Alain Soldeville

2005 - 2008
This series was produced in Bangkok and completed during an artist’s residency. The photographs were made during the lunch break in the business area of Silom Avenue. During various trips I wandered up and down this busy shopping street in the city centre and was struck by the atmosphere there. Between midday and 2pm the bank and public administration employees left their offices in their droves. Many seemed indifferent to what was going on around them, lost in thought, uptight, their minds still on their jobs. I let myself be carried along by the incessant flow of the crowd going up and down the avenue, and I photographed as I walked. I noticed that women behaved differently to men. The latter seemed stressed, trying to avoid bumping into people in their way and you could read their emotions on their faces. The women were more relaxed in general, joking with their colleagues. This series shows contemporary Thais, those who live in cities and who aren’t always smiling, as tourist posters would have us believe.