Mann in the sky - take 2

Recently, i've started hassling my colleague about photoshop.
Everywhere she turned, i was there...
Desperate to save my dodgy shots.
"How do you cut an object out from the background?"
"Isn't there an easier way?"
"Can you fix my photos for me?"

Ok i got more integrity than that.
But surprise surprise, her tips really worked.
(what was i thinking posting that lousy shot earlier?!)

I'll wait for her at the watercooler tomorrow.

ride sally ride

Been shooting some riding action down at the trails lately ever since i got myself a bike.
Got a 40d too...yes i know... i feel like a sell-out.
But its convenience and instant feedback have made me fall in love with photography all over again...
That's all the matters i guess.

The rider is Mann, a champion at throwing himself down a hill.

rock the bells

Weddings are one of those things that i like to do but my shooting skills sucks so that kinda curb my enthusiasm a bit.

Actually there is one good thing about shooting crap pictures - at least it forces me to really learn digital post process. Thank God for Photoshop.

Anyway, I wont bore you with the details, only that it keeps me up late into night.

The wife is not happy...

boy

Around the FCC

The Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) is located in Phnom Penh city. From what I can see, it's basically a restaurant with a couple of foreigners typing away on their laptops. I guess, as with most press clubs, it's what's happening outside that is more interesting.


There's a guard posted outside the FCC like most other places frequented by foreigners. Overall, I felt really safe in Cambodia although I had been advised against wandering at night without a guide. I had heard a lot of stories of robberies and other gun-related crimes. But these were just hearsay. Still, I thank God for keeping me out of harm's way.



Behind the FCC was a little alley where the 2 kids were just milling about. There are many kids out on their own and many others were working.



This boy was part of a group of children walking the streets selling cigarettes and candies in their baskets.


This little girl took the opportunity to take a shower while working to water the plants. Her parents were nearby.

The Genocide

In 1975, the Khmer Rouge marched into the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, and began a 24-year campaign of terror, torture and genocide that effectively ended in 1999. The Khmer Rouge was responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million people. In proportion to the population of the country it ruled and its time in power, it was probably the most lethal regime of the 20th century - more vicious than Hitler and Stalin.


Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot's security force and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). It soon became the largest such centre of detention and torture in the country. Over 17,000 people held at S-21 were taken to the extermination camp at Choeung Ek to be executed; detainees who died during torture were buried in mass graves on the prison grounds.

All the classrooms were turned into cramped prison cells and torture chambers like these.

The Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records and took photographs of their prisoners before they were tortured and executed. Many of the victims were skilled labourers, intellectuals, and teachers. The Khmer Rouge used children to torture these prisoners. Those too frightened to do this were killed.
This crippled Cambodia as it wiped out a whole generation of their youngest and brightest.


Barbwires fenced up all the windows and corridors to prevent horrified torture victims from committing suicide by jumping out of the building. As I walked through the hallways of this genocidal museum, my skin crawled.

Today Cambodia is trying to get on its feet again. Severely afflicted by the landmines left over from the many wars, it is now desperately fighting the scourge of AIDS.
During this mission trip, I visited a few orphanages and churches that are involved in community work in Cambodia. They are doing great work by taking care of the many children orphaned by AIDS and wars. There is currently a project that aims to build schools all over Cambodia for thousands of poor rural kids. You can go to http://www.nho.org.kh for information on this and how you can help.
They are a legit organisation and money will go towards the schools and orphanages. I'm not part of the group but I feel that their work deserves to be highlighted here.

This is the first part of the story. Hopefully, over the next few days, I'll be able to post other pictures of the people of Cambodia.
Despite their situation, I found in its people a sense of hope...
And grace that will overcome.

money making manhattan

I thought I had more pictures of Jack's place...i thought wrong.

Anyway i'm gonna take a break from the New York thing for a while with this last photo to do a photo story of sorts on Cambodia. More on that soon.
This was taken from the Brooklyn Bridge. Kinda reminds me of the Beastie Boys.