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I have a big heart for horses. So i thought i share this poem that ive had for years, yellowed and torn from a sunday magazine.
In its stall stands the 19th century,
its hide a hot sudder of satin, head stony and willful,
an eye brown as a river and watchful:
of a hard, dirty army of hooves.
"Horse"
by Ted Kooser
Last night, I headed out with a friend and fellow photographer, Annie Tritt, to an interesting event called The UnObserved, an online radio magazine, which in collaboration with the Guardian UK, launched their first sound series. It showcases "innovative and thought-provoking audio pieces, with an emphasis on works that examine the more uncommon facets of art, culture, and daily life". Naturally I was curious, because as compelling written stories are visual, so too is radio. And being a photographer, with a curiousity to see, decided to check out their launch party and listening event. it was, as you would expect, a room full of folks listening to very interesting selected works of sound, such as hearing chuckles of the Dali Lama during an interview (that made us all smile).
The other day I spent a few hours at Chinese American International School in San Francisco for the Wall Street Journal . The story was to illustrate how non-Asian parents are seeking Mandarin skills for their children during a time of rapid economic growth in China. The interest has caused an increase in enrollment at this private school, which maintains a competitive wait list making it one of the most difficult schools to get into. The student perspective was particulary interesting. One eighth grader said she didn't noticed she was any different until she began growing taller then her classmates. But other then that, its middle school life as usual.
At the school, I saw incredible Chinese paintings by students on the walls, I heard Mandarin and French (the school is shared with the French American students) in the hallways, and many half-Asian students that resembled myself. I grew up speaking Cantonese Chinese, which didn't last long once I entered grade school. My parents put my brother and I through Saturday School, which is like a Chinese cultural day program. We hated it. We missed our Saturday cartoons for a cold classroom. We also weren't completely fluent in Chinese, in addition to being painfully shy. But it was my mother's way of trying to integrate her culture into our American lives.
To read the story: Growing Diversity Fuels Chinese School
For outtakes:
Growing Diversity in Chinese School for WSJ - Images by Lianne Milton
In the early morning, before the sun rose, I checked my email while still in bed for the possibility of any upcoming assignments or licensing of images I made from the previous week. I was still feeling a little down about not being able to sell images about the Cambodia stampede, that killed nearly 450 people, and felt like the world had forgotten about this relatively young country. With one eye open, trying to dim the light of my laptop, I see an email for a travel assignment from the New York Times. Yay. After emailing with the photo editor, at the time, about the logistics of the assignment, grabbing breakfast and packing, I was on a six hour bus ride to southwestern Cambodia, to the Koh Kong region, by noon. To note: I am so thankful of Laura O'Neill for assigning me these travel pieces throughout the past year.
The bus dropped me off in the middle of nowhere, but the locals knew that was a stop to the eco-village of Chi Pat. I met my driver and off we went, an hour long ride through the countryside. The scenery was fantastic, even from the bumpy ride on the back of a 1960-something motorbike. The light warm and glowy as the sun began to fall. At the end of the road, or dirt path really, the old driver, who didn't speak english, motioned to me that I was to get on a raft-like water taxi that will take me over to the village. The last time i was on a sort of raft was crossing the Situate River from Guatemala to Mexico with migrants, only this one had better flotation. Whew.
I spent the next couple days hustling and photographing a list of places on my assignment. Most readers don't know the back story to the pictures of an assignment, or how photographers get there. Most don't know that we have very little time to capture the essence of a writer's story, and that can be quite challenging if those storytelling elements are not there when I am. The best part about traveling is the leisure of spontaneity, but when on assignment, esp for the nyt, there is very little time for that. The decisions I make when choosing the places to photograph on the list can make or break the assignment. I try to shoot everything but then it gives me less time to wait for the moments. Things have to happen with immediate serendipity, so I never pre-visualize my images. I have to remain flexible and mindful, which seems relevant, especially in a Buddhist country, but a common practice I bring with me wherever I go.
Read Naomi Lindt's insightful story on Koh Kong because she brings to light some of the fragile elements of the region, including animal poaching and land development that threatens the ecosystem and the loss of 11,000 acres of forest. As foreigners and travelers, we shouldn't act immune to such realities just because we're on vacation.
Jessie DeWitt did a great edit for the NYT slideshow and below are my outtakes:
Destination: Koh Kong, Cambodia Pt II - Images by Lianne Milton
Recently Geoffery Hiller of Verve Photo blog featured a photograph from a personal project I began working on it in 2009 about morality and addiction in Cambodia. I'm stoked to be a part of a very long list of talented photographers, colleagues, and friends in the photojournalism community.
The project is largely self-funded. And i've been back to Cambodia several times to work on a variety of stories, including this one. (The project not yet on my website).
Please click on the link above to read about the photograph and project. And feel free to leave comments here!
This was a tricky assignment, not because it was difficult to shoot, but because the lack of access to real patients to photograph a real situation. Instead, our subjects arranged a "demonstration," and in journalism, we just don't photograph posed or made-up situations because it fools the reader. But their intention was to protect their clients, which, as journalists, we must respect. But it also makes it more challenging to photograph. Although the situations are very similar, it falls out of our ethical guidelines. Of course, the reader may not really know, but we do. And the subjects do. I photographed the set-up, since they went out of their way to arrange it, but ultimately, after speaking with the photo editor, I knew that the newspaper was going to choose one of two portraits, a candid, or posed portrait. The image on the left ran, however cropped into a horizontal.
Story: Heart Disease Snares South Asians
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well this isn't so much from the archive as its only been a month, but, i just wanted to post something different...inpromtu bbq at a favorite spot near the beach. the boys gathered the usual meats, and the "sauce" was beer. whats with guys pouring their beer over the meat? anyway, it was chilly to say the least. while the teriyaki glazed steak and spicey chicken, with tasty margaritas, filled our tummy's, we pretty much stayed huddled around the grill until dark...
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