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| A Sense of Urgency |
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I wrote on December 4, 2013: Monday I traveled to Koh Samet where I spent some time with friends who were about to leave Thailand. Koh Samet has changed a lot since the last time I was there just two years ago. There used to be one or two boats near each beach, now I see dozens of boats, and the shoreline water is all bouyed off into sections to seperate the swimmers from the boats. They have built a big new pier, and if you land at the pier you will be forced to buy a ticket before you can exit the pier. I guess I don't quite grasp the concept of "National Park" because the island is covered with the current construction work of buildings and roads. Unfortunately, Koh Samet is starting to look a lot like Pattaya. The more time goes on, the more I feel an urgency to get out and capture my images now, as everywhere I go it is getting more and more difficult to get good images. Twenty five years ago in Utah I watched houses start to pop up in some of my favorite locations. Now in national parks all over world the crowds are getting bigger, back country permits are becoming more difficult to obatin, and everything is becoming more commercialized. The irony is, that as I hurry to capture my images while they still exist, and while it is still possible to do so, I am a contributing member to that growing crowd. The last couple of times I have been back to Utah I have seen ATV's kicking up clouds of dust and making noise in places where they didn't exist before. And if I happen to be on the side of a mountain road they don't mind blowing by at full speed and completely covering me and my camera equipment with a layer of dust. In places where I used to capture good images I have seen "No Treaspassing" and "No Parking" signs that stretch for miles so that I don't even have anywhere to stop. I have been taking photos at a professional level for 35 years now, and as a result some of my photos have already become quite historical in nature. Take, for example, my photos of the 55 million baht dancing water fountain at "The Promenade". Things have changed so much that no one will be able to duplicate my images. 1) The fountain was once outside but since then they have added three stories to the building and completely enclosed the water fountain. As a result it has lost its beautiful, outdoor, night time ambience. 2) Now there are no colored lights. Apparently the colored lights have either burnt out or the hardware that controls them has broken down. 3) Instead of 50 classical songs, I have noticed lately that they only play one song, and they just keep repeating the same song over and over. 4) I don't see the water doing very much dancing any more. 5) And much of the time they cover the fountain up and use the space for special venues. So let's all be thankful for the images I have already captured. To see my historical photos of the water fountain (click here and be sure to read the comments below the photo) I hope you enjoy all of the images on this website and what we have while it lasts. |