It’s seven o’clock on a weekday morning. A bus pulls up outside your house and eighteen foreigners with twice as many cameras spread out onto your street, taking pictures of you, your home and your children. How would you react?
Welcoming waves, Kampong Kleang
Now, if it were me, I’d be less than amused by what I would see as a huge invasion of privacy. The people of Kampong Khleang, Cambodia, however, took our morning presence in their community in their strides. The concept of personal space is different in traditional villages, where houses are simple and small, and so much regular daily activity happens outside in public view.
It was raining when the bus stopped so that I and thirteen other keen photographers, with our photographic mentors and tour leaders Karl Grobl, Gavin Gough, Marco Ryan and Matt Brandon, could disembark – with our cameras wrapped in protective plastic and our umbrellas. People smiled and waved from the porches and doorways of their houses of thatch, wood and corrugated iron as we walked up the muddy road – the only road – to meet a boat on Tonlé Sap Lake.
Houses of thatch, wood and corrugated iron cling to the road, hanging over the Tonle Sap River, balanced on bamboo poles.
To do list: pick up the morning shopping - then take the children to school.
There is always time to smile at strangers.
Three sisters gather in their doorway to watch the strangers.
Family Portrait ~ Three Sisters
Older Sister
Khmer Man ~ still wet from his front-yard morning wash
Relaxing on the porch
Across the generations ~ Grandpa and his boy
Man in an army camouflage hat
Children all over the region, even in these remote villages, use universal symbols when they see a camera!
Girls on the front steps
The seamstress starts work early.
Solemn-faced boy
Waiting for the school bell
A young Theravada monk ignores the other "visitors" to the temple grounds.
Boyz in the 'Hood
Serious Girl
Keep still! Street shave. (The round red marks on the barber's forehead and arms are from hot-cupping - a popular remedy for various illnesses.)
The Market: fresh foods ~ muddy- streets
The kids upstairs ~ and there is that "V" sign again!
Mum takes a break from selling melons, while her baby watches me.
This town doesn’t see a lot of tourists. Never the less, the people were completely unselfconscious, smiling and friendly, in our presence. They went about their morning business, engaging with us readily, and most were willing to be photographed.
Some, of course, were completely oblivious to our presence.
Baby in Hammock
I hate having my picture taken. So, I am extremely mindful to make sure I have permission before I take environmental portraits; portraits of people in their natural surroundings. I continue to marvel at how much easier it is to make pictures of people in this part of the world.
In spite of the difficulty of their daily lives, they seem to know how to keep smiling.
I need to practice doing the same! 🙂
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The only way to start and end end day – with a smile! 🙂
simple joys, we have a lot to learn
Indeed, Signe! “Chop wood ~ carry water.”
Thanks for this and your Tonle Sap post, you’ve captured some amazing images and your stories and insights are “spot on”. Thanks for sharing!
All the best,
Karl
Thanks for looking in, Karl.
It’s slow work getting through the images I collected on our trip. But, I’ll be ready for another one soon! 😀
Lovely set of people photos, Ursula. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for having a look, Patrick! The people here were very welcoming. 🙂