Evening Meditations Photo

Photographer’s Note

The sun was setting as I was wandering outside the stone walls of Chiang Mai, when through a fence I spied this scene. I was intrigued by the lighting balance between the outside and in, and the sounds of the people sitting serenely, chanting quietly to themselves.

It was interesting to see the difference between Japanese buddhist temples and Thai ones. The Thais sure love to use all sorts of intricate designs, where the Japanese are much more minimalist.

I hope you enjoy this post.

Ertan, john_c has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Ertan (2985) 2007-01-23 13:21

woow.
wonderful image.Great colors,lighting,compo,interestin photo....
Bravooo
Regards
Ertan

serp2000 (9775) 2007-01-23 14:02

Privet, Andrew,
You are right, that is interesting moment,beatiful place. I like this country. Unfortunatelly, I was in South Thailand only.
Best regards from Ural, Russia
Serghei

nekoyama (572) 2007-01-25 21:54

Hello Andrew,

Very interesting. A beautiful shot.
I like to see the people's elegant way of sitting.

As you said, this temple is very different from Japanese temples. Though in Viet Nam, the style of old temples are so similar with Japanese ones. I guess that these differences are based on the differences of the doctrines between the Theravada Buddhism and the Mahayana Buddhism.(I don't know much about it, though.)

Regards,
Keitaro

john_c (24635) 2007-01-26 10:28

Hi Andrew,
A rather compelling and unusual scene. The point made in your note about minimalist versus more intricate is so well demonstrated here. The tall golden statues dominate the scene, while the worshippers sit chanting and appearing overwhelmed by this magnificence. Good exposure level and clarity...later.
John

batalay (21366) 2007-01-28 18:33

Hello Andrew,

This image is absolutely spectacular in every corner. I guess you were adhering to the Thai psyche rather than that of the minimalist Japanese. How you produced such intricate detail while staying within the bounds of the allowed file size has to be a closely guarded secret. Had it not been for the glow inside, however, the interiof would be sublimated to the exterior. Fabulous shot, Andrew.
Regards,
Bulent