An old leather album with 143 black-and-white photographs by MC Subhasvasti Svasti, known as Tan Chin, was found in a tin box amid many other heirlooms in his grandson's home. Renowned photographer Manit Sriwanichpoom was surprised by the album's discovery, which has both artistic and historical value.
"My wife Ing Kanjanavanit is the granddaughter of MC Subhasvasti. When Jakkai Siributr, MC Subhasvasti's youngest grandson, asked her to go through the storage space at their grandparents home, we found photos taken by MC Subhasvasti. The photos were printed on special sepia-toned paper and many were taken when MC Subhasvasti served as a royal guard to King Rama VII and Queen Rambhai Barni during King Rama VII's exile in England," said Manit.
"This is a missing jigsaw piece in the history of Thai photography. MC Subhasvasti's work showed that he was a skilled photographer who had a keen eye for artistic compositions and great knowledge of lighting. His work tells us that there are still talented photographers from the past, whether nobility or commoners, professionals or amateurs, who remain to be discovered."

MC Subhasvasti’s stairs photo.
MC Subhasvasti (1900–1967) was a leader of the Free Thai Movement during World War II, after which he became Pridi Banomyong's ambassador to the UN. After Pridi went into exile, MC Subhasvasti became the gentleman farmer of Suan Sema, an innovative vegetable farm in Phetchaburi.
Of the 143 photographs in the album, some were selected for display at the exhibition "Foreign Lands" at Galerie Oasis. As the exhibition curator, Manit explained that the selected photographs were divided into three categories -- portrait, travel and still life.
MC Subhasvasti took portraits of people who were close to him, especially his wife, Mom Samoe, and his four daughters. Photos of King Rama VII and Queen Rambhai Barni are also included. These portraits were created using unique camera angles, lighting and model poses making captivating compositions like those of professional photographers. MC Subhasvasti's photographs also revealed how royal family members dressed, the atmosphere in the palace and their travels.

MC Subhasvasti’s travel photographs.
There are two portraits of King Rama VII and four portraits of Queen Rambhai Barni, who appears elegant and sophisticated in all. One portrait is a half-body shot of King Rama VII looking splendid in a black suit and a bow tie. Another portrait of the king is very like one in which he wears a safari suit and sunglasses with a cigar in his mouth, and appears to be walking down a wooden staircase.
Unfortunately, since MC Subhasvasti and his wife Mom Samoe have already passed away, nobody knows where the portraits were taken.
"The portrait of King Rama VII smoking the cigar is intriguing since not many people have ever seen it. I don't know where the photo was taken. It was probably Thailand or Egypt. I saw a photo of the king in this outfit when he visited the people in the countryside. If it was taken in Thailand, it must be before they went to England," explained Manit.
Manit pointed out that it was unexpected to discover that MC Subhasvasti, who graduated from military and police studies, would have possessed a profound understanding of the art of pictorial photography and Russian avant-garde photography.

MC Subhasvasti’s travel photographs.
Manit explained that most of MC Subhasvasti's works were created with the art of pictorial photography. Pictorialism was an aesthetic movement in the late 19th and early 20th century. The art of pictorial photography was created because of criticism at the time that the field lacked aesthetics and hence was not considered art.
"Pictorialism is a form of photography that attempts to create an artistic image like a painting rather than a picture. At the time, photography was not accepted as art since images were not created from a blank slate, but came from subjects in front of cameras. Photographers tried their best to create photos that did not look stiff and machine-made. They attempted to create new aesthetics using filters and compositions."
Besides pictorial photography, "Foreign Lands" showcases two photos of Russian avant-garde photography. The first photo depicts three people walking up a set of stairs. The photo has a unique perspective with perfect composition, lighting and shadows. The other photo captures an image of skyscrapers from an unconventional angle.

MC Subhasvasti’s travel photographs.
Manit explained that Russian avant-garde photography features unconventional compositions and aspects which differ from what our eyes normally see. He also mentioned that MC Subhasvasti's stairs photo reminded him of a masterpiece created by Alexander Rodchenko, who was a crucial figure of the Russian avant-garde photography movement.
"Russian avant-garde photographs do not directly capture subjects in the front. Instead, photographs are captured from high or slanted angles that create rhythmic lines and unusual and bizarre perspectives. Take for example Rodchenko's Stairs (1929), which instead of directly capturing subjects up front features shots from above the stairs to create graphic lines," explained Manit.
"MC Subhasvasti's stairs photo was taken from a high angle and the camera angle was adjusted to be tilted. For the skyscraper photograph, MC Subhasvasti created a line-up of buildings reaching up to the sky, which is considered futuristic. The question though is how did MC Subhasvasti know about Russian Avant-garde photography since he was in England? I don't know if MC Subhasvasti learned about Russian avant-garde photography if he came up with these techniques on his own."

A self-portrait of MC Subhasvasti with his wife Mom Samoe.
In addition to portraits, MC Subhasvasti's travel photographs display camera angles that show his understanding of art. He captured landscapes of countries like Egypt, Italy, Switzerland and the US where he accompanied King Rama VII. Manit commented that MC Subhasvasti's techniques and camera angles look like those used by professional Western photographers.
Still life photographs are also included in the exhibition because MC Subhasvasti created these as well and Manit wanted to display a variety of works.
"Foreign Lands" also displays portraits of other royal family members such as Prince Chirasak Supraphat, MC Karawik Chakrabandhu and MR Pantip Paribatra. There is also one portrait of Bunny Austin, a famous English tennis player, who was invited to play tennis with King Rama VII.

MC Subhasvasti’s skyscraper photo.
This discovery inspired Manit to do more research about Thai photographers of that period. He contacted Michael Pritchard, a photography historian in the UK and received information that King Rama VII, HRH Prince Purachatra of Siam and Prince Prajadhipok of Siam were members of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) of Great Britain, but MC Subhasvasti was not on the list.
"I became interested in the Thai members of RPS. Since there are journal archives available in the UK, I am thinking about visiting and searching for some answers. This will be a further study from of previous exhibition 'Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters of Photography (2015)' which gathered the work of seven Thai masters of photography including Buddhadasa, Rong Wong-savun and ML Toy Xoomsai. If I had found the photo album of MC Subhasvasti at that time, I would have included his work in the exhibition," said Manit.
"I hope people will come see 'Foreign Lands', so they know that Thailand has another skilful photographer. Though he was not a professional photographer, his abilities were far from ordinary and up to international standards."
"Foreign Lands" runs at Galerie Oasis, Sukhumvit 43, until Feb 23. Admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/galerieoasis.bk.