these are my boss's maids. having maids is a normal practice in thailand, for anyone that can afford them. they're human commodities; bought in the form of goodwill from their parents, and used to better the source of income for their families. usually however, their lives are a mish-mash of hardships and not really an adequate replacement for a real job or a real life.
you don't see them that often, and to most people around them, they do not exist; they are invisible hands and bodies. they get scolded and reprimanded often enough to make your heart break multiple times a day. they are wholly uneducated and simple girls, displaying a sort of shy playfulness in their time off, that contrasts to the intense reality of their employ.
they work, and work hard. their lives belong to someone else, and they are on-the-clock 24 hours a day. these young women have almost nothing that is their own, save a few personal items; clothes, hair clips, small trinkets, etc. and when you try to be of some source of comfort, it's almost useless, because of the fact that you cannot change their situation; it is the grandest form of feeling helpless. i do what i feel i can, but it never feels like enough.
all of them are far from from their parents and/or home countries: burma, laos, and the far upper northeast of thailand. they are alone but together, creating a makeshift family with each other.
and they smile. and laugh out loud too at times. when they see me and play games with words and tease me, i crumble in to a thousand pieces and i have to suppress the urge to breakdown right in front of them.
you start to grow feelings of injustice, and loss, and guilt for being so fortunate. these girls are making the best of what they have, and it proves the strength of the human condition to constantly adapt and be hopeful. it's a very powerful and moving thing to see these girls just living/existing in the life they find themselves in; the look behind their eyes and the way they've learned to be silent, is just potent and overwhelming beyond comparison.
in this short series(click on pic below), which i took in about an hour between their workday, i tried to photograph them while they had a short break to watch some television. the point being, i tell myself, is to give them a little bit of their dignity and pride back; to show them that they are human beings and valid, and that not everyone will treat them as if they are only maids and nothing else.
- faces without voices -
(c) baystar_one...2347
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