The challenges of the ‘green season’
By Tessa Bunney on 8 October 2013
A typical Lao rural village in amongst the upland rice fields and forests connected only by a wiggling dirt road.
Travelling in Phongsaly during the end of the rainy season meant there was always the risk that we might not be able to drive around that easily – but I can’t document the landscape of the province without including at least some element of the most beautiful time of the year – known as the ‘green season’.
I have to confess that this whole journey was about me wanting to go back to the exact same upland rice field that I photographed in April during the burning season… After two failed attempts to cross the river we took the ‘alternative’ route which was a challenge to say the least.
Checking out the road
Getting pulled out by the police - the only other vehicle with 4 wheels we saw on that road!
Now, I wouldn’t like anyone to think I was just standing around taking pictures, at several points I was in that mud pushing the car out single handedly. But anyway, with quite a bit of effort we managed to get to the village of Ban Long Nai and then went by tractor to our final destination.
The final destination!
Some of the villages we had intended on returning to were impossible to get to within our timescale and in our vehicle but to be fair, there are NO private cars at all in these villages, transportation is on foot, by motorbike or tractor and the roads were adequate for that.
Luckily the mountain footpaths are now largely dry-ish and I was able to finally photograph harvesting cotton which until now had eluded me. Physically this project is pushing me to my limits and getting to the cotton field which was on a gradient of near impossibility very, very nearly defeated me.
Pala woman harvesting cotton
I am using this blog to record part of the process of making the work because I know when I eventually finish this series it will be the story that is important and not the struggle!!!
On top of the travelling challenges, the various Akha villages, whilst always friendly and hospitable are not always keen on photography – as Jim Goodman says in his book ‘Meet the Akhas’ – Akhas do not understand the professional need to take several shots of the same subject, but can be wonderfully cooperative, too, fond of dressing up for portraits.
The flamboyant costume of the young Pala women are in contrast to the more conservative clothing of their elders.
Returning with photos is an important part of my process – in trekking areas many, many villages report tourists failing to turn up with promised images which means that villagers (understandably) are not willing to be photographed or want large sums of money!