Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Island Life and Children Laughing

I was on one of the several remote sprawls of islands south of Phu Quoc Island at the western most parts of Vietnam. The boat stopped by a remote fishing village. At midday they few inhabitants were lazily resting on hammocks, eating, and tending to their gear. Small shacks and shelters grouped together along a patch of beach. Large coconut trees stretched upwards and tilted defiantly over the ocean. Following the sand coastline towards a rocky cropping I saw children playing on a large rock. They were smashing small snails with stones and eating them once they freed the snails from their casings. They giggled and offered me a few and upon my reluctance; they laughed even louder. A few children were searching beneath the water for snails and then handing them to to a friend who collected the lot. I could not help but notice that a dive mask used by the kids was entirely home made. The oval glass view plate was wrapped by a steel band which held a rubber face skirt that was fabricated by in inner tube. The mask strap too was a strip cut from strips of any inner tube. The children shared this home made mask and were jubilantly splashing and laughing in the sea. A few of these shots were brilliant.  I love it when you capture a moment that seems like you froze a dance of a play.