William Bay Photographic Arts

‘Life is great’ I think to myself as I tool on down the paved jungle road to the beach on my motorbike. I’ve got Nikki, this blond busty knockout from Holland on the back and the beer in the basket on the front. We are heading down to one of the beaches to meet up with people after a long day of work for a swim in the Andamman Sea.
The jungle is alive and incredibly beautiful as we look and talk about the beautiful flowers blooming next to and above the curvy road on the trees. I speed up to give our ride a little excitement hoping she’ll press up closer to me.
At 70 K/h, I see the sharp turn ahead and I know I’m going too fast so I try to slow down and head for the outside lane.
At 60 K/h, I see the car coming at us in the outside lane and decide hitting the brakes is a better idea.
At 50 K/h, I see the loose sand and junk all over the road which will make me slide out if I brake hard, so… Option 3.
At 40 K/h We take the ditch.
I manage to keep the bike upright even as we hit the rock. I feel Nikki slamming into me from behind. I remember thinking how I wanted her breasts pressed up against me and thought that this was not how I imagined it happening.
By this time the bike is stopped and on it’s right side and I turn around to see if she is hurt. She doesn’t think she is. We get up assisted by some people that had stopped. I have a numb feeling in my left ankle but seem unharmed. Nikki notices that she has a cut in her toe and decides she should get it taken care of and hitches a ride back to the Volunteer Center to patch it up.
I figure I should go down and soak my foot, which is starting to ache, in the sea and have a beer to kill the adrenaline which is boiling in my veins.
I get the bike out of the ditch with the help of a young Thai woman and hop on and go to kick the bike into first gear and notice that I can’t. The gear shifter had been sheared clean off the bike by my foot at impact. At this point I’m glad I wasn’t wearing flip-flops

I seem to be stuck in third gear, until I can get the bike fixed.

When I get down to the beach, I notice that the adrenaline waning and the pain is waxing. I think to myself this point that I may have sprained my ankle.
I drop off the beer for everyone and let them know what happened and tell them I’m going back to put ice on my ankle.
I drive back up the hill, in third gear, and stop at the center to check in with Nikki who is now being patched up and icing her ankle. I make sure she’s OK emotionally and all that and head back down to town, get some ice, beer and chill out for the rest of the evening.
The following morning I wake up and this is what I see:

So I think that I might have a broken toe and I’m certain I have a sprained ankle, I most certainly have the worlds most swollen foot ever. Both toe and ankle are confirmed with a trip to the luxurious Phuket hospital a couple days later. I’m still waiting to hear back from Guiness regarding the record for swollen foot.
Important things of note during my time at the hospital;

• This is my first trip to a hospital in over 10 years.
• My first trip to a hospital in over 10 years is in another country.
• Time from hobbling up to the counter to seeing a specialist: 4 minutes.
• Time from seeing specialist to xray: 10 minutes.
• The only slow thing in the hospital was me limping through the hallways because I refused to occupy a wheelchair for a sprained ankle.
• Cost of being seen, X-rayed, and prescriptions and dressing; 2,400 Baht equivalent to roughly 60 U.S. Dollars.

While I was in the hospital so was my motor bike. It had to have the gear shifter replaced and the front wheel repaired and a few minor things here and there. It didn’t cost me but 10 dollars for all the repairs as the labor and parts are very inexpensive here.
Now it’s out of the shop, and I’m out of the shop. Time to get back up on that little scooter and ride again.

It just hurts my toe a little when I shift!!!

Before I left, Chris and I have been doing Muay Thai for about a year. And I was excited by the fact that I’d be here and could perhaps learn Muay Thai when I wasn’t building houses. Well I found out that the only place to learn Muay Thai was entirely wiped out by the tsunami. So I decided to take it on to workout on my own continuing the basics I was taught by Brandon at City Boxing. Well, things lead to other things and I’ve found myself teaching the sport to other volunteers as an after work activity. It’s been great. I’ve had about 6 people really interested in the class and coming just about everyday I hold it. I even went down to Phuket and got some (Bao Thai) Thai kick pads for working out.

What could be better than working out looking out into a jungle right near the beach!!!

Who knows… maybe I’ll open a new Muay Thai Gym Here.

I’ve been put to work right away at a Sea Gypsy village that lost all their homes, most of the livestock, and many lives. We are building 42 homes to replace the ones lost. There have been a lot of interesting characters in the village; Seewai one of the elders of the village is this great old man that asks us to call him Loo (Uncle). Pe, Moo, and one of my favorites O, is a nut, he’s brash arrogant and funny, (sounds like someone I know) rounds out a few of the villagers.

All the volunteers are great people. Some of the standouts are Jan Erik and Kalle are both from Sweden, Ben from England. A few from the U.S.: Adam, Brad, and a Vikings fan (go Packers) from Minneapolis named Anna. A cute Canadian named Leean.Then there is Thilo, from Southwest Colorado, who is leading the project. Pretty fun guy, a bit of a Spicolli and everyone thinks he’s from California because of it. You know, I take offense as a native Californian and as a surfer!!! When will people learn that surfers don’t sound like Spicolli?
“Hey Mr. Hand dude.”

Our days are spent in 90-100 degree heat digging ditches, mixing concrete, pouring footings, building cement block walls. It’s tiring, hard work, but the villagers feed us everyday with great fish curries, varied pork dishes, vegetables and fresh fruit like Rambutans, Mangos and my new favorite Mangosteens.

If we’re lucky we get to work in the shade for a bit but most of the time we are working in the open. At first I would burn from working shirtless, but now I just darken up each day. In fact I was reading the other day in my room with just a small amount of light coming through the window and I looked at my arm… I thought for a minute I was black I have become so dark. My ass still glows in the night but man the rest of me, damn I’m getting sexy tan!!!

Tokyo, Japan

The first leg of my trip had me land in Tokyo, Japan. It was a real thrill for me to visit Japan because I was born here 28 years ago. I left when I was 1 ½ (well, with a little help from my parents). I don’t remember anything because I was just a baby. I want to say it was symbolic being there, so close to where I was born but I felt just like anywhere else. The culture is quite strange and I had no clue how to do things like go from A to B… Luckily I had Rivas.

I know Rivas through Chris. I stayed with him, his Wife Masako, their daughters Megan and Momo and Masako’s Mother and Father. It was truly a gift for me to stay with them, they live in an ordinary Japanese home in residential district where very few foreigners go or live.

The Culture & City Life
In the city centers like Shinjiku and Shibuya there are people in every direction. The place is packed!!! Even more so than New York. I just heard Tokyo is the most densely populated city in the world! The trains are jammed, the subways are jammed, the streets are jammed – all with thousands of people.

And they have themselves an eccentric culture!!! They are something else. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to piss on their way of life… It’s just so strange to me. A lot is based on the traditional life meeting technology and modern living. People go fucking nuts here because of the social pressures and the introverted nature of the society. I hear Japan has the highest rate of suicide in the world. It has to do with the fact that it’s discouraged to show your emotion. Coming back after hanging out Rivas and I would see old drunken guys singing and in tears for whatever their minds were dwelling on. For the most part that was the extent of inner expression making itself outwards. The majority of the Japanese people keep to there own. On the trains you see everyone text messaging or reading or just staring into blank space in their own little world. The younger generation I noticed, more so near the hot spots in Tokyo for westerners, seemed a little more outward, but could still sense reservation. Rivas and I being a boisterous pair of lads and very extroverted were always getting stares at and giggles from the girls because we stood out so much.

Sentos
We went to traditional sentos, or public baths where people bathe as in the old days before many people had showers or baths in their home. The sentos were one of my favorite things to do in Japan and not just because of the old, naked Japanese men… It was one my favorite pastimes because it’s relatively inexpensive, (everything in Tokyo is expensive by the way), and in such a modern city it’s nice to take part in an old world tradition.

I have never been so clean in my life!!! You come into the bath area and you sit on a stool in front of a shower head and clean yourself, then you get into the ofuro, it’s a very hot bathtub, 45° C. I’m not sure what it is in Farenheit, but it’s HOT!!! You sit in that communal style and relax for 5-10 minutes then get out and clean yourself again.

My seduction to the porn industry
Rivas and I met this guy named Romeo, (of course it was… what else would it be?) We hooked up with him and some friends at a sushi restaurant and we hit it off with him. I had my camera with me and when it was revealed that Romeo was in the escort business Rivas concocted a little white lie that I worked for Larry Flint Productions and was one of Hustler’s leading photographers until I had a drug meltdown and had to get out of the industry. So Romeo pays for our sushi which was probably 90,000 Yen, and we follow him to a S&M club where he had a girl coming to meet us. While we waited we had the pleasure of watching Japanese boys dress up as girls and be spanked by their mistresses. Pretty fun actually, (remember what I said about that locked up stuff? Well this is what happens when it comes out…)

So Romeo’s girl shows up and then the camera came out and some beer starts flowing and I start flowing and shooting and having fun and everyones having fun and we shoot as much as I can then we start having fun with the chains and the whips and I’m tying the Mamasan of the place up with chains and spanking her and then Rivas and I decide to go as the sunrises.

Good bye Tokyo
My Dad told me a myth the Japanese believe in before I left for Japan. The myth says that if you see Mt. Fuji as you leave Japan, you will for sure come back to Japan again.

Apparently I saw it from the plane when I was 1 and a half years old, (I have to take Dad’s word on that cause I don’t remember).

I did not see Fuji this time, so what my future holds for getting back is uncertain. I have, however, always wanted to go to the North island of Japan – Hokkaido to photograph the wonderful landscapes and culture there. And I have good friend who lives there, and enjoyed myself tremendously.

Chances are… I’ll be back.

Bangkok, Thailand

I was not even prepared for Bangkok. I had no idea how crazy it was. This is how I can describe it so you get somewhat of a handle on what it’s like; It’s like Tijuana mulitiplied by 8, divided by a large filthy curving river. Instead of churches like in T.J. you have Wats or Temples every few blocks, and Monks dressed in beautiful orange robes walk the streets in the morning, (The monks can only eat what is offered to them and they have to fast from noon until the following morning.) Throw in lots of people, smog, and millions of the world’s craziest motorcycle, car, taxi and Tuk-tuk drivers and you have the worlds most congested city and a small sense of the place.

Khao San Road
This is where all the backpackers and travelers go for guesthouses and knockoff designer watches and a fine selection of women and ladyboys, all of which are available for the right price. The right price is a very flexible concept as well.

It is a good place to base yourself out of if you want to see the older parts of Bangkok. The food is good, there are restaurant/bars that show the latest pirated movies and the big soccer matches (which by the way you slowly start to call Football because the rest of the world calls it that).

In fact at one place you can be eating Kao Pad Moo or Pad Thai, drinking a Singha beer, checking your email and chatting, while watching that night’s movie.

I found that I got out of that area as much as I could to explore different areas which is easy because of the superfluity of Tuk-tuks.

Tuk-tuks
Who was the man that decided strapping a lawn mower engine onto a Red Flyer Wagon and charging people to ride in it at very high speeds into oncoming traffic? I think Disney should replace “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” (my favorite), with “Mr. Ping’s Tuk Tuk Adventure Happy Show Ride” (a typical Asian name for something like that by the way) and just bring in some tuk tuks and their drivers.

The Market
So, I was walking around just basically getting lost one day and I wandered into this market. Inside all kinds of fruit, vegetables, herbs, live chickens, live fish, live eels, live turtles, and live… well, other stuff.

I had just taken some photos of a guy fishing with a net in the really dirty water of the Chao Phraya river and concluded that the catfish that were trying to jump out of the bin and attack me were the very ones he was catching. It was a disturbing thought… I don’t think I will eat any fish here.

Muay Thai
I was so excited to see my first Muay Thai match. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand (Thai Boxing). Chris got me into it over a year ago he and I have been practicing it at City Boxing downtown ever since. So… with tremendous interest I found myself front row watching 9 bouts one night at Ratchadomnoen Stadium. It was so exciting to see my first fight in Thailand. The first 2 fights were boys about 10 to 12 years old. It was jaw dropping to see their ripped little bodies. These kids had abs that would make Arnold look flabby.

Hi everybody!!! I’m still here!
Did I ruin the anticipation of photos of exotic Bangkok? So sorry. I fly out of LAX on the 1^st of March now. Next Tuesday!!! It’s really close and I have a lot to do. I need to shop for a few more items, finish 3 more sets of plans, sell all my stuff and store the rest in 5 days!!! Crazy huh? If you have some time you can devote to helping me please let me know I appreciate any help as it get’s nearer and nearer. Also I have a number of items to sell, please see below.

Yay!!! The Boys have a home.
It was coming down to the wire to find a home for my kitties. But my friend Thomas has agreed to watch them for the year. I know he will be a great pet owner. And I already have people asking for visitation rights. HaHa. Seems like Kazoo and B-Side were putting on their charming side at the party. Speaking of which….

The Party…
An epic party!!! One that will go down in the annals of our Party History book. There were so many great people there Chris, Gina and I had such an incredible time. I would like to get some photos from people if they have them. I know there were some cameras floating around and Iike to get them up for people to look at. I met cool new people and old friends showed up and made an appearance. We had people so little that needed to wear diapers and people that were in their 60′s!!! HaHa. Where else do you get such an awesome range of wonderful peoples? The DJ’s Andrew Chan and Matt (DJ Shugar) Loney did an incredible job. I am taking some of Matt’s mixes with me for the thai people. If you want their info let me know.

All in all, It was such a beautiful way to say goodbye to you all. Thank you for making it such a special night! I love you all.

(Here’s one picture… I don’t remember where Viviana’s other hand is but I think it has something to do with my expression…. ; )

Things winding down?… Hardly
I have 3 projects that I will be finishing as I step on the plane practically!!! HaHa. I have been getting so much done and am looking forward to sleeping a long time on my way to Tokyo where I will stay 2 or 3 days with a friend and visit the place I was born. Then it’ll be on to Bangkok!!! I will be there also for a few days. My plan is to buy a motorcycle and ride down to Khao Lak.

I’ve been Blessed…
I was blessed last night by a Buddhist Monk!!! Andrew Chan set up the ceremony at his temple. It was really cool! The monk, dressed in the most vibrant orange robes, held a cord around me and prayed and chanted and expelled all the bad demons away from me (At least that’s what I think he did, everything was in the Lao language which is similar to Thai). Then he splashed holy water on me while I knelt to the ground. And then tied a good luck bracelet around my wrist and gave me a Buddha medallion. It was very spiritually uplifting and refreshing!!!
It was a bit bizarre at one point when the monk pulled out his ringing cell phone from his very vivid garment and answered his phone right there!!! HaHa I guess you can’t escape technology huh?
Andrew himself, whose given Thai name is Anousone Chanthavixay, will be entering the Temple as a Monk himself for one week! That’s right he will shave his head a eyebrows and won’t be able to flirt or touch women. One week without a womans touch??? That’d kill me!!! Haha.
Andrew is doing this in tribute to his mother that past away three years ago. Way to go Andrew!!! My blessings are with you and your mother. Khab Kuhn Mak (Thank you very much)

Stuff to get rid of.

It’s kind of weird to say i’m selling all my wordly possesions. I feel Like I’m the one becoming a Monk. Haha. I do have a lot of stuff to get rid of and so does Chris. If you need something we might have it. Give me a call or shoot me an email. I have a partial list here with some pics.
Craigslist Ad
Please let me know if there is something you would like.

Please Help!!!
HaHa… It’s getting tight and I don’t want to push my departure back anymore if you have some spare time to assist in me getting out of here I would greatly appreciate it. Tasks could be anything from cleaning and throwing stuff away to making calls for me. Please give me a call and let me know. Thank you so much!!!

Until Next Time…
I believe I will be in Tokyo or Bangkok the next time I write. Please continue to send words of encouragement. I love you all!!!

Well a little update for you all.

I just got my immunization shots and boy it hurts not my arm but my bank account. I think the shots were more than what I’ll spend on my plane ticket!!!
But rest assured I could lay on a bed of rusty nails while drinking untreated water from a mosquito infested swamp and not catch a thing. I actually believe I got the shots that make mosquitoes fly away when they see you walking down the street.

So I have had to delay my flight a week to ensure my projects are totally complete. I will gladly take a week in order to have as much integrity intact with myself, my friends, clients etc.
I have made tremendous progress however and each day there are more and more items checked off my list. I had no idea how difficult it is to completely pack up your whole life in 4- weeks. WOW!!!
I haven’t been sleeping a whole lot the last couple of days just to get some extra time to work on and complete my remodel projects. I’ve never been more alive either.

The response from everyone has been just incredible. Friends, family, people I don’t even know have called and emailed with words of encouragement and tales of inspiration. I have had people share about family members that were there in Phuket as the wave hit. Friends have shared with me just what I’ve meant for them in there life and how I had certain impacts on their lives. This has been the toughest. I hear my friends tell me this and I don’t want to leave that love. I’ve been freaked out, scared and overwhelmed at times and I use the incredible things you all have said as my motivator to accomplish what I set out to do. While I have not earned much as far as aid and sponsorship, the support you all have provided for me has been way more powerful than any amount of money.
Thank you all.

So here were a few items that were left a bit open from my last email:

The Loft
The word about the loft is this: The Landlord is requesting that whoever comes in be a business. They are trying to make this building businesses only due to insurance reasons. So if you are a photographer this is a great location to have a studio. There is a huge space on the first floor for shooting. I built a great darkroom and I’m sorry to see it go. I will be leaving the sink I built and the other darkroom stuff (enlarger, trays, etc).
In return I am going to ask for a $1500 finders/improvement/equipment fee in addition to whatever the landlord will end up charging. We can work out some form of payment so it doesn’t necessarily have to be at once.
You can see a couple images of the darkroom and the rest of the loft here: www.williambayphotography.com/forsale

Stuff for sale
Since I will not be coming back to my loft I have no idea where or how I will be setting myself up when I get back. So there is a lot of stuff I will be selling. I will put together a more formal list in the next few days and may have a Garage(less) Sale this weekend. But for now I have some pictures www.williambayphotography.com/forsale that you can view and if there is something you need let me know and we can work out a price. I of course have lot’s of photos that I do not want to store I will be selling these at a seriously reduced rate from my normal fine art print pricing.

What’s Left?
I am maintaining a checklist of items to get accomplished before I leave here www.williambayphotography.com/checklist.htm . The items in red are complete. Each day the list seems to get larger. What’s great though is that I get something checked off everyday. Those days I get lots of stuff checked off are the really good ones!!!

What the hell is a Blog?
I started a Blog (web log) it’s an online journal to document my journey, to share my thoughs, adventure, photos and to stay close to you all. The Blog is here. www.williambayphotography.com I won’t be sending emails like this in the future, everything will be posted straight to the Blog.

We are still having the party on the 12th. My friend Viviana has been wanting to do a Singles party so we will do that also and have it be Thai theme or something. Look out for the Evite coming to a mailbox near you soon.

I love you all!!!

Dear Family, Friends, Collegues, Clients,

You are receiving this email because you have been in my life to some extent, be it small or great. I would like to share this with you all, thank you for reading.

I have been so moved by the devastation in the Indian Ocean that I want to go do my part for the people. I will be closing both of my businesses and leaving for Thailand to a place called Khao Lak where the damage was the greatest, and they are still looking for missing people. I will be going to help people build their homes. I will also be doing a lot of photography and documentation.

With my Architectural background and just raw physical labor I can help them rebuild.

I will be leaving on or about the 15^th of Feburary and I am uncertain when I will return perhaps up to a year from now. I wish I could leave sooner but there are things I must first focus on and get complete before I leave.

The Plan: Well at this point there is not much of one. So far in my search for an organization to get involved with I haven’t succeeded in finding an American or European organization heading up volunteer efforts. Even the Red Cross is not accepting volunteers!

Since there is not much of a plan right now I could just be flying into Phuket airport and hitching a ride to Khao Lak and asking where to start building and helping.

I am currently trying to contact the U.S. Embassy to find out the best way to go about assisting the rebuild efforts. If you have any ties to someone that can help lpease let me know.

Support for the Thai’s: Of course money always helps, however, since I am not tied to an organization anything you would like to give would not be tax deductable unfortunately. I will be using everything I get in the form of money from supporters for construction materials to build homes and for food supplies. I will not see any of the money as I’m trying to get my travel costs donated and I will look to live with a host family while I am there and work for my share of food.

Any monetary contributions would help out hugely, you can make any checks out to William Bay and send to the address below.

What is also needed is extra clothes, canned foods, bottled water. What would be really great is your sentiments, cards, letters, pictures from people that care. It is a tourist area and there are people that speak English, so don’t worry about your message getting across, (besides compassion and love are like American Express – universally accepted and understood… no translation needed).

I’m not sure how I would get supplies over there if I end up getting a lot, but I will do it, and you can count on the Thai people getting good use from whatever you give.

As far as other help you can give for them, go there… plan a vacation to Phuket. Phuket is totally operational now and the Thai people rely heavily on tourism. And while sending money to Red Cross and the like is great, you are never really sure where that money really goes, and it does nothing to help people keep their jobs. So plan a vacation to Phuket or one of the other resorts, go play golf, go lay out on the beautiful beaches. Most of the areas have been totally cleaned up or not affected at all. Here is a status list of resorts http://www.sawasdee.com/tsunami/hotels.htm the areas in green are the places to go. Let me know if you are coming so we can meet up.

Support for me: Obviously I’ve got quite a bit to do over the next 28 days. I have to complete all my current projects I have going and close up shop for both the Photography and Drafting businesses. I must also either move all of my stuff into storage or give it to somebody, or sublet my loft and leave it furnished in which case I would need permission from my landlord. If you or anyone would be interested it’s 1200 square feet, large downstairs living area/office/full kitchen and dream darkroom, upstairs bedroom area and full bathroom. $1100 plus electric.

I also need a home for my twin orange tabbies (Kazoo and B-Side) they are 6 years old and act just like twin brothers. If you’ve ever been to one of our parties they’re the one that you saw and then the other one that you just saw that you thought just walked out of the room.

Other items I need assistance with:

I need to secure airline tickets to Phuket and would like to have them donated for me and another gentleman that will be going at the same time as me. If you have any information of who to speak to (like P.R. department or sales) on any of the carriers that go to Phuket or Bangkok for that matter it would be of huge significance to me.

I have a number of minor things that need to be taken care of also, things as small as errands, tax stuff, business stuff, personal stuff. If you have any time to spare or would just like to assist me getting these things handled please let me know. I will form a list of everything that needs to be taken care of so that I can be efficient with any time you give me.

I would like to put together a blog to keep people up to date and share photos. I have a domain I would like to host it off of, but I need someone skilled in setting one up to get it functional, if you can donate your time to setting one up I would appreciate a call or email.

I have a few items to lend out while I’m gone:

My 9’0” surfboard needs a good home

I have a Fernandez Jazz Bass and small amp

I also have a lot of CD’s (which reminds me, I am looking for a donated iPod so I can take some of my music with me while I’m there.)

Going Away Party: I want to be with all the people I love and have been aquainted with before I leave. With that said why not have a party!!! On Feburary 12^th I will hold a party here at the loft downtown and you are invited to be here. We will celebrate friendships, as well as Abraham Lincolns birthday and an early Valentines. I will also be sending out an eVite with all the info.

I want to thank you, everyone that gets this email. Whether you were a big part of my life or a tiny one, whether we were best friends or we have our differences… Thank you.

I’ve truly found that it’s times like these that you really find out what it’s like to be human and how much of a difference we can have for people in the world.

If you have any other ideas, resources, or would just like to chat before I leave please feel free to contact me or pass this email along to someone else.

And if you would not like to receive any other correspondence please let me know.

Love,

William