Lillian Suwanrumpha

One of the aims of Catfish is to expand the conversation regarding South East Aisa’s diverse photography scene and the photographers who are at the forefront of communicating the narratives of this complex region, their is a long history of the impact of the wire service in South East Asia, it is impossible to discuss this without paying tribute to those who delivered what are considered some of the most poingnet and iconic images from the region turbulent history. In 2020 what function does the wire have, and who are the photographers responding to the needs of the global wire whilst addressing new thoughts of representation of young, educated, mobile generations who are looking to the future whilst dangling with the complex cultural frameworks and histories in which they reside. Lillian Suwanrumphais one of the many photographers who represents such a generation, educated in the USA, UK and based in Bangkok Lillian is employed by a major wire agency and speaks to Catfish about the job, and how the industry is changing

Your background in photography comes from a very different space to the role you have working as a photojournalist, how did you make this transition or were you always driven to work in the field ?

 “Photography was never a dream of younger me. Growing up, I wanted to be an artist and worked towards that goal ever since I began using my opposing thumbs. Even though I have always followed the news and have a keen interest in history and politics, creating things with my hands always took priority. But as I was finishing my fine art degree show in London in the summer of 2010, the standoff between Redshirt protesters and Abhisit’s government descended into violence and dominated headlines. Watching events from afar made me realise that being in a studio making art that is centred around cultural identity and Thainess from 9546 kilometres away was a foolish and disingenuous practice.”

“I had some work as a nightclub and events photographer during my summer breaks which comprised most of my experience with a camera, but I returned to Bangkok at the end of 2010 with the intent of taking photos of the aftermath of the riots – counter protests, gatherings, etc. as visual research for my art. I floated in between part-time content creation and online marketing jobs, still trying to make art on the side, but generally I had very little focus.”

“.In 2014, during the PRD protests and consequent military coup,  I began to dig deeper and look at what other photographers based in Bangkok were doing. My obsession with being good at everything took over, and I realised that, well, my photos were just not very good.”

“ I bagged a part-time job managing exhibitions at a photography gallery and typing replies on the helpdesk for several international photography awards, staring at some of the best news and documentary photos in the world for hours on end on my desktop, leaving the office to practice what I learned about light and composition at the protests.”

“I made so many mistakes in the months to come – running into tear gas without a mask, shooting assignments on spec, giving work away for free for “exposure”,  getting James Nachtwey lost on election day ( I didn’t know who he was), throwing away precious pennies on photo contest entries – but I also met a good number of established and aspiring photojournalists during that time, many of whom I still consider mentors and dearest friends -  including AFP’s South East Asia chief photographer at the time, Christophe Archambault, who hired me at the beginning of 2016.”

“It took a good 4+ years of faffing around and being broke,  2 years of generous mentorship and actually taking photography seriously, freelancing and still being broke, plus a very lucky break when the local position opened up at AFP, for me to transition from hopeless wannabe artist to full-time photojournalist.”

The energy it must take to interpret, represent and disseminate content daily must be huge, how do you keep this level of creativity up ?

 “Honestly, I can’t really keep up that level of creativity all the time.  Wire photographers aspire to put 100% in everything we do, whether it’s a long-term feature story we’re really proud of, or whether it’s waiting 5 hours for a single badly exposed shot of a court defendant through a tinted car window. But despite claims to the contrary, we are only human and have limited reserves of energy. We are also in competition to file photos as quickly as possible, so we do our best to tick the basic coverage boxes (wide shot, tight shot, detail) and file asap - anything that is compelling after that is a bonus. As the volume of work increases, my ability to hustle and make snap decisions whilst shooting becomes more precise - and that’s when I feel most inspired.”

“A stressful, hectic day is when I really find the mental drive to make things look interesting. As much as I think I miss spending all my time and energy on passion projects,  it’s actually the nonstop pace of coverage that has improved the quality of my composition overall and made those longer-term stories more rewarding to shoot. “

South East Asia and more specifically Thailand is often oversimplified in its international representation, as a Thai national what is the most important part of the work you make in addressing some of this simplifications ?

“I think the most important part of working in your own region/country is to treat the people you’re making work about like people, and not objects to be sold to a foreign editor. You don’t need to agree with everything they do, but you shouldn’t be going into a story thinking that you need to “Other” them to appeal to a global audience.”

“Don’t go out of your way to fit people into narratives or tropes that you may have seen in some iconic photographer’s body of work from some faraway land. South East Asia is already a treasure trove of everyday eccentricities - our cultures and customs don’t need embellishment, nor do they need to be homogenised into a “look at this weird Asian thing!” concept to be understood.”

 “Basically, the world does not need any closer ups of anonymous Thai trans women’s tits. It doesn’t do anything to illustrate her story. Nor do we need any more black and white portraits of anonymous children in slums. Just stop with that bullshit.”

We still have to have the conversation about the lack of representation of female photojournalists in 2019, what do you feel has changed and what do you see in your role as the way of addressing this imbalance ?

 “Databases and forums for female/non-binary photographers, such as Women Photograph, do an exemplary job in illustrating the gender disparity in coverage and in newsrooms. But in terms of solid action, I believe that those same self-made spaces still carry too much of the burden for change. It is not enough for institutions to pay lip service to the countless female photographers working today and acknowledge the ground-breaking work of female photographers before us on social media - that doesn’t pay the bills nor does it improve working conditions. Giving jobs and assignments to them do. And that doesn’t mean endlessly shuttling the same few white women around all the major publications because that’s a pretty low bar for fair representation.”

 “To achieve fair representation in an industry where everyone feels like there aren’t enough seats at the table, some folks will just have to give up theirs. They probably know who they are.”

“My role in addressing this imbalance? To be honest,  I don’t know what that is. I’m a relative nobody in the photography world. I’ve also recently come out as non-binary, which I guess complicates my stake in “female” representation. In the meantime, I have to keep my spot at AFP, continue to hire Thai women for jobs I can’t do and encourage women to apply for positions in AFP that I know are open, and say, “I SEE YOU! YOU EXIST!” to as many female photographers I see out in the field.”

“I’m really introverted and shy but my inbox is open to any female photographers who want to chat. A good number of them ask me about how I successfully navigate male-dominated spaces. I tell them I don’t really have a plan for that. Sometimes, no one cares. Sometimes you are singled out and intimidated. Sometimes you are ignored, fly under the radar and end up in the absolute best spot for photos. You have to accept that we live in an unpredictable and unfair world — and that there are some stories that are closed to you because of your gender, skin colour, religion etc. But there are other stories that are open to you because they are more or less parallel to your own experiences. Take advantage of that - these are the stories that are best understood and told by you, as opposed to some privileged parachute. “

“I also feel the need to reiterate that although we may be prepared to put up with discrimination and harassment on the job due to the fundamental nature of what we do, we should not have to tolerate it from any of it from our colleagues. I think that’s fairly self-explanatory. “

Contemporary photography in South East Asia its remarkable right now, what do you think we are seeing now that has been missed for so long ?

“I have to admit that apart from looking at what’s published on the wires on a daily basis and being shared amongst my own network of photographer friends, I don’t tend to keep up with photographic trends - so it’s difficult for me to say what we’ve been missing. But let me just say that I am enjoying the blossoming of home-grown collectives across the region who are taking documentary storytelling to the next level, including Thailand’s RealFrame, Myanmar’s Thuma, Vietnam’s Matca -all of whom are facilitating amazing collaborative spaces for discussion, workshops and exhibitions for documentary photography and most importantly reframing the overall narratives around their own countries through creating divergent photographic practices.”

“We’ve got a huge burst of local talent competing on the world wire services - such as Ye Aung Thu, Sai Aung Main and Mohd Rasfan of AFP, Ann Wang, Feline Lim, Eloisa Lopez from Reuters representing the new generation of wire women, always producing stories I love seeing...Obviously this isn’t new - so many wire legends are from this region, too many to mention - but man it’s so good to see that tradition continue! “

“Although the proliferation of social media has theoretically made it easier to discover and connect local photographers to global editors, there are still overwhelming class and economic barriers stopping locals from sharing their world through their work”

“Photographers from marginalised communities, mainly POC and LGBTQI+, sometimes intersections of both, do not have the time nor luxury to indulge in navel-gazing debates in photojournalistic “neutrality/objectivity”. They are not physically or psychologically separate from their practice. These are the kind of voices and visions that the larger photographic community should be obliged to amplify and protect. The editorial idea that they should put their own experiences aside on an issue in order to cover it, is not only unrealistic, it’s discriminatory.”

“ I know that may be weird to hear coming from someone who works for the “neutral” wire but portraying the truth with integrity does not always mean “fair and balanced.” This overwhelming practice of assigning the big hitters in photography to “objectively” cover issues in a foreign country because of the idea that they possess an innate integrity and respect for their journalistic practice that locals don’t, is just one of the elements stopping us from being exposed to new talent. “