Ordinary/Extraordinary, 2006
Photographer Manit Sriwanichpoom says of these faces that “these are the people around my studio.”: “I’d see them pass by every day, but I didn’t know any of them. My life is consumed by the world outside the soi.”
All these people, we see them even as we try hard not to stare. But the ordinary people in our life, those who inhabit our routine day, pass in front of our radar screen unregistered, taken for granted along with the lampposts and other roadside furniture. Until something out of the ordinary happens, we don’t really see them.
With ‘Ordinary/Extraordinary’, one is confronted by a wall of faces. Spare, black and white portraits lit from above. Ordinary people etched by a simple but dramatic light source that brings out the uniqueness of each one person. Each unique face sings its own song, of unique joys and secrets and concerns. No bells, no whistles, no gimmicky mindgames; just really beautiful photographs.
Because more than anything else, they are true works of art. We are made to pause, to look, to really see. With his quiet spirit and mastery of his medium, Manit is bringing us a priceless gift; he is recalling from the depths of our being the sensitivity to see.
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