Shop Sundance Catalog

icon icon

Monday, September 18, 2023

Fishfarms: Thailand Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977 by Robert Glenn Ketchum

Fishfarms:  Thailand

Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977 by Robert Glenn Ketchum


In the late 1970’s Elizabeth Mann Borghese commissioned me to travel around the world with her to photograph aquaculture. This is our visit to Thailand.
~Robert Glenn Ketchum




Monday, August 28, 2023

Fishfarms: Thailand, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #4
Thailand #4:  
After a “wild” night of food, and a tour of the Patpong district of Bangkok, Elisabeth and I receive word that our aquaculture research plans have been approved, so we rise early the next morning to leave our hotel, and head towards the Chao Phraya River, where we will board a private boat, with guides and researchers to advise us, which the government has arranged on our behalf. Arriving at the riverfront, our hosts connect us to our guides, who seem eager to work with us, and they also speak excellent English. The riversides are choked with houses and boats of every description, and there is a flurry of activity everywhere. As this is all new to me, the first thing I notice is an abundance of large, ceramic, decorated pots, literally everywhere I look. Some are being sold, some are being used, but every boat I can see has many of them aboard. When I query our new associates about them, I am told they serve many purposes, from food and water storage, to the collection of “night soil.” Boy, I guess you do not want to get your pots confused.

photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
________________________________________________________________
Monday, August 21, 2023

Fishfarms: Thailand, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #3
Thailand #3:  
Our Bangkok hotel is luxurious by comparison to those in which Elisabeth and I stayed while in India, but it is fair to say, not as exotic (no elephants carry our baggage). Our rooms are quite comfortable, AND air-conditioned, something we did not always find previously. The hotel dining room is also very nice, and decorated with stunning graphics, and details on the walls, columns, and ceiling. The food is good, and very different, but equally as spicy as what we were served in India, just in a different way. She and I enjoy a long, leisurely, and somewhat drunken dinner, retire early, and then rise the next day to have breakfast with our hosts, who plan to show us some of the sights. While our aquaculture research project is being explained on our behalf to various officials, and we await approval for the plans we have proposed, our hosts help us bide our time by showing us some truly grand Thai locations. The country is VERY religious, and there are statuary and temples everywhere, so of course we visit them. Again, since this is not pertinent to our project, I try to limit the pictures I make, because I only have so much film, but who could resist taking a picture of this? Like the remarkable decorated trucks we encounter on the roadways, the temples, in particular, are an astounding display of elaborate hand-crafting, with red paint and gold leaf, making windows, doorways, and columns radiant. It is breathtaking! These people are “nuts” in a VERY beautiful way!


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
________________________________________________________________

Monday, August 14, 2023

Fishfarms: Thailand, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #2
Thailand #2:  
On our drive in from the Bangkok airport to the central city, Elisabeth and I are enjoying the comfort of an air-conditioned car for the first time in weeks. We also encounter western-style highways and traffic, but are excited to see most of the commercial trucks are extravagantly decorated, similar to those we enjoyed in India. In fact, Thai decorations are MORE lavish. Most of the “jitneys" we saw in India were hand-painted. These Thai trucks go WAY beyond that. There is plenty of highly detailed, stylized painting, for sure, but there is much more. As you can see in this image, there is A LOT of very intricate metal work, as well. These commercial vehicles are hand-crafted like jewelry, or sculpture. They are absolutely AMAZING! Elisabeth and I both love them, and she encourages me to make lots of pictures, but I must remind her that I have a limited amount of film, and our aquaculture research project has many more locations to visit. Central Bangkok feels VERY “western,” with terrible traffic, towering buildings, lots of display advertising, and name-brand hotels, one of which will be our home, while we go through the motions of planning our travels within the country with our hosts and various administrative officials. By the time we arrive at our destination, it has been a long day, and we have already had much discussion in the car while driving, so she and I agree to dine at our hotel that night, without our hosts, and then turn in early. They will join us for breakfast, and wish to show us some of the "sights,” while we await administrative approval for the things we expect to do.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
________________________________________________________________

Monday, August 7, 2023

Fishfarms: Thailand, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #1
Thailand #1:  
Madras, India, is REALLY hot and humid, with terrible traffic and air quality. Thankfully, Elisabeth and I are in transition, and have not come here to work on or aquaculture research. We overnight, and then fly out to Bangkok, Thailand, leaving before the monsoon season arrives in India. As I will soon discover, although India and Thailand are similarly undeveloped in their rural areas, their major cities are quite different. Thailand is modern by western standards, has brand name hotels, skyscrapers, massive amounts of neon lighting, and commercial advertising EVERYWHERE. The airport is very “western,” and even air-conditioned. The airport runway is paved and we don’t frighten any grazing animals when we land. Our hosts are there to greet us, and because of that, we are whisked through customs, placed in a very comfortable car, also air-conditioned, and we head for Bangkok. The highways are quite modern/western as well, and as we get closer to Bangkok, they become VERY congested (also quite western - LOL). There is a notable amount of truck traffic, carrying various goods into the city, but to Elisabeth’s and my delight, for the most part, ALL of these trucks are lavishly decorated, like the ones we experienced in India. In fact, even more so.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
________________________________________________________________

Posted by at
Labels:

Shop Sundance Catalog

icon icon