I have about 200 pictures of the Lao Rocket Festival taken between 1968 and 1973. Less than 1/3 show the rockets, the real show was of all the other happenings taking place while the rockets sputtered on the launch pad.

This is photo was taken with my Bronica and probably the 155 lens. My big problem is the condition of the film- greasy, scratches and dust. Biggest problem was the fact that I developed the Black and Whites myself and was pretty sloppy in the darkroom.

Last year I set up a small web site with a few rocket festival pictures I will be deleting this site in a few weeks and replacing it with another larger and improved gallery. Hopefully I'll do a better job with what I learned over the last year. I'll include these with the thailand photo galleries.

http://homepage.mac.com/tjnickle/PhotoAlbum4.html

Not bad, not bad at all!

Lots of interest in this shot and well captured - BUT I'd love to see it in colour

I think I'd also throw the background a bit more out of focus - might get rid of the pole growing out of the lads head

Good shot

p.s. I don't know about this rocket festival - when is it, where, how long etc - can you tell more please

Edited June 19, 200818 yr by The Vulcan

It might have been interesting to see this in color, but I had 2 film backs for the Bronica - one was loaded with B&W the other Color. I just happened to have the B&W loaded when I came upon this shot.

The Rocket Festival takes place in Northeast Thailand and Laos. The festival takes place during the month of May and the purpose is for groups or individuals to send their bamboo homemade rocket into the sky to insure a good rainy season, large rice crops and large healthy families. Unfortunately, the Thai festivals seem to be held as an excuse for heavy gambling and to attract tourists.

The Lao festivals in Vientiane have changed also. The big festival was at Wat Tat Luang and was 2 days of pure fun. Simple farmers would come to shoot their rockets as well as large organizations and companies. This was a fertility rite also. Kids would come dancing through the crowds singing the filthiest songs imaginable and embarrass any girl they would happen to see, Often they would just have a playboy centerfold pinned to their shirt. These groups may or may not be sponsors of a rocket. With these groups wandering around through the crowds, the on lookers felt like participants rather than spectators.

I wanted to return this year to replace my super 8 with digital movies and record the songs again. I lost all my recordings. I had to delay because of health. Next Year for sure. Unfortunately, the festival at Tat Luang has been cleaned and may be a tourist attraction now. Some Lao friends have promised to take me to the out lying villages where the rocket festival still goes on unchanged. In Laos, they do it because its tradition. Find the villages without round eyes and enjoy.

Thanks for the tip - I never saw the pole growing out the lad’s head. He’s scheduled for surgery this weekend. I hope to put this on the internet as an interactive web site and make some dvd for friends. I’ll try key note first and see how it works. In 1973 I had the largest collection of negatives, slides and movies - The best taken over a five year period. I really don’t like to put these in a gallery, but want to present them with slide shows film songs and narration. I have a reunion with the Lao community in Florida, and it will fun to have something by then.

PS When in 1973 I realized I scheduled my wedding for the same day as the Rocket Festival, my wife was a little upset when I tried to postpone the wedding date.