The colors, vibrations, and shades of the sea. The swimmer, drifting in and out of water, endlessly drawn towards this magical, mysterious, and infinite element.

In this story, I explore the visual interactions between water and the human body: the sensuality of wet skin, the abstraction of the body underwater creating new landscapes… this ballet between the swimmer and the sea, ever so mysterious… and the possible, reversible change in consciousness when one dives too deep, sharpening the senses and causing visions, hallucinations.

This project grew out of a long process of revisiting photographs I took one summer when the idea for this story emerged. I first created Songe, then Shades of blue before it dawned on me to blend both series so as to design a fuller narrative. Part of my creative process was to become that swimmer, plunging back into my own sea of images, looking and going deeper, searching for new vision...

SEE>>

My name is Udommuny Kongkea. But my nickname is Chit. I was born in Kampong Chnang which is a province in Cambodia. It’s like 91 km from Phnom Penh. I am the 6th son of 8 brothers and sisters. When I was 14 years old, my family moved from Cambodia to Thailand.

There I started studying and working with T-shirt screening and then later developed an interest in being a barber. My mom wanted me to become a barber and introduced me to barber school. After going there I realized it interested me too. So I became a barber in the Boycambo Barber shop at a night market in Thailand. Now I am 27 years old and I like to model. My true passions in life are photography, modeling, and cutting hair.

Another part of my story is that I am a refugee from Cambodia and it is not easy living in Thailand due to my refugee status. Many refugees get arrested by the Thai police every single day. In the future I want to live in another count...

SEE>>

XK: Where and what did you study?

BSH: I am Korean. I was a high school graduate and attended sculpture art school.

XK: What is the name of the series you are presenting to Aserica? 

BSH: There is no title on it. It is a series of observations on light and form.

XK: Why do you shoot black and white?

BSH: There are many reasons why I like black and white. It was simply cool at first. I think that now it shows light and form, and the contents of photograph better. Color photographs are more fascinated by colors and more focused on these colors and not so much their content.

XK: Women seem to be very central in your work. Could you elaborate a little bit on the reason behind this?

BSH: I have been interested in women since I was a child. I have a very deep interest in love and relationships and naturally I have expressed that in my photography. I usually work with my eyes in everyday life ...

SEE>>