09-02-10
photo documentary – saigon motorcycles madness!
There are five million people in Saigon – and three million motorcycles. Almost no one walks or rides a bicycle anymore. Of course they are a few but it is very in a small count. the people have become motorcycle dependent, motorcycle bound. It’s impossible to separate them from their cycles. They go nowhere without them… and they ride them anywhere and everywhere.
Although they were traffic lights, still… under normal conditions no one stops at intersections in Saigon or anywhere else in Vietnam. Everyone just keeps rolling at a steady pace. They expect other drivers to read their intent, and to speed up, slow down, weave or dodge in order to avoid smacking into them. Timing is routinely split-second.
Motorcycles surge through the streets like massive schools of fish swimming in a river too small and too shallow to carry them all. their drivers weave like barrel-racers through an oncoming tide of traffic, up a one way street or into an oncoming lane. They sail nonchalantly through intersections, directly across the flow of traffic, stopping only when confronted by a much bigger vehicle. Seriously this is insane!!!
They ride up over onto the sidewalk, dodging and threatening pedestrians in equal measure, and with equal insouciance. They careen down narrow alleys crowded with people,with street sellers balancing bamboo poles or pushing large carts, with people drinking tea or beer, cleaning vegetables, cooking meals, doing dishes, and with children playing.
Motorcycle drivers come in all ages – some no more than children. They may be cautious and careful, or free-wheeling and reckless. Some are focused on what they’re doing, watching the road ahead, trying to anticipate what the other guy is about to do. But many seem to be paying almost no attention at all… they talking on their cell phone, looking for an address or yelling to a friend across the road. lol.
As my 4 days visit to saigon, i was totally amazed with this scenario! then i decided to documented this as part of my photo documentary project. This project is one of my ongoing long term project. maybe some of u have no idea what it is all about. Come to Saigon and experience yourself on the road. I already give a try to ride a scooter owned by one of local friends, but i failed! i cant stand any longer than 10minutes, especially when entering the junction and intersection. Dammit! haha.
Maybe all of the pictures above still not enough show how crazy the motorcycles in Saigon. I will try my best next time, need to get photos from different angle especially from the top!
regrads,
azimzainudin – saigon april 2010
07-09-10
hiring!
regards,
team azimzainudin.com
07-07-10
alya + faris
at last… after almost a year got engaged… they are finally called husband and wife.
mereka kedua2 adalah sahabat karib saya sewaktu kami sama2 menuntut di universiti teknologi petronas.
i still remember how faris used to tackle alya in his own way! wohoooo!
we (matahari clan) used to called faris and alya as papa n mama….hahaha! dun asked why… lol
congrates to both of them… its been a pleasure to covered their both event…!
regards,
azim.zainudin
**pssstttt…. we are seriously looking for a part time / fulltime photo retoucher and designer.
interested please do send ur simple resume with all of ur portfolio to azim.zainudin@gmaildotcom.
05-21-10
sarah + syed – love in perth
greetings from perth, western australia! 1st of all a big thanks to syed and sarah for the ‘osem’ hospitality in perth. this is my 1st visit to the ‘land below under’.
no need to talk much, of course it was awesome! ok, for the photoshoot… the location was in margaret river. it is about 4hours drive from perth.
why margaret river? because margaret river is a world famous for its premium wine, waves and walking. The stunning wineries in autumn, the best beaches for surfing and awesome walking tour to the deep jungle. we didnt havve much time to cover all the places in margaret river, but we manage to cover some of the most beautiful wineries in that area.
here some of the final product, more to come, i just cannot choose which one to share with all of u because…it was ‘a lot’!!!!
05-03-10
next!
alhamdulillah. the deal has been confirmed.
will be in perth for another assignment.
hope everything will go smooth as planned.
im off for a week. perth here i come!!!
regards, azim.zainudin.
04-22-10
photo documentary – Life behind the great Angkor
Located between rice paddies and flanking the Siem Reap River, the small provincial capital of Siem Reap serves as the gateway to the millennium old temple ruins of the Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat. Been a tourist destination for over 100 years, the town is actually the result of a conglomeration of several small villages built around several pagodas and subsequently united under the French and Siem Reap’s architecture reflects their influence.
Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations.
The population of Cambodia today is about 10 million. About 10% are in Siem Reap. 90-95 percent of the people are Khmer ethnic. The remaining 5-10 percent include Chinese-Khmers, Khmer Islam or Chams, ethnic hill-tribe people, known as the Khmer Loeu, and Vietnamese.
Siem Reap is not just about the templs of Angkor. The beauty of the temples is unquestionable. As my journey this time i decided to documented about Khmer people. Although there are millions of tourist coming from all over the world, they still have their own unique life… life behind the great Angkor.
Shom, 28 years old have been living here at Bayon since he was born. He became a monk and help the lead monk, (picture of an old monk) 83 yrs old, to take care of the temple in Bayon area. Locals from all over Cambodia come to them because they provide traditional medicine to the patients.
This 2 young Khmer girls always wanted to go to school, but their family cannot afford it. Everyday they will help their parents to run the business selling Cambodian home made clothing to the tourist in Bayon area.
A group of young beautiful Khmer girls working as a full time traditional model in Angkor Wat. If the tourist want to take pictures with them, they will charged a small fee.
Garbage collector at the top of Angkor Wat. The poor life makes them do everything to get money to survive. Can u imagine how much they earn in 1 day, but still they are happy with their life…
The old market in Siem Reap always busy all day long. U can find a lot of things here, from the unique traditional Cambodian food to the high quality of home made jewelry.
Major of locals in countryside of Cambodia used to be in paddy production. In april, normally locals in Siem Reap will look for other things to do. Many of them will go fishing as the big famous Ton Le Sap is not far away from here. Some of them will do the fruit plantation. I manage to found a small community that still can plant the paddy although it is in the dry season. The source of water is very limited in this season but still, they got to do something for a living.
regards,
azim.zainudin.
04-07-10
soraya + azry
hey. its been a while since i left ipoh. seriously i miss ipoh. awesome town with awesome people!
last end of januray i manage to cover a lovely reception of azry and soraya.
Both of them working in kl. soraya is a software engineer! fuh!
nikah and simple family reception was held at soraya’s family house in ipoh. the event did end a bit early and we decided to go to ipoh town for simple outdoor portraiture.
assist by naqi from mnkcreative, we did found a few awesome places for portraiture. no gunung lang, no kellies castle. those place is already common for me to do an outdoor portraiture. =) although i’ve never do any jobs there. just go for sight seeing. hehe.
***psstttt, after raya 2010 slot are now open for booking. please do call to book ur slot!
regards,
azimzainudin.
04-01-10
photo documentary – Ayutthaya
The ancient city of ayutthaya , formally designated Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya was the Thai capital city for 417 years ago! Now it is one of the most thailand’s major tourist attractions from all over the world. It is relatively straddling the chao phraya river, the nation’s principal waterway and the province is extremely important as it was the main Siamese capital for 4 centuries!
It is located 76km north of bangkok and boasts numerous magnificent ruins from its days as the capital. All of the ancient ruins and art works can be seen in the city was founded in 1350 by King U-Thong when the Thais were forced southwards by northern neighbours.
The most interesting facts that i found while i’m there was ayutthaya have been ruled by 33 kings during the period when it was capital! fuh! after that, the city was sacked by the Burmese in 1767. Now, ayutthaya was declared as a UNESCO’s world heritage site since 1991.
-sources from ayutthaya provincial administration organization-
The journey to here was awesome!!! There are many ways to get u to here, by train, bus or car. we managed to get a train from hua lamphong railway station (bkk). the journey by local train was 3 hours. u can see a lot of nice view of thailand from the train.
if u guyz are planning to go here, my tips is simple. u need to spend at least 1 day 1 night so that u can cover all ayutthaya province. there a some cheap guesthouse near the ayutthaya railway station. there, u can hire any tuk2 or taxi to get u to cover all of the place in ayutthaya. (please bargain so that u can save!) or u can rent a bike, if u know the way. seriously this place was very big and u can easily get lost. It will take u at least 10/15 minutes to reach from one place to another place by tuk2 or car. theres a lot of interesting place and things to see here. if u are coming to bangkok, this is one of the must go destination although it is quite far from bangkok. lol
oh… not to forget, if u got more time and budget, u can try ayutthaya elephant ride – according to lonely planet.
till next time.
regards,
azim.zainudin – ayutthaya (jan 2010)
03-25-10
Zee Avi live in KL
1st of all. dont ask how i manage to capture these photo because if u went to the event, guest are not allowed to bring any pro cameras / dslr. just normal compact camera. im not sure why, a friend of mine told that it is normal thing that they do if the event are organized by big company and international level.
i rarely shoot concert like this, but lately i love to shoot this kind of event because i can play with all the available light. i always train myself to shoot in low light. for me this is the best way u can improve ur photography skills, u need to think, wait and study the environment so that u can a good shot. =)
the event was held in kl life center, same place as hujan concert ‘mencari konklusi’. altough the event took place in the same venue, the lighting this time was more difficult than before.
zee looks very cute. with her new hair style, she managed to make the crowd go crazy with her superb voice. so do i! =)
she looks so happy and she did cried that night (last picture). maybe because it is her 1st ever performance in malaysia, her home. correct me if im wrong bout the fact. heee.
this time i choose to go with black and white as u can see above. the picture looks more dramatic and lively. sorry bout the angle… very limited…full house beb!
a friend of mine manage to record the whole event. if u guyz want it u can email me on facebook and i will send it to u. sharing is caring rite? heee.
hope u guyz like it. till next time.
regards,
azim.zainudin
01-09-10
photo documentary – Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
Last 2 weeks i got a chance backpack to thailand. This is my 1st time traveling in Thailand. Along the journey i manage to do some photo documentary for my photojournalism collection. 1 of the place is the most famous floating market in thailand. It is called the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market.
According to one of the locals there, According to history, Damnoen Saduak was the name of the canal dug by King Rama IV in 1866. In those days, rivers and canals were essential for transportation. King Rama IV, with his great concern for the country’s future economic growth, had the canal dug to connect the Taachin and Maklong rivers.
Damnoen Saduak situated 110 kms west of Bangkok, they have the old style and traditional way of selling and buying fruits, vegetables, etc…, from small boats. It is totally chaotic, with a lot of small ‘khlongs’ or canals are filled with flat boats piled high with fresh produce, each jockeying for position and paddled by ladies ready to stop and bargain at a moment’s notice. It’s colourful, noisy, touristy but great fun. It was awesome and im amazed to see how those people can paddle/ride the ‘khlongs’ with full of stuff to sell without a single drop into the water…hoho…
FYI, this floating market also was one of the shooting location in the ‘bangkok dangerous’ movie..
If u guyz want to go to this floating market, heres some travel guide as a backapackers from me. =)
Since the location is quite far from bangkok, i suggest u guyz gotta spend a night here…be here a day early. find local bus from bangkok to damnoen saduak. It will just cost u around 80-150baht max. arrive early n find a backpack guesthouse around the town…its just a small town… Make sure u wake up early in the morning to go to the floating market…as early in 730am. Because if u are late (after 9am), it will be pack with tourist from all over the world. There are many package for tourist, make sure u choose the right one…if not, u will just be able to visit it for just half an hour as the package will take u to other places also like rose farm n temple…(seriously do not take that…trust me!)
For my photodocumentary part. This time, i manage to make it from different perspective and angle. if u guyz google, most of the pic of damnoen saduak is from the land and angle from above. I try to differentiate my angle which is 100% of my picture are from the boat. We manage to rent a private boat while we were there.
As usual, i always love to shoot people, again, this time most of my picture contain portraiture and activity of the locals of Damnoen Saduak.
regards, azimzainudin.
