WARNING!

This set of photos has been taken to liberate fear and to party with ghosts in the area.

The artist’s inner confusion ignited this work.  An upcountry boy who is interested in photography came to the city university all by himself.  For the assigned homework, he blended his confusion mixed with his fear into his work.

Earth-Phongsathon Boonto chose ‘Leading Light’ as an object to convey his fear.  The leading light leads us to event places.  We normally see them leading us to any monastery fair.  The colourful leading lights lead us to a happy celebration, the white neon lights symbolize the funeral.

The artist’s major imprinted fear since childhood is the warning not to wander into dark hidden places because ghosts would follow along.  Growing up, this kind of fear does not totally disappear.  He only is brave enough to accept this fear of darkness.

“Since we were young, family members warned us not to wander far, not to go in dark places because there are ghosts.  As a child, I really feared it because that warning came from family members.  Growing up, I have learned that  it is only a strategy to protect children for fear of the danger and no one was there to help.”  For this work, Earth not only denied his fear alone, but took his family members along to do the project.  He wanted them to prove the existence of ghosts together with him.

The dim light from the leading light seemed to crawl slowly to spread a small amount of light in the darkness. Earth’s idea about the dim light is, “Although the light is dim, it can represent the bravery in our minds.  It is the first step of us facing fear and gradually fighting it.”

Earth changed his hometown of Ratchaburi as the place to nurture his fear of ghosts to the battlefield where he fights his fear.  A camera will be his shield, the leading light as the sword.

“If the ghost really exists but we cannot see them, we will use the leading lights to hold a party for them.”  The place he chose is the place which is believed ghosts exist.  They are abandoned areas or graveyards.  All of these areas were deserted and covered with total darkness.  The graveyards are left unattended in contrast with the colourful lights at the monasteries during the celebrations.  Earth would like to hold the same kind of celebrations for the ghosts.

“Scientifically, we did this to prove the fact.  Superstitiously, we are holding celebrations for the ghosts.” Earth concluded his mindset for this work. 

This work gathers enormous feelings of a confused child into a set of photos expressing the artist’s understanding of all those feelings.

Apart  from his concept, the artist told us about the technique and the process.  He had to travel around to find places that can respond to his childhood fear.  Taking photos repeatedly at every period of the day and overlaid them together in order that the light from the leading light and the atmosphere of the environment can perfectly represent the picture in his head.