Monk Shot! #61

Tags

Bangkok, Monks, Photography

Wat Pho colors

I finally figured out that the reason they use so much gold in Thai wats is that it sets off the monks’ saffron robes so spectacularly.
Huh.
Damn that sounded gay.

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Monk Smiles

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Monks, Photography

Kidding. This is just the latest edition to my Monk Shot! category of posts, but since I’ve done both cute kitten and cute puppy posts this week already I’d thought I’d continue with my new Mr. Rogers persona. While any monk is a good monk to photograph in my book, I’m often drawn more to baby monks and ancient ones. But I don’t know if the baby monks should really be considered monks. First because they are not, they are novices. And second because their saffron robs are more the SE Asian version of the uniform worn at parochial schools in the States. Though I don’t believe the SE Asian version is responsible for quite as many sexual fantasies; I doubt if being a novice monk is as rife with the danger for abuse as is being an altar boy.

I took these photos in Luang Prabang, a town overflowing with baby monks. Most are students at any one of the hundreds of local wats. And most seem to spend as much time gathered with friends doing what kids do the world over as they do practicing to be little Buddhas. Even in uniform, they still manage to show their own unique personalty – whaddya want to bet that kid with the jazzy yellow hat is the cool one in his class?

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Monks, Photography

Another Monk Shot! thanks to Wen, typical of those you easily run across when using the express boats in Bangkok. You don’t see novice monks out on their own much, they usually travel in pairs. Maybe it is the monotony of a regular commute, but they seldom exhibit the typical chatty behavior of teenage friends, opting for the serene thousand yard stare instead. Not that I’m complaining. That’s what makes shots like this work.

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Monks, Photography

As long as I’m posting other people’s photographs today, I thought I’d include a Monk Shot! from a friend I’d lost touch with. He spent part of a year teaching English in Chiang Rai (where this shot is from), discovered he was gay, and fell in love with a Thai guy. I met the two of them back in the states where he was peddling his photography from SE Asia having decided to make a career out of the two things that got him hard: travel and photography. Well, and the Thai boyfriend.

His work proved he had a great eye, an aborted conversation about f-stops proved he hadn’t a clue about cameras. I though a little basic knowledge might be a good thing when you are planning on making your income off photography, but totally clueless he managed to have one of his shots included in National Geographic’s annual calendar three months later. You should never underestimate the power of one’s passion. We lost touch with each other soon after that. Which had nothing to do with jealousy. Really.

Fast forward a few years, I recently Googled him to see if he was still in the area. Turns out his photo journalism carer has taken off. And he’s produced some truly stunning and powerful images. The one of Rick Santorum I’m not holding against him. So I’m adding an additional Monk Shot! of his (though he calls these guys monklettes) along with another that fits the theme ‘cuz it’s nice to have a professional’s work displayed on my blog. Even if he doesn’t know what a f-stop is.

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Monks, Photography

Wen, a regular reader of this blog, went monk hunting during his recent sojourn in SE Asian and sent this little stud in saffron’s photo in. I don’t know why I find hair stubble on young monks so sexy . . .

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Tags

Luang Prabang, Monks, Photography

Buddhist monks have such an exotic and serene aura about them it’s no wonder that I’m attracted to them as a photographic subject. Having a thing for saffron doesn’t hurt either. Wizened old faces always grab my attention, but SE Asia’s youth bundled up in monk robes are equally of a draw. And Luang Prabang is on of the best locals for running across baby monks. Kids being kids as they are the world over, serenity isn’t part of baby monks’ charm very often, but then when one flashes a glorious smile like this, who cares?

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Chiang Mai, Monks, Photography

It’s been a while since I posted a Monk Shot! so I thought I’d make up for it with two today:

One of the nice things about photographing monks in Chiang Mai is that you can often combine a Monk Shot! with an Ubiquitous Plastic Stool Shot! It seems every wat in town has a plethora of novice monks on hand to accomplish the temple’s daily tasks, which means lots of time for the youngsters to sit around and contemplate life. Or watch television. Which was what this baby monk was actually doing. He was so engrossed in whatever show it was he was viewing that he paid absolutely no attention to the farang taking his photo. The shots I snapped from the front captured his dissatisfaction with the show perfectly, but a frowning baby monk just doesn’t make for a good photo. The Ubiquitous Plastic Stool captured from the back, however, did.

A properly reverent photo of a young monk at Chiang Mai’s Silver Wat, or so you’d assume. But he wasn’t having a little one-on-one time with the Buddha; he was waiting (and watching) his mates finish sweeping the altar area. Two minutes later the scene was a gaggle of young monks laughing and messing with each other. Until an older monk poked his head in the doorway. Then they scattered. Still, a nice photo. And it wasn’t until recently that it dawned on me how seldom you see pews in a Thai wat. The wiharn is usually an open floored hall. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of another wat that has this type of seating area.

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Monks, Photography

The monks on the baht bus in Chiang Mai is a pretty standard Monk Shot! for me. Both monks and songtaews are all over the place and you can’t sit at any streetside cafe for long without a bus load of monks puttering by. This one made today’s post thanks to an article a reader linked to in his comment on my yellow songtaew bonus shot post the other day. It listed baht bus colors I’ve never seen, including green and white ones, but failed to mention the black ones. Sounded like a good excuse for posting a new Monk Shot! to me.

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Monks

If you are like me, you can’t see a hot young monk without thinking of sex. Oh, wait. Let’s try that again . . .

Most Thai men spend some time serving as a monk. It’s expected of them to do so. Some also serve as novice monks to ease financial burdens at home, to make merit when Buddha’s help is needed in a big way, or in lieu of jail time for various smaller offenses. That’s a hell of a lot of Thai guys who don saffron but do not necessarily do so because of a higher calling. So you can’t really blame them when their hormones demand attention.

You are not supposed to engage in sexual activities when you are a monk. But then you are not supposed to diddle altar boys when you are a priest either. In either religion, if that is the true faith, you’ve probably really screwed the pooch when you break your vows over an orgasm. Novice monks with sex on the brain, I think, you can just chalk up to boys being boys. And I don’t think I’m going to hell just because I’ve lusted in my heart over a few hot monks either. I’m sure there are far better reasons for what is in my future for the afterlife.

I’m not sure why I have this attraction to monk studs, you’d think the shaved head would be a turn off. Maybe it has something to do with the forbidden. Or how much fun it would be to unravel that robe. I’ve flirted with a few and they flirted right back, so someday I’ll probably cross the line. And probably won’t tell you when I do.

For some strange reason the Republican party has recently come out in favor of rape. It shouldn’t be long before we are back to considering rape to be the woman’s fault for dressing like that. I figure that should be my all-clear for doing a monk. It’s not my fault they go around flashing their bare shoulder like little sluts. And some are really asking for it.

It seems studly novice monks have devised a new way to wear their robes to show off their abs. I haven’t seen any do this yet, but when I do I can only hope the Republican party is in power.

(BTW, I stole the monk ab photo off of Ilbonito’s blog, the only source I could find for it on the internet. So if you were too lazy to use the link I provided yesterday to his blog, maybe now you’ll go back and start clicking. Or at least consider voting republican this time around.)

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Monk Shot #51

Tags

Bangkok, Monks, Photography, Transportation

Buddha is my copilot.

I’ve yet to manage to grab a shot of a tuk tuk, monks, and an elephant all at once. Until I do, this one will have to suffice for a photo of (almost) everything iconic to Bangkok. Spotting monks in a tuk tuk is not that unusual in the Kingdom. It perfectly evidences the Buddhist belief about fate. And what Thais hold sacred.

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