I’m not a photographer, and I’ve never owned a quality camera. But I’ve been to some pretty interesting places over the last fifteen years or so and taken some photos I like. You can find some of them here.
Simien Ranger
Elder ranger sits guard over the national park. Simien Mountains National Park, Amhara, Ethiopia, 01/2017.
Central Hargeisa
Donkey takes a break in the dead center of the capital of Somaliland, Hargeisa. Hargeisa is a strange mix of high-rises and development and totally decrepit infrastructure and mounds of plastic waste. 11/2017, Hargeisa, Somaliland
Chimp chillout
A couple of wild chimpanzees chill out high up in a tree. 01/2019, Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda
Macaque with fruit
Macaque enjoys a banana and contemplates inscriptions. 07/2008, Kampong Chanm, Cambodia.
Pedals deep
Cyclo driver advances through the massively flooded streets of Phnom Penh during a monsoon downpour. Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 06/2009
Inked
Getting tattooed in a shady Phnom Penh suburb. Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 03/2006.
Floating jam
Traffic jam at the edge of a floating village. 07/2008, Kampong Chnnang, Cambodia.
Tatmadaw propaganda
Some fairly straightforward propaganda from the tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar. This photo was shot before the 2015 elections, when the junta still fully controlled Myanmar, but sadly, it is once again quite topical. 05/2011, Mandalay, Myanmar
Buffalo rider
Farmer riding a water buffalo to the fields. Countryside outside Kyauk Me, Shan State, Myanmar, 05/2011
Holy tokes
Novice takes a break at the entrance to a small village temple. Shan State hills, Myanmar, 05/2011.
Wayfarers
Walking down the hill from Nwa La Bo Pagoda in heavy fog. Near Paung, Myanmar, 05/2011
Kyaukme giggles
Sellers having a laugh at Kyaukme Market, probably at my expense. 05/2011, Kyaukme, Shan State, Myanmar
Room for one more?
A fairly full pickup taxi. 05/2011, Mandalay, Myanmar.
Dusty business
It can get pretty dust carving statues out of limestone(?). 05/2011, Mandalay, Myanmar
Stake man
Man drives a stake into the riverbank to tie down a river boat during a rising storm. 05/2011, Ayeyarwady/Irrawaddy river, Myanmar.
Spotting Mawlamyine
Kids spot Mawlamyine in the distance. Arriving by train from the north over the Thanlwin Bridge. 05/2011, near Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar.
Laotian levels of relaxation
Dog takes it easy, as is the way in Don Det. 11/2007, Don Det, Laos.
Grilled bat
How about some grilled bat? A farmer was cooking this over an open fire as we passed by. A heavy metal snack for sure. 10/2019, near Muang Long, Laos.
The Majesty of Coffee
Coffee beans at various stages of ripeness. 12/2019, Muang Ngoi Neua, Laos.
Paddling home
Woman in canoe heading back to shore before the rain starts. Chau Doc, Mekong Delta, Vietnam, 06/2009
Shipyard fun
Shipyard workers pose hanging on the anchor chains of a ship being painted. Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 06/2010
Morning Heat
Already scorching hot in the morning. Gaya, Bihar, India, 06/2010
Five to a bike
In many Southeast and South Asian countries, motorbikes are for the whole family. Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 06/2013
Fancy carriage
A ride fit for a princess, or commuters. Horse-driven carriages were an integral part of the transport system in Dhaka in 2010. 06/2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Factory floor
The source of our clothes. Young workers on the literal factory floor of a Dhaka clothing factory. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 06/2010
Sundarbans security detail
Guide and security detail at the beach at Kotka, the Sundarbans mangrove area. Walking through the mangrove just minutes before, we came up close and personal with a Bengal tiger, so a rifle came in handy to scare it off. 06/2010 Sundarbans, Bangladesh.
On the road again
Navigating the main road through Northern Sumatra and Central Aceh. 08/2006, between Sidikalang and Kutacane, Sumatra, Indonesia.
River living
Houses, shops, mosques, entire villages are built on boats, rafts, and piers in many parts of SEA. On the Mahakam River near Muara Muntai, Kalimantan, Indonesia, 05/2013
Volcano view
High up on Gunung Bromo volcano, contemplative man with horse looks over caldera with Luhur Poten Temple and arriving tourists. 05/2013, Gunung Bromo, East Java, Indonesia.
Par Par Lay
Late comedy legend Par Par Lay of the Moustache Brothers strikes a pose. 05/2011, Mandalay, Myanmar.
Streetside grass snack
Donkey enjoys some well-deserved grass by the roadside. 06/2013, Lahore, Pakistan.
Big in Pakistan
The appearance of foreign tourists at Taxila archeological site causes quite a stir. 06/2013, Taxila, Pakistan.
Checkpoint
"Commando" checks passport at one of the many checkpoints along the Karakoram Highway. 06/2013, Karakoram Highway, Pakistan
Attabad Lake
A landslide in 2010 resulted in flooding of a long section of the Karakoram Highway between Pakistan and China and the creation of Attabad Lake with its amazingly turquoise waters. Until 2015 all passengers and cargo had to be carried over in boats. 06/2013, Gojal, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Hunza Valley
Baltit Fort, the former residence of the Mirs of Hunza, watching over Hunza Valley. 06/2013, Karimabad, Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Pakistan Post
A humble Pakistan Post office at the foot of some serious mountains. 06/2013, Karimabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Rangers at Wagah
Pakistan rangers in regular and ceremonial gear getting ready for the daily flag-lowering ceremony at the Indian-Pakistani border At Wagah. A reasonable weekday crowd has already gathered to watch. 06/2013, Wagah, Punjab, Pakistan.
Rain'anmen Square
Tiananmen Square on a rather rainy day. 07/2013, Beijing, China.
The man and the eye
A disturbing red eye beckons from the top of a skyscraper. Guangzhou, China, 05/2014.
U. S. dental Ministry of denture
Men buying melons in front of the U. S. dental Ministry of denture. Must be one hell of a dentist! 06/2013, Kashgar, "Uyghur Autonomous Region"/Xinjiang, China.
Lizard and other medicine
Lizard on a stick and other assorted Chinese medical products at a streetside stall. 06/2013, Kashgar, "Uygur Autonomous Region", China
Delicious sludge
Ducks enjoy delicious sludge and insects. Ducks form an important part of the unique rice farming infrastructure in Yuanyang. 11/2019, Pugao, Yuanyang, Yunnan, China.
Minibus row
Man crosses road in front of a range of minibuses. 06/2016, Paramaribo, Suriname
Might of Kaieteur
Quite the drop. 663 000 liters of water flow through Kaieteur Falls every second. 16/2016, Kaieteur Falls, Potaro River, Guyana
Rainbow path
Choosing the rainbow path. 06/2016, near Surama, Guyana.
Danger puff
The highly poisonous flannel moth caterpillar hanging onto a branch at the forest's edge. The wispy hairs of this creature have sometimes been compared to those of the 45th US president. Both creatures are equally toxic, at least. 06/2016, near Surama, Guyana.
Rainforest and reflections
Edge of the flooded rainforest reflected in the waters of the Rio Negro. 06/2016, Upper Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil.
Slipping in
An Asian water monitor slipping into something a bit more comfortable, namely, water. 01/2020, Bangkok, Thailand.
A face from 11,500 years ago
Face of the Shigir Idol, oldest known wooden sculpture in the world. Found in a bog in 1894, now at Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. 09/2019, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Karakorum ovoo
Mongolian ovoo, stone heap shrine, overlooking the site of ancient Karakorum. 10/2019, Kharkhorin, Mongolia.
Dreamy wallaby
Rock wallaby with particularly dreamy eyes and long eyelashes. 07/2018, Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia.
What a furry mango
Mangoes and things for sale by the roadside. 03/2012, Hong Kong.
Omani fort
Carekeeper walks across the courtyard of Sunaysilah Fort. 12/2015, Sur, Oman.
Cow and gate
Cow poses in front of a gate. Why? We'll never know. 07/2017, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.
All these photos are released under the CC BY-NC 4.0 License. This means you can freely use them for any non-commercial purpose, as long as you cite me, Samuli Kangaslampi, as their author. If you want a higher-resolution version to use non-commercially or would like to license a photo for commercial use, please e-mail me.
I always do my best to ask permission before taking close-up photos of anyone. However, sometimes this may not be possible or is lost in translation. So, if you appear in any of these photos and don’t like it, please let me know, and I will remove them promptly.