The Temple Bike Photo

Photographer’s Note

When you live in a Temple at the end of a long dusty lane, far from the village, a bicycle is a useful thing to have. Monks are not allowed to ride bikes, of course, but novices can. They are useful for running errands, and, like this, at the end of a long festival day, when a novice is bored with chanting and processing, they can let off a bit of stream by riding the bike around the temple grounds. This picture was taken at a festival, in a poor village temple, about 30 kilometers west of Vientiane. At the end of the school holidays these novices will return to lay life and continue their studies. The bike will stay at the temple for next year's novices to use.

fireflyz has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

paulartus (824) 2005-05-22 6:59

Hi Kevin, This is another of your wonderful people shots. Funny that it has had no critique. Lovely colour: the innocent fun of the novice monks. Very much like I saw when I went into the monasteries in Luang Probang.

fireflyz (2079) 2005-08-16 20:35

This is fantastic Kevin! I like the smile of the novice and your note is greatly appreciated. Nice composition and the light is great too. I'll add it to my favorites. Thank you for posting..
Best Regards,
Skye

bernardec (2235) 2008-09-30 13:00

Kevin,

Je rentre de Thailande et j'aime revoir ces moines partout. Tu as su décrire ici et en d'autres photos , ce que l'on ne peut imaginer avant : A la fois l'omniprésence du moine et sa discrétion intérieure.
Bravo, en particulier pour cette photo là.
Bernard