A kind words from David Alan Harvey about Talent and Hard Work encourages me to step out of the comfort zone. What a great advise from a legend.
Monthly Archives: April 2007
Thai New Year Buddhist Ceremony
The biggest event of the year in Thailand has to be Songkran Festival, Thai New Year celebration. Anyone who has been to Thailand during the event must know how crazy it is there. Thai community here in Sydney celebrates its the occasion mildly. Officially, the word Songkran is not used at Thailand Grand Festival 2007 at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour on 15th April. Traditionally, the key element of the event is about water: drizzling light perfume on a Buddha image, pouring water onto elders’ palms and water fight on the streets. It would be very messy and not look good if City of Sydney allowed water to be flushed away during the water crisis in Australia and it is hard to call Songkran without water taking part. A part from that, the organiser, Radio Thailand-Stage Management, tries to keep the community feels at home and interested Sydneysiders get amazed by having a Buddhist ceremony in the morning, stage entertainment in the afternoon and Thai food and craft all day long.
The day begins with the people gathering in front of the Buddha then Buddhist monks arrive and settle on the ceremonial stage. Led by the Master of Ceremony, they pray, chant and meditate. Although they have to strive for meditation in the strong sunny morning.
The Buddha
The Monks
Monks leading the ceremony.
A monk and a camera man in the Buddhist ceremony. The new Thai Consul-General is in the middle of the frame under the shade of a rainbow camera.
Praying monks in the Buddhist ceremony.
A monk’s belongings: an alms-bowl and an offering-cloth. The the text in Thai and the graphic is Dhamakaya Foundation. They are a reformed Buddhism movement in Thailand.
The Followers
People during the Buddhist ceremony.
The Offerings
One of the core practices in Theravada Buddhism is about merit-making and giving seems to be the easiest way for lay people to achieve the sake of next life. After the meditation session, the monks come off the stage to the people and grant them the chance to give their offerings.
Food prepared as the offerings to the monks.
The joy of give and take.
Piles of food that has been offered to the monks.
The Worship
The morning ceremony is over. Some Buddhist traditions are in service in the afternoon.
After the Buddhist ceremony, the main Buddha image is moved inside Tumbalong Park.
Thai New Year tradition, bathing a Buddha image.
The main Buddha image for the crowd to come over and pay respect.
Thai community is one of many ethnic groups in the multicultural Sydney. The religious ceremony plays the essential role in the event and in reflecting their identity. The other parts are entertainments and socialising which we will be looking at them in the next post.
‘Pong
Changes
Walking on Pyrmont Bridge in light rain this morning and thinking how beautiful Sydney is. This scene will be familiar to me instead of Circular Quay and Opera House. New restaurant I supervise will be open in Darling Harbour soon. Hopefully, I don’t let it soak up my time and energy to pursue my passion of photography which I begin to see the light.
The Mardi Gras: the Slide Show Award Night
What a night! I was puzzled when this image won a prize for The Best Use of the Medium of Mardi Gras: the Slide Show, judged by the Photo Critic of Sydney Morning Herald, Robert McFarlane.
The aim of the project is to capture Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras festival events with the photographers’ styles and and creativities. The results of the project are astounding with artistic approach from both group of final year photomedia students from Sydney College of the Arts and Sydney Photobloggers group where I belong to. Other categories go to:
- Nudzejma Avdic for the Best Used of the Medium (joint winner)
- Billy Law for the Most Collectible, judged by Dr Dick Quan, an art collector.
- Orion Mitchell for the Most Publishable, judged by Rex Turnbull, Lino Magazine’s Creative Director
- Vitek Skoneiczny for the Most Marketable, judged by Damien and Ann, the Marketing Manager and President of
Mardi Gras.
Winning the great prizes is valued but the real prize I got is to be exposed to Dr Dick Quan, Sydney’s ten most influential art people, on the night. His comments on my works make me think of my relationship to the world which I am struggling to find. The word Outsider comes out a lot lately.
This is very first photographic prize I ever receive. I am flattered and honoured to participate in this project. Thank you Robert McGrath, the Producer of the project, New Mardi Gras, the judges, fellow enthusiastic photographers and, especially, all the punters. I owe you one.
[Update 23/04/2007: A confession. This proves how trashed I was at the Award Night. I got very distracted by The Rowdy Boys at the peak moment and my name was called. With embarrassment, I didn’t even know what award I won. At Lure, I could not concentrate on the conversation. Then I posted the wrong take and mixed up the awards the day after. All are fixed now.]
Paris, Je T’aime
Paris, Je T’aime: Sugar-coated Paris
Thank to the generosity’s of Australian Centre for Photography, I and Stilgherrian have a chance to see an advance screening of Paris Je T’aime. It is an interesting and challenging project—18 different love stories taking places in Paris districts from different directors. We see the diversed lives of the people in the city: lonely Parisians, grieving mother, couples in the edge of their relationship, disadvantage migrants and, of course, clueless tourists.
Nothing is new about a collaboration of directors telling different stories under one theme. The style becomes the genre itself. New York Stories is closest cousin to this film. But to line up 18 shorts together is quite an ambition. It is another hi-concept that could be the problem itself, in other words, there are too many. It is like watching SBS’s SOS with the certain theme on Saturday night but less variety of style.
Despite the big names such as, Gus Van Sant, Gérard Depardieu and Wes Craven, few of them deliver a fresh feeling of love and emotion. No need to talk about each segment, most of them are pretty much the same with the exception of Vincenzo Natali‘s Quartier de la Madeleine, Coen Brothers‘ Tuileries and Alexander Payne‘s 14th arrondissement. What puzzles me the most is the weird and dream-like segment, Christopher Doyle‘s Porte de Choisy which jumps out from all of them. He not only stamps his signature on Kathy Li‘s cinematography, but prove his strong connection to the orient.
After the screening, I have a craving for spicy food. We go to Snakebean Asian Diner on Oxford Street and have Thai late dinner there. Ironically, the food is still a bit too sweet for my taste buds.
Cheer up
What a beautiful words from a respected Photographer, Davie Alan Harvey. Thank you for positive view.
Retro
Still feeling lonesome in this Songkran Festival, old gang of mine having a party out of Bangkok, green. Looking at Rage play list celebrating its 20th birthday involves 1992-1996 period. Many clips I have not seen for yonks and many for the first time here because back then music channel in Thailand was different from Rage. Tonight this Aussie music programs has blown me away with their choices of the time and my mixed feeling of nostalgia.
Happy Songkran
Working on this new Out to Space Blog.
The Easter Journey
Easter marks the end and the beginning of a life cycle. Coincidentally, or not, it is close to Thai Songkran Festival as well. This kind of occasion is always a reflective time. Call me very old-fashion, but I find it is a better and quieter time to be introspective than the modern international New Year.
It is another year that I browse Sydney on the dawn of Easter long weekend. Last year, the fog hazed the ambient. This year it is a bit wet and I decide to look into some of the back lanes. To see the city calms down in the beginning of the day is quite something.
Escalating down on the glooming morning.
Looking at the wet and empty city.
Hidden place to rest the souls.
He is doing it for us.
Where cleansing begins and ends.
That is it! I am not going in.
I dare you!
But how to get out?
Up there or down here?
Considering stepping back up to the light.
Everybody does stupid things, so why can’t we forgive ourselves and others and move on. Maybe the guilt that we can’t let go keeps haunting us. Too many questions and not enough satisfied answers, what a human!