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People become strangely uninhibited when they play with water in the street. I think it must be owing to one of our atavistic instincts, a distant memory of the amphibian origin of mammals. More likely, it’s because it’s a bit naughty and certainly very wet. April is the month for the Thai festival of Songkran, … Read more

If you walk along the street outside the Poh-Chang Academy of Art in central Bangkok you’ll see a fantastic jungle of half-completed sculptures left behind by former students. Look further and you’ll catch sight of the new intake, feverishly producing work for their diploma. Even a single glance makes you want to go inside and … Read more

When aliens arrive from outer space, a million years hence, they’ll find traces of us in the trillions of selfies we leave behind. “What a cheerful species they were!” the aliens will exclaim. “They grin from ear to ear in every picture. Whatever were they laughing at?” It’s true. People have fallen into the habit … Read more

How do you photograph people who are larger than life? Do you sit them down in the studio, put them at their ease and flood their features with artificial light? Maybe you deliberately make them ill at ease, forcing them into a corner, as Irving Penn did in his famous “Corner Portraits” of 1948. Such … Read more

If Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, represents the top of the food chain — in 2018 it’s No.1 among “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants” — then the eating places I’m showing here are somewhere near the bottom. I mean no disrespect. In fact, I don’t particularly enjoy eating in expensive restaurants. Getting a table is … Read more

I’ve always liked the idea of capturing a street scene in which buildings, cars and people happen to share the same colour. Likewise, I’m attracted to groups of people in the same coloured outfit, but where each person is asserting an individual personality by stance and gesture. Why do I have this ambition? I guess … Read more

There’s a fine Japanese short story by Mori Ogai called “Fushinchu” (“Under Reconstruction,” 1910) which describes the discomfort of living in the city when it’s being extensively re-built. I was reminded of this story on a recent walk around London. Everywhere I went there seemed to be men in yellow jackets: knocking down buildings, unloading … Read more

Can you do street photography on rivers and canals? I don’t see why not. The only difference between the waterway and the street is the obligation to use a boat for transport, rather than your feet. Yes, I admit that’s a major difference, because the knock-on effect is the lack of pedestrians. Without passers-by, the … Read more

The civic authorities in Bangkok are beginning to outlaw the sale of fastfood on certain streets, especially those in trendy, up-and-coming areas like Thonglor. Not everyone is happy about it. After all, street food is trendy too. Bangkok is unique in having the world’s most elaborate street food culture. A lot of vendors specialise in … Read more