“In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle”
Thailand, Chiang Mai 2005
When I hear the word jungle, I think of a sticky wet forest filled with vines: a forest so dense that you can’t see the sky. I’ve been in several places that were called jungles and this one in Thailand comes close to my mental picture of a jungle.
I sat behind this man in the photo as our elephant lumbered along the paths in the jungle. I took my shoes off so I could put my bare feet on his head, but I don’t remember what it felt like. I thought I’d like to spend a week in an elephant camp and maybe have my own special elephant that I’d get to wash and feed and ride. We never grow up, do we?
This photo is one of those wide-angle shots where the man is a design element. He helps to explain a sense of place. The jungle is the subject here. I darkened the foliage to emphasize the density of the vegetation. The sky was etiolated (colorless) and I added blue. Colorless skies are a no-no. Either crop them out or color them in. I darkened the hat and shirt. It gives a sweaty look. That’s another thing from my mental picture of a jungle…hot and steamy. How many times has a jungle been referred to in those terms? Well, it stuck in my mind.