People

floating markets in Thailand

Another day, buying and selling on the water

I loved the floating market in Thailand. Thankfully it was less touristy than many markets nearby to Bangkok, and there were locals there in their boats, doing their morning shopping. We spent time walking around, down the narrow ‘klongs,’ and imagining what it must be like to grow up on the water and take a […]

Granny and granddaughter

A village photowalk

Note: This is a blog which I originally wrote for our company blog, at ABOUTAsiatravel.com/blog. You can access the original article here. The open-air market is teeming with early-morning life. It’s a photographer’s paradise—vibrant colors, morning light and shadow, exotic foodstuffs, interesting people, as far as the eye can see. Fish swim circles in metal tubs, […]

Monsoons over the Rice Paddy

Monsoons in the Low Country

I’ve spent lots of time in the South of Cambodia over the last few weeks. Life is so different down there compared to the rolling hills of Ratanakiri. Endless rice fields and sugar palms as far as the eye can see, big white cows with humps on their shoulders, haystacks, and stately old wooden houses […]

Matt weaving - featured image

Weaving through the Ages

I thought she looked aged and wise and noble, as she deftly wove palm fronds together, a mat taking shape before my eyes. I watched for a while, trying to figure out how she was doing it, imagining if I could accomplish the same thing. I never did figure the pattern out—it was pretty complex. […]

Carving a pineapple, Cambodia style

Pineapple that doesn’t hurt your mouth…. ម្នស់

Cambodia has amazing pineapple, somehow perfectly grown and formulated to not hurt your mouth. And it’s always so artfully cut… And most fruit grown in country is organic; most of it isn’t certified (yet), but I’m sure someday it will be (someone needs to start an organic certification NGO). Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Please feel free […]

casting a net from a dugout canoe in Ratanakiri

Video: Northeast Cambodia 2013 – វីដេអូ:​ បង ប្អូន ខ្មែរ លើ នៅ រតនគីរី​ ។

So I put together a demo reel the other day, made up of some work from the first half of this year. It’s nearly all just video shot in Ratanakiri and Northeast Cambodia for my current job. Nearly all the shots feature Brao people, an ethnic minority group who live along the Sesan River . […]

Brao man on the banks of the Sesan in Ratanakiri, Cambodia

On the banks of the Sesan River – អង្គុយ​ លេង​ នៅ​ ទន្លេ​ សេសាន

The gorgeous Sesan river in Ratanakiri, Northeast Cambodia. If the planned Lower Sesan 3 and 4 dams are approved by the government (and financed by a Chinese or Vietnamese company), all of this will be under water someday; the Brao people, who’ve lived here for thousands of years, will be see their ancestral lands disappear. […]

Tampuan girl with striking, light-colored eyes

Nearly Sharbat Gula

She had the most striking eyes; she’s one of the few Asians I’ve ever seen with this shade. I’ve seen other Tampuans with striking eyes, but normally for how intense and dark they are. She almost reminds me of Sharbat Gula, the green-eyed Afghan girl of National Geographic fame. Please feel free to share my […]

smoking homegrown pipe tobacco

តា​ ជក់ ខ្សៀ មួយ

Whew, it’s been a week since the last upload! I have the dual problems of spotty Cambodia internet (out for 4 days) and a job that’s kicked into high gear over the last week. I haven’t even had time to process photos from my time in Laos a couple weeks ago. Soon, hopefully. Anyway, here’s […]