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