October 2006 found me in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, working on a 42 page fashion catalog with nine other crew members, under the direction of the very talented Sal Owen. This blog is the summary of the trip.
We stepped off the plane in UB at around 11pm local time on a Sunday and the first thing I noticed was the stinging cold air that brushed my skin as I descended from Korean Air flight 867. Living in Southern California for the past few years has afforded me the luxury of forgetting the definition of extreme cold, of which I was quickly reminded in Ulaanbaatar. After collecting our checked luggage (some of which never showed up) we met up with our tour gides, piled into two Russian looking VW-style buses and headed for the Bayangol Hotel. Oh, and if I haven't already mentioned it, it was cold...really, really cold.
This is my first view of the city from my room on day one. Industrial, post-communist, slightly bleak, yet welcoming.
DAY ONE: Location Scouting
The first stop on our scouting mission was Gandan Khiid, Mongolia's largest Buddhist monestary, of which I'm told over 500 monks currently belong. A few photos:
The next leg of the journey took us about two hours out of UB into the vast Mongolian countryside. We traveled through steppes and mountains to a ger camp where we would be staying in a few days for part of the shoot. A ger is a traditional circular tent used by the nomadic people of Mongolia for centuries; in English, we use the Turkish word "yurt."
Mongolian Ger
The Mongolian countryside is one of the last truly wild non-private lands on the planet. Within a distance of a few miles we came across a variety of exotic animals and beautiful sights.
Yes, that IS an eagle riding a donkey, thank you for asking.
After a long day of scouting we returned to the hotel just in time for sunset and a Chinngis Premium Lager.
DAYS TWO AND THREE: Ulaanbaatar
Over the next two days, we shot the models around the city, starting with the Gandan Khiid monestary and finishing up with street shots. (sorry, you'll have to wait until the catalog is published to see the photos)
On a side note:
A few months back, Sarah Mac turns me onto TrippingOnWords, a blog authored by Lara and Claire, two self-proclaimed "accidental travel writers" who are currently traveling the globe and blogging about their amazing experiences. Just prior to my departure Sarah points out that L&C are going to be in UB at the same time as I. Strange coincidence, right!? So through an intense game of email ping-pong, the girls and I engage in two failed attempts to meet up, the first at the Grand Khan Irish Pub (a place that I would become quite familiar with in the ensuing nights) and the second at Los Banditos, a mexican/indian restaurant that I never actually found. Now I have to admit that I love the idea of chance encounters with potential new friends in obscure places (such as an Irish Pub in Mongolia), but after the two failed attempts I let go of the idea. This being said, as we're getting ready to break for lunch during a shoot, one of my friends emerges from Millie's cafe to tell me that there are two girls inside asking if she's traveling with a photographer named Jacob. Incidently, I had a great lunch with Claire and Lara (well the company was great, the "grilled cheese sandwich" left a little to be desired) before we rushed off to finish shooting.
LARA AND CLAIRE: I do hope you'll take me up on my offer to host dinner in L.A. when you're back in the states. Until then, safe travels.
DAYS FOUR AND FIVE: The Steppes
On the morning of day four we ventured into the great land of Chinngis Khan, the Mongolian steppes, for two days of shooting. (To clarify, there is some historical dispute as to the real name of Ghengis Khan. The Mongolians that I met don't claim to be certain, but they use "Chinngis," as will I from here on out.) The steppes are a wild land and the people lead a rough existence. In many ways, not much has changed over the last few centuries.
Our ger camp
Our gear was moved from place to place via yak cart. First time experience for Cob.
Its not uncommon to come across the bones of some large animal in the steppes. This one's for Clayton in Texas who would be proud to know that I had to lay in some kind of dung, yak if I'm not mistaken, to get this shot.
A little behind schedue, we began the first series of shots around 10:00 am. By lunchtime, we had three of the five shots that we wanted to have accomplished. This was partially due to the fact that our western culture has a unique perception of time and punctuality; when a herdsman tells you that he can have his horses at the top of a hill at 11:00, he really means he'll have them there sometime before afternoon (definitely NOT promptly at 11:00).
Lunch in the ger camp was the best meal that I'd had so far in Mongolia. This was a pleasant surprise as I expected to pick around a lot of mutton and other gamey meats. Contrary to my expectations we ate salad, a vegetarian soup, and some kind of imitation meat dish (which Tamara apropriately termed "Tofutton"). During our feast a winter storm rolled in and before the plates were cleared a light blanket of snow dusted the surrounding terrain. Needless to say, the rest of the day's shooting was called off.
With an impromptu half-day off, Sal and Daphne went off on horseback while the rest of us went on a hike.
Needless to say, no one made it back dry.
Despite the fact that my soaking wet and freezing cold Adidas tennies pretty much killed my reputation for being the prepared guy (i prefer prepared guy, others would say paranoid guy...whatever, who has the emergency hand warmers when you need them?) the snowy ger camp was my personal highlight of the trip (others would beg to differ).
Gear being pulled by yak cart
For my Dad. Wish you coulda been with me Pop, you'da loved it. Jeremiah Johnson look out!
Note to Merle and Wham: The faux hawk is not coming back...it never left!
The crew in all of our frigid glory:
From left to right: Jake, Adrian, Sal, Estelle, Zdenka, Daphne, Zula, David V., Jodi, David M., Murray.
After a gruelling day of shooting in the snow, we loaded up the buses and headed for dry land and hot showers.
DAYS SIX AND SEVEN: Wrap!
After wrapping up the last of the shooting we had a day and a half to roam around. Adrian and I decided to go back to the Buddhist monastery to pick up some incense and then to the Irish Pub for a pint of Chinngis. On the way, we stopped off at this extremely strange abandoned amusement park to take some photos.
In the end, I couldn't wait to get back to the states. Good night Ulaanbaatar...
...and good morning California.
We stepped off the plane in UB at around 11pm local time on a Sunday and the first thing I noticed was the stinging cold air that brushed my skin as I descended from Korean Air flight 867. Living in Southern California for the past few years has afforded me the luxury of forgetting the definition of extreme cold, of which I was quickly reminded in Ulaanbaatar. After collecting our checked luggage (some of which never showed up) we met up with our tour gides, piled into two Russian looking VW-style buses and headed for the Bayangol Hotel. Oh, and if I haven't already mentioned it, it was cold...really, really cold.
This is my first view of the city from my room on day one. Industrial, post-communist, slightly bleak, yet welcoming.
DAY ONE: Location Scouting
The first stop on our scouting mission was Gandan Khiid, Mongolia's largest Buddhist monestary, of which I'm told over 500 monks currently belong. A few photos:
The next leg of the journey took us about two hours out of UB into the vast Mongolian countryside. We traveled through steppes and mountains to a ger camp where we would be staying in a few days for part of the shoot. A ger is a traditional circular tent used by the nomadic people of Mongolia for centuries; in English, we use the Turkish word "yurt."
Mongolian Ger
The Mongolian countryside is one of the last truly wild non-private lands on the planet. Within a distance of a few miles we came across a variety of exotic animals and beautiful sights.
Yes, that IS an eagle riding a donkey, thank you for asking.
After a long day of scouting we returned to the hotel just in time for sunset and a Chinngis Premium Lager.
DAYS TWO AND THREE: Ulaanbaatar
Over the next two days, we shot the models around the city, starting with the Gandan Khiid monestary and finishing up with street shots. (sorry, you'll have to wait until the catalog is published to see the photos)
On a side note:
A few months back, Sarah Mac turns me onto TrippingOnWords, a blog authored by Lara and Claire, two self-proclaimed "accidental travel writers" who are currently traveling the globe and blogging about their amazing experiences. Just prior to my departure Sarah points out that L&C are going to be in UB at the same time as I. Strange coincidence, right!? So through an intense game of email ping-pong, the girls and I engage in two failed attempts to meet up, the first at the Grand Khan Irish Pub (a place that I would become quite familiar with in the ensuing nights) and the second at Los Banditos, a mexican/indian restaurant that I never actually found. Now I have to admit that I love the idea of chance encounters with potential new friends in obscure places (such as an Irish Pub in Mongolia), but after the two failed attempts I let go of the idea. This being said, as we're getting ready to break for lunch during a shoot, one of my friends emerges from Millie's cafe to tell me that there are two girls inside asking if she's traveling with a photographer named Jacob. Incidently, I had a great lunch with Claire and Lara (well the company was great, the "grilled cheese sandwich" left a little to be desired) before we rushed off to finish shooting.
LARA AND CLAIRE: I do hope you'll take me up on my offer to host dinner in L.A. when you're back in the states. Until then, safe travels.
DAYS FOUR AND FIVE: The Steppes
On the morning of day four we ventured into the great land of Chinngis Khan, the Mongolian steppes, for two days of shooting. (To clarify, there is some historical dispute as to the real name of Ghengis Khan. The Mongolians that I met don't claim to be certain, but they use "Chinngis," as will I from here on out.) The steppes are a wild land and the people lead a rough existence. In many ways, not much has changed over the last few centuries.
Our ger camp
Our gear was moved from place to place via yak cart. First time experience for Cob.
Its not uncommon to come across the bones of some large animal in the steppes. This one's for Clayton in Texas who would be proud to know that I had to lay in some kind of dung, yak if I'm not mistaken, to get this shot.
A little behind schedue, we began the first series of shots around 10:00 am. By lunchtime, we had three of the five shots that we wanted to have accomplished. This was partially due to the fact that our western culture has a unique perception of time and punctuality; when a herdsman tells you that he can have his horses at the top of a hill at 11:00, he really means he'll have them there sometime before afternoon (definitely NOT promptly at 11:00).
Lunch in the ger camp was the best meal that I'd had so far in Mongolia. This was a pleasant surprise as I expected to pick around a lot of mutton and other gamey meats. Contrary to my expectations we ate salad, a vegetarian soup, and some kind of imitation meat dish (which Tamara apropriately termed "Tofutton"). During our feast a winter storm rolled in and before the plates were cleared a light blanket of snow dusted the surrounding terrain. Needless to say, the rest of the day's shooting was called off.
With an impromptu half-day off, Sal and Daphne went off on horseback while the rest of us went on a hike.
Needless to say, no one made it back dry.
Despite the fact that my soaking wet and freezing cold Adidas tennies pretty much killed my reputation for being the prepared guy (i prefer prepared guy, others would say paranoid guy...whatever, who has the emergency hand warmers when you need them?) the snowy ger camp was my personal highlight of the trip (others would beg to differ).
Gear being pulled by yak cart
For my Dad. Wish you coulda been with me Pop, you'da loved it. Jeremiah Johnson look out!
Note to Merle and Wham: The faux hawk is not coming back...it never left!
The crew in all of our frigid glory:
From left to right: Jake, Adrian, Sal, Estelle, Zdenka, Daphne, Zula, David V., Jodi, David M., Murray.
After a gruelling day of shooting in the snow, we loaded up the buses and headed for dry land and hot showers.
DAYS SIX AND SEVEN: Wrap!
After wrapping up the last of the shooting we had a day and a half to roam around. Adrian and I decided to go back to the Buddhist monastery to pick up some incense and then to the Irish Pub for a pint of Chinngis. On the way, we stopped off at this extremely strange abandoned amusement park to take some photos.
In the end, I couldn't wait to get back to the states. Good night Ulaanbaatar...
...and good morning California.
posted by JLR at 7:10 PM
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