Bui Vien before breakfast

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Bui Vien, 0645 am - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Bui Vien, 0700 am - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

 Bui Vien, 0715 am - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

 Bui Vien, Cyclo mistah? - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

 Bui Vien, Cyclos - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

 Bui Vien, Cylco driver - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Got up early(ish) one morning whilst staying at Madam Cuc 64 guesthouse on Bui Vien in Ho Chi Minh City to take some snaps with the xpan before breakfast. 

The street (Bui Vien) is in the heart of the 'backpacker' precinct of Pham Ngu Lao, but apart from the travellers preparing to head off to their next location, most of the tourists seemed to be still sleeping off the party from the night before. But the roads were hardly deserted as breakfasts were being prepared, whilst the ubiquitous Xe Om (motorbike taxis) and cyclos started to ferry their human cargo around District 1.

Cambodia: Security Office 21

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Storage room debris - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Interrogation room - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Victims of the genocide, Khmer Rouge photographer, Nhem En's 'portraits' - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

The Khmer Rouge Security Office 21 (S-21) was housed in the former Tuol Sleng Prey High school from April 1975 until the Vietnamese drove the Khmer Rouge out in 1979. Between 17000 and 20000 prisoners were held and interrogated there, although former guards claim up to 30000. After interrogation, those that were still alive were taken to the notorious killing fields for execution.

OF THE TOTAL NUMBER WHO ENTERED THE FACILITY ONLY 12 PRISONERS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE SURVIVED!

Meticulous in their documentation, the Khmer Rouge photographed inmates and some 6000 negatives have survived since 1979. Many of the prisoner photographs were taken by Khmer Rouge photographer Nhem En and can be seen at the S-21 photo archive website. 

Tibet

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Nomad, truck & Yurt - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Nomad truck, flags & Chorten - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Chorten near West gate, Deki Nub rd, Lhasa - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10 

The Potala palace, Lhasa - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10 

Pilgrim - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

 Police post in the 'Tibetan Quarter' of Lhasa - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Burning Yak butter candles, The Jokhang - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

The Jokhang - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Pilgrims, Gyantse - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10 

Been spending the last few days scanning prints and negatives as I try to decide on final edits for my new website. Here are a handful of images taken using my Hasselblad X-pan II panorama camera when I visited Tibet a couple of years back.  

Pic of the week

           

                                Big Buddha - Little Buddha

Not been near my computer much this past week and so haven't had time to prepare anything for the blog. So here is my pic of the week, taken on Koh Samui, Thailand with my Hasselblad Xpan panorama camera and shot on Fuji Neopan 400 film. It's part of an ongoing series that I am doing on Buddhist art and architecture.