By Tessa Bunney on 24 September 2012
Sometimes on the way back from a village or other destination and there’s a bit of time free, I often stop off at a roadside village to have a look around. To be honest there is normally something of interest going on, but sometimes the village is hot, dusty and virtually deserted except for a few mothers and babies as most people are away from the village working on the fields. Last Monday was one such day, we called in at a Tai Lue village, a short walk from the road side. After wandering around for 20 minutes or so…
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By Tessa Bunney on 21 September 2012
I don’t know if it’s just because in the UK I live in the hills but I have been instantly attracted to the hills and mountains of Laos and the minorities who live there such as the Hmong and Akha.
The last few days however I have been staying at a Tai Dam (Black Thai) village in Oudomxai Province about 300 km north of Luang Prabang. Tai Dam villages are spread through numerous fertile valleys in the mountainous parts of Laos and Ban Na Mor is no exception.
Ban Na Mor market…
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By Tessa Bunney on 12 September 2012
As I had a ‘free’ day in Luang Prabang today, I decided to set up my portable studio in my room and head off to the morning market to pick up a few things to photograph. A little practice for later on this week when I will be heading up north to the Tai Dam (Black Thai) village of Ban Nam Mor where I am hoping to set up my light in the market and photograph everything. I’ve stopped at this market a few times on my up north and it takes local food to the extreme! I hear the…
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By Tessa Bunney on 6 September 2012
Today we went to visit Ban Kok Wa village and bumped into Ya Lee who we met at the night market earlier this week. Ya’s family relocated from Ban Long Lan more than 10 years ago when her oldest son Sai was 2 or 3 years old.
Sai is studying to be a tour guide in Luang Prabang and speaks excellent English.
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By Tessa Bunney on 6 September 2012
So yesterday we made a trip to Ban Long Lan, a village in the mountains about an hour and half away from Luang Prabang where many of the Hmong women I met this week originally came from. I had been warned that the road would be bumpy and muddy and we may not actually get there given the recent rain. However, the road whilst steep and windy in places did not have a pot hole in sight having been recently fixed. Not a particularly good day for views but this gives an idea of the journey through the mountains.
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By Tessa Bunney on 4 September 2012
Yesterday I arrived in Luang Prabang to be artist-in-residence at the wonderful Project Space. It’s lovely to be back here. I’m sitting in my room in the gallery with the fan on full blast at 10pm – it hasn’t rained today and it is still so HOT, I swear my eyeballs are sweating!!
As a start to my project about the relocation of villages, at times a somewhat controversial issue in Laos, I spent today visiting Hmong minority villages around Luang Prabang with the aim of making portraits of the women who make and sell Hmong inspired items to tourists…
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