tim norris - photography, stories, and odd's & ends

Korea - Roots

2012-03-07T18:01:00.000-05:00

Korea 2009 - I was visiting a monastery north of Hadong, Ssanggyesa Temple (쌍계사), a beautiful site in the foothills of some very steep mountains, I know because I climbed the trail that leads into them to see the tallest waterfall in Korea. These roots had been exposed by years of erosion near the walkway.

Carmona, Spain

2012-03-02T09:47:00.001-05:00

A road south of Carmona, Spain, March. The hills of Andalucia are incredibly beautiful in the early Spring. This land has been farmed further back than Roman times, which began in the 2nd Century B.C.E. and lasted for another 600 years. And during the Muslim Caliphate at Cordoba, 8th Century 11th Century, which is about 100 miles west of this site, these plains where also used for raising their horses and camels, as well as being the grainery for their Empire in Spain. During the Spainish Civil War this was a contested area in 1936, but the Nationalists soon gained control of the Southern cities, and the farmers could go back to work, if they weren't rounded up for supported some stripe of opposition. Under Franco, the south languished in poverty for a long time, and even now driving through southern villages, painted white, you can still find the odd hammer & sickle painted in red on the side of a house in the village. This picture I love for the accidental way the lines all seem to align as though I had spent a great deal of time composing the shot. Actually, I just leaned out the car window and took the shot.

Old Photos - Great site

2012-02-26T08:22:00.000-05:00

Shorpy's link to old photos of the USA - highly recommended

Zebra Church, San Gimignano

2012-02-22T18:29:00.000-05:00

This is outside of the church at San Gimignano, Italy. My friend here, and another friend and I had spent the day buzzing the back roads of Tuscany and stopped at San Gimignano before we ended up in Siena for supper. I liked the composition as my friend stopped to change film (remember that stuff) in her camera. It was a great day.

Winter

2012-02-21T18:18:00.001-05:00

Adios Hemingway - quote

2012-02-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

"...the further you go when you're writing, the lonelier you get. And in the end you learn that you must defend the solitude: talking about literature is a waste of time, and if you're alone it's much better, because that's how you should work, and because the time left for working get less and less, and if you waste it you feel that you've committed a sin for which there is no forgiveness." Leonardo Padura Guentes, from Adios Hemingway.

Thunderstorm Aftermath, Greece

2012-02-18T09:25:00.001-05:00

This is the harbor of one of my favorite spots in Greece. A small town called Koroni. It is about 20-30 miles from Kalamata on the Bay of Messene. This picture was taken immediately after a thunderstorm blew through from the west and was trailing back over Kalamata and the Mani to the east.

Family Feud II

2012-02-17T09:30:00.000-05:00

San Gimignano, Italy. The last post had another view of this same square in San Gimi...it's a beautiful place, even in the winter when this picture was taken.

Family Feud

2012-02-16T09:28:00.000-05:00

San Gimignano, Italy. Early March, 1995. This was a very pleasant day. I had driven from Firenze, to Volterra, thru the Tuscan countryside, and then here to San Gimignano. The town is a national monument in Italy, and once inside the gates it is like traveling to another time. Many of the towers in the city are gone, but enough survive to capture the overall structure of the city. Each tower was owned by a different family and they defended their homes by locking themselves within their towers against outlaws and against other families with in the town. Family Feud.

Mother Elephant & Baby

2012-02-14T18:30:00.000-05:00

This is a mother elephant with her one month old baby at the Elephant Sanctuary in Ayuthaya, Thailand. There were several mothers with babies there, but this was the youngest baby, and they were still separated from the main maternity ward, so to speak, at the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary had about 100 elephants, young, old, and some middle aged that were still working in the tourist trade in the city, where you can ride them for about 20 minutes. Not the most thrilling experience, but it can be done and you can say you rode and elephant. Best, is to find a way to the Sanctuary and see them up close.

Photos of the Week from Foreign Policy Magazine

2012-02-13T11:02:00.001-05:00

Great photos of the week.

Dog Riding a Moped

2012-02-11T18:27:00.000-05:00

Golden riding on a moped in Bangkok.

Buddha's Birthday

2012-02-10T09:48:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I was traveling in the southern part of the Republic of Korea. Visiting several monasteries in the days before the celebration of Buddha's birthday that year, I came upon this wonderful decoration. The colors in the clear spring Korean sun were wonderful. I wished Buddha a happy birthday and continued on my way.

Monk in a Window

2012-02-08T16:57:00.000-05:00


Bangkok Train Station, Monk waiting on a train.

Amazing Photos of Afghanistan

2012-02-05T11:33:00.001-05:00

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/02/afghanistan-january-2012/100238/

Our Lady of Gaudalupe

2012-02-04T09:34:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite photos. I took it in Gaudalupe, Spain. The origin of all the places names after Gaudalupe, the location of an important monastery in Spain. This woman was a street seller of bits of this and that all with the name gaudalupe inscribed somewhere on them. When I asked her if I could take her picture, she grabbed her chair, straighten her dress, and poised as she is in the photo. Very regal and proud, as though the Queen of Spain on her throne.

Oxymoron

2012-02-03T13:48:00.001-05:00

Government Organization.

Management Decision.

Resting Woman

2012-02-03T11:21:00.000-05:00

Bangkok, Thailand. Walking along the canal, where many homes are tucked up against the side of the canal and the larger buildings, I looked into one open doorway and saw this elderly woman relaxing in the heat of the mid-day.

Bangkok, Canal

2012-02-02T09:58:00.000-05:00

This is an evening ride on the canal in Bangkok.

Nighttime reflections on the canal in Bangkok.

Bangkok - Making Monk Bowls

2012-02-01T22:54:00.000-05:00

In Thailand, a predominantly Buddhist country, there is a tradition to make metal bowls for the monks to use to collect alms. Those alms are used to buy food for their lives and begging is part of their life so that they will not have to work. In one part of Bangkok, metal smiths still produce bowls that are otherwise mass produced in Thailand and in China for the Monks use. The pictures here are of the workers making these bowls and the quarter in which they work and live. You can see more of the pictures related to the monk bowls at my photography site under Thailand - Monk Bowls

Welding the pieces together.

This part of the process, the pieces are interlaced together before being welded.

Finished bowls.

Ayuthaya Elephants

2012-02-01T18:10:00.000-05:00

Elephants used to be important elements of Thailand culture, as they were across Southeast Asia and into India. Now, they are being retired from their previous jobs and sanctuaries are being provided for some that are too old to work in the forest anymore, or too old to work in the tourist trade. To support these sanctuaries some of the elephants are trained to perform ridiculous tricks, like using the hullahoop, pictured here. They were trying to teach this elephant to use his rear leg with the hullahoop, but he couldn't quite get it. For the tourist coming to Thailand, watching them use the animal like a circus act is absurb. But, the people have to eat, and many of the tourists, including locals, seemed to like the idea of making a multi-ton beast hullahoop with whatever appendage it could.

Elephant Eyes

2012-02-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

Recently returned from Thailand, I have been working on adjusting my photos, and a batch of very interesting pictures came together...the ones I took of elephants close up. Their eyes carry great emotional and thought expressions. Being around these animals is interesting, not only for the type of labor they are used for, but that one senses a deeper emotional understanding of the world that most animals do not convey.

The Tiger and I

2012-01-31T18:54:00.000-05:00

OK, how many time in life do you pet a full grown tiger? Just returned from Thailand, and you may see a slight sense of apprehension in my face, but all good...my friend the tiger has some frozen chicken to play with while I played the tourist...I think he was also sedated...

Airline Talk

2012-01-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

I have some experience with the airlines, and as this blog continues, I will make some comments about experiences I have had within the transportation industry. And, because of my association wth the airlines, I have alot of experiene traveling not only domestically, but internationally, and I hope to offer some stories about these experiences. Feel free to also offer stories within the limits of this subject.

Just recently returned from Thailand. I took an hour and a half train ride their for 60 cents. No, it's not Amtrak.

Book Review - D-Day, Anthony Beevor

2012-01-28T20:34:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading D-Day by Anthony Beevor. This is the fifth book I have read by Beevor, and with each book I have read, he impresses with a historical insight that few historians are able to articulate. D-Day is a much studied and written subject (two other important works about D-Day - one by Ambrose and the other by Beevor's teacher, Sir John Keegan). Beevor weaves annecdotes enriching the historical events with a more intimated vision of the event, making the reader understand not only the grand sweep of the Battle for Normandy, but also how the unsung and seemingly annoymous soldiers of both sides were impacted. It's almost like reading a great novel, even though one knows the ending, getting there is most of the fun. Beevor remains one of my favorite historians and I recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII.

Blogging...

2012-01-26T09:44:00.000-05:00

While I am waiting to come up with a subject to blog about, the thing that first comes to mind is the design of my blog. Anyone familiar with my website will know that this will take some time and changing the design with consume a great deal of my time. So, when you are looking for my blog, if you do, and it is hard to discern who in fact will care about what I post, but we do live in a posting and comment world, please do not be put off by the changing shape and design of these pages...although, I think I have hit it right the first time out. That, however, will not stop me from redoing the blog, only to come back to the choice I have already made. As someone once said about Americans in general, they usually get it right, but only after all other choices have been exhausted.

Greetings

2012-01-25T14:28:00.000-05:00