Charlie, I hope that you give some candies to the kid in the first picture for so nicely posing for you. It does help to put into perspective the enormousness of the statue behind him.
The lighting in the second image is amazing.
Thanks Ray and Lazlo,
No candy, no money. The kid was already squatting there (I never pose people when I travel- I only choose where I want to stand). Just friendly eye contact here, click, and a smile of thank you.
The one time I offered money while traveling was in Egypt, where I'd read that "baksheesh" was expected by everyone. A shy-but-friendly girl let me take her photo; I offered a few coins, and adults came out of doorways and chewed her butt off. I tried to explain, but they knew no English, so I scurried off, feeling like a heel. I never again offered money to a person- and most certainly not to a kid.
But those were long-ago years. What it's like now, I don't know.
Charlie
Thanks Endre, Alan and T-bone.
Regarding the squatting position of the small child: throughout east Asia I noticed people of all ages squatting like that- to rest. Their diets contributed to the slenderness required for the knees to bend like that. Plus, the majority had "toilets" that were merely holes in the floor and REQUIRED squatting. The last time I squatted like that the sound from my popping knees sent 1,000 roosting starlings flying off into the darkness. A western diet and arthritis surely make "western-style" toilets a gift from the Gods.
Charlie
