Bangkok Workshop

                                  

Thomas Hyde..."Lost in Bangkok"
                        

                                     

                                 

                              

                                  
               
                           
Christian Kaiser..."Bangkok Dreams"
                              

                                 

                         

                           

                        


                        
                                                               

James Chance..."Building Bangkok"
                           

                                 

                                                      

                                    

                                     

               
                     
                                                             
Christopher Baer..."Mambo's Lost Boys"

                                          
                                        

Katharina Hesse..."Short Time"
                        

                     

                           

                              

                         

                           

Comments

[Joni Karanka]

I like Hyde's b&w. I like those cat ears in it. Chance's #2 is pure magic.

[bobblack]

magic all aroun d....b

[bobblack]

thomas' gorgeous series reminds me (strangely) of the brilliant Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul...(one of my favorite directors)...its' the strange magic of ghosts and ancestors and unexplainable collapses of time...i love the 2nd image also very much :))))

christians' gorgeous pics too capture, for me, the weight of time, the sadness of that special weight that exists in tropical places: the weight of time and rain and the volume of air wrapped around us...it's a terribly sad dream indeed, triste tropique...especially the rolled wite eyes and broken skin heels...powerful...

i really enjoyed Jame's story (especially #2, like Java Puppet Show, the man blowing into the world the ghost-shadow on the wall): because it seems as if foreign photographers always depict what seems to be the cliche of Tailand: sex, drugs, sadness, etc: the exotic,most likely, for the west..that he takes a pedestrian thought important topic (building) and inhabits it with life is qutie a strong and potent task!

Christopher's Mambo boys is poetic and musical, and I think the last shot is an extraordinary time-crunching one: as if havana, 1952...i love her/his expression and the uptilted arms of his/her flight....

I love the ferocious color of katarina's story and the definance or strengh in both the 1st and last portrait...second photo is profoundly sad and probably details the division between the girls and their customers, though the men are hungering, it's their sadness that bespeaks...I would only ask Katrina this simple question (same trouble i have with d'agata's recent work from japan): why is it that the woman's face is always shown and the john's never, im never sure why the men are never revealed, ever within the moment when shooting prostitutes?....anyway....

im thrilled for all of you

cheers
bob

[Stefan Rohner]

Chrisi! ;) how are you doing there, I can see .. good results! from all. Chris, when you get home to Switzerland go on, dont stop ;)

[chriisi]

hehe stefan.. thank you..
i'm doing fine, no stress anymore :)

i'm still in bangkok, will go for a longer travel, so i surely dont stop, hopefully..

[Aga Luczakowska]

All photographs are great! but I like the most 1th story.. because the topic is less typical than others... i really like photographs from prositute and drugs addicted people.. but the topic is common... but still photos are really good!

[Lance Rosenfield]

i don't even know where to begin... fantastic!

[Michael A Shapiro]

Chriisi, Great pictures. How did you get access?

Cheers,
Michael

[Michael A Shapiro]

Oops, I got confused about who was who-

My comment and question were for Katharina.

So, Katharina, great pictures, and how did you get access?

Sheepish,

Michael

['Pong]

Having seen the workshop slideshow at Dream Hotel, I must say it was fantastic. Each one superbly executed their essays.

I talked to Thom and he said that the result had completely different from the works he normally did. That's a challenge of the workshop.

Bangkok is surely has so many subjects too choose from as you can see from the variety.

[Sofia Quintas]

Wow excelent work! Want to tells us some more info about it?

[cathy scholl]

very impressive.

[Stefan Rohner]

Chris, at home, alone, it is always more difficult ;) working in a group gives most of the time more energy. have a good journey, when you are back I want to see a monthly ball-saal exhibition! best regards Stefan

[Neil]

Great stuff, access, interesting people and places.

I like James Chances' idea and its a really good subject. The constantly tilted horizon does'nt quite work for me though.

Katharina Hesse's essay just blows me away, dark, deep, intimate. 5th picture is incredible, kinda renders the 4th redundant.

If she is a prostitute, then I can see why the client is'nt the subject, although an essay on the clientele of prostitutes would be instructive, but access even harder!

Way to make images!

[Stefan Rohner]

Aga, most of the topics in photography these days are common, even the best magnum stories. to me it is important if they pictures tell me something, if the story is well made, in composition and message.

[lorena]

bob, beautiful way to explain apichatpong's film work: unexplainable collapses of time...
could you please let me know where to find that recent d'agata work from japan you are mentioning. is it on any web site?

I think that they are all great. my favorite is thomas's lady + cats and katharina's last portrait (which reminds me of a pen-ek's film! ;))

[David McGowan]

Nice work Tom and all.

[Alex Reshuan]

Very powerful stories but I can only speak ( a little) about Kat's work since I know her and how this workshop has brought this intensity that it is shown in her pictures.
This is not about prostitution ,its about THIS prostitute in particular

The whole series shows the degree of intimacy and access Kat had taking these pictures yes , but the last one really impressed me.
That look in her face says it all. She is not looking at Katharina's camera . She is looking at Kat like saying "so you know who I am and what I do".
If the pictures at the motel room show without any barriers an moment of passion and lust , this last portrait shows a naked soul

Kat told me how she was pushed to go inside to shoot the act to later be sent again. Really pushing her limits.
I don't think she would have gotten this portrait is she wasn't in that motel room .

[Katharina]

Hi Bob,
I naturally seem to go for expressive " objects"... and it happened that the prostitute's face was the first thing I noticed. . I found more expressions in my entire take though after I had presented the initial edit to the tutors where the man's body ( back / muscles) becomes the main focus and to me that equals the prostitute's face.
I haven't seen D'Agata's work from Japan (yet)...only know some earlier work where he appears to be part of the story.
So I guess we have different reasons for only showing the face of the prostitute.

[Christopher Baer]

ha Stefan.. i do my best!

Katharina, i'm a bit confused.. it isnt always the same woman is it?

cheers from bangkok

[bobblack]

hi katharina :))))

thanks for the note, i've sent you a message. To clarify for others: my comment related to Katharina's series wasn't a detraction: it is bold and beautiful and very vital: particularly with regard to it's expressiveness and it's relationship to the prostitutes :))...just a question about the faces of the johns ;))...

ok for Katharina and Lorena: here is d'agata's work on japan:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=Mod_ViewBoxInsertion.ViewBoxInsertion_VPage&R=2TYRYDGKJQGP&RP=Mod_ViewBox.ViewBoxThumb_VPage&CT=Story&SP=Story

cheers,

running
bob

ps. yea, like the films of pen-ek too :))

b

[bobblack]

p.s., while i love early d'agata, im not a fan at all of the japan sex project....anyway....

[Joan]

Really impressive work, in very individual ways. Amazing -- especially considering the time constraints.

[Aga Luczakowska]

Stefan... yes, i agree... but i am happy the most to see new storys...
but also as i said before.. even story is common the photos presented here are really good!

[Will]

Some pretty good shots here, although I'd have liked to have seen more of the students breaking out of the confines of sex, drugs and the homeless etc etc...surely there are other areas to explore? But, saying that I was particuarly impresssed with Katherine's work. The colours and tones were just right for that type of situation.

I enjoyed Thomas's 'animal' photos, but would have preffered to have seen more of that project rather than the blurred colour shots which seem cliched these days.

But I'll take mt hat off to Christian with his contruction series. Again, the colour in the photos is spot on and the subjects and composition revealed a part of bangkok that I've never spent much time thinking about (or cared)!