Fantastic Bruce
People photography comes much more naturally to me than landscape, but when I was in Cambodia last month I found myself shying away from taking photos of the locals, but instead focussing more on the temples.
Why? After all, it's nigh on impossible to get a shot of the Angkor temples which isn't a cliché. I shied away because money always came to the forefront as soon as I turned to take a photo of a child, or even the nuns. I've travelled extensively in SE Asia, taking thousands of 'people' photos, but as beautiful as the people (especially the kids) in Cambodia were, their requests for a 'dolla' every time I wanted to take a shot left a sour taste in my mouth.
This nun wanted a dollar as soon as I raised my camera to my eye, and actually grabbed my shorts pocket to try to prevent me stepping away.
This happiness turned into
disgust when I'd not buy any of her, or her
friends/families wares.
I'd have loved to have spent more time in Cambodia (we stayed for only 4 days) so that we could have gotten off to beaten tourists tracks, as undoubtedly we'd have seen a more
natural side. We managed to do this only once, and the kids we met were a lot more welcoming; shy and happy to be themselves. These
two little
lads were fantastic. Though the photos don't show it, they were overjoyed to have their photos taken.
Cambodia and its people are outstandingly beautiful, it's a shame the hawkers partially muddy this.
(apologies for all the links - I didn't want to embed them as they don't hold a light to those in the video )
