base of the famous crooked chedi dry.

The small klongs were lush and the water was deep above the banks.

The elderly seemed to take the flooding in their stride; perhaps, eschewing modernity, they are more in tune with the cycles of nature.

The old wooden Thai houses partially submerged produced very evocative images.

Interestingly, spirit houses all seemed to be perched on the correct length of stand . . . we didn't see any under water.

A beautiful house, sadly submerged.

It's nice to have a friend with a boat to pay a visit.

I am pretty sure it was NOT her idea to stay with the house.

If you know me you know I am not a dog person.  However, the light was good, the composition fair . . .

We turned off the klong under a bridge and proceded up what was once a four lane highway, now a canal of another kind. This commercial area will be under water for at least a month.

One taking an old traditional Thai wooden boat, the other two taking a plastic version of same. These happy guys were just hanging out on the highway median divider, enjoying the estrangement, as we were.

This smart guy propped his car up on some cement blocks to keep it dry . . . but how did he know how high the water was going to get?

These guys came out to sit and watch the boats going up and down the highway.  Nothing else to do, I guess.

These boys have a look of mixed emotions: it's fun to take a boat down familiar streets that have become so strange.  It's disconcerting to see such familiar streets as so suddenly unfamiliar.

There were several gated, luxury housing developments along the highway that were fighting a losing battle with the flood waters.  This very responsible security guard at one of them was watching the pumps.  He radioed in that a boat with two western guys went by.

Use what you have handy.  This guy was novice Styrofoam blockman, er, boatman.

We returned to the Pakkret pier via some flooded country roads. Families were taking trips to the store for provisions.

It was busy out on the flooded country lanes.

A farm family setting out for the daily chores.

A motorcycle raft.

Nice hat, don't you think?

We returned o the Chao Phraya River where we saw many ferry boats tied up and out of service because the docks they use were all under water.

A timeless scene: a rice barge and fisherwoman.

We returned under the Rama IV Bridge, which was closed because the western end was submerged, nevertheless, it was covered with parked cars to keep them dry.

Back under the bridge and back to where we started; along with many others.

The wonder of a boy at the flood. I shared his view.

Having a coffee with Peter. We are just back from a 2-hour boat trip on the river . . . and a couple of flooded highways and neighborhoods. Will post photos soon. (iPhone photo)

Since my house wasn't flooded (yet), I decided to go down to the Chao Phraya River to take a look around the town of Pakkret and take some photos.

This is the sand bag barricade that is holding the river back from flooding MY HOUSE! I, and other old fat people, wandered to the river's edge, took a look, and turned away.

What I saw was not all that bad: yes, some shop houses right on the river had become swamped, but a huge barricade of sand bags held back the mighty river.  People walked about on these makeshift gang planks.

Life goes on, as they say.  Send the motorcycle taxi out to get lunch for you . . . . as usual.

The big fresh food market was still open, but showed signs of having been under water recently.

People gotta eat: feeding the flooded.

There were some very large sand bag embankments.  You could see that the water had been much higher.

There was still a fight with the river going on.

The sand bags did not keep all the water out, so there were many pumps going to keep the market dry.

The elderly seemed to be adapting . . .

. . . the children too.

The flood did not mean the same thing to everyone.

This well protected man (see the Buddha amulets around his neck!) liked to sit in the middle of my photos. Well, why not, he was very photogenic.

Speaking of photogenic, I hope this young boatman moonlights as a model.

He's got the look!

On the other side of the sand bags was the river.  Boats came and went ferrying people to their flooded homes.

A flooded spirit house and side street.

The little back alleys of the old wooden dock district of Pakkret was also flooded. Beauty in tragedy.

A sand bag portrait, strangely photogenic.

Although the floors are flooded, all the shops are still open . . . but things are not exactly flying off the shelves . . . er, I mean the shelves are not flying off the shelves . . . er, I mean the shelves are not flying off the wall.  You know what I mean.

Old Pakkret follows the river bank in a maze of small alleyways.  Up ahead on the right, the tall sand bank embankments are holding back the water.  The river level is only a few inches below the top of these bags.

The discolored plastic sky lights let in an eerie mood as volunteers continued to shore up the defences against the rising river.

Water sat still in the old riverfront wooden shop houses.

Amazing images around every corner.  Buddhas reflected in the greenbrown waters of the flooded shop.

Different shop, different Buddha, different reflection.

The dark, flooded alleys held much beauty.  I am not sure who will be buying this hat today -- perhaps someone who lost theirs in the flood.

Bright blue nets in the flooded gloom.

Beautiful light.  You could make your own netting.

People moved around in their once familiar neighborhood silently, except for the sloshing of their feet.

It was quite difficult to navigate the maze of sand bags, planks, and barricades.

The look of concern was on the faces of may residents in the Pakkret old town.

Of course some merchants are less upset than others.  Being a paddle salesman is a good thing during a flood, although those 99 baht ones on the bottom may be hard to sell even during a flood.

Potions and elixirs seemed to be moving well enough, despite, or because of, the flood.

He may have to discount these Spirit House garlands as they did not keep the flood away.

A rack 'o paddles . . . just what you need when you are up the proverbial creek. There was no line for these.

On the river side of the sand bags there was complete submersion.

I left the flooded old area along the river to walk over toward the big Pakkret food market.

The Happy Hawker, perched upon the sand bags. The people gotta eat.

This part of the northern suburbs of Bangkok still has the feel of the old order world . . .

. . . but mechanized modernity is catching up.

The ubiquitous Thai Tuk-Tuk.  The tuk-tuk driver was very suspicious of me.  So suspicious, I thought there might be a crime in progress nearby.

Just inside the entrance to the big market sat this Buddha amulet repair and refurbishment service.  Now I know where the old man at the flood wall got all of his!

The market had food . . . if you count stuff-on-a-stick and deep fried everything. Gotta love those deep fried weenies. There was a lot of bottled water on sale for those whose homes are swamped.

The clothing and shoes sections were fully stocked, but there were very few shoppers. These are definately post-flood fashion items.

Other than the merchants' children, there weren't any customers.

Many of the small shops that line the big open market space had cemented block walls built to keep out the water . . . and sand bag steps for getting in and out.

Not a customer in sight.

The shops were well stocked.  If you wanted to buy a . . . what the Hell are they selling here?

Heavily discounted Thai sweets were available for the non-diabetic. Noticed the furniture sitting atop cement blocks, upper right.

Some shops were cleaning up after the morning fresh market had closed.

I'm not sure what this shop specializes in, but they were clean.

A perfectly androgynous market laborer posing.

Come Hell, or in this case, high water, the COOKING FAT MUST BE DELIVERED . . . and it was!

If the site of your flower stall is now occupied by sand bags, no problem, use what you have.

I guess people were not feeling lucky. I waited around, but didn't see anybody buy any of these lottery tickets.

I walked through the market toward the river and encountered the sand bag wall that was keeping the river water out. The flood in Pakkret is not too bad, but a million or more Thais have had their homes and businesses inundated by water.  The government now says that most of Bangkok will be flooded for up to six weeks.  It could get bad.

"The immense mass of water tumbling down from the lower North and upper Central regions has finally arrived and will completely surround Bangkok by the weekend [a city of eleven million people!]. The fate of the capital's residents now depends on the flood barriers and walls, some erected over the years and some having just been put up overnight to prevent overflow from the various klongs that carry water to the Chao Phraya River and eventually into the Gulf of Thailand." - Bangkok Post, October 21, 2011.  The live web cam above is about a mile from my house on the river itself. In the upper left corner you can just see the top of the dyke holding the water back.  the "+3.00" on the above scale means 3 meters above mean high tide, as this part of the river is still estuarial.  Next week-end an especially high tide is forecast. Wish me luck.

There is a huge flood of water massed above Bangkok which has already flooded many towns upriver.

Ancient towns completely submerged just miles from me.

This is the northern Bangkok suburb of Rangsit, suddenly flooded last night.  These neighborhoods are falling one at a time.  The flood waters are now only a mile to the west of me, two mikes to the east of me, and three miles to the north of me. What, me worry? My neighborhood committee leader came by last night to say that there could be one meter of water in our area within 24 hours.  So far so good: we are still high and dry as of noon on October 21, 2011.

Not far from my house this scene is repeated: people have parked their cars on every on-ramp, fly-over, and elevated Expressway in the city . . . leaving only one lane open.  It is only a matter of time before a very selfish person will clog the last remaining lane. (Above photos from the on-line Bangkok Post newspaper.)

People gotta eat!  Never accuse Thais of not being smart and flexable! I'll bet it is a good tasting as ever too!

This is the NASA satellite view of the water that is massed above Bangkok as of October 21, 2011. I wonder how all that water is going to get to the sea?