Photography+: How did you get into photography?
Krerkburin Kerngburi: When I was a child, I didn’t like to be photographed. But my mom liked to have family photos, so I started taking these photographs for her. I continued through university and started work as a freelance photographer, then in 2012 became fascinated with street photography. I shifted my focus in that direction, inspired by photographers such as Martin Parr, Martin Koller, and so on.
P+: Why did you choose to study photography in the UK?
KK: I didn’t choose it, the universe did. The UK was one of my dream countries to visit because it’s rich with art and culture, and home to artists I really like such as Martin Parr and Banksy. I wanted to learn something new abroad, improve my photography, follow my dream to meet Martin Parr, and watch football!
P: What was it like to go back to Thailand from the UK?
KK: Studying in the UK gave me new experiences and perspectives. For the first time I experienced freedom of thought and speech, and when I came back to Thailand, I got reverse culture shock as I saw things differently. I felt like things were slowly moving backwards in my home country. There could have been skyrocketing development, but change might have made those in power lose benefits. So things have been kept as they are, the same belief system, unfair capitalism, huge wealth gap, and junta regime.
In Thailand we can’t speak about everything in the public space, so I use photography to speak my mind and let people decode what I want to say. My work is satirical. I use humour because it is simple and straightforward, but at the same time it can subtly reveal meaningful undertones, encourage scepticism, and provoke new questions about the culture itself.