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Kraisorn Chokpichit

"My name is Kraisorn Chokpichit, I was born in Bangkok on May 20, 1966. I come from a cow farm in the province. When I was 17 or 18 years old, my father sent me to Holland to study agriculture, but instead I registered for art. I was a spoiled kid and I did whatever I wanted to. A year later I was forced to study Buddhist philosophy, but I dropped out and started working at a nightclub in Amsterdam. I didn't study anything; I had a girlfriend and I started to traveling around Europe.

"I had to return to Bangkok, where I stayed for a couple of months and then my father sent me abroad again, to Australia where I studied to become a pilot. I graduated and worked in Australia for a while, but there were protests from the pilot union and all pilots were dismissed so I worked as volunteer pilot. At the same time, the Australian government was offering scholarships for Thai people to learn about mass communication in order to work as liaison officers between the Thai community and the Australian government. I won this scholarship and after that I worked for the Australian government as liaison officer. I came back to Thailand to work for a big media company. However, because of the economic crisis in Thailand, I became unemployed.

"Anyway, I started learning all about photography by myself. I read and talked with my friends who were professional photographers, also self-taught. I acquired considerable experience. I am interested in all kinds of themes: life, countryside, special events, people, children and nudes. And all of my work is black and white.

"I went traveling to the north of Thailand and I met my wife at the Loi Kratong Festival, celebrated on the full-moon night of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November. This celebration is to ask Mae Phra Khongkha, the guardian angel of the water, for appeasement as well as her forgiveness for abusing and polluting the water throughout the year. I can't explain how I felt at the time, but just two days after meeting her I asked her to marry me. She was an artist and I loved her very much. We were always together, we were never apart. But sadly, after four years of marriage, she died of leukemia.

"To this day I am still sad, and still thinking of her. I have not returned to my home because we spent our life together there and it reminds me of her too much. I spend my time at my studio, taking photographs and selling them at local art markets.

"Professor Plake Kitfuangfoo told me about Novica, and I think it poses a good challenge for my ability. Professor Kitfuangfoo has taught me about life and persuaded me to engage in an activity that will make me forget about the sadness. Right now, I work as his assistant, while keeping up my photography, transforming some photos into postcards. I'm also writing my experiences as pilot for a magazine."