In District 8
I think I took this late last year. It was probably in the middle of a very hot Sunday afternoon. It was definitely in District 8 – which if you’ve read any of my other posts you’ll know I think of as my curiousity box. I tend to think of this as the “Real Vietnam” – the one which those poor fools on their buses miss (yes, my tongue is firmly in my cheek). But it does tend to make me wonder about the whole concept of “sight seeing”. I know, in the end, you form your own view of these wonders of the world (be they the Great Pyramid of Cheops or even Tower Bridge – which definitely belongs on a curiousity box). Does travel broaden the mind? Or is it just about embracing the new – rather than becoming fixed and immoveable?
Anyway – I took this picture like I said – in District 8. I think the cockerels belonged to some boys. They took some care with the birds, cleaning them. I’m wondering if anything came next?
Tammisaari, Finland - 2003
“Oh God, its snowing!” said the SAS flight attendant as the plane descended in Vanta Airport, “I hate it when it is like this,” she continued. And in a way, she was right – it was freezing cold, in an unrelenting, bone-aching way. But this was Finland, where they know the cold is coming and are organised and prepared for it. So nothing was cancelled and all the transport was working.
A few days before I went to a local outdoor shop to pick up some cold weather kit. I told the assistant where I was going and her face fell – she didn’t have anything for “that cold”, she said. But then she laughed and said, “But I don’t suppose you are planning on going out much!” . And she was right – and she was wrong. In the evening, I was with my girlfriend, who was full of tales of puss and root canals (she was a dentist), but during the day I roamed the town, fishing for pictures. When I think back on it, I feel ashamed of the opportunites I missed – note to self – talk to people more – smile.
I think this is the coldest I’ve ever been. What you can see is the Baltic – which was – as it often is – frozen over. Photographed with a Rolleiflex MX which dates from about 1952 if memory serves me. On 400 ASA black and white film – probably Neopan (it works for me). And I’m pretty sure I was using a Gitzo Gilux tripod – I was a believer even then.
