So, what is your purpose in life?
And why are we here?
I have been asking myself
the same question over and over since I was born,
since I remember anything.
And just recently,
I started doing something
very incredible.
I started doing photography.
And that's how I discovered my purpose in life.
This is me when I was like five years old
with a little camera.
I didn't know
how to operate it.
I was just posing
with a little camera
that my mother gave to me.
I was just having fun with it, you know,
and after that I never picked up
any artistic side in any forms --
drawing, painting -- nothing,
because in school, my teacher always told me
that I was horrible at art.
I couldn't do anything that he told me to do.
I couldn't follow any simple instruction --
to draw a circle, to paint --
in -- , you know, in a simple color, I couldn't do it.
So, I never really used my ability
to do anything in the artistic world.
This is me with my life-partner
who I spent the last eight years with.
And we travelled the world in a small plane.
And sadly I had a really bad fear of flying.
Everytime I flew, I had to pray to God
like -- we have to make it to the next destination.
But I picked up photography
as the tool to escape from my fear.
And I captured the most incredible photos
from all over the world from the plane.
I could see the changes in the environment,
in the people, in the culture.
And these are the important things
that are slowly disappearing
from this surface of the planet earth.
So, I captured these pictures from the air.
And then later on I became a fashion photographer
but that wasn't enough for me.
To take beautiful photo
of beautiful clothes
crazy clothes like this --
make-up, shoes -- is not enough for me.
And then, I talked to my partner
and I thought he could use our abilities
to do something, to make a change,
to make the difference to this world.
So we started a lot of projects,
mainly with animals.
Because I couldn't deal with human being.
We started transporting animals
from one place to another,
releasing the gibbon back to the wild
from the cage into the forest of Chiang Mai.
We have been doing that for a few years now
and it's quite successful.
So Chiang Mai has gibbons in the wild now, again
and these are the dugongs, the manatees;
A lot of people didn't know that they exist in Thailand.
We have a lot of these animals in the sea of Trang
called Koh Talibong,
And we just did the flight survey last month
and the numbers have still been rising and that's good.
There're the big heards of dugongs as well, in Trang.
incredible animal, and this is the Bryde's whale.
A lot of people don't know
that the whales are existed in Thailand,
in the upper Gulf of Thailand.
And we have about fifty of them.
This is the beginning of everything.
So, like I said, a really bad fear of flying.
And this is me like four years ago.
I had to pray everytime we had to fly.
It was horrible.
And this is me last year; A big change.
So, back to the whales' story.
Because I saw these news on the Internet.
Tt's a big dead whale floating on the sea of Thailand.
And then I thought
I really want to take photo of this dead animal!
But not just like this, because it's too simple.
And everyone who came across this news will see like
Oh, it's a sad story!
You know, it's just another dead whale.
So I talked to my partner and I told him
that I want to place a fashion model next to the dead whale in the sea.
And he thought it was crazy.
You know -- crazy people make differences.
So I was happy being crazy.
And why did I want to do that ?
Because the traditional campaign like this is not working well.
I've been working with animals, campaigning for the last 8 years.
And the numbers are just dropping, then I decided to take a better approach.
So I traveled to Samutsakorn -- to this location
where the dead whale was brought into the mangrove.
And we started photographing with a fashion model,
working well with marine biologists.
And this was me -- two years ago.
This picture put me on the front page of Thai newspapers.
And they, once again, called me the crazy photographer.
I was happy being crazy.
I was just watching the news
and see what people say to get the feedback.
It went to CNN and was translated into 17 languages around the world.
And it was the successful technique for me
to raise awareness for Thai people to understand,
to realize that there are actually whales in Thailand.
A lot of people don't even know they existed.
And the Last Farewhale -- it was the title of this photo story.
It was my way of saying goodbye to this animal
that I really care so much about.
Up until last year October,
Bryde's whale was announced the 16th protected animal of Thailand.
And that was the beginning of the next project
that I thought if I combine fashion with anything I believe in
and translate into a piece of work,
I can translate and deliver any messages that I want to,
especially for the new generation,
the young generation
the future of our mankind.
Why fashion photography ?
I think because fashion is in every single one of us
who is sitting down here in this hall,
sitting at home watching this show right now.
It doesn't matter you dressed up well, dressed up dulled,
dressed up crazy like this.
Everyone is connected in a way that we don't actually realize.
It doesn't matter what colour skin you are,
what language you speak,
what culture you have.
I think it's very important to have your own style.
I would take you back to some of the works that I started doing;
Combine fashion photography with campaigning documentary.
The first one was SHUT DOWN. I combined politics with fashion messages.
This was SHUT DOWN.
Remember the Bangkok Shut down few years ago?
The End of the Roads is about environmental impact.
These were roads collapsing around Thailand last year.
Road Runners is about the road safety, especially in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
And the latest project I worked with the mother in prison.
We created 3 pieces of work to raise awareness
about wellbeing of mothers and babies in prisons.
It's not something easy everyday
but captured your attentions.
So, all these works are called
Social commentary fashion photography.
And I know that it worked well.
I can translate and deliver anything that I want
to the new audiences,
to the young generations.
It's a call to action.
And this is the beginning of the Anatomy 101.
The Anatomy 101 is a piece of work that I created from my own experiences.
A lot of people asked me where do I get experiences
or where do I get my inspirations.
It comes from my own experience,
something I care about,
something I feel deeply about.
I lost a kidney two years ago.
It was fine.
I was happy.
I lost a kidney.
I had three.
Most of the people have two -- I was born with a condition.
Then, one of them was failing and I was sick throughout the year.
And then a doctor at Chulalongkorn hospital,
they recommended that I should remove one.
So, I spent some time in the hospital.
Then, I saw this old lady was waiting for an organ transplant,
and she was waiting for years.
I thought, I was just sick for one year, my life was almost over.
But someone who was waiting for an organ transplant for four years --
It's like you are breathing but you're not living.
It's horrible
and you're waiting for someone to give you a chance to live again.
So I just thought, you know, a lot of people die every year.
Hundreds of thousands of people died, five hundred thousands to be exact.
Where do these organs go to?
It goes to cremation.
It pollutes the air.
No one gets those organs.
It sucks.
So, I teamed up with my best friend, Surachai Saengsuwan,
to create this piece of work, Anatomy 101.
Why Anatomy 101?
Remember when we were young?
We studied classes in high school,
Mathematics 101 -- boring I know --
Biology 101, Art 101 -- whatever 101.
And this is the class to teach you about organ donation --
different parts of your organs.
It's a basic class, ok?
So, we studied the art history.
We study medical science way back from 200 years ago.
Buddhism
Movies
Sculpture
Paintings
And then we spent about 6 months doing the research,
two months of photography,
and one month of post processing.
And then we created this.
This is a picture about blood donation,
organ donation,
Hair donation --
Do you know you can donate to make a wig for cancer patient? --
Breast transplant,
Skin donation --
you can donate your skin.
So, I'm gonna talk a bit about this photo.
This photo is called The Anatomy of Morana Nusati.
It's the combination of the best of two worlds;
The West and the East.
The West in the past, to study the anatomy was almost forbidden.
They studied for entertainment in the old days.
People had to dressed up.
But for Buddhism, they study dead bodies to understand the circle of life --
that the body is not ours
the mind is here.
So, in order to make people understand
the importance of organ donation,
I have to take this approach.
And this is the combination of the best of two worlds;
The Buddhism and the medical science.
This is one of my favorite photo from the series.
It's a Red Riding Hood.
In Chulalongkorn hospital,
they have a ward where you can actually
go and spend time with the kids with chronic diseases.
That means kids who can't leave the hospital
and they have to be connected to the machines.
It sucks you know -- I spent nine days in the hospital,
waiting for someone to come and keep me company --
and it must be horrible for these kids.
They can't live a simple life.
They can't live a normal life.
They can't just go and run around in their hometown.
So I imagine if I was that kid,
I would like to have someone to be there,
to read books for me, to bring toys for me.
So, I created this story about the fairy godmother
who comes to read books for the little kids;
The Red Riding Hood.
But in return, she starts making a little dress
as a gift back to the fairy godmother.
This is the simple, simplest thing you can do --
to donate your time.
Like every artist's big dream,
you want to have big exhibition
in the national gallery,
in a big musuem,
in a shopping mall.
But it was not my intention to become famous.
The Anatomy 101 was the project about the people who are in need,
to make a voice to the people who actually can give.
It was important that I bring the whole project back to where it all started;
Chulalongkorn Hospital.
It was quite a challenge.
Because in order to persuade the board of directors
to have a fashion photography
taken inside the hospital was the first step,
but to have fashion exhibition exhibited in the building
where the patients are waiting for their queue
it's almost impossible.
But I was lucky that they believe in me;
believe in my cause.
So, we splitted Chakrabongse Building into halves.
The first half is still operating as the reception area for the patients.
The second half is the exhibition.
So, people who come to the exhibition can actually see the two worlds:
The sickness and the beauty of fashion photography.
They actually can enjoy the exhibition.
But the sick patients, they are part of my exhibition as well.
They are the live installation that rotate every minute.
They come from different backgrounds,
with different needs, different costumes, different types of people.
And I want people to feel, to understand, what I was going through
And at the end of the exhibition,
I placed a little table from Red Cross
where they can actually donate
their organs, their eyes and their bodies.
So, after the eight days of the exhibition,
we raised 500 donors.
And you know what -- 1 donor can save up to 50 lives.
Imagine in a few years, if people start doing the same thing;
The problem of organ donation
or people waiting for their organ transplant will be over.
This is just the basic thing that people should do.
So back to where it all started of this talk.
I asked you what is your purpose of life,
why are we here.
It doesn't matter to me anymore.
I discovered myself.
as photographer, as people,
someone who can actually use my talent to make a change,
to make a difference,
to make good for someone or something,
and that's enough for me.
You can do the same thing as well.
I believe that everyone has something good in you
that you can use to make a change,
to make something big, something different,
something good for the other,
and then reward is so fulfilling to you.
So, you can start easiest thing by donating your organs;
part of your bodies that you won't need anymore once you're gone.
Just like this, the kidney, give it to them.
Your liver, so stop drinking and start donating.
Your lung
Actually one of the most important things is your heart.
You have to have a heart
Because once you are done in this lifetime,
once you take off your skin,
the only thing you can take up to heaven is your good soul.
And this is how I change the world,
one image at a time.
Thank you.