Preface

Towards the end of 2011 and in 2012, I traveled to various places in Thailand and abroad. My camera always accompanied me wherever I went. If it was an official event, I would put my camera in my pocket. Foreigners who know me would ask, "You didn't bring your camera with you today?" if they did not see me with one. My camera has thus become an important piece of equipment for me when I travel, like my notebooks, pens, mobile phone and computer. At times they can be quite cumbersome. For instance, for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, I had to bring my big camera, my small camera as well as a tripod. Even so, I still felt the results were not as good as I had hoped because so many things hap­pened simultaneously I did not know where to aim and take a picture. I was also sitting quite far away.

When I was young, there was quite a serious incident that took place in Asia which was the Vietnam War. In addition to the regular news reports about the war, a new form of reporting through photographs called "photo journalism" was made famous by "Life" magazine. It is believed that "the camera never lies," to which others have added "but photographers can and do. Some photographers set the scene before tak­ing a picture and use technology to enhance their photographs to their liking. But all the photographs in this exhibition are real [there may be one or two photographs where people were asked to pose!), and therefore serve as my "photo essay" of my travels. "We do not know the future, but we still have to march on. (Lyrics from a navy song.)