A glance, a smile, a word, an acknowledgment of each other – a meeting between two people can be as brief as a second, but last in your memory forever.
Traveling and meeting people opens your eyes to new ways of life and gives you a different perspective on things.
One of the most amazing parts of traveling in Asia are the people you meet - they come from completely different cultures with different traditions and different ideas.
It’s not often that you get to capture those meetings, because once you bring our the camera the moment is gone, so often the images will only stay alive in your memories.
The photo above was taken in a rural village in Laos where I was amazed to find five year old children smoking huge tobacco pipes, and half finished coffins under every house.
Apparently, when the people in the village turn 50, they all start carving their own coffins to prepare for when they die…
The days on the tea plantations in Sri Lanka are long and tiresome, and the hard working tea pickers only earn a little over 1 dollar per day, two if they’re “lucky”.
We gave this woman some tip after taking some photos, and it was such a sad feeling knowing that the money she works so hard every day to earn, we spend in a heartbeat on the most useless things like ice cream and nail polish.
We met these fishermen on a morning market in Thailand, selling their newly caught fish from the previous night – they seemed like two men with a lot of stories to tell.
In Thailand, beauty competitions are extremely popular, and we happened to stumble right into one that had the theme “Possessive father and beautiful daughter”.
Off-stage the girls were treated like celebrities, with lots of girls coming up to have their autographs and pictures taken together.
These tough girls in Laos were bored and cocky – and underneath it all, pretty charming..
These are a few photos we’ve taken of people in Asia which were recently shared on the Manfrotto photo blog …
What a great pictures! Wonderful.
Thanks Yvonne!
Great photos. So often when I travel I come home with lots of pictures of landscapes and food (always so many photos of food) but portraits express so much more emotion. It’s just more confronting to ask someone if you can take their picture.
I’ll not only have to practise the technical side of portrait photography but also getting up the courage to ask strangers if I can take their picture.
Getting the courage to ask is definitely the hardest part, but I’ve found that most often they’re ok with it, and if they don’t want you to take a photo, all you can really do is shake your shoulders and get over it quickly, knowing that at least you asked.
It’s something I need to practice too, we also end up with way too many food photos!
Your blog has given me so many revelations and facts. I was somewhat shocked that people in that village starts carving their own coffin. More than that, I cant believe that younger boys get to light a cigar and do not know its bad effects to health.
I’m so glad to hear you like our blog! Yes, it’s pretty shocking with the coffins and smoking kids, so different from our culture and traditions.
Great pictures. And stories. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful shots. Portraits are such a meaningful way to capture a culture. Thank you for sharing!
What wonderful photos! Asia is such a fascinating country.
Hi,
Best collection of images. Your articles says the full story of Thailand. Awesome Travel Post you are sharing every time. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks
Kevin Paul
Great photos guys! The first one is my favorite…
Thanks Ryan, I think the first one is my favorite as well
Love the photos. I’m getting so excited about my move to SE Asia!
Thanks Ava. Where in SEA are you moving?
The first shot of the little boy biting his t-shirt is really sweet. I wonder what he was carrying there…
I think he was carrying a bunch of stones, no idea what he was going to do with them though
These are fantastic photos! The best part is the variety of emotions you’ve captured.
Beautiful! These pictures really do tell a story!
Not only that these photos are beautiful in its original form but I imagine it in a canvass – painted, especially the first, second, and third photos. This is a work of art, not just merely taking photos but it does tell a story.
Powerful post, especially the photos of the kids and the part about the woman working so hard all day to earn $1. Good reminder to appreciate what we have.
Nice blog! Indeed, we get to learn a lot of new things and have the chance to experience and explore every places tradition. Sad to hear tho that kids already smoke at a very young age