Leica Bangkok Captures The City’s Somber Side

Chananya de Ruiter
July 21, 2021

Leica Camera Thailand organizes “Leica Bangkok Captures”, capturing Bangkok in moments of loneliness

People have been stuck in the COVID crisis for more than a year now, and we’re still not seeing much light at the end of the tunnel just yet. The pandemic has officially overwhelmed health systems, businesses, and individuals in unforeseen ways.

Bangkok is known for one of the world’s busiest cities: its streets jammed daily during rush hour without fail, locals crowding both outdoor markets and air-conditioned malls, and tourists flocking to sight-seeing hot spots like the Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Khaosan Road, and Patpong. But what is usually a lively capital has now been replaced with empty venues, customer-less bars, cleared streets and a general air of loneliness—a Bangkok nobody expected to see.

To capture this solemn moment in history, Leica Camera Thailand invited photographers, amateur and professional, to participate in the “Leica Bangkok Captures” campaign. Some of the lens we will be looking at Bangkok through include that of Kittipat Samantrakulchai, Worrachai Sirikongsuwan, siblings Kan and Krittanai Asanprakit, fashion photographer Anakornpubes Hengsuwan and street photographer Sirawit Kuwawattananont. The campaign intends to portray how the city has drastically changed during the pandemic as well as the value of working together through times of difficulty.