Feeling Hunted

Yesterday Allison and I went to Bhaktapur with the intentions of staying the night and shooting for two days. As soon as we stepped out and into the Durbar Square we were berated by touts wanting to give us the grand tour and show us around. For a minimal fee of course, they would love to show us exactly what we should photograph and from where.

It is such a hassle here sometimes when you are the "gora" or white person, and Bhaktapur, another tourist trap of a town was no different. Allison and I have been discussing what it is like to be here as a photographer. As soon as you walk into many areas you are instantly posed for by the people, young and old, but there is always a hand out, and a rupee is nearly always requested. What does this do to the meaning of the photograph? How does it affect how it makes the photographer feel? How does it make the viewer feel to know that as well?

So, we spent the afternoon wandering around Bhaktapur, avoiding the touts, and trying to make sense of the photographs that we were trying to make.

When I first got into the square I noticed one of the fattest goats that I have seen since coming here. I think that maybe it is pregnant or something, but regardless it made for an interesting perspective on an afternoon nap.



A little while later we ran into a little boy named Kisna. He tagged around with us for a good part of the afternoon. He was a cute kid, but a little con-artist in the making.



He knew not long after palling around with Allison and I that he could easily work us, which actually is not that easily done lately. He wanted some biscuts and though we tried to resist, we did break down and by the kid some cookies. He took them nicely one, by one, at first. But soon was hiding them in his pockets and trying to eat them all at once in order to scam a few more.



There were several ponds around Bhaktapur. One of them was extraordinarily gross. It had a green film on it that was so stiff and thick that bottles stood on top of it and even flip flops rested upon its surface. After standing there and looking at it for a while we realized that there were actually things living beneath the surface that would occasionally jump up and skim across the ponds surface. I was amazed to think that there were really things living in there and that they could possibly be getting any air at all.



Then later, of course it began to rain, as it always seems to do in the afternoon. As we were wandering I came across the cutest little dog on the counter of a little shop. It was just fuzzy as can be and refreshing to see one so loved by its family, especially after seeing the condition of some of Bhaktapur's town dogs. His name was Suno, and I of course spent a bit of time there, photographing and playing with the little bugger.



So, all in all, it was an OK day. We had a little bit of fun, and a little bit of not so fun. Though Bhaktapur is definitely not someplace to spend a full day, it makes an ok afternoon trip. I think that Allison and I are both just sick of tourist traps and crowds of white people. It gets hard to feel like a giant walking bulls eye for a lengthy amount of time, yet I don't like to feel cynical either.

I think that sometimes you just need a little time for brain reformat, then you can go in with a clear mind and go at it all again.