Published 2026
 

​

Surface Value is a photographic project that explores intimacy, money, and space in modern city life. Set in Bangkok, the work looks at the relationship between luxury hotels, transactional relationships, and the everyday environments that exist around them.

​

The project creates a visual conversation between two types of spaces: the controlled interiors of high end hotels and the temporary or modest spaces that support the city around them. Portraits are photographed with strong directional light and deep shadows. The subjects look directly at the camera, challenging the usual distance between viewer and subject and refusing to be reduced to spectacle.

​

Symbols of wealth and luxury appear in a different way. Instead of being shown directly, they are seen through reflections in dirty street water. This shifts the meaning of these buildings, turning them into fragile images that can break apart or distort. The reflections become both a visual device and a metaphor, raising questions about how stable wealth and status really are.

​

Rather than simply documenting a place, Surface Value looks at how desire, labour, and architecture are connected within systems of exchange. It suggests that luxury is not only a physical reality, but also an image that depends on what remains hidden.

​​​​​

​

Genre: Documentary

Captured: 2022-2026

Location: Bangkok

​

​

Buy The Book ➤