The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

The Bangkok Motor Show is an annual pilgrimage for my friend Bud Rockey and I. We like to see the new cars and the few "concept cars" the big car companies ship out to Thailand, like this Chevy Mira.

Cute Mazda concept car.  Please build this one.

There is a big vendor area where every imaginable car accessory is displayed, but we like to see the vans with the big stereos.  Amazing.  The vans that go boom.

The interiors of these land yachts are quite fantastic: big screen flat panel TVs, and a million watts of power.

The extent of decoration of these vans is amazing. Fun.

There is even a section displaying local race cards.  This is the "Pro Mod" of my friend Khun O.  It has a 632 cu in. big block Chevrolet and over 1000hp. 

Thee are product demonstations and stage shows going on everywhere to attract the Motor Show patrons interest.

But the fun part of the Motor Show are the models who will pose in front of the cars without even being asked.

Whatever was needed to attraction your attention to the new Hondas . . . .

The models are everywhere posing in front of cars.

Some were sweet . . . . .

. . . . and some were nutty, like the pretty Suzuki girls . . .

. . . . the Suzuki girls looked great from any angle.  They drew a large crowd of professional and amateur photographers like myself.

I took a break between photographing the models by looking at the cool old restored Mercedes . . .

. . . and old Jags!  WOW!

Some of the models were gorgeous.

Some booths had a mature beauty leaning on their new cars . . . .

The Mini stand opted for black leather and a red car . . . .

. . . . and sultry black on black.

You don't really need a pretty lady in pink to attract attention to the Porsche Boxter.

Porsche drew quite a crowd of photographers . . . I wasn't sure which they were more interested in, the car or the model.

But Volvo had the classiest act: Hats!

Wonderful Hats!

"Miss Cleaning Product" was my favorite model in the entire Motor Show.  I wanted to buy wax and spray cleaners from her in the worst way.

There was a cloud in the sky, but only one.  A rare day of blue sky in Thailand . . . a perfect day for a family outing to the ancesteral grave plot 65 kilometers south of Bangkok.

I went to Chonburi with my wife and her extended family to visit the family grave plot and to pay respect to the ancestors.  There is a valley full of these graves.

Many of the family graves are beautifully detailed.

We stop first at the cemetery shrine to send our blessings and revere the ancestors.

Much incense is lit and sustenance is offered.

Offerings are sent to the other side.

I am reluctant to post the photos of my family and the grave site out of respect to their privacy.  However, among the activities that day was sending "Hell Bank Notes" off "to the other side" for use there, should the need arise.

The spent incense ends up on this large stone.

The cemetery complex is tended by this old man.

After the grave side memorial, we always go to this small, very old, Thai town of Talad Hua Kun Jae to have lunch together.

Talad Hua Kun Jae is a typical rural Thai village: wooden buildings, a central market, and a very slow pace of life.  Nice.

It was a hot and bright afternoon in Talad Hua Kun Jae.   A good day to stop in for a quick bowl of fiery noodle soup.

Looks like something one might see in Alabama in the 1930s . . . the only thing missing is Walker Evans lugging his big box camera with James Agee trailing behind taking notes for my favorite book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.

The old wooden buildings had the patina and textures of age.

Old wooden Thai country market towns . . .  yummy textures.

For Walker Evans.

Rusted corrugated roofing and weathered old wood . . .

Small town life in rural Thailand.

I went out and about on a Saturday with my friend John Stiles.  We saw many wonderful things and listened to some fantastic music.

The Bangkok "Chinatown" is a very messy, noisy, busy place with a huge amount of human activity, mostly to do with commerce.

I really do not get down to this part of the city enough.  Even though about 30% of Bangkok is underwater, life goes on in the rest of the city without adult supervision, as we expats like to call it.

Busy, busy businessmen.  Here we see a shop dedicated to selling fake rice sacks; "Value Added" takes on a whole new meaning.

Chinatown, along the river, is the oldest part of Bangkok.  The buildings exude a worn and aged charm.

When I first moved to Bangkok I had the fantasy of living in one of these kinds of neighborhoods. What, exactly, is the beauty here?

I spotted a sign on the main street saying there was a temple down the alley.

We found a very old, and beautifully kept, Chinese Buddhist Temple wedged among the tiny passageways of old Chinatown, Bangkok.

The courtyard of the Chinese Temple was festooned with yellow lanterns.

I poked around a side and found the leprous temple keeper and asked if I could go in and pray.  He nodded yes. The space was magnificently decorated.

The new temple banners showed the signs of recent ceremonies conducted in honor large donors.

There were many small vestibule-like altar rooms around the temple . . . .

. . . that were exquisitely decorated with the phantasmagoria of the Chinese Buddhist pantheon.

Many famalies lodge their hopes, prayers, and wishes here.

Each altar had become a new construction of a unique spirit world.

Every detail tells a story from ancient Chinese spiritual literature, like these incense holders with peacock fronds.

The Buddhist Temples in Thailand are not archeological curiosities, but living places of spiritual refreshment. I love the celebratory use of twinkling holiday lights.

I made a large donation before we left and received a special honorary receipt from the kind temple keeper.

As it grew darker we descended into the deep back alleys of the Bangkok Chinatown.

A yellow inflatable boat in a dark alley was one of many clues that nearly thirty percent of Bangkok was under water from massive flooding . . . but not this part.

By nightfall we found our way back to the commercial streets.

The mix of mercury vapor and neon lighting played nicely upon the telephone lines across this old Chinatown storefront.

Every once in a while a photo just creates itself right in front of you.

Damn Tourists.  Not really.  Peter, an out-of-towner visiting my friend John, trying to figure out if it is better to take the Skytrain or taxi to get to Victory Monument Circle from Chinatown.  We took the taxi.

Victory Monument Circle on a Saturday night.  It seemed almost deserted, no doubt, because of the floods.

Down this small side street off of Victory Monument Circle you can find the best blues, funk, and reggae in Bangkok.

The Saxophone Jazz and Blues Club.  I am always happy to be there.  There were two bands on that night.

The House Band fronted by a very talented blues guitarist.

His BB King covers were noteworthy.

But the highlight of the evening  was a funk/reggae band I had never heard.  They came on at midnight and played until 3:00am! The completely rocked the joint . . . got everybody up out of their seats and dancing!  Definitely one of the best live bands I have heard in many, many years.  I will go back to see them again . . . and soon.

Only 4 foot 9 inches, but the most powerful and controlled singer in this quadrant of the universe.  Every band member was very, very talented.  Amazing!

Here are a few more images from that wonderful day . . . . saved as a slide show (which I am still figuring out).

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.