- This event has passed.
Opening Photo Exhibition “Face of Phra Khanong” by A. R. Criswell
18 November, 2025 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Exhibition Background
“Face of Phra Khanong”, photo show at BACC, reveals city in transition
The vitality and precariousness of everyday urban lives are the focus of “Face of Phra Khanong,” an exhibition of black-and-white photography by A. R. Criswell will be on display at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, 4th Floor Curved Wall, from 18–30 November 2025. Accompanied by the opening event, organized by SEA Junction, which will take place from 5:30–7:00 pm on 18th November at SEA Junction, 4th Floor, BACC
The show captures the human heart of one of Bangkok’s grittiest neighborhoods — a bustling place where everyday life unfolds amid bridges, canals, expressways, fresh markets, mosques, temples and dense traffic.
British-American photographer Andrew Criswell has spent more than a decade documenting the area’s rich mosaic of lives and livelihoods: the street vendors, shophouse merchants, motorcycle taxi drivers, canalboat operators, barbers, and mechanics who sustain Bangkok’s informal economy.
Criswell portrays a community that persists through rapid change, whose traditional Thai ways of doing things endure amid an influx of condominium towers, chain stores, and gentrification. His images bear witness to a city negotiating its soul: resilient, adaptable, and deeply human.
Though the informal economy is sometimes dismissed as marginal, in fact it contributes greatly to Thailand vitality. Providing affordable goods, services, and livelihoods for millions, it represents more than half of Thailand’s GDP and strengthens the social fabric through community and connection. Criswell’s photos bear testament.
For more information, please email: info@seajunction.org or phone/wa: +66970024140
Organizer
SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), fosters understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions, from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 407-8 of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre or BACC, SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. For more information, see www.seajunction.org, join the Facebook group and page @sea-junction and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @seajunction.
