Nam

Water is the lifeline for everything on our planet.  Many Cultures have associated water with different meanings and water is  used for many different cultural practices. This series investigates some of the relationships that Thai culture and religion has to water and how water is used in some of those cultural practices. 

Thailand’s cultural development has happened along large rivers in the region; this has created a unique cultural and religious relationship to water. My photographs explore some of these practices, especially the idea that water is used as a way to bless and cleanse the land and people of their sins and from spirits with evil intentions. Water is also used to bless people with good fortune, bring prosperity, and unite families and communities together. 

This series, entitled Nam, showcases some of these relationships that Thai culture and society have to water. The images are shown in a small enclosed room with a round table in the middle that has traditional cups of water and platters resembling a dining/living room where many cultural practices are prepared. The images on the walls are hung low to invite the audience to kneel when interacting with the exhibition, mirroring how Thais traditionally sit around the table. This also invites the audience to look through the images at a slower pace and sit around the table and experience how the water-based customs bring people and communities together.