Peerapat "Add" Wimolrungkarat is probably the first and last of his kind -- in Thailand, at least. For seven years, he was the appointed photographer for Abhisit Vejjajiva, the 27th prime minister of Thailand. Channelling Pete Souza, the former chief official White House photographer for President Barack Obama, Peerapat had captured the rare, unseen and human moments of Abhisit -- an alternatively loved and hated figure in Thai politics.
Working with his trusty Leica M9 which he bought in 2011, Peerapat's works eventually led him to leave Abhisit's post in late 2016 to become photo editor of Momentum, an online news agency that's gained a large following among young people. In the same year, he was given the honour of becoming Thailand's fourth Leica ambassador -- representing the prestigious brand's quality and excellence in photography.
With his impressive resumé and even more impressive photo equipment, one could easily judge that Peerapat had it easy -- that he must have been rich and full of connections to make it this far and to use this type of gear. However, it was through pure dedication, hard work and sometimes luck that he landed where he is today.
Born in Chiang Mai, Peerapat was the only of his siblings who leaned toward art. His love of drawing moved into photography after he discovered and "borrowed" his dad's camera -- the classic Nikon FM2.
Things started getting serious after he enrolled in architecture school, where he took photographs for not only his classes but to pay for necessities like dormitory, food, school materials and booze.
"Photography ended up being my main focus, more than architecture," he said. "After freshman year, I knew that I didn't want to be an architect, so I dropped out and applied for jobs in photography. I applied at an architecture magazine to just not let my parents scold me for throwing away my studies."
From the architecture magazine, Peerapat landed a job at Oom Magazine -- one of the trendiest lifestyle magazines of that era. It turned out to be a personal turning point. "I was able to take more varied photos like of lifestyle and food," he said. "So I got to learn what I truly like."
Peerapat ultimately found his own footing, simply calling his own style "candid photography". Capturing whimsical, intriguing human moments with beautiful lighting and composition, this style is what led to him being chosen as the main photographer in the prime minister's office a few years later.
"At Oom, I had the chance to photograph Vittayen Muttamara," said Peerapat. "He was a former Democrat Party candidate. His interview had nothing to do with politics, though. I only knew him as a diving and pilot instructor. We kept in contact after the interview, and one day he messaged me and asked if I was interested in working for the prime minister's office. He didn't say who. So I told him that I'd try it out."
Peerapat, who at the time was jobless again, sent in his portfolio and was instructed to go for an interview with Sathit Wongnongtoey, who was at the time minister of the Office of the Prime Minister. After three days of being snubbed by Sathit, it was on Dec 18, 2009, that Peerapat finally met Abhisit in person. "It was a test day," he explained. "A lot of photographers came that day. This was the first time I saw Khun Abhisit in person and I was like [chuckles], 'OK -- he's handsome'. I didn't know any politicians, and he was the only one who stood out."
After taking pictures and sending in the files, it was radio-silence for seven months before he finally got the callback. "The first question they asked was when can I start," he said. "The second was if I had a girlfriend; if so, then break up with her."
Peerapat ended up being what others called "Abhisit's shadow". He worked seven days a week, from 7.30am to 10pm, following the prime minister everywhere, from official meetings with foreign leaders to hard-hit areas like the three southern provinces and flood-hit areas. The photographs were posted on the Flickr account of the Prime Minister's Office -- only to be taken down when the Yingluck government took office.
"I was happy working like this," Peerapat said. "At least I got to go out of the house and take photos. I got to focus and press a shutter. That was my happiness. To take a photo that satisfies myself -- not for anyone else. I did it for myself."
"There were a lot of moments that I enjoyed when working with him," he continued. "There's too many to list. But he taught me one thing -- one thing that helped ease what I truly disliked. I disliked going to parliament. I don't like listening to people yell at one another. But he's one of the few prime ministers who rarely misses a parliament meeting. He said it's extremely important in running the country. If you don't go into parliament, you won't get to hear, you won't get to debate, you won't get to exchange ideas, and that won't move the country anywhere. So I understood that more. I feel lucky that I got to work with someone who's able to solve problems on the spot and is an extremely fast thinker."
Impressed by Abhisit's work and ideas, and among other reasons like having to deal with extremely bulky photo gear, Peerapat decided to switch brands and go for the prestigious Leica M cameras -- simpler, lighter and with better image quality. The camera and lenses cost Peerapat more than 400,000 baht.
"I was scolded by Khun Abhisit," Peerapat said. "When he found out the price, he asked me, 'How could you buy that? Why don't you use your money for something else?'. I told him 'I bought it to take photos of you. I wanted good photos, so I bought good equipment'. If I had to take photos of someone with no beliefs, I don't think I'll invest in something like this. But this was something I wanted to do and I didn't expect anything from it."
"The Leica is really another part of my body," he said. "I use it for work, and I want to work with quality files that I'm satisfied with. Each brand makes a photo. But Leica has an added difficulty to it. It's not a DSLR where you look through the viewfinder and you get that exact image. Leica's [rangefinder images] are parallax, and the picture isn't perfect -- but this imperfection is it's charm."
Even though he is now Leica's brand ambassador, Peerapat, like most artists, believes that not everything has to do with the brand. "I think photography has to do with yourself," he said. "It depends on if you're diligent in taking photos, on how you look at things, what your eyes see, what you can imagine, the places you want to go, the value you find in things and what you can find. Nothing is meaningless if you can learn something from it. That's been my personal philosophy for over 15 years."
Even cartoons, which many find useless, are meaningful to Peerapat. "Cartoons have had a lot of influence on me," he said. "The cartoons I like make me analyse and research more. I watch One Piece. It's a very political cartoon, and I feel that I can use the characters in my own work, adding onto my imagination. Movies and travel have also influenced me in creating images."
With a successful career established in photography, Peerapat hopes that in the future he will be able to open his own publishing company. "But I don't know if it'll survive [in this economy]. It might have to be done online. I'm not going to give up. I still want to do things that I like. I never thought I was better than anyone else -- I just want to be happy."
Check out Peerapat's works at www.addcandid.com and www.flickr.com/theadd.
