Where past and present overlap

WITH THE entire nation still in a state of mourning after the passing of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, his subjects are choosing to remember him in various ways. Some are making merit for their beloved King by feeding mourners at Sanam Luang, others through art and music. 
Apisit “James” Supakitcharoen has come up with a novel way of honouring the late King. Two weeks after the Monarch passed away, he posted a series of photos of himself holding a picture of the King using the background of the original shot as the backdrop for his own photo. 
Gripping the hearts of thousands of Thais, the photos quickly went viral and have been shared more than 50,000 times in less than a month. 
Apisit, 35, an amateur shutterbug and a special lecturer at Ramkhamhaeng University, says he took the photos in an attempt to spread the word about the King’s good deeds.
“It took me by surprise when my little project went viral. Initially I posted the photos to persuade my Facebook friends to make a trip to the royal projects. When my friends saw the photos, they asked me to set the privacy level to public so they could share it with their friends and in less than a day my photos were everywhere. My Facebook followers went from 100 and something to 6,000.
“I started thinking about this project when I saw a photo of His Majesty planting the flame tree at Thammasart University’s Rangsit campus in November 1986. That reminded me of the photo I took five years ago of that same tree. Seeing how huge the tree had grown made me think of growth of the royal projects and then to how they continue to flourish.
The concept behind his photograph is not, Apisit acknowledges, particularly original. The differences in time and space in the two images reminded him of the website Dear Photograph where people snap images of a picture from the past in the present. 
Apisit went through the Internet to search for photos and information about the location in which the originals were shot, then planned his trips.
“Originally, I wanted to take photos of the King at all the royal projects but with limited time and resources, I had to choose a place that was good for weekend trips. It was obviously better if I could get more than one location per trip. So I started with locations in Bangkok and nearby provinces.”
The first set of photos showed the King and the flame tree at Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus and Thung Makham Yong in Ayutthaya’s Muang district, a “monkey cheeks” area, which His Majesty initiated in order to store water during the floods. 
“It is very hard to find the exact location where the King was standing in the photo. I have plenty of photos but many of them don’t have any detail. So I started with Thammasat as I knew exactly where the tree is. But it was still hard since the background and also the size of the tree have changed a lot in the past 30 years.
“When I get the right angle and can seamlessly superimpose the photos from the past over the present day location, I feel that the photos become alive. I feel that His Majesty is still there.”
Apisit’s series includes some happy photos like those of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s graduation day at Chulalongkorn University. “They brought a smile to my face when I was shooting them,” he says. 
“I really love this set of photos. Taking them made me feel like I was there with the King and the royal family. I felt like I was the official photographer for that day. I was so thrilled!”
But he’s the first to admit that some memories of the good old days make the present even more heartbreaking. 
“I took more than 30 test-shots to get the right angle for the photograph of the King in the courtyard of Siriraj hospital. Once I had the old photo lined up with its original location, I was struck by sadness. All I could see in my mind’s eye was the empty courtyard.”
He also acknowledges that some of the photos he would love to take are impossible simply because he cannot find information on the exact location.
“I have a great photo of the King riding a horse on the hill but unfortunately I can’t find any details as to where it was taken. There’s another photo shows His Majesty leaning on a jeep somewhere in Narathiwat province.
“Anyway, the photos are only a small part of the journeys our King took over the years. I really would like the public to see firsthand those royal projects that have brought prosperity to barren land. For more than five decades, His Majesty walked those barren areas and turned them into fields of plenty. 
“My generation was probably the last that had a chance to see His Majesty when he was still active and going on field trips to develop the land. That formed a close bond between the King and his people. The younger generation –or ‘Gen Me’ – have only seen the old footage or old photos so they never really understand how dedicated our King was. 
“For all the photos I post, I provide details so that those who see them can learn more about His Majesty’s hard work. I have to crosscheck all the facts before posting. I really hope that my work helps bridge the gap in our knowledge and transmits his ideas and visions to the next generation |so what the King started can keep on growing.