Glimpses of a royal life

One of the Kingdom’s most prolific shutterbugs, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn returns to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre with a new exhibition. “Travelling Photos, Photos Travelling” showcases 173 images by the Princess this year and offers a look at customs and countries through the eyes of a talented photographer who is herself usually the subject of photographs. What does the princess see when she is being seen? It’s a question examined in detail by her exhibition.

The images, which include “Punk Wannabe” in Siam Square, “Procession of Queen Maya” in Indonesia, “Apsara of Sigiriya” in Sri Lanka, sit between documentary and travel photos.

The princess travels a lot, probably more than any travel journalist, and fortunate are those who travel with her along the long road.

“The idea is to share happiness with all of us,” says Her Royal Highness as she takes time relating the tales beyond her photos during the opening ceremony on Tuesday. 

“The exhibition is becoming an annual event. At this time of the year, we meet up and have fun over the photo exhibition. Make it simple: anyone wanting to take a photo [with my photos] should just do it.”

The princess’s travel photography starts from her home – Sri Pathum Palace.

They show a palace official holding a deadly little green pit viper. Three happy dogs are packed together inside a wooden cart. Then there are fallen branches lying on a utility pole following a night of violent storms. Here too are tablets in white, green, red and blue waiting for the Princess to swallow. A cat suns itself on a transparent roof. There’s also a pile of durian skins tied together by her staff, who believe region’s smelliest fruit has the power to keep the felines at bay. Looking at these images of daily life, it’s possible to develop a picture of the Princess beyond the persona portrayed each night on television’s Royal Family news. 

Candid and offering “backstage” access to the palace, we quickly realise the Princess shares a few things in common with we ordinary folk. She too has household problems, and she often deals it with them with humour.

“I can tell the durian can’t keep the cats away,” says the Princess, drawing grins from the audience who are amused by the idea of using durian to ward off the kitties. The next photo, “Baitong – a cat” chilling out on the transparent roof proves the princess is right. Perhaps the staff should try an orange next time. 

The exhibition successfully combines portraits, character studies, news and nature. One image I am most taken by is “Punk Wannabe”, showing two middle-aged men, possibly Japanese, in neat business jackets, wearing vivid punk-style wigs. They flash big smiles as they make eye contact with the Princess. 

Divided into different sections, the exhibition is spread out over the art centre’s ninth floor and requires a good two hours to do it justice.

Many photos are displayed in standard size and format, while a few have been printed in unusually large dimensions, the better to make a bold statement. The photo of Longyearbyen Svalbard, for example, is enlarged to the wall size, revealing the impressive snowy landscape of the Norwegian outpost at the Arctic frontier. It’s an image that wins many “selfie” fans.

One picture, says the old adage, is worth a thousand words. And that one picture, the princess says, was well worth climbing 1,200 steps to the top of the hill to capture.

“Look at the Citadel of Sigiriya perched so high on the hill and you probably have no idea how I could make it to the top,” says Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in her soft voice as she gestures towards the image of the Lion Rock of Sri Lanka. “They offered me a helicopter flight that would hover over the Citadel instead of fighting the stairs. I insisted on travelling on foot because I wanted to see the picture of Apsara – the Frescoes of Sigiriya”

Perched on central Sri Lanka, Sigiriya is famous for its 200 metre-high red stone fortress and palace ruins, which are surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs and other structures. It may have been inhabited through prehistoric times and was used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from about the fifth century BC. It is also renowned for its ancient paintings of ladies on the cave walls, which are reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves in India. The Princess says she has heard about the Frescoes of Sigiriya from her history teacher when she was a student. A history buff herself, she couldn’t afford to miss the mysterious ladies – which are roughly at the half way mark to the citadel. Forget the chopper. You can only get there by climbing. I did it nine years ago and it left me exhausted.

With her tight schedule, her royal duties and the obvious security concerns, I’m amazed Her Royal Highness can manage to find so many photo opportunities. Like the Princess herself, the photos bring a blessing to their beholders. 

“Travelling Photos, Photos Travelling” is not an uplifting or “arty” exhibition – but it reveals the more human side of the Princess. And makes you want to save the money for an around-the-world trip.

 

Short distance

_ “Travelling Photos, Photos Travelling” runs until February 16 at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, open 9.30am to 9pm Tuesday to Sunday. For details, see www.bacc.or.th.

_ A coffee table book of the exhibition’s photos is available for Bt900, with proceeds going to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s charitable projects.