Pokchat Worasub is a photographer based in Bangkok, Thailand. After finishing her master’s degree in Visual Arts from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok in 2014, she discovered her passion in female form as well as broader aspects of sexuality. Her work has been exhibited in different venues in Thailand and abroad such as galleries in Tokyo and The House of Photography in Singapore. Through her camera lens, Pokchat’s practice explores beauty and human form – or as she describes it – the “natural choreography created by emotions”. She plays with the construction of female identity and calls our perceptions of the human body influenced by the convention into question.
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Throughout history, the construction of female identity has been influenced by cultural production. Women have been depicted in certain ways, performing certain roles and their bodies are subjected to certain standards. Later in the 2000s, from the time that social media began to rise until now, beauty standards continue to be spread and images of women are still restricted under censorship on social media platforms. Women are portrayed as “objects of desire” by the fact that no nudity is allowed because it is seen as sexual content.
This selection of Pokchat’s work presents women's beauty regardless of shapes and sizes conforming to beauty standards in distinct contexts. While photographs of female bodies are taken, some parts of the body are exposed, some are covered or include a "self-censorship" to challenge the social media virtual policy. The process of creating these visuals involves intimacy in photography. Being placed in an uncontrolled environment, her amateur models are in their own skin while being captured. These natural movements reveal fragility and human instinct which sometimes goes far beyond her expectation. It is the kind of approach that draws attention to unconventional images of women rarely seen in the media.
As a photographer, Pokchat has pushed boundaries of what a human body can do and be represented to the public inside a frame. Besides deconstructing gender stereotypes through female bodies showing that women can be themselves without having to be “cute” or be something according to the convention, she challenges the perceptions of the audience by letting them imagine whatever scenario dictates the direction of her work.
Pokchat’s body of work has played a major role in pushing the notions of feminism and intimacy with photography. Taking into account that her photographs have proven that beauty has no shape, size or color and women are entitled to express themselves the way they feel like, she has offered a new perspective of the construction of female identity. Her work also allows the viewers to create their own narrative behind the frames and leads them to reflect how their thoughts are molded by the society while letting their imagination run wild.
