The Face Of Thailand

He’s old school, Ronn Aldaman, photographer and Thai resident, who once tried digital cameras. He had a Nikon D200 and Canon 5D with a few zooms. He’s using film again exclusively.

And “limits” himself to primes, with basically only the 35mm and 50mm. “Once the 50 finds its way onto a camera it tends to stay on for a while,” says Ronn who “likes to get in and blend and be a part of it.”

It’s photo journalism of the finest Ronn is exhibiting at I-Gallery from June 5th until the end of the month – even though “The Face of Thailand” is a selection of a selection of about 1% keepers from thousands of photos.

Imagine the pain the artist must go through when selecting by detaching the self emotionally. And maybe a gallery is more reluctant than the artist is eager, to exhibit potentially provocative subjects/objects.

What do I know. But when you’re into art, Bangkok and photography, the Euro/American’s exhibit is a must.

Sponsored by Leica and Bangkok’s still unmatched IQ Lab, Ronn won’t show you the Thailand you know. But people, faces, fate. In the end they are what life is all about.

Ronn’s capturing the present with tools of the past, such as Leica’s renowned M6, M7 & MP as well as Nikon’s FM2n & F3.

Why the love for the Leicas, I asked. They just work, he said. They are inconspicuous. And so silent. In U.S. court rooms they’re the only photo cameras allowed because of their absolutely quiet shutter.

Says something about Ronn’s approach to photography. Are you a zoomer capturing everything from afar?

Won’t work with Ronn’s style: “It’s real people in real life situations and their traditions and cultures, their struggles and the stoicism that I find intriguing and worthwhile to document.”

Zooms would limit the angle.

A lesson for us mere mortals. Are we really using our eyes.

Give this a try: “Get in and blend and be a part of it.”

Here some teasers, Ronn’s gallery Sleepers and three of his works:


The Face of Thailand
Photo Exhibit by Ronn Aldaman
June 5th – June 30th, 2009
I-Gallery
1500 New Petchaburi Road
Beside TAT, near MRT’s Petchaburi station




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  5. Ask The Locals
  6. In Thailand It’s Real, Halloween
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June 3, 2009 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, Photography, TTT - Top Thai Things 

Comments

6 Responses to “The Face Of Thailand”

  1. Andrew on June 3rd, 2009 5.50 pm

    To make it even easier to find, this gallery is located right above Coffee World (… and a 2-minute walk from my office, so I’ve no excuses).

  2. Talen on June 4th, 2009 2.52 am

    Beautiful photos … definitely gives an amateur photographer like me incentive but at the same time reminds me that I am indeed an amateur.

  3. whoopla on June 4th, 2009 5.47 am

    Great photos, regardless of the analogue or digital, people are getting pissed off with certain aspects of face in Thailand: I packed up and shipped out:

    http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/17797/xenophobic-nonsense-from-the-land-dept

  4. BangkokDan on June 4th, 2009 10.59 am

    You’re serious whoopla? Leaving just like that?

    Again, agreed, that’s no longer the place we moved to some years ago. I never imagined having to live in a house surrounded by a high-voltage electrified fence.

    But can it get worse?

    And some people still have to work. Not that easy to just pack up, even though Thailand makes it easier by the day.

    Random notice: Was at Suvarnabhumi yesterday midnight. Usually the time major flights leave for Europe.

    Never seen that giant terminal so empty and lonely. No queues, but lots of space.

    The real economic stats of Thailand must be worse than what we’re fed.

    BangkokDan

  5. Catherine on June 4th, 2009 6.13 pm

    Beautiful photos, thank you for sharing them. I went straight to the sleepers too as I have a hankering for enlarging my collection (as a beginning, I’m enlarging everything in my collection).

  6. whoopla on June 5th, 2009 5.35 am

    Femme is King: Actually, after watching the butch euro tennis finals I have been won back to true feminine Thailand, Dan, you are right, jaii yen!

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