Ark Saroj’s photobook Lust and Love was released yesterday. The book was inspired by New York photographer Peter Hujar’s monograph Love and Lust and, like Hujar, Ark photographs his friends and former lovers: “They are real people and with some of them I have shared intimate moments.” One of Lust and Love’s most explicit images — a black-and-white double-page spread — was shown at the KinkyBKK exhibition at Silom’s Pulse Gallery in Bangkok from 8th to 30th September last year.
An essay by artist Oat Montien in Lust and Love compares Ark and Hujar’s nude portraits: “They give us the license to really meditate on their very graphic material on a deeper level beyond the immediate shock and taboo.” The same also applies to other photographers, such as Ohm Phanphiroj and Shotbyly, whose work demonstrates the increasing visibility of LGBT representation in contemporary Thai art.
An essay by artist Oat Montien in Lust and Love compares Ark and Hujar’s nude portraits: “They give us the license to really meditate on their very graphic material on a deeper level beyond the immediate shock and taboo.” The same also applies to other photographers, such as Ohm Phanphiroj and Shotbyly, whose work demonstrates the increasing visibility of LGBT representation in contemporary Thai art.
