Monday Memories – Crossing a Suspension Bridge in Battambang

After getting a little misty-eyed while musing on our pre-Civil War travels in Syria and the special people we met, I decided it was time to look on the bright side and a destination recovering from a very tragic and violent past: Cambodia – and in this case Battambang.

In Cambodia, the past is still very present. We have friends our age who talk about escaping the Khmer Rouge and growing up in a refugee camp on the Thai border as if it was an everyday experience, when it must have been life-changing.

Now there is a young generation growing up who are removed enough from the Pol Pot era that they at last have a chance of not suffering the Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that had been passed on to their parents, the second generation following those horrific times.

Monday Memories – Crossing a Suspension Bridge in Battambang

While there are still plenty of problems for children growing up in Cambodia, most of the kids I have met here appear easy-going, good-natured, and are friendly, with beautiful warm smiles and are always quick to shout out “hello!”

Instead of sharing an image of a wide-eyed smiling youngster that has sadly become a little clichéd (and trust me, I have taken plenty of those in Cambodia), I chose this image because for me it better represents the optimism and carefree spirit of that young generation.

This little girl had just been to the local shop near a suspension bridge in Battambang and was half-skipping half-running home in her fresh pyjamas after an early evening bath.

Seeing her so happy and light of spirit gave me a sense of hope. I really find Battambang an inspiring town to photograph – particularly along the riverside.

This image was shot with my old 80-200mm zoom lens, a lens so beaten up that the official Nikon repair shop in Bangkok refused to service it because it’s so damaged, telling me to just buy a new one.

The lens that most photojournalists use now is the 70-200mm lens, but I’ve always seen it as a bit fragile and plastic. If it rolled down a set of stairs like my 80-200 once did, you’d be taking it to Nikon in pieces!

This lens still takes great photos and what I like about its zooms at longer focal lengths is that it compresses the background and makes the very tight in-focus areas stand out so much, particularly if your f-stop is less than F4.

Details: Nikon D600, 80-200mm f/2.8D Nikkor @ 200mm @ F3.2 @ 1/800th second @ ISO400.

If you enjoyed this post and found it helpful with your travel photography, check out these Monday Memories posts on Capturing A Face in the Crowd to Convey a Vast Crowd and The Dubai Camel Handler.