fotofugitive

“…and it came to pass that they made a green as green as grass. Green as green leaves on a tree, green as islands in the sea.” (Extra points if you recognize the reference)

Today’s wallpapers are brought to you by the colour green.

That’s right folks, I’m feeling so generous, I’m offering two wallpapers for your viewing pleasure this month. The first was made early one morning at the flower market in Bangkok and the other on a side street in Vientiane, Laos.

Part of the reason you’re getting two is the that the focus on the woman in the first image is quite soft. But I like it anyway, so I’m posting it here. If it bugs you, then hey, you’ve got another choice Enjoy!

Wallpaper 1 Download Links

June Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the relevant image above)
June Wallpaper 1440 x 900
June Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

Wallpaper 2 Download Links

June Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the relevant image above)
June Wallpaper 1440 x 900
June Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

June’s wallpaper was taken in Wat Sissaket (Sissaket Temple), one of the oldest temples in Vientiane, on my recent visit to Laos. It was great being back in Laos after two years, though as expected, things had changed a little. I was able to observe our Metamorphic training program in full and catch up with some old friends.

Back to the Wallpaper! The image is a hand of one of the many Buddha statues that line the alcoves of the temple courtyard. The brilliant colours are from the robe draped over the Buddha.

Laos is primarily a Buddhist nation, with 67% of the Lao population identifying themselves as Buddhist. In practice, Lao Buddhism consists of a mix of Buddhist and Animist beliefs and ceremonies.

As usual, the wallpaper is available in a number of sizes:

June Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
June Wallpaper 1440 x 900
June Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

I realize this is extremely overdue, but here’s the wallpaper for May. I’ve been in Cambodia and Laos for Metamorphic programs and just haven’t had the time to really maintain an online presence lately. It’s been both exhausting and absolutely brilliant at the same time. After a month away, I’m more than ready to head home and see my family. I’m in Bangkok today and tomorrow before catching the midnight Thai flight to Brisbane tomorrow night.

This shot was taken in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A big thankyou goes out to photojournalist Jack Kurtz, who kindly lent me a lens after one of mine died while photographing the red shirts a month ago.

You know the drill. Various sizes available below.

April Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
April Wallpaper 1440 x 900
April Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

April’s wallpaper comes from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and was taken along the waterfront near Ela Beach. Just a quick one today as I have sketchy access to internet at the moment. As per usual, choose your preferred size below.

April Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
April Wallpaper 1440 x 900
April Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

Hi folks, here is the wallpaper for March. Yes, I do realise we’re already halfway to April. I’m not off with the fairies that much … yet :-) Our laptop hard dive finally gave up the ghost at the beginning of the month, so I’ve been playing catch up for the last couple of weeks. This one’s for Jack from gotpassport (@DrGotpassport on twitter) who contacted me specifically to enquire about the wallpaper. Thanks mate!

A snapshot of life on the street in Vientiane, Laos for March. I like the diagonal line created by the motorbikes/scooters. As usual, there are a number of sizes available.

March Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
March Wallpaper 1440 x 900
March Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

Enjoy the rest of the month. I’m off to Papua New Guinea for almost 3 weeks next Wednesday, so I might have a wallpaper from PNG for you in the coming months.

Belated though it may be, here is the monthly wallpaper for February. Just a simple one this month. The green background is a verdant rice-field in Xiengkhouang Province, Laos. This province was one of the most heavily bombed during the Vietnam war, and you often see fences and houses made from bomb shells as well as many craters in the surrounding landscape. It is estimated that more than 1.3 million tonnes of ordnance was dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973, making it the most bombed country in the world per capita. MAG (Mines Advisory Group) is one of the fantastic organisations working on UXO (unexploded ordnance) clearance in Laos. From their website:

“Up to 30 per cent of some types of ordnance did not detonate. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) still contaminates the ground, affecting a quarter of all villages. There were at least 50,000 UXO casualties between 1964 and mid-2008. Accident records for 2008 are not yet complete, but extrapolating the data already available indicates that there may have been a doubling of casualties from 2007, to about 600.

UXO contamination also keeps people poor by preventing them from using land. It is therefore one of the prime factors limiting long-term development in Lao PDR. It diminishes food security and denies access to basic services, resulting in widespread poverty amongst rural populations.”

- MAG Lao

Be sure to check out the MAG website to find out more about the lifesaving work MAG is doing in Laos and around the world.

As usual, the wallpaper is available in a few different sizes:

January Wallpaper: 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
January Wallpaper: 1440 x 900
January Wallpaper: 1920 x 1200

:::

Here is the wallpaper for January 2010. It was shot along the roadside in rural Laos between the capital Vientiane and popular backpacker hangout Vang Vieng. Laos was once known as the Land of a Million Elephants. Unfortunately, due to habitat loss and hunting, the wild elephant population in Laos is now estimated at less than 1200 animals, with a similar number of domesticated elephants in the country. Domesticated elephants are used for logging, land clearance (ironically), agriculture, transportation and tourism. You can find more about elephants in Laos and what is being done to remedy the situation at eleaid.com , an organisation that is involved in Asian elephant conservation in Laos.

As usual, the wallpaper is available in a few different sizes:

January Wallpaper: 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
January Wallpaper: 1440 x 900
January Wallpaper: 1920 x 1200

Wishing you all the best for a fantastic year ahead. I know I’m excited about this years opportunities!

More to come …

:::

Just a quick one today folks. First up, above is the monthly wallpaper for December. It’s an image of Buddhist Monks’ Robes drying in the sun in a temple complex in Luang Prabang, Laos. There are three sizes available. Clicking on the image will take you to the 1280 x 800 version. Other sizes are below:

December Wallpaper: 1280 x 800
December Wallpaper: 1440 x 900
December Wallpaper: 1920 x 1200

In other news, I head to the airport in about four hours for a week-long trip to the Central Coast and Sydney. The reasons for my trip are twofold:

One of my best mates is graduating with his degree in Primary Education this weekend. We’re very proud of him, and I’ll take any excuse to hang out with great friends that I don’t get to see nearly enough of

I will be talking to Church leaders and promoting Metamorphic’s Water4Water events that we plan to hold in the lead up to World Water Day in 2010. We’re basically encouraging people to hold a BBQ or party with 20 of their friends. Each attendee pays $20 and gets a bottle of Water4Water branded water which will provide 4 people in developing countries with fresh water for life. We hope to get 20 Churches on board in Australia, each holding 20 parties of 20 people $20pp, and 10 Churches doing the same in the UK. If we can achieve this goal, this initiative will raise close to a quarter of a million dollars for our water projects. You can follow @Water_4_Water on twitter.

I’ll be back next Wednesday. Incidentally, if you’re so inclined, you can follow my travel plans on Dopplr.

Have a safe and happy December everyone. I’ll be in touch.

:::

Hi folks, sorry it’s been a bit quiet around these parts lately. The above image is my very first monthly wallpaper on this blog. It’s a shot taken in a valley full of rice fields hemmed in on all sides by mountains in Luangnamtha Province in Northern Laos. The province borders both China and Myanmar and is a beautiful part of the country. I’ve made the wallpaper available in a number of sizes to suit varying screen resolutions. Clicking on the image above will take you to the smallest which is 1024 x 768. For other sizes, click on the appropriate link below:

November Wallpaper: 1024×768
November Wallpaper: 1280×800
November Wallpaper: 1280×1024
November Wallpaper: 1440×900
November Wallpaper: 1920×1200

Ok, so now to what you’ve really been waiting for … We had just under 50 entries in the ‘VisionMongers’ giveaway. This afternoon I paid a visit to the wizards at random.org, they worked their hocus pocus and the magic number that came back was number 4, which just so happened to be:

@jkapcoe (John Kapcoe) who entered via twitter

Congratulations John! You’ve won a copy of David duChemin’s new book, ‘VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography’ due to be released in about 9 days if I’m not mistaken. Contact me via the contact page link above and I’ll put in the order with Amazon. To everyone else, thanks so much for playing and helping me spread the word about my new site. I appreciate it. I hope to have some more giveaways in the future, so stay tuned. It might be your lucky day next time.

In other news Whiskerino has started in earnest – 4 months of bearded goodness! If you so choose, you can follow my progress on my Whiskerino page. I’ll probably post a monthly mosaic of my whiskerino pics so keep an eye out for that. It’s gonna be scary, in the best possible way