Local Voices: Thai imagescape(s)

“Local Voices” is the digital media platform that narrates the creative horizon of image culture country by country: the photographers, institutions and independent players shaping the contemporary imagescape(s). Der Greif kicks off with a focus on Thailand. This article is an exercise of co-writing to achieve an ever-growing digital archive on the world of contemporary photography and visual culture through their makers and key players in specific areas.

Photography has historically had a complicated relationship with the art scene in Thailand. It has never been offered as a major at Silpakorn University, the country's top art school, and it is not included in the National Exhibition of Art. One of Thailand’s leading photographers, Manit Sriwanichpoom’, improved his prestige thanks to his participation in international biennales. It has only been in recent years that there has been a significant increase in photography presence among cultural offerings and institutional support.

Outside Western photographic festivals and networks, Thai artists have long thrived building connections within the Asian continent, especially with Cambodia – where the Angkor Photo Festival takes place – Japan and Taiwan among others. In the Thai territory, major cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai have shaped the cornerstone of a photographic scene actively contributing to contemporary photography development both through their heritage and new emerging and mid-career talents, such as Prapat Jiwarangsan, Natthaya Thaidecha, Chakrit Leelachupong, and Shwe Wutt Hmon, whom we connected with and featured in this article to start understanding the state of the arts of Thai photography today.

Artistic photography in Thailand is supported by a few commercial galleries in Bangkok dedicated to photography, such as Kathmandu Photo Gallery, to name one. Furthermore, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, established in Chiang Mai in 2016, has featured retrospectives of photographers Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Kamin Lertchaiprasert. The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BAAC) has also held exhibitions showcasing photographers mostly from the 1980s and 1990s, such as Pramuan Burusphat. Vacilando Bookshop and HOP – Hub of Photography are a bookshop and gallery based in Bangkok both aiming at nurturing photographic encounters through exhibitions, photobooks displays, events and workshops. Not to mention, CTypeMag, run by artist and curator Akkara Naktamna, is an internationally renowned online photography magazine – and independent photo gallery run from 2021 up to recent times – in Bangkok founded with the aim of promoting local and international photographers.

Prapat Jiwarangsan defines himself as a visual artist with a background in interdisciplinary art and research. He studied glassmaking and ceramics at the Royal College of Art in London to then move his focus on fine arts to consider history, memory, and politics in Thailand, particularly in relation to the theme of migration. His research has indeed rooted in the study of the experience of workers migrating to foreign countries, as his recent series “The Portrait of Siamese Family” represents.

Natthaya Thaidecha is a member of Bad Eyes Collective, a Bangkok and Kolkata-based international publishing house and collective delivering various workshops in the South Asia and Southeast Asia regions, further contributing to the artistic and educational landscape. Thaidecha’s “As She Calls Her Breath Back” ongoing series delves into the idea of the afterlife, which constitutes one of the artist’s major points of research. Contrasted black and coloured hues incorporate a deep existential inquiry.

Chakrit Leelachupong’s series “The White Wall” was born from people’s rituals of grief for their beloved King Rama 9, after he died in October 13, 2016 when the white wall that surrounds the Grand Palace, where King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s body lay in state, became the place for simple displays of mourning. From highly contrasted black & white documentary photos to expansive landscapes, Leelachupong’s images are rooted in raw emotions captured in street photography and highly connected with Thai photographic heritage.

Navigating complex personal and collective issues, Shwe Wutt Hmon blends artistic expression with reportage photography, using an experimental and sometimes participatory approach. Born in Myanmar, Hmon has been living in Chiang Mai since she was affected by the civil war in her native country. The series “Noise and Clouds” rawly tells of the delicate situation experienced by the artists during the pandemic times, when her sister went through serious mental breakdowns and attempted suicide.