APF Bangkok 4.0 Workshop

APF Bangkok 4.0 workshop

1 A couple of years ago, as I was trying to get a bit more serious in my photographic development,

I joined my first workshop, held by the APF collective in Bangkok (see the chronicles of that

experience here). Fast forward 2 years and another workshop by APF was going to take place in

Bangkok again and, for several reasons (one of them being that I had been quite dormant in

photographic terms for the past year and a boost to my motivation and inspiration was needed), I

thought this would be a great opportunity for me to join them once more, since my previous

experience had been such an eye-opener. Same mentors, different theme, new colleagues to

meet: nothing could go wrong and, spoiling the final revelation, nothing did, tough in unexpected

ways, as I will explain below

A couple of years ago, as I was trying to get a bit more serious in my photographic development, I joined my first workshop, held by the APF collective in Bangkok (see the chronicles of that experience here). Fast forward 2 years and another workshop by APF was going to take place in Bangkok again and, for several reasons (one of them being that I had been quite dormant in photographic terms for the past year and a boost to my motivation and inspiration was needed), I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to join them once more, since my previous experience had been such an eye-opener. Same mentors, different theme, new colleagues to meet: nothing could go wrong and, spoiling the final revelation, nothing did, tough in unexpected ways, as I will explain below.

Red world, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Double mirror, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Triple mirror, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Last year was a transition for me in the photographic side of things, coming from 2 very active and rewarding years somehow I felt I had reached a plateau and there was nothing ahead of me to keep me motivated like before. Had my skills peaked? Had my inspiration faded? Had my enjoyment of photography abandoned me? Or was it gear disinterest? Probably a bit of all those reasons came together and, for the most part of a full year, my camera remained untouched, my blog receiving less attention, my eyes losing their interest in their surroundings. And then this workshop was announced; I must admit I had to fight with my own laziness, but something inside me said I had to take this chance and end this drought once and for all and, luckily, I did just that.

Ice and clouds I, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm 

Ice and clouds II, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Ice and clouds III, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Ice and clouds IV, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Ice and hands, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

The workshop was labeled under the topic 'visual storytelling', or photographic narrative, something that has always interested me as a link between words and images, two different languages that bond together quite well. I don't mean that images need captions or explanations to be understandable (quite the opposite), or that images complement words adding layers that would be otherwise impossible to explain: both languages are completely independent, but a marriage of both where the two of them stay at the same level is also possible, and this conjunction is what I have been trying to do in this blog since the beginning: words that visualize, images that speak, both autonomous yet coexisting together to show different sides of the same reality. The theme of the workshop, therefore, couldn't have been more appealing to me.

Ice and clouds V, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Ice and clouds VI, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Ice and clouds VII, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Ice and clouds VIII, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

I was unable to deliver what was requested from me in the different exercises the workshop was structured around, however: I failed in my assignments and I lacked focus and clarity of ideas, yet I didn't feel discouraged or scolded for that anyway; at the contrary, these detours were necessary for me to understand what was missing, and so the three mentors pointed it out for me, always with a positive approach that really helped me see things with new eyes and with a much needed perspective. All pride disappeared from me and there were no ill feelings, regrets or self-indulgence left, only a sincere will to listen, reflect and analyze remained. Probably that was the only way this could have worked for me, because it slowly penetrated my conscience and shook off the rust that I had been accumulating without noticing to the point of paralyzing my desire to take pictures.

Greasy transparency, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Three legged, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Three waiting, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Now, after the workshop has ended and some time has passed, I can see very clearly what I was lacking before, and what the workshop brought me back: I didn't learn anything new (from a technical or theoretical point of view) nor my pictures during those three days were specially memorable (much less than the ones I took two years earlier, lacking definition and feeling), but I feel happy nevertheless, because that was not the most important thing I could have achieved that weekend, but something else: it helped me remember why I like photography in the first place, it gave me a stimulus to go back in track and recover all I had lost due to laziness and disillusion. What a different experience this was! Despite not being able to create anything of much value, I felt so excited and encouraged about photography once more, that the material results didn't matter much and I was, once again, willing to go out with my camera for the sole sake of taking pictures!

Painting and reality I, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Painting and reality II, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Painting and reality III, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Painting and reality IV, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

APF gave me direction and focus, isn't that a more precious gift than taking a handful of worthy images without enjoying the process? It definitely is to me, and I'm sure the joy will eventually bring back the satisfaction (along with the practice), and I'm eager to start walking the streets again to recover what I had lost. For this I must thank everyone in the workshop, without whom I would probably still be wandering in the mist.

Khlong Toei Market: all things flesh

Example on how to choose a plan when you are out of them yet you want to do something: Sunday afternoon in the city. The weather is sunny but not too hot. There is a slight breeze. I have no plans for today but my body is asking me to go out for a photowalk somewhere. I don't wanna go too far. I want to see faces, talk to them, walk among them, smile. And capture them in their environment. I want to hear voices and observe movement. I would like to explore a new area that I haven't been to before. I think for a while, checking Bangkok humongous map. I tick request after request. And so I find my destination: Khlong Toei Market. Why not?

Surroundings, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Refilling, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Kid's refreshment, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm 

The shopping cart, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

On circles and cylinders, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Side effects, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

On fans and numbers, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Khlong Toei is the biggest fresh market of Bangkok, which means it's a broad space packed with flesh, alive and dead, of all kinds and nature. It is a challenge for the eyes, with its explosion of both bright lights and colors and deep black inner corridors, and it's also a test for the nose, with its intense and diverse smells, ranging from sweet to rotten with all intermediate levels in between. And then there is the people, for a market is made, primarily, of persons. It's not the goods but the people selling, buying, trading and bargaining what defines a market and gives it its personality. And Khlong Toei sure has a strong character of its own.

Something to hold on to, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm 

Portable garden, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Round veggies, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Preparations, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Ray of light passing by, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Through a tunnel of plastic bags, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Khlong Toei is mainly a morning market, and its peak hours are from 6 am to 2 pm. However, I visited in late afternoon; some shops were closed and it was not as crowded as it probably is in the early morning, but the market still felt active and busy, with lots of vendors raising their voices offering their goods to all passers-by, and potential customers walking through the narrow aisles inspecting the goods on offer with clinical eyes. Yet the slowdown of activity was obvious as some vendors were enjoying a comforting nap in the absence of customers while some others were just having a refreshment in the bar.

Resting positions, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm 

A place called home, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Social recess, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

The central area of the Market is located under a vast, roofed area, so in order to get around one must walk and navigate through  narrow, dark alleyways; like an ancient labyrinth, the closer you get to the heart of the market, the darker it gets, for there is no window or gap for the light to filter through at all in this micro-universe, and all you can see, from time to time, are blinding flashes of sunlight entering furiously through the entrances, at the end of the long paths, creating a vivid contrast between light and shadows.

Stray light, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

The light awaits at the exit, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Artificial light, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

But that's not all this Market has to offer; the whole neighborhood around this central area is a natural extension of it. I guess many of the people working here live in the vicinity, so they have their storerooms or related business at hand, making life easier. Or maybe I'm wrong, and the people living in this community are unrelated but, in any case, leaving for a while the, at times, stressing lanes of the market to wander the streets of the quarters around it is worth the time; more faces, more tasks, more routines will come your way.

Ready for a new round, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm 

Wheels and grill, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm 

The black gate, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Recycling, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Fallen water, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

Yes, sometimes I need to fight to find people to give my pictures a human touch, but today was one of those days when people are right there, everywhere you look at, as if awaiting for you to capture a second of their lives, as if they had always been there and you only needed to come here to see them, today, now, anytime. And they will probably still be there if you return tomorrow, or next month, though they will be different. The same as you. So I just looked at them, smiled and pressed the shutter.

Fierce eyes, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

The walk back home, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm 

Favorite retreat, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

A garden above, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm

What a lively, "human" place Khlong Toei Market is! One could argue that this is more the land of dead meat than living things, yet that is not the way I see it. There is simply so much energy and movement, color and change, action and sound in this place that is inevitable to feel alive, surrounded by constantly flowing currents, carried by the flow of things, member of something bigger than ourselves. But, once all is said and done, what's the mark that remains deep within us from the places we've been to? That elusive glimpse of a face that appears for a second between the people before being devoured by the multitude again, or that brief eye contact that fills you with sudden sadness and empathy, not even knowing why. Good evening, Khlkong Toei market, and have a quiet night!

Requesting with no hope,  GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm 

The beauty amidst the raw meat, GH3 + Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm