I LOVE YOU DAD

“I Love You Dad” focuses on the contrasts in the Thai society: under the surface created according to the paradigm of power, there is a world that remains unseen. In search of complexity between fascination of power and co-existence of resistance, I documented various groups of society.

The King is yellow, and the Queen is blue. Those are the colors of the Thai royalty. When blue refers to Mom, yellow is reserved for the most beloved Father – and if you were born and raised in Thailand, you just love your DAD. The King is everywhere on the streets of Bangkok, and other cities of historical Siam – his pictures hang in the central areas of every room, in every house. Dad is Watching You.

The project “I Love You Dad” focuses on the profound contrasts in the contemporary Thai society, where under the surface created according to the paradigm of power, there is a world that remains unseen, especially to the Western tourists and observers. In search of complexity between fascination of power and to picture the troubling co-existence of obedience and resistance, I documented various social groups that show shattered layers of the Thai society: people from the slum areas, lady boys, prostitutes, as well as teenagers whose fascination with the Western culture becomes a reflection of “soft” neocolonialism of Western powers in the region. The project was conducted before the passing of the King Bhumibol Adulyadej and completed after the King’s passing. In this project I combine my photography experience with education in the fields of sociology and social anthropology in order to mediate and inform about the current changes in the Kingdom of Thailand and open a general discussion about power and surveillance.