One doesn't know where to begin, and with what sort of mood, with "Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters Of Photography".
On the second floor of Bangkok University Gallery, the exhibition -- one of Photo Bangkok 2015's most anticipated shows -- goes from a shot of a prostitute in Phuket in the 1950s, a nude model fused poetically in shadow, to that of Apasra Hongsakula in 1965 as she steps out from the plane after being crowned Miss Universe. Moving up to the fourth floor, however, the show goes back in time as well as in temperament: shots from a photo studio dating back as far as 1932, and those by none other than the late Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a revered monk who integrated photography with his dhamma-teaching poems.
"When I started teaching creative photography at various universities, all I could find were Western photographic history textbooks. That made me wonder whether there are Thai photographers whom we can call 'masters'," said curator Manit Sriwanichpoom. All the textbooks, Manit lamented, were just about stating who the photographer was, and when or where the photographs were taken.
Since 2011, works by seven master photographers shown in this exhibition -- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, ML Toy Xoomsai, Liang Ewe, Saengjun Limlohakul, S.H. Lim, Rong Wong-Savun and Pornsak Sakdaenprai -- have been separately exhibited at Manit's own Kathmandu Photo Gallery in Silom. All of them, except Pornsak and S.H. Lim, are no longer alive.
"Of course we have those National Artists in this field, but there was never a proper compilation of works enough to convince me, let alone the students," added Manit. "All those places like the National Archives of Thailand have photographs and documents related to the monarchy or the upper-class. I was looking for something broader than that."
That shot of the first Miss Universe from Thailand was taken by S.H. Lim, or Vivat Pitayaviriyakul, and is among the early fashion and celebrity pictures which, though not photojournalism, managed to capture Thailand's social transition from 1957 to 1977. Lim was the first photographer Manit encountered during an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand in 2010 and was impressed by his use of lighting, directions of the models and camera angles.
"Some people don't consider this art, high art," said Manit, referring to Lim's deceptively simple fashion shoots. "But it's more than that. His fashion photography is a reflection of that period of time, whether it's this woman playing golf or a shot of a topless model at the beach."
The rest of the collection consists of shots of famous actresses and models of the day -- Orasa Isarangkura Na Ayutthaya, Priya Rungruang Phusadee Anukkhamontri, most of which, after a colouring process, became covers of the time's well-known magazines such as Sakul Thai, Bangkok Weekly, Ploenjit, Or Sor Tor and Saensuk.
If Lim's fashion photography was a reflection of his time, ML Toy's collection of 43 nudes, displayed on the next wall, is a sign of what was to follow.
"It was after World War II and I believe he was the only photographer shooting nudes at that time," said Manit. "It was quite some time later, in the late 70s, with the rise of the publishing industry, that we began to see other photographers who did erotic shoots for men's magazines."
What's so fascinating about ML Toy's nudes is how, despite the exposure of skin and revealing clothing, they never for a second feel sexual. Taking them further within the realm of art is his compositional vision and the human connection between the photographer and his models.
One image shows a model bathing in a khlong, half her body and also her face blotted out by shadow, rendering the moment and the surroundings more significant than the subject itself. In another photograph, we see the underside of the model's breasts, but we are more drawn to the look in her eyes. Is that an exuberant sense of freedom, or is she just emotionless, staring at denouncing passers-by?
"He was a real professional, with the camera angle, the composing of light, form and shadow, and the way he directed his models," said Manit. "I've heard his name since I was a student, but there was nothing to be seen because nobody would publish such content."
Manit got the album of ML Toy's works from his grandson but there was absolutely no information provided. He later had to research the photographer at the National Library of Thailand from what prominent writers wrote about him. He also looked at his photos published in old magazines in order to come up with an estimated timeline.
The giants on the fourth floor are of course Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and the late literary heavyweight 'Rong Wong-Savun, who, before becoming a writer, was a photographer for Siam Rath Weekly Review for 10 years. Many of us are already familiar with Buddhadasa Bhikkhu's meditative series -- where we see the illustrious monk in separate bodies (darkroom double and triple prints technique) -- to illustrate the teachings.
Next to that is 'Rong Wong-Savun's documentary of an ordinary day at the Memorial Bridge some time around the late 50s. Manit said the somewhat unconventional style with which he captured pedestrians was something we later found in his writing.
The real highlights for me, however, are those by Liang Ewe and Pornsak Sakdaenprai, whose snapshots of the ordinary have become more than extraordinary to viewers today.
Out of what Manit believes to be as many as 100,000 negatives in Liang Ewe's studio in Phuket which was founded in 1932, the selection shown here is a documentation of Phuket's pivotal transition from a tin mining gold rush town to the beginning of the tourist trap that it is today. In one series, we see married Muslim couples whose races are hard to pin down, with Phuket being a cosmopolitan city in those days. In another photo, a little white boy is riding a toy Jeep, presumably imitating his father as a mine site manager.
Next to that, photos by Pornsak Sakdaenprai taken in his studio in Nakhon Ratchasima in the late 60s transformed rural people into luk thung stars, and they beautifully capture the musical phenomenon of that day. Most interestingly, however, is another series where monks had themselves shot in their robes and in suits, with hair and eyebrows magically put in by an old school darkroom "negative-scratching" technique.
"Oh those!" said Pornsak. "The monks wanted to give photos of themselves to women! We had to edit them so they would have hair. That was popular in those days."
"Rediscovering Forgotten Thai Masters Of Photography" is on view until Oct 31 at Bangkok University Gallery, Rama IV.
Rama I bridge ca 1958, by Rong Wong-Savun.
A photo of a monk and another version of him with hair and eyebrows added by Pornsak Sakdaenprai's studio, around 1965.
Photo by ML Toy Xoomsai.
