Malls & Markets of Bangkok

Bangkok is a complex, multi-faceted city, full of contrasts a city that represents Thainess in a very particular way yet that, at the same time, is as far from pure Thai traditions as one could go. But, despite all its ambiguities, one of the unquestionable sights that more clearly represents and symbolizes it are its markets. There are countless types of them throughout the megalopolis, both indoors and outdoors, big and small, luxurious and shabby, hosted in enormous concrete malls or spread in tiny carts along the streets, selling all sorts of goods any time of the day or night.

Down, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Street patch I, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Street patch II, GM1 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

No doubt, despite all the diversity they offer and the unceasing shift and change of appearances, there is always something they all have in common: a constant flow of people, a never ending bustle of movement and life, of people coming and going, of noises, colors and smells. An undeniably bond made of tastes and sounds connects them all. The may range in size and distribution, but all of them share the same vibes.

Ths spider web, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Body and concrete, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Breaking the pattern, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

This post doesn't intend to be a comprehensive study of the appearance or the differences of those markets, for such a task would be out of my reach, so this will rather be just a small observation of some of their idiosyncrasies as I have seen them randomly during the last few months on my occasional visits to them. These are just a few impressionist strokes that don't begin to paint the whole, complex reality of Bangkok's markets.

Bring me home, iPhone SE

Reflection in relief I, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Reflection in relief II, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

If there is one thing that links all the images shared in this post and that bridges the disparities of location and time, that is only the fact that all of them are product of my everyday life and, since I usually bring along the camera with me wherever I go, I had the chance to grab these images while out hunting for food or waiting for a movie to begin at the cinema. None of the photographs posted here, therefore, were taken during planned photowalks, but arose as a consequence of having a camera at hand, and a never dormant eye.

Rot Fai Market Ratchada I, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Rot Fai Market Ratchada II, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Rotfai Market Ratchada III, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

If I had to add a second aspect that is regular in all malls and markets around this humongous city, that would undeniably be their ever-changing bodies; there is nothing fixed or set in stone in them, rather at the contrary: all markets are expert shape-shifters. Granted, the street markets are subject to more variation (many of them are assembled and disassembled on a daily basis), but even the malls hosted in huge, modern buildings are constantly changing clothes and appearance as if playing a cross-dressing game to cater and attract more customers.

Renovations I, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Renovations II, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Renovations III, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Renovations IV, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Recess, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

The boss stalking, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Renovations V, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Renovations VI, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Renovations VII, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Some images have been taken inside the supermarkets, while others were grabbed outside their premises, in their vicinity; some where captured at daytime, yet other at night; there are images of people, other images of buildings, others are a mix of them. There is no real homogeneity apart from the fact that all of them have been captured in shopping areas or in their whereabouts. These images had started to stack up in my hard disk without much order and this is the element that I could find to bring them all together, thus uniting them in this post despite their differences.

The intruder, GX80 + Panasonic Leica 15mm

Photoproject: 100 visits to Seri Huamark Market (days 21-30)

After twenty days photographing the market with the PanaLeica 15mm, I switched to the Lumix 12-35mm. At first, when I started this project, I considered using the same lens the whole time for the sake of consistency, but after 20 days I decided that I wanted to use all my gear to take it out of its slumber and practice different things, so I would let the atmosphere, mood and theme keep the images homogeneous. I would not randomly switch lenses, anyway, and I would instead use them for a reasonable amount of time (10 days at least) to have enough time to synchronize the different focal lengths and characteristics of each lens with the market.

Day 21, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 21b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

After one month visiting the market almost daily, I have already detected some faults in my way of shooting that I have to correct: the most glaring being burst abuse. Whenever a situation was tricky during the first weeks, I used to resort to burst shooting to increase my chances of success, but in the end I became too dependent on it and I felt like I was thinking less and just firing away indiscriminately, which is a very bad idea; on day 23 I got 149 pictures due primarily to burst, and that was the warning sign to stop the practice altogether or at least limit it as much as possible from there onwards.

Day 22, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 22b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 22c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 22d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 22e, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

One of the main benefits of coming to the market everyday is that it helps you lose the fear of missing out: since you are regularly practicing and shooting, the chances of getting that interesting, exciting and unexpected capture increase statistically. Granted, photography are not mathematics, but one thing is for sure: if you don't shoot, you won't have any picture at all, and if you shoot regularly, chances are higher to be more successful. This way, the pressure that you feel when you shoot only occasionally and you know you need to get nice captures no matter what is lessened and you can just relax and enjoy the process much more.

Day 23, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 23b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 23c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

The more the people who work in the market see me around, the more they open to me, approach me and talk to me. They are increasingly more curious and friendly towards me, they ask me to sit down in their stalls to talk to them whenever they are not busy with customers, they start checking the screen of my camera when I shoot, since I use the screen to compose 95% of the time; this has had a funny consequence, for I only use the EVF when I need a bit of 'privacy' and I want to stay away from the looks of others.

Day 24, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 24b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

The average number of pictures that I took everyday continued growing, probably due to the aforementioned abuse of burst shooting, and the range was between 19 and about 150 pics. Ironically, this increase didn't mean a higher number of good shots, rather at the contrary, for I had more repetitions and slight variations of the same scene rather than different images, and that was the main reason why I decided to limit the use of burst as much as possible, limiting it to only specific scenes where it could really be beneficial.

Day 25, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 25b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 25c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 25d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

As a way to engage more with the vendors, I started buying things from them (mainly fruits) to get more familiar with them and to pay back the friendliness and acceptance that I was receiving from most of them in all my visits. This short verbal interactions, besides, brought occasional chitchat that let me know them a bit better.

Day 26, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 26b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 26c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 26d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

As my body of work kept slowly growing, sub-themes started appearing spontaneously and unnoticeably, and this was a very interesting thing to me, because each of my visits was a completely new experience to me and I never considered them as an extension of the last ones but rather as standalone visits, yet some themes became recurring in  a very unplanned, organic way, such as sleepers, puddles of light, limbs, mirrors or juxtapositions.

Day 27, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 27b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 28, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 29, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

All in all, the most surprising lesson I learned these past 10 visits was that I started feeling guilty the days that I skipped my visit (which were very few, only 2 to be exact) so the project gradually stopped being a choir to become an addiction, a hobby, something I did for the sheer amusement and enjoyment of it rather than for any other reason. Motivation was still rocking high and I was full of ideas and plans that I wanted to try in the coming days.

Day 30, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 30b, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 30c, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm

Day 30d, GX80 + Lumix G X Vario 12-35mm