Changing the world one image at a time | Tom Potisit | TEDxThammasatU

In his talk, Tom grabs audience’s attention by asking ‘What is the purpose of your life?’ For him, it’s all about what he can do for others. With a talent in photographing, Tom makes the most of his gift as much as possible. He illustrates social issues through his photographs and tells us how to create a better world by using what you already have.

"อะไรคือเป้าหมายของชีวิตคุณ?" จากคำถามที่ถามตัวเองมาเกือบตลอดชีวิต ด้วยอาชีพช่างภาพแฟชั่น เขาตัดสินใจถ่ายภาพแฟชั่นที่แตกต่างออกไป โดยหยิบยกเรื่องราวที่ตนเองพบเจอจากเรื่องใกล้ตัวและประเด็นสังคมที่น่าสนใจมาเป็นหัวข้อในการถ่ายภาพแฟชั่น รวมกับภาพสารคดี ภาพโฆษณา เพื่อสร้างแคมเปญสะท้อนและแก้ไขปัญหาสังคม

Tom Potisit (Theerachat Potisit) is a conservationist, an interior designer, a writer, a photographer, and a fashion magazine producer. He has flown over the world as a co – pilot, photographing endangered species such as dugong, whale, turtle, and dolphin. Also, he participates in many other volunteer projects.

ทอม โพธิสิทธิ์ (ธีระฉัตร โพธิสิทธิ์) เป็นนักอนุรักษ์ มัณฑนากร นักเขียนอิสระ ช่างภาพแฟชั่นและโปรดิวเซอร์งานโฆษณานิตยสารแฟชั่นไทยและต่างประเทศ เขายังเป็นผู้ช่วยนักบินและช่างภาพถ่ายภาพโครงการสํารวจประชากรสัตว์ทะเลหายาก เช่น พะยูน วาฬ เต่าทะเล โลมาในอ่าวไทยและทะเลอันดามัน นอกจากนี้ ยังเป็นผู้สนับสนุนและอาสาสมัครโครงการคืนชะนีสู่ป่า จังหวัดเชียงใหม่

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

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.