Photography Thailand Forum

[Christopher Swift]

I like to shoot a lot of abstract and industrial stuff. Living in Phuket, I don't get to see much of the industrial stuff but not long ago we were living in Bangkok and went to Kanchanaburi for a break. If you're into industrial abstracts, there are a number of sugar mills as you get near Kanchanaburi town. You can spot them from the black smoke and steam belching from the stacks.

If you're lucky, you'll spot a mill on the left which has an old Christian cemetery right next to it. Marble headstones with crucifixes and the factory as the backdrop. On the other side is the spray pond. It's hard to describe (photos of mine can be found at http://www.swift-images.com - navigate to the Sugar Mill gallery).

Again, if you're into this kind of thing, it's amazingly inspiring.

After returning to Bangkok, I got up at 3am every Saturday for a month so I could get up there and be ready for sunrise. Fantastic, excellent hard core industrial!

Swifty

[David Salmanowitz]

Christopher--The gravestones and sugar mill are some real nice images. The lighting on your Chrysler Building shot would make Margaret Bourke White proud. 

[David Procter]

Really original concept - if you want industrial, theres the big petrochemical plant in rayong which is an incredible landscape of pipes, chimneys and steam, lit by thousands of flurescent tubes. I drove past there and around the site last weekend and got told off before i even started taking pictures! I'd just got the old tripod out of the boot and there were headlights upon me!

[Christopher Swift]

David S: Thanks for the kind words on the Chrysler Building and the tip on Margaret Bourke-White (it impelled me to check her work out at masters-of-photography.com). Really really dig her industrial stuff. In that vein, have you checked out Charles Sheeler's stuff (his River Rouge work just kills me).

David P: Yes, I've visited the refineries in Rayong but only by day. I'm sure at night it's got to be much more dramatic. We were lucky - we just drove into one through an open gate and I shot to my heart's content. I ended up with only one shot that I really love - and that evolved into a composite of a distillation tower and the altar of a cathedral in Manhattan's upper west side. If you care to view it, you can find it at http://www.swift-images/unclgod1.html.

Thanks all

[anna]

Very impressive.  I grew up in an island in the Philippines in which the main product is sugar.  It is a common sight to see truckloads or train cars overloaded with sugarcane which sometimes cause accidents.  In grade school, it has been part of our field trip to visit the refineries.  After finishing my degree, I was part of the team that audited the various sugar centrals that dotted the island.  After moving to California, I have lost touch of this scencery until I brought my own kids last year to see the whole process.  Seeing your photos brought back pleasant memories; it is as if I could smell the sugarcane juice, and feel the extreme heat of the broiler.  I showed your photos to my daughter just now and said she:  WOW!!!!! 
All those years, I never saw them (the mills) the way you did.  Now I can't wait to see the mills again on my next visit to our island this coming July.  Christopher, admirable how you transformed an otherwise gray industrial site into interesting-to-look at images.

[David Salmanowitz]

Christopher--It is funny you mention Charles Sheeler as before I looked at your photos and knew it would be some industrial type stuff Sheeler was who I thought of. I am familiar with his River Rouge series, as well as his industrial paintings--he was very talented as far as I am concerned. Margaret Bourke White also did some impressive and pioneering things--many people do not realize that for one of her famous shots of the NYC skyline and the Chrysler Building spire she actually climbed out onto one of the gargoyles sticking off of the building! I will check out the masters of photography website, as i am not familair with that one--thanks.
Anna--I am jealous you having grown up in the Philippines as you could eat buko pie and halo halo--masarap!  I just returned from there the other day as I was photographing underwater, but the typhoon made me return to BKK early as it caused lots of problems with the diving.

[Christopher Swift]

Anna, thanks very much for the nice comments! That sugar mill that I spotted inspired me like nothing else before or after. As a kind of side note, I loved it so much I went in to see the manager and asked if I could wander around inside for some shooting. He was kind enough to give me a guided tour. Near the end, I found some fantastic rusted old doors to the warehouse and shot away. The manager could not understand why I shot the doors and was afraid that I just wanted to show the run down state of his factory. I can't tell you how bad that made me feel - my abilities in the Thai language were just not good enough to explain to him how it was art, and how beautiful I thought it was - not run down, beautiful.

David, amazing story about Bourke-White. I'm certainly not that intrepid! The Chrysler is, to me, one of the most beautiful buildings made, but I'm a freak for that Deco period of design (it is Deco style, yes?). The lighting on the building came as a result of shooting it at dusk through a plexiglass window of an adjacent office building. I guess the angle of the light, and its passing through the plastic produced all kinds of groovy refraction effects yeilding those colors. Some sharpening on the image, but otherwise no color management stuff whatsoever. Also, on the masters-of-photography site: it's fairly comprehensive (except none of us are on it, yet), but it's a real pain to navigate. You can't click through to the next images, you have to return to the main photographer page every time. I'd also like to see a more representative body of work on, say, Bourke-White.

[David Procter]

Christopher,
I was taking pictures of a fantastic old door near Rayong a couple of weeks ago and had a three thai chaps who work in the yard in question absolutely bemused as to why i was doing it. My Thai doesnt include the words nice texture - strong narrative and so they setteld on Ferang have different eyes. Theres a discussion on the forum about photographing Thais and how important it is for Thais (well people actually) to be shown in good light - this is something I'm very aware of especially with my street photography but something you cant always adhere to.
I've been looking through your site and its really refreshing to see such originality and personality through photography.

[David Procter]

heres the door by the way!

[Christopher Swift]

Most excellent shot, David. This is what I'm talkin' about! That's a door with personality. Excellent get.

[David Salmanowitz]

Real nice shot, and that ship/submarine steering wheel like doorknob is great!

[David Procter]

Thanks david and Christopher,
I actually wanted to do more with the door but i was keeping people waiting. There was an old harbour master i wanted to take a picture of coming out of this great door but he didnt want his picture taken. If i was able to stay around i could have talk to him.  i've got a feeling that door wont be going anywhere for a while! So I'll go back when i'm in the area.