EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH ASH ALEXANDER
Freelance Photographer and Lighting Technician
Freelance Photographer and Lighting Technician
Thai on her mother’s side and third generation Berkleyian on her father’s, Anchalee (Ash) Alexander’s grandparents relocated to Northern California during the red scare where all their liberal activists friends ended up. Throughout her early years her mother moved back and forth to Bangkok to “reground herself and check in with the motherland,” and Ash would often join almost every year on her academic breaks.
“In high school I started having a lot of multicultural confusion.”
With a parent from a different country who was often away, her connection to Thai culture felt far removed from her day to day life. Whereas whenever her mum was with her in the states, she recalls always being sent to school with a typical Thai lunch in a typical Thai ปินโต (pinto) metal lunchbox with ลูกชิ้น (lukchin) and noodles.
“So when she wasn’t there, which was most of my adolescence, I had to work proactively to understand what my relationship was with her culture, building and understanding as someone who is diasporic. Growing up with my white dad, if i wanted to have any connection with that local community it was something I had to seek out and I didn’t always know how to do that because I was pretty young.”
Now she feels much more at peace with it, after putting in the work and seeking out that local community. She only wishes she could be fluent in the language. She can get by day-to-day, joke a little and “talk some tea” with her friends however, and I think that’s all you need to know really.
“I’ve been forming the sounds my whole life with my tongue and my throat I can speak it pretty clear but my vocab is limited.”
Growing up in the Bay area, political activism wasn’t just a backdrop, it was the norm.
“It was very normalised to be a part of direct action. I went to my first protest when I was six with my best friend and her dad. In high school I was shutting down a freeway with my other best friend and her mum, she’s from a very radical Berkeley family, they’ve been arrested. Direct action was very normalised in the bay, even if you’re not literally in the streets there’s so many ways for you to show up and be really intentional in your decision making.”
Freelancing as a photographer in Los Angeles now, that same intentionality shapes Ash’s work to this day, influencing who she casts and how she portrays them. Although she has worked with professional models, most of the people she photographs are friends and artists from across a broad spectrum of backgrounds. But at the heart of it all lies a desire to capture a diverse portrayal of the Thai diaspora.
In Thailand Ash sees a lot of trans Thai creatives doing amazing things in Bangkok and making a space for themselves. But when asked about whether Thailand’s creative industry engages enough with social and political narratives, she says “It’s such a mix.”
Where the commercial and editorial don’t push the envelope so much, she sees a lot people from unrepresented backgrounds building their own lanes.
“People are doing cool stuff and not waiting for the industry to catch on, but the community knows what’s going on. Bigger platforms, not just in Thailand, are always going to play it a little slower and safer.”
Despite this, she feels that Thailand is much more progressive compared to its neighbours. She reminisces on growing up with her gay aunties and her mum’s friends who were all very accepting.
“But at the same time I don’t think there were as many nuanced dialogues happening around gender and multicultural identity. When I’ve talked to people who are non-binary or trans, I feel that Thailand as a whole is more accepting but in the US there is this slightly more polarising push for a lot more nuance around gender and sexual identity, and so now we’re equipped with the words to talk about it with nuance.”
However Thailand is catching up as the current generations are pushing for these conversations more than they ever have. Ash’s work is heavily rooted in the communities where these conversations are happening, driven by a desire to see and be seen. The people she photographs “feel very contemporary” and they’re very tapped in to how fashion is moving and aware of cultural movements. And although the environments she photographs them aren’t distinctly contemporary, she enjoys the backdrop of urban textures and plants that are indigenous to Thailand.
SEE FULL STORY IN ARTIFACT ISSUE N°1