Hello all...

I've been editing for weeks and it's time to call this collection done. So I've put up a section of my website with my thoughts on the project as a whole as well as a few sets of images that you can choose from as your thank you gifts for contributing.

Head over, check it out, and pass along your selections and/or thoughts to me here or by email:

www.pixelgrain.org/kickstarter/

Cheers!

So I'm officially back in Portland after two night's travel back from Vietnam. It was a whirlwind of a last month, and a perspective-altering trip all around. There will be many more thoughts and images to come here soon as I start to process things a bit more, but for now it's time to start going through my film, identifying themes and otherwise editing this mass of images. There turned out to be close to 100 rolls of film and nearly 7000 images, so I've got some work on my hands.

Please rest assured there are more thoughts and images on their way here soon. But in the meantime I leave you with some thoughts from the wats of Chiang Mai....

Part Two...

Saigon was such a pleasure to photograph. Here's part one...

Chapter two of my time in Laos...

Hello from Saigon...

I've been wandering the frenetic streets of Ho Chi Minh City for a week now, waiting for film to be processed and watching the marvelous functional chaos of Vietnam. I've managed to get some film back from my jaunt off to Laos, so here are some color shots, with a monochrome set to follow shortly.

I met a large and kind, albeit mildly intoxicated, Laos family on the outskirts of Luang Prabang one afternoon. They gave me Beer Lao and boiled eel from their swampy backyard. We sat and stared at each other for a couple hours since we shared no language, but I did pass the camera around a get a few shots of my hosts.

In Laos any undue stress is considered to negatively effect one's karma. It's like nothing I've seen. The Lao people literally avoid anxiety religiously. They even consider things we don't question in the West, like education and work ethic, to be unduly stressful and best avoided. Everything moves slowly. Sometimes you have to wake up your tuk-tuk driver to get a ride. It's a tortoise and the hare kind of thing I guess. I found you should always check the math on your bill, but it was an otherwise refreshing change of pace.

It's been a week in Ko Lanta, a much needed time of decompression.

Here are some early film shots from Chiang Mai...

I've arrived in the islands for a much needed respite from the randomness of Laos and the chaos of Bangkok. Updates have been sparse for a couple of reasons, namely a lack of decent affordable internet access and the fact that I've been shooting film almost exclusively. Any day now I should be able to see the first 25 rolls, so I'll be sure to share when the time finally comes.

Also, if you haven't provided your mailing address yet please do so, postcards are on the way soon!

Until then, here's round two of the Headless Buddhas collection...

Another round of monochrome...

And the precious sixty day visa is now on the verge of expiration. The obvious solution is a trip to Laos for a renewal, right? We're leaving this evening...

Some images from an afternoon at the Wararot Market in Chiang Mai...

Here's part two of my recent black and white stuff...

After 8 days, 866 kilometers and close to a dozen first-gear mountain passes I'm back in Chiang Mai for a bit.

I shot film the whole trip, so it'll be at least a few days before I see my shots. And you've all been patient while I was computerless. So here's some black and white stuff of Chiang Mai, with more to come soon...

Chiang Mai is inundated with places to eat in the street. Food and drink is so easy to come by, and so cheap, that many Thais don't have kitchens of their own. A rice cooker will often suffice, they'll simply eat from the stands or take home a bag of prepared food. Apparently they eat out an average of 13 times a week.

Groups of food carts can be found across town, often setting up at 6pm and tearing down around 6am. The options are plentiful and plates often cost less than $1 US. During the day there are plentiful markets with stands selling fruit shakes or deserts, may a kind of egg, whole chickens, some random black substance I've yet to identify, noodles galore, a huge range of skewers and satays, ice coffee, fresh fruit, all sorts of fish and even the occasional fried worm or cockroach. It's an enormous cottage industry and often feels like the main form of monetary exchange here is based on people feeding each other and eating together in public.

Tomorrow we're off to ride the Mae Hong Son Loop .... back in a week!

Hello all… So I had to take a couple weeks to work and make some money in order to afford the next few legs of this trip. Alas, this is now finished. Hurrah! Back to the more important things…

I've been rather fascinated with the headless Buddha statues I've found around town. Buddhas break at times, obviously, but they can't really be thrown away in any appropriate way. So they're left at wats and beside the sacred trees that are scattered about town. I find this rather intriguing. Here's a generally mass-produced consumer object - I found a rather large Buddha shop last week - that becomes imbued with enough cultural significance to transform into something sacred and undiscardable. They then fill in the landscape in a sense, living in cracks of old Wats and between the roots in ancient Banyans.

Plus, the imagery and symbolism is so poignent. The Buddha with literally no mind. I love it.

At 82 years old, King Bhumibol Adulyadej has reigned since 1946 and presided over 15 coups, 16 constitutions, and 27 changes of prime ministers. And while laws do forbid speaking ill of him in any way, he is near universally revered by the Thais. There's a sense of very genuine respect and even love for the man here. I've heard people say that he has the power to make it rain.

There are images of The King everywhere. Every shop, home or wat has his likeness somewhere. His face is on every Thai coin and banknote, he looks at you from banners in public spaces, and he peeks out from between liquor bottles at even the smallest street-side bar.

The King is also an avid photographer and is seldom seen without a camera. It's said his Buddhist preferences for simplicity make him prefer shooting black and white. In 1996 he had a gold-plated Leica M6 made in honor of his having reigned for 50 years.

His full official title is "Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Bhumibol Adulyadej Mahitalathibet Ramathibodi Chakkrinaruebodin Sayamminthrathirat Borommanatbophit." He must have such a weird life.