Tag: Community

PHOTO ESSAY : AT THE HEART OF FAITH

November 9, 2025
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TEXT & PHOTO: SAMATCHA APAISUWAN

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At the Heart of Faith: A Portrait of Bangkok’s Indian Community 

The idea for At the Heart of Faith began shortly after the exhibition Connect at Bangkok Design Week 2025, which explored how art can bridge cultures through shared space and emotion. Following that event, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) invited me to develop a new cultural project, an outdoor photographic exhibition to coincide with the city’s Diwali Festival. The goal was to highlight the long-established Indian community of Phahurat, known as Bangkok’s Little India, and its enduring place within the capital’s diverse urban fabric. 

The vision was clear, to portray the vibrant yet often overlooked life of a community where faith, trade, and tradition coexist within a modern metropolis. The BMA sought to celebrate cultural diversity; I sought to explore the human thread that connects Indian communities across borders, from India to Thailand, through the shared language of belief and belonging. 

The project combines two visual worlds, photographs made in India and a new body of work created in Phahurat. Together, they form a dialogue between communities that share the same spiritual rhythm. At its center stands the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Bangkok’s principal Sikh temple, whose golden dome rises above the neighborhood as a symbol of faith and continuity. 

Around the temple, life moves at its own pace, tailors at their sewing machines, vendors selling fabrics and spices, elders gathered in quiet conversation. These are the daily gestures that sustain a community shaped by work, worship, and resilience. 

Here, faith is not only observed in ritual but expressed through everyday acts of care, perseverance, and connection, an enduring testament to the living spirit of Bangkok’s Little India.

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Samatcha Apaisuwan is a Bangkok-based photographer and creative director with over 30 years of experience in visual arts and design. His work explores the connection between culture, faith, and everyday life through a documentary approach. He has collaborated widely across art and cultural institutions as well as leading news and media networks, including the Bangkok Post, Thai PBS World, and the Financial Times.

samatchaapaisuwan.com
facebook.com/samatcha.apaisuwan 

PHOTO ESSAY : SUN-DRIED STORIES: THE ART OF HANGING OUT

August 3, 2025
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TEXT & PHOTO: KONGKIAT SAMANGSRI

(For Thai, press here) 

In Italy, hanging laundry is more than just a daily chore. It’s a visual ritual that captivates photographers. 

Clothes fluttering between historic buildings, draped from windowsills or stretched across terracotta walls in cities like Venice, Florence, Siena, and Bologna, create an unassuming beauty. Some lines are perfectly arranged, while others are charmingly haphazard, yet all of them transform into unfiltered scenes full of color and warmth. 

Outdoor laundry infuses life into narrow alleys and blank façades. Each garment on the line becomes more than just fabric. It tells a story of its owner, of families, of changing seasons, and of the quiet rhythms of community life. 

Photographing these sunlit lines is a way to preserve authentic cultural detail. With nothing more than natural sunlight, a passing breeze, and the unstudied skill of Italian homemakers who hang each piece with care, these everyday moments become sources of inspiration, yielding images rich with atmosphere and meaning.

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Kongkiat Samangsri (Kong) is a pharmacist with a passion for travel and minimalist photography.

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PHOTO ESSAY : LOOK AROUND YOURSELF

June 22, 2025
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TEXT & PHOTO: SANTAWAT CHIENPRADIT

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Buildings, temples, parks, and other structures are created by humans for a reason. Temples used to serve as the community center, not only for ceremonies but also to celebrate festivals such as Songkran, auspicious occasions or even New Year’s Day. The temple of each commune took on the role of the key organizer who brought these ceremonies and celebrations to life.

Over time, the number of people in the community has grown. A lot of people move into the city, often in search for good business opportunities . The big, tall buildings started to overshadow the trees on the ground. There will no longer be one business building but there will soon be more neighboring buildings that will have the same function too, along with train stations and shopping malls. Then, all of a sudden you’re surrounded by tall buildings.

Another change in many buildings nowadays are the design function and the way facilities are used. The buildings need to be designed to stand out or maybe have hybrid functions. While the aged buildings stand still, keeping the neighborhood’s old sense.

What you will see around you might be a shopping mall building along with a business building with office spaces. The British Council Building (1980) is an example of this – it has been transformed into a fashion warehouse and is now surrounded by new buildings. The Temple is now nestled between a bustling city and the park is also surrounded by high-rise buildings.

Look around and see for yourself. There are many things that are often unnoticed. Every little detail is next to you, hidden in plain sight.

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Santawat Chienpradit is an emerging photographer with an interest in architectural and still life photography.

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PHOTO ESSAY : BANGKOK DEEMED

November 5, 2021
by Ratchadaporn Hemjinda
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TEXT & PHOTO: CHATCHAVAN SUWANSAWAT

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Ever since I was a child, I’ve always lived in Bangkok, and never moved anywhere. My parents were quite protective of me and didn’t let me go out that much. When I grew up, it turned out that the restraint from childhood has become some sort of a complex that urges me to walk around Bangkok as much as I can now that I’m an adult. I always find weekend city walks to be exciting and addictive. I like to keep on walking, sometimes with a destination in mind. At times, I would just wander aimlessly. The walk always leads me to unusual places and things, born out of unintentional clashes between humans and nature, all struggling to survive in the city that many both love and hate.

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Chatchavan Suwansawat is an architect and occasional writer. He wrote ‘Architect-Jer,’ the book that talks about the quintessential Thai characteristics through design objects created by people living in the city. He founded Everyday Architect & Design Studio where he works on architecture and its relation to his interest in Thai-ness.

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THE STUDIO APOLLO

June 29, 2021
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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE STUDIO APOLLO

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WHO
The Studio Apollo, founded by Paul Theeratuch Thammatuch–Aree and O Chisanapong Tanateerasawat. We have been good friends since college and know each other’s style of working well. By the odds, we both have always planned to ask another to start a design studio together without ever mentioning it to each other. Eventually, we then found out about the mutual intention and ended up being partners. We mutually respect each other’s choices and opinions when it comes to designing, which gives us rooms for open and constructive discussions.

WHAT
A graphic design studio that specializes in visual identity design, brand strategy, and interactive media design.

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MUSLIM.ARCHITECT.FOR.COMMUNITY

May 4, 2021
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PHOTO COURTESY OF MUSLIM.ARCHITECT.FOR.COMMUNITY

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY
“Muslim.Architect.For.Community” or MAFC, is a group of young people gathered together, using professions of architecture, interior design, landscaping and engineering together to develop global society. We define architecture as “Pace to practice goodness.” It means every work we’re involved with must be placed where people use to practice good deed. It must support daily basic needs to user in both physical and spiritual way. We truly believe that architect is an important profession because architecture is a key component in keeping develop house, town and human civilization peacefully. Today, we focus on architecture that plays a large part in society. There are works that develop rural and urban communities, which are mostly educational, spiritual, culture and public buildings that come in various typologies according to each context from research.

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