Photography that addresses the connection between human beings and the environment, if not expressed through Salon Photography or Pictorialism Photography, forms that often emphasize beauty and refinement, tends to reveal much sharper tensions when people appear within the rhythms of nature. Figures in such photographs are tied to narratives grounded in reality, or constructed in a way that bends toward the surreal, in order to indirectly reflect those conditions. It is almost like a theatrical performance: well-acted and compelling, yet unlike theater, the impact on nature does not end with the closing scene.

The Xishuangbanna Photo Festival (西双版纳摄影展), first established in 2008, is an international photography festival held every two years. Its focus lies on the participation of photographers from the Mekong region as well as from around the world. The central theme revolves around human relationships with water, with the Mekong River as its symbolic axis. Works presented at the festival have ranged widely from conservative to contemporary practices. Yet, based on past editions, the dominant tendency leaned toward conventional documentary photography, where humans are the central actors and the environment provides the backdrop. This, of course, aligns with the core concept of the festival.

The year 2018 marked an especially significant edition, it was the last major international festival before being halted by COVID-19 (later editions were much smaller). That year, many Thai photographers and photographic artists participated, including Manit Sriwanichpoom, Piyatat Hemmatat, Mintra Wongbanchai, and Gun Ketwech, etc. Their presence revealed that photography exploring the relationship between nature and humanity need not be confined to traditional documentary form. Instead, it can extend to interpretations that communicate the “essence” of the festival through alternative processes and definitions. In doing so, the festival, often perceived as rooted in tradition, opened a channel of light onto other forms of photography.

In 2025, the Xishuangbanna Photo Festival returns once again as an international gathering, recalling the scope of the 2018 edition. Several Thai photographers and artists were invited to take part. From the four works I selected for this edition, the only broad criteria were that they relate to human beings and water as the backdrop, and that they help support the work of younger photographers. One of the four happens to be my own work, added almost by necessity, even though I may not exactly qualify as “emerging.”

My attempt was to discuss human-environment interaction in a more indirect sense, departing somewhat from the festival’s traditional thematic approach. Much like many of the Thai works shown in 2018, the photographs I chose contain almost no people at all. Instead, they approach the theme of “human–water” obliquely, using consequences or traces of human presence as proxies for lived scenarios of interaction. Flowing water, faintly visible in the background, becomes a symbol of time itself, passing over them and us alike.

    

Sukrit Patjuntadusit’s series SOMETHING IN EVERYTHING presents seascapes from Rayong province, with industrial factories looming in the background. Yet this is not merely a straightforward depiction of monstrous factories against a poisoned sea. Instead, Sukrit incorporates factual material directly into the photographic process. The work does not rely on supplementary documentation displayed alongside the images, as is often seen in exhibitions. Rather, wastewater collected from the factories themselves was used in the process of developing the photographs: he soaked exposed film in this polluted water during the film-soup stage. The results are images distorted, scarred, and dissolved, appearing as though the film had been corroded by toxic waste. While in fact the destruction stemmed from technical accidents not entirely related to the water, the unsettling effect aligned seamlessly with the project’s concept. This accident transformed the work into something that breaks away from the structures of conventional documentary photography.



Another work, Parallel World by Satita Taratis, engages with environmental issues in a subtle yet profound way. Each wide-format photograph is presented in the cinematic proportions of Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1). The exhibition layout arranges the images in a long horizontal band, creating continuity under the idea of “a single world” that nonetheless contains drastically opposing environmental conditions. The sequence resembles a “spectrum band,” shifting gradually yet inevitably, reflecting the fluid exchange across the complexities of ecosystems. Satita previously exhibited Parallel World in the group show The Interpreters at MOCA in 2022, though space limitations then prevented the full realization of the spectrum-band arrangement. With a larger exhibition space now available, the work can finally be installed as intended (though at the time of writing, I have not yet seen the final result).



My own contribution is an older series titled Theatres (2019), created after I moved to the outskirts of Bangkok near a major expressway. Beneath its towering pillars runs what resembles a canal. The series captures views through the gaps between the expressway columns, openings that frame scenes of dense vegetation, houses, signs of development, and decay. These photographs resemble cinematic screens, projecting the landscapes that existed before the expressway appeared. The perspective is neutral, reminiscent of the New Topographics movement of the 1970s, which refrained from moral judgment and focused on showing “what is there.” Of course, the artist’s perspective subtly shapes the framing, whether or not it admits bias.



The last selected work is Living on the Cloud by street photographer Audsadang Satsadee. Unlike the previous three, Audsadang’s work engages with humanity directly, raising the challenge of how street photography might fit within the festival’s broader framework. His recent series does not lean toward new street photography style, but instead shows a consistent focus: turning his lens toward working- and lower-middle-class communities. Whether intentional or not, his images reveal small but meaningful fragments of lives that are central to urban development. Living on the Cloud portrays moments of leisure, people resting, enjoying public spaces, beaches, zoos, riverbanks. These photographs recall traditions of documenting laboring classes during their rare downtime. The “cloud” here suggests a soft, fleeting respite, before inevitably descending again to the hard ground of daily labor—a cycle that repeats endlessly, like an invisible trap.

All these works will be exhibited in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China, from October through December 2025. This will be my first time attending in person (unfortunately, I could not bring the artists themselves due to the festival’s constraints). I hope to continue selecting and presenting Thai works again in the next edition, two years from now. My thanks go to Piyatat Hemmatat for giving me the opportunity to curate for this festival.