Black and White

Kids at a health meeting in Uning Sejuk village near Takengon



This little girl was standing outside a mosque one day and started happily dancing about and posing for photos.

 

At the market in Takengon






 

There are still lots of posters and signs around from when Banda Aceh was full of  NGOs. This little kid was sitting in front of one at the market.

 






Women working in the fish market, Takengon.



 At a health meeting at Uning Sejuk village.

 


Kids in our street in Takengon



Family Portraits

These girls were sitting in a shop doorway waiting for their Mum who sells food from a stall on the street.

This woman comes round to our house selling fish.



Here is  some of the photos I have taken and given framed copies back to the families. Thanks for all the donations.

This woman, here with her two boys, is a Psychologist and is helping me to organise families to photograph.



Our neighbours' kids in Takengon



This family run a small shop  just outside of Banda Aceh.

In Bali.

 Christmas and New Year in Ubud, Bali was completelely different from where we live in Aceh: the people, buildings, food and culture.





We used to pass this old lady on the way to town.





Every where you go there are big houses being built for foreigners here. This land owner makes it pretty clear that he doesn't want to sell his land.



The view from our balcony of our friends house that we stayed in.







gone fishin'





Sheltering from the rain with Buddha.





Blessing the new swimming pool.





Character from a traditional Balinese dance.





Ubud market



In the rice fields.

Because of the climate in Takengon and the good supply of water for irrigation, rice can be planted all year round. You can see people harvesting rice in one field and a few fields away they are planting it.







Harvesting in Takengon




Family working together















This field is next to the lake, where they are planting new rice.

 







In Banda Aceh they are only planting at this time of year.

 










This old lady was working in the fields in Takengon and working just as hard as younger members of her family.







Thanks to everyone who donated money for the portraits I already have 5 families lined up to photograph.

 

Takengon Photography Tours.

Take a walk around Takengon market and then a becak (motorbike and sidecar) ride around the lake. The tour starts early morning with a walk through the market and then along the river. Then jump on a becak for a drive around the lake. The tour is not rushed and there's plenty time to stop and photograph

the people, the villages, fish farms, mosques and the scenery as we drive round. I will give tips and advice about how to get good shots as we go.

 





 In the market

 Wash day by the river.

 Women collecting snails from the lake.

   Fish farms on the lake.

The money made from these tours is used to print photos to give back to the community.

For more details contact: donwrightimages@gmail.com

For other tours in Aceh check out: http://www.aceh-adventure.org

Kids of Takengon

 Like all Asian towns, there are children everywhere. They love to talk to foreigners (bulek) and jump in front of the camera and pose for photos.

All dressed up for a day out.





These kids live in floating houses on the lake.





After the Mosque on Friday afternoon.






























The parents of these kids were really happy when I gave them a small print of the pictures. I have decided to take this further by taking family portraits as well as pictures of the kids. For only $20 I can get a 300mm x 400mm framed photo that I will give to families who would never be able to have this.


If you would like to help with this project by donating something and making one or more families happy I will send you a digital copy of the photo and a photo of the family receiving their framed picture. If you would like to make this donation a Christmas present for someone, let me know and I will send you an ecard that you can give to them.


Help me make people smile.


All the best, Don.

For donation details contact: donwrightimages@gmail.com