In Honor of the King, a photo from Roi Et, Northeast

Photographer's Note

The maidens of Phom Pai (that is the high school girls) are performing the traditional rite of ‘morp’ or prostration in honor of the King on the 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne. Although rice sacks were laid out on the street, the girls told me that the heat scolded their arms. It is a beautiful and traditional rite, but I wondered why none of the young men of the village were asked to perform it. Does this say something about the role of women in Thai society?

oochappan, kajspice, fijiphil, siolaw, shahzzam, Davids, calimex, InasiaJones, Manamo, Lee30 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

oochappan (22043) 2006-06-19 6:48

Hi Kevin
Strong perspective to see these rite as honor to the King, good diagonal converging in top, must have been bloody hot seen by the hard contrasts of the sun. A fine TE-document.
Henk

kajspice (4542) 2006-06-19 6:52

Hi Kevin,

A good moment to snap I feel...I also like the high point of view and your framing of subjects....its really very effective...

the visual impact is excellent, as is the subject...

stiginthedump (1823) 2006-06-19 6:56

Yeah, this is a great photo!

I like how you've included the crowd as well, it gives it more of a festival feel...i remember being in Thailand for some celebration of the king - 80th birthday, or 50th wedding anniversary maybe 5 years ago.

Do you have any other photos of close ups of the girls as I'd be interested to see those as well!

Thanks

Furachan (0) 2006-06-19 8:53

Terrific shot Kevin with a strong perspective that won't quit. One of your very best to date. That's pretty impressive, talkingh about prostrations as far as the eye can see. They're going to call Thailand LAP from now on "Land Of Prostration" ;o) My only suggestion (see my Workshop) is a more severe cropping - yours is a bit laterally generous - this might benefit from a mroe acutely rectangular crop. See what you think.
But I love this one.
Cheers,
Francis

[workshop] [compare]

kourosh (2375) 2006-06-19 8:56

very nice capture of an interesting event, well done.

fijiphil (1355) 2006-06-19 12:40

A very interesting shot, great note too. I find the colours a bit oversaturated and false, but nevertheless very good photo. Thanks for sharing.

Kicka (0) 2006-06-19 13:01

Intresting scene captured. Nice POV and very good composition with the diagonal lines including the spectators. Good work.

Take care,
Jessica

RGatward (20050) 2006-06-19 18:12

Wow they really do honour their king there don't they! Nicely seen repition, and effective OS of colours.

siolaw (37568) 2006-06-20 1:25

Hi Kevin,
An interesting scene and rite, with good colors and sharpness, fine POV and framing, crowd also gives a plus to the photo... nice perspective
I was in Bangkok for these celebrations and it was sooo crowded!!
Regards
Laurent

shahzzam (217) 2006-06-20 4:41

Hi Kevin, I heard so much about the recent celebrations in honor of
the great King of Thailand. This is a specatcular photo, the colors are so
vibrant, and the composition superb! Although I couldn't be there to partake,
I'm glad to be able to see the festivities through your eyes! Excellent work!
TFS, Sam

banyanman (7772) 2006-08-04 11:21

Your POV and framing makes it look like you were the only photographer there, Kevin. The vertical format with the diagonals of the rice sacks leading the eye away from the bottom LH corner provide a dynamic perspective, and I like the inclusion of the row of onlookers at the top. Cheers . . . David

Davids (56) 2006-09-13 9:46

Kevin, I once had the honour of breefly meeting the King's sister, and I can tell you the man were just as humble as these girls. We were not even allowed to walk over the carpet before the King's sister.
Beautiful compositiona dn colours, thanks for the note,
regards,
David

wishnugaruda (1305) 2006-11-18 8:40

Hi Kevin,
I found this one in the Welcome-Gallery, wow - what a moment. I realy think all Thais must love their king very much when they do those things.
When I were in Hua Hin this May, we saw a car of the Royal family there and all Thai-people looked to the ground, not to the car.
When we went back to BKK by car, there were thousands of police-men at the street an we wondered.
Than our guide told us, the King and his family are also on their way back to BKK, they were about 30 Minutes behind us. When we reached BKK they stopped us, all the highways were closed. Than we saw the convoy with the King driving fast - so we were at the airport in time ;-)
Thanks and greetings
Sabine - wishnugaruda

jinju (14265) 2006-12-15 3:15

Hi Kevin,

jkust saw this on the main page. For me I think this is one of your best shots in terms of an well organized, geometric frame. It looks great.

InasiaJones (29343) 2007-06-27 13:34

Hi Kevin,

While visiting your entire gallery, I had to stop on this one, to let you know how much I like the LATW aspect of it. During my trip in Thailand, I was fascinated and flabergasted to see how much thai people love and honor their King, but this photo is a demonstration that goes behind words.

We can see that spectators can barely support heat and have to hide under umbrellas, while these young girls prostern themselves on the pavement... Your note underscore a truthful question about the ethic of it. I like that.

Although I know His Majesty King Bhumibol has a "half-God" status and he’s a good person to his people, I wouldn’t accept such a demonstration.... But then again, I’m not a King...

Very strong photo Kevin, with an excellent perspective and good framing. But more than the technical aspect, I like it for what it conveys, something difficult to understand from a westerner point-of-view...

Best wishes,

André

PixelTerror (0) 2007-06-28 4:12

Hi Kevin,
I saw this oldie fly around and grabbed it, I like it very much in terms of composition, superb perspective with good distribution of people, nice colors and good focus plus beyond techs good LATW value. It is a bit overexposed at the top left but a small crop could minor that easily.
Have a nice day,
Jean-yves

Manamo (3646) 2007-08-09 6:44

Hello Kevin,
quite impressive shot! I like the informative and engaged sides of it. We can sense in your note your opinion about the ritual, its place in the society, place of women in society, monarchy...Good moment to share with us.
We can see how hot the temperature is when looking at the spectators...it adds to the dramatic feeling of it.
Composition is very strong with the line of girls going straigt in diagonal. However, I think the crop is a it lazy and that it could be crop from the bottom and from the left a little bit to add even more importance on the first one at the bottom. You have the opportunity to crop the 2 up left without cropping the one at the bottom which would give a lot of importance to her...
Best regards,
Marc

Lee30 (78) 2007-09-03 21:39

It's not just in Thailand, In "Eastern society" you should say!!

touristdidi (8578) 2007-12-29 22:08 [Comment]

Show Comment

Flavia (10352) 2008-06-01 4:06

Hi Kevin,

This picture of yours was on the main gallery when I poened TE today. What a stiking composition! Beautiful! You used so well the street line in diagonal to add deep and the repetitive motive of people boncing with one of the maindens on the foreground prefectly in focus. The people on the background add more interest. A brilliant picture Kevin!

Regards,

Flavia

Utsav (23) 2009-03-31 19:20

wow great picture boss.but i think its marely darkish. overal its a good theam .
good eye dear!!!!!!!!

coco (30433) 2009-07-16 2:34

Hi Kevin.

Strong composition and POV, the contrasts and colours are great too.

WEll done.