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Archives: February 2011One (1) photo a day, Cambodia, Kelly and Anthony Rae Photography, Day 6
Day 6 photo: Market store selling (fresh?) meat in 35 degrees weather – this is where your meat comes from in Phnom Penh.
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ One (1) photo a day, Cambodia, Kelly and Anthony Rae Photography, Day 5
As volunteers in Cambodia one of the things we love doing is going out for breakfast or brunch on the weekends. We have a few favourite spots that have a great cooked breakfast or coffee that we frequent regularly but we also love discovering new places. Today’s photo is of Kelly holding her cup of coffee. We went to Le Jardin and had breakfast with two of our friends. Interesting breakfast related facts:
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ One (1) photo a day, Cambodia, Kelly and Anthony Rae Photography, Day 4
One of the many types of beer available in Cambodia, is Angkor Draft. Apparently Cambodia consumes 14 litres per capita, the least of all the Southeast Asian countries. One issue surrounding beer companies and restaurants are the “Cambodian Beer Sellers (called locally “beer girls”, a derogatory term, or “beer promoters” or “promotion girls” by their companies) exclusively sell one brand of beer in bars and restaurants. Some work on commission and others receive a monthly salary; either way, they earned only $US81 – about half the income ($158) needed to support their family in 2009. To supplement their income, about half accept propositions from tourists and local beer drinkers and exchange sex for money.” source
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ One (1) photo a day Cambodia, Kelly and Anthony Rae Photography – Day 1
In order to improve my photography and challenge myself, I am attempting to do a-photo-a-day for the month of February. Lots of people start these things – often for a year, but never finish. I figure a month (the shortest month at that) would be a more achievable goal to set. There are 28 days in February this year, so it means 28 photos. The photos posted in this series will be of a general interest nature – no theme yet, but all based in Camboda and reflecting on life here as a volunteer. So here is the photo for day 1, 1st of February 2011. This is a picture of the ‘Cambodian Daily’ one of the two main English newspapers in Cambodia. It often contains articles from other newswires so it has a lot of international news, but also publishes local news as well. I thought it a fitting picture to start of this daily photo series.
The rest of the one photo a day series can be found here: http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/category/a-photo-a-day/ Orussei Market in Black and White, Travel Photography, Cambodia
Eight images from around the Orussei Market in Black and White. All shot with a Nikon D700 & 50mm f1.4 lens combo:
Have a Merry Christmas
Angkor Wat – Series of 5
Finally after about seven months of living in Cambodia, we took a long weekend trip up to Siem Reap to visit the Angkor Wat temple complex. I’ve edited down the many hundreds of photos to what I think are the top 5 images from the trip. There are many, many more images that I would have loved to include, but then I would have too many images! Angkor Wat is a place for photographers as there are opportunities for amazing photos everywhere. There is one image from Angkor Wat, three images from Ta Prohm and one from Bayon. These are the main three temples to visit at Angkor Wat. I did visit a few smaller temples and they were just as impressive in their structure and with the trees and undergrowth intertwined with the stone. The set of 5 images are available as framed prints, canvas art from our redbubble store. They would make a great feature on your wall at home.
Water Festival, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2010
The Cambodia Water Festival or ‘Bon Om Tuk’ in Khmer is the largest festival in the Cambodian calendar. The 3-day Water Festival in Phnom Penh celebrates the end of the rainy season and coincides with the flow of the Tonle Sap river changing direction. The highlight of the Water Festival are the boat races, where highly decorated boats from each village race over the three days. Thousand of Khmers descend on Phnom Penh to watch the races from the shore and cheer on their villages boat, which can have up to 80 oarsmen/women as they race down the Tonle Sap. During this time Phnom Penh takes on a carnival atmosphere, and as well as the river banks being lined with exuberant spectators there are also live concerts, hundreds of food stands, games of chance, fair rides, and at night fireworks light up the sky and people dance in the street. This year however, the Water Festival ended with tragedy when a stampede on the Koh Pich bridge left approximately 350 people dead and a similar number injured. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/23/cambodia-water-festival-phnom-penh). Our prayers and concern are with those who lost friends and family during this awful event.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Here are some street photography shots from the city of Hanoi. We were there when they were celebrating the 1,000th year anniversary of the city. It was a fun time to visit, but very very crowded !
The White Building
Just around the corner from Naga World, stands the White building. It was an architectural project carried out by the Cambodian architect Vann Molyvan but was halted in 1975 during the Khmer Rouge rule. Vann was the most talented of a large group of architects who contributed to the unique and authentic style of architecture that emerged during this era and that has been coined New Khmer Architecture. Although the construction was only half completed the building was nevertheless occupied. At the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, the inhabitants remained in the White Building. With more than 3000 inhabitants, many of which are involved in the sex industry, they make this place their home, surrounded by the decaying walls and rubbish of the White building. (reference: http://carpediemilia.over-blog.com/article-20914544.html
The Market (Part 2)
I posted part 1 here http://www.kellyanthony.com/blog/2010/08/the-market-part-1/ and this is a follow up post. The following images were taken at the Russian Market. Two additional food images plus some other common items that you can find in the Russian Market, mainly in the souvenir section. Interesting Fact – The Russian Market was featured on Amazing Race (Season 15) when they had to find a person in a stall with a matching scarf.
Golden Sunset, Mekong River Cambodia
As the title suggests, this is a photo taken at sunset overlooking the Mekong River in Cambodia. The river provides many people with a living from fishing. Being the 7th largest river in Asia and the 12th largest in the world, it runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The fishing boat here is capture in the reflection of the sun’s rays on the water as it sets.
Phnom Penh National Olympic Stadium
The main stadium in Phnom Penh, it has a seating capacity of 50,000 and built in 1964. During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, the stadium was used as a site for executions by officials under the administration of Lon Nol. These days, the stadium and surrounding grounds are a popular place for morning and afternoon aerobics, lead by instructors. The parking lots provide room for hundreds of young khmers to have chaotic bare-foot soccer matches. Other facilities include an Olympic sized swimming pool and indoor volleyball court, another popular sport in Cambodia. Here is a pretty interesting anecdote about the Phnom Penh National Olympic Stadium, involving Australia: The stadium played a small part in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Unexpectedly, North Korea faced Australia in a qualifier. Because North Korea lacked diplomatic relations with most countries, finding a suitable venue for the match proved difficult, until Head of State Norodom Sihanouk, an ally of Kim Il-sung, said the matches could be held in Phnom Penh. The matches attracted 40,000 fans, with Sihounouk decreeing half would cheer for Australia, while the other half cheered the Koreans. The matches were held on 21 November 1965 and on 24 November 1965 with North Korea winning both (6–1 and 3–1). Because South Korea and all African teams had withdrawn in protests against FIFA, North Korea were thus directly qualified to the final tournament, where they reached the quarter-final. – Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phnom_Penh_National_Olympic_Stadium Below is an image of a single person sitting on the stadium seats:
Rainbow
I was riding home from work this week and saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky …
Wrinkles and Krama
This old Camodian woman is wearing a Krama, which is a traditional Cambodian garment with many uses, including as a scarf, bandanna, to carry children, to cover the face, and for decorative purposes. It is worn by men, women and children, and can be fairly ornate, though most typical kramas contain a gingham pattern of some sort, and traditionally come in either red or blue. – source: wikipedia.
Father and son on their fishing boat
Kep is a sleeping seaside town in South West Cambodia. During 1900 to 1960, the town of Kep was a popular resort destination for the French and Cambodian elite. It is well known for it’s seafood, especially crab and arguably has the best seafood in all of Cambodia. The town has many ruined and abandoned French colonial mansions and villas as many were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge during the 1970′s.
The above picture is of a father and son on their fishing boat, sailing in the Gulf of Thailand just off the shore in Kep. More images can be viewed in the Landscape and Travel portfolio Trip to Kampot
Recently I had the opportunity to travel down to Kampot which is in the south of Cambodia, near the sea. Kampot is set on the Kampong Bay River at the base of the Elephant Mountains. It’s a laid back, small & sleepy town with classic French colonial architecture.
I stayed at two places. The hip and happening Bodhi Villa guest house located right on the river which is a great spot for backpackers. It’s very chilled and has a range of watersport activities and floating bungalows. The other place was in town at the Blissful guesthouse. Good food and friendly staff. The image above is the sunrise from Bodhi Villa. Hello 5.00 am ! A had a visit to Epic Arts which is a great organisation “that organise and run visual art, drama, dance and music projects for people with disabilities in the UK, Cambodia and other international locations. Our projects celebrate the creative potential of those with whom we work, by offering new skills and giving each participant an outlet for their creative expression. Epic Arts works with the philosophy that Every Person Counts (EPiC).” (Source: Epic Arts website) Cycling around the countryside I was able to meet the friendly locals. There are a variety of farms – rice (still the hot season so no rice growing), salt and pepper. The area is really flat aside from the Elephant mountains and at the moment quite dry, although that will change in 1 month or so with the wet season. The salt farms produce salt from the irrigated sea water and the workers carry the salt back and forth from the farm to great tin store buildings. Working under the intense sun and heat for 10 or more hours a day, they earn as much as $2 a day. I took a range of other photo’s on a trip to visit some caves and a pepper farm. All in all, a very enjoyable weekend trip. For a collection of more images, please view the Landscape and Travel portfolio.
Above: Old lady siting outside her house, enjoying the cooler evening and watching what’s going on. Below: Old abandoned building in Kampot.
Ablove: Salt farmer gathering salt in Kampot. Below: Phnom Chhnork – Cave #1 Pre-Angkorian ruin set in a limestone cave amongst stalagmites and stalactites that are slowly growing back into the ruin. Small, 4th-5th century AD brick structure associated with the ancient state of Funan.
Phnom Penh update
So after a week in Phnom Penh we have seen only a little bit of the city, but what we have seen so far has just been great. We were able to go on an evening boat cruise along the Tonle Sap river which was a beautiful evening, even when it started bucketing down. It’s the end of the dry season and soon we’ll be heading into the wet season so there will be a lot more storms and rain. We’ve eaten out at so many great restaurants, shopped at lots of markets and started Khmer language lessons. Below are some photos from the city of Phnom Penh … enjoy ! Foreign Correspondence Club Phnom Penh Baby-shoot – Archie
This photoshoot is a little special, as its actually Archie’s birthday today – he turns one !! We took some shots inside and outside in his cubby house. He is quite a serious little fella but has a great smile :)
Children photoshoot – Evie, Hamish & Lilah
Here’s a preview of a children’s photoshoot today. Such little bundles of energy and smiles !
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