New Website

Obviously this blog is old and now outdated. The Olympics are over and I’m no longer in China – that’s the bad news. The good news is there’s a new website in town and I’m the sheriff. It’s all about Asian boxing thus it’s titled, Asian Boxing News. You can catch up on Asian boxing if you simply go to:

http://www.asianboxingnews.com

Enjoy it!

5 AM

It’s 5 AM and I’ve been up for an hour already. Why, I don’t know…

In my opinion, boxing in Asia has gone down the toilet in the past year, and it’s only getting worse. Thus, I’ve been pushing to change from being strictly a photojournalist specializing in boxing to a photographer who in addition to photographing and occasionally covering fights, photographs a variety of other subjects. Not only am I sick of the lying thieves involved in boxing, I’m also tired of the majority of people in boxing always wanting something for nothing. In other words, a high percentage of people want something for nothing. “Can I use some of your photos for my website?” or “We’d love to publish your work but at this time we’re unable to pay. But we promise to give you exposure.”

I’ve got news for these people; I don’t give away my work for free – we all gotta eat after all – and I’ve got a family to think about, and I don’t need exposure, I’ve already got plenty of exposure. What I need more of is money.

Making it in Asia as a boxing photojournalist is possible if you are okay with living as a pauper. I am not.

Anyhow, hopefully in the next few days I’ll get on with a photo agency. This shouldn’t be a problem however getting on with a good agency is slightly more difficult.

Exhibition

So I’m in…in the gallery that is…

Last week the art gallery informed me they want to show my Olympic photos. The show begins October 27th and ends November 21st. Once I have more information I’ll post it here and send out invitations.

Until Later…

Crossing My Fingers

Several weeks after returning from Beijing, I came up with the idea of selling my photos from the Olympics to an art gallery here in Thailand. There are many, many talented photographers – slowly but surely I’m getting there – but finding a way or a place to sell them to or through is often more difficult than taking the photos. Anyhow, after an afternoon of running around town looking for galleries only to find them closed, I finally came across two respected galleries that were alive and kicking.

After calling Chulalongkorn University, I wasn’t sure whether or not anything would come from the call. A few days later though and to my surprise, they called me back and asked a few questions to better gauge whether or not I was capable of providing photos for a show. Apparently I was. I tried calling them a few days later to get a status report but I had forgotten the person’s name I was dealing with and no one seemed to know anything about any show. The next day though, I got a call from the person I originally spoke with, and after a few calls back and forth, we set up a meeting.

So far what I know is that one other photographer will take part in the show, a Thai photographer I worked with in Beijing. I was only credentialed in boxing, he was credentialed to go to any event. He’s only one person though and you can only be in one place at a time so it worked out well. I was at the Opening Ceremony, he was not. I took photos of non-Thai fighters as well as the Thai fighters, he only took photos of Thai fighters. We’ve got a meeting this coming Thursday and hopefully we’ll have enough photos, large enough photos, and of course, hopefully they’ll feel some of the photos are high enough quality to warrant a show.

If you’d like to see some of the photos that might be in the show, you can view them at:

http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/15237

Let me know what you think…

Until later…

Three Weeks After

Three weeks after the Games ended, I’m still at it. The boxing scene is near dead here in Thailand and so far, the best fight coming up is Montiel vs. Gorres – in Macau. Frankly, I think this time around Montiel is going to knock out Gorres. Montiel is an intelligent fighter with a punch and he’ll have Gorres figured out this time around. I just can’t see Gorres beating him. Montiel TKO 10.

As I said, I’m still working on my Olympic photos. Also, I have articles coming out in the Phuket Gazette, Boxing Digest, and also Boxing News.

I’ve been in contact with several art galleries here in Bangkok, trying to get them to exhibit some of my Olympic photos. Chulalongkarn University expressed an interest in them, and this weekend I will probably speak with them about. I’m also going to try and get the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center to show them.

Some photos are online and for sale….you can find them at:

http://fareastphotos.imagekind.com and http://www.fareastphotos.com

The Imagekind site gives you the option of buying framed, matted prints and the quality is excellent.

In the next month I have an article coming out about the boxing scene in Thailand and just how bad it’s become and why Thai fighters almost never win when they fight abroad. Also, perhaps some people know I’ve been working on a book about the greatest boxers from Thailand. I’ve been working at a snail’s pace. Anyhow, I’m hoping to get this finished by the end of the first quarter of 2009. By the end of 2009 I also plan to finish a book about Khaosai Galaxy.

It’s 1:00 AM here in Thailand and I’m exhausted. Until later…