Thai Politics no.10 is a collection of formation photographs featuring collected from news web site and social media page of Thai military and public agencies. The process of capturing these group shots involves meticulous organization, often with hundreds of participants, and is typically conducted under clear, bright light conditions and from a higher vantage point to reveal specific shapes, such as hearts and royal insignia.
These "living photographs", as Arthur Mole called them, can be traced back to World War I. Commissioned by the US army to create classic American emblems, Mole created eye-catching optical illusion that include the bald eagle, the American flag and the Statue of Liberty using up to 30,000 US army personnel for a single image. In this regard, the "living photographs" can be seen as a powerful tool to convey a message of unity, strength and patriotism in times of heightened national emergency. However, Kaplan (2006) warns about the implications for the individuals when they become part of such a tight unity.
'Thai Politics' is an ongoing series developed from the first major protest in Bangkok since 2006. Whilst exploring the differing political attitudes in Bangkok, the project also examines photography within an image rich world, from the rise of smart phone, proliferation of social media through to generative AI. Punctuating each addition to the series is not only a different dimension to people's political views and behaviours, but also a different approach to how they are captured and presented. This includes curating images found across social media (Thai Politics no.2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) to the more traditional approach of digital and film photography (Thai politics no.1, 3, 5 and 6).