The Women of UCT6 – talk on 17th Sept, Monument Books, Vientiane
By Tessa Bunney on 4 September 2013
My first photo published in Marie Claire!
By Tessa Bunney on 2 September 2013
Book Film Painting
By Tessa Bunney on 6 August 2013Stuart Pilkington’s new project Book Film Painting has just gone live and I am delighted to be amongst over a hundred international photographers who submitted photographs inspired by a book, film or painting. My image is inspired by Colin Cotterill’s book Slash and Burn and (rather predictably!) is of a landscape in Laos during burning season.
The Kilburn Feast
By Tessa Bunney on 8 July 2013Planting rice
By Tessa Bunney on 28 May 2013As the year goes on I have been able to gradually add pieces to the puzzle of the seasonal agricultural cycle. Planting hill rice is completely different to paddy rice and began last month with the burning of the cleared fields on the mountainside. Swidden cultivation or ‘hai’ in Laos consists of cutting the natural vegetation, leaving it to dry and then burning it for temporary cropping of the land, the ash acting as a natural fertiliser.
There’s been…
My last trip (for a while…)
By Tessa Bunney on 21 May 2013So today I will be heading back up to the north of Laos – via Luang Prabang, to Oudomxay and venturing into Phongsaly from the south just for a few days. Due to a complex mosaic of reasons primarily extremely long school holidays Noah and I will be back in the UK for almost two months so this will be my last photographic trip for a while. I feel less excited about this trip than I might have done a while back – I know it is the right thing to do – to go back, to consolidate and to…
My first feature from Laos
By Tessa Bunney on 6 April 2013After many months of planning, fund-raising and anticipation; not to mention a bit of photography I am extremely excited to let you know that my first feature from Laos is published in the Financial Times Magazine (UK) and online today, Saturday 6th April.
The Vietnam war left Laos, per capita, the most heavily bombed country in history and 40 years on, the unexploded ordnance (UXO) is still killing and injuring its people including two year old Kayeng who was blinded by a UXO exploding whilst he was playing near his home in Xieng Khouang Province.
Carlisle Photo Festival
By Tessa Bunney on 4 April 2013I’m delighted that several of my images from Järvenjää/Lakeice are included in the exhibition ‘In Their Company’ as part of the Carlisle Photo Festival, 2013. Runs from the 15th to 21st April. For more information please visit their website.
Happy International Women’s Day
By Tessa Bunney on 8 March 2013Happy International Women’s Day especially to all those amazing women I have met on my travels in Laos.
Galleria Ratamo
By Tessa Bunney on 8 March 2013A photo of my Järvenjää/Lakeice work on show at Galleria Ratamo in wonderful Jyväskylä. Seeing our diverse responses to our exchange with the Finnish artists finally on show together makes me want to do the residency all over again! The new gallery looks great!
Thanks Art Connections, Arts Council England and everyone in Finland who made it possible.
Innostaa/Inspire heads to Finland
By Tessa Bunney on 4 March 2013
Innostaa/Inspire exhibition
By Tessa Bunney on 31 January 2013My Finnish series Järvenjää/Lakeice will be on show from tomorrow as part of the Innostaa/Inspire exhibition at Woodend Art Gallery in Scarborough during the Coastival festival.
Bitter bamboo shoots
By Tessa Bunney on 31 January 2013Just arrived back from a few days up north. First went back to Ban Na Mor to see the market and its seasonal products, there were a few new and different things including a scary giant mole. But the dominant product by far was Nor Khom – the bitter bamboo shoot.
Forest foods are still very important for the mainly rural population of the Lao PDR and many local people consider edible bamboo shoots to be the most important product of all. While most bamboo shoots are harvested and consumed in the rainy season (May-September), the species Indosasa sinica (bitter…
Art Photo Index
By Tessa Bunney on 30 January 2013Pleased that my work has been included in the Art Photo Index a searchable, visual database of work by selected photo-based artists from throughout the world.
A belated Happy New Year from Myanmar
By Tessa Bunney on 6 January 2013A belated Happy New Year from Myanmar! Woke up to the novice monks chanting at Htee Tein monastery on New Years morning.
Photomonitor portfolio feature for January
By Tessa Bunney on 1 January 2013I’m delighted to be showing my work Järvenjää/Lakeice – on Photomonitor this month.
Myanmar
By Tessa Bunney on 29 December 2012Heading off for a family holiday to Myanmar today (with a couple of photo ideas to recce!) Yangon – Kalaw – Inle Lake – Bagan – Mt Popa – Yangon. New Years Eve at a monastery! Excited. Back on Jan 10th. No idea where or when I might have internet or mobile phone access.
Diversity in Phongsaly
By Tessa Bunney on 27 December 2012Returned last Saturday from an exhausting week in Phongsaly, partly this exhaustion was due to the rough and dusty roads and partly everything else involved with photographing people in a foreign land. For this part of my project I am looking for women still making and wearing their traditional clothing (or part of it) on a daily basis – in particular growing, processing and weaving cotton. For a start its not easy to find out the right time of year to be there and even at the ‘right’ time it varies so much from village to village.
As there was…
Merry Christmas from Lao PDR
By Tessa Bunney on 23 December 2012
Back to Phongsaly
By Tessa Bunney on 14 December 2012Tomorrow I’ll be heading off to Phongsaly Province for a week – flying on the scary small plane again and this time heading up to some remote villages by motorbike….
I’ll have no access to email but you can contact me on my Lao mobile: +856(0)2058 646100