PixelatedImage Blog

Two weeks ago Matt Brandon and I announced a second 2009 Lumen Dei tour, this time to Thailand with Gavin Gough making the third instructor. We were intentionally mysterious with details and still filled half the tour, so now we’re tipping our hats on the details a little more.

Our workshop group will convene in Bangkok where we’ll spend a a couple of days exploring the city. Bangkok is a great location for street photography and we will be setting out for the local markets as well as exploring some of the city’s shimmering temples and shrines. Just looking at the itinerary for the first few days reveals that the group will be exploring by bus, train, subway, river taxi, long-tail boat, tuk-tuk and on foot. Such is the diversity on offer.

From Bangkok, we will travel to ancient Ayutthaya. Bangkok’s former capital is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and is home to the remains of dozens of monumental temples. Ayutthaya is highly evocative and wandering around the ruined, sacred places is always mesmerising. It would be easy to spend several days exploring Ayutthaya but the lure of more remote locations will see the group taking an overnight train to northern Thailand and the country’s most northerly province. And yes, we travel First Class on the train, sharing lockable, twin-berth compartments. If you’re very lucky a steward will come from the restaurant car to take your food and drinks order, which is then delivered to your compartment. Better still, we’ll approach Chiang Mai in the morning as the sun rises and the view from the window will hint at adventures to come.

In conversation with tourists, Thai people often ask “Have you been to Chiang Mai yet?”. Perhaps it’s the 300 temples, perhaps it’s the surrounding mountains, the local handicrafts, the enticing cuisine or the sense of tranquility that pervades the town. Chiang Mai is gorgeous, that’s for sure, and the group will embark on several photo expeditions from here before setting out to the northern reaches of Thailand towards the Burmese border and Chiang Rai.

Days in Chiang Rai will be spent honing our photographic skills and we’ll be concentrating hard on making the very best of the opportunities on offer. Nights in Chiang Rai will be spend in traditional teak wood accommodation. Simple but attractive. We will eventually leave the town behind as we extend our search for great images and head out into the countryside, staying in traditional bamboo and straw bungalows with the possibility of a home-stay in one of the local hill-tribe villages.

At this stage of the trip our priority will be for our presence to be culturally sensitive. We will link up with one of the local organisations that work with the hill-tribe populations and our aim here is to get memorable images whilst encouraging and aiding the community development projects which support the hill-tribe communities. As a result, our photographic endeavours will be informed by a greater understanding of the region and its inhabitants. We’ll be trying to avoid crashing in and crashing out again, you’ll already know that smash-and-grab photography is not what Matt, Gavin, or I are about.

Thailand’s Hill tribes, or Chao Khâo, originate from across China, Tibet, Burma and Laos. Their borders are defined by language and culture rather than geographical lines and they tend towards a subsistence existence. We will be in a region where the Lisu, Karen and Hmong make their home and will be spending time in villages, meeting with and photographing local people, where appropriate. Photographing in such locations is a privilege and we will approach it as such, probably dividing into small groups of two or three photographers with an accompanying leader.

When our time in northern Thailand comes to an end we will return to Bangkok for a final photographic splurge, to review our images and reflect on our experiences.

I can’t wait. Two very exciting tours this year. For more information visit the newly updated Lumen Dei site HERE or go directly to the Thailand Tour pages HERE.