Posts

London On The Move

Image
London Eye from Westminster Bridge as a Red tourist bus passes On a recent visit, I found London to be a bustling hive of activity. Everyone was one the move. Tourists, shoppers, out of town visitors, theatre goers and locals alike. In addition to all of this busy scurrying, add thousands of passionate climate change protesters and supporters who blocked major thoroughfares and brought out regiments of regular and anti riot police squads. If that wasn't enough activity, one of the world's largest sporting events, The London Marathon brought tens of thousands out onto the streets that very same week. Climate Change Protesters at Parliament Square National Portrait Gallery To give a feel for this bustling city, I decided to photograph London on the move by using movement in my images. I did this numerous ways, all with just my camera, no Photoshop. Sometimes I used, long exposures, sometimes rotated the lens, used multiple exposures and even moved the

The Saddest Part Was Watching These Kids

Image
Not All Kids Go To School The last few posts, we have talked about the amazing work that is being done at The Sangtawan School in Thailand.  Education, nourishment and emotional support for a small group of Cambodian children who would otherwise be neglected. Well, these are the neglected ones... The absolutely saddest part of this visit was to watch these kids who are not at the school, peer through the windows and hover in the doorways hoping that a small amount of teaching will make its way into their thoughts. They stare and wonder that maybe one day, they will be the chosen ones. I hope they are chosen too. Where exactly is Sangtawan School? Sangtawan School is in Khlong Hat District, Sa Kaeo, Thailand. ( 13°25'50.8"N 102°21'23.7"E) Right near the border of Cambodia and Ban Khao Din Checkpoint.  It took us a total of 4 hours to get here by bus from Bangkok. As it really is the middle of nowhere, we stayed in Sa Kaeo town and bused in

Education Is The Key To Ending Poverty

Image
Lesson Tim e Time to get serious. This is the entire reason the school exists. With education, these kids might get jobs away from their desolate lives, away from the doldrums of watching their siblings whilst their parents work in the rice fields, from a possible life of begging or worse. With knowledge of Khmer, English and some Math, these kids are well armed to break the poverty cycle. There are three full time teachers at Sangtawan School who are wholly committed to engaging these children. The children, in return, are eager to impress. I witnessed the teachers as encompassing a happy combination of caring and fun but with the appropriate amount of firmness. Khmer Written Language I was struck by the beauty of the written Khmer language. It appears lyrical and romantic tinged with a semblance of ancientness. This is  from  Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. English Translation “ All human beings are born free and equal in dignit

Cambodian kids bring tears of joy! - Our visit to a remote school in Thailand

Image
Steps With Hope Desperately in need of funds to continue their support of this little school in Thailand, Founder of  Steps With Hope , Jen Spoor, hosted a Mother's Day High Tea. After her presentation, I said to Jen, "if you want to make a bigger impact, you need better photos".   So that was that and I committed to visiting the school on their next trip.   Meet The Kids If you're like us, you will want to meet the kids right away. There are about 70 children currently attending the school with three classes starting at Kindergarten age.  These children come from poor Khmer families, remnants of a recovering population that has endured one of the darkest times times in its history.  Around 3 million people slaughtered and many more terrorized by the Khmer Rouge has left a devastated people still clawing its way back to normality.  Families reside in makeshift huts just over the border in Cambodia. The children walk across the Khlong Hat borde

Don't Miss A Thing...

* indicates required