FOR POSTERITY NAN FOREVER

       A series of photos capturing the beauty of the day-to-day lives of locals living in hot tourist spots By Sirinya Wattanasukchai
       "We're trying to show the local people the beauty of their everyday lives that they themselves are often not aware of
       It's rare to be randomly caught on camera while going about one's everyday life in a place that happens to be a tourist destination and then see the result in a printed photograph at a public display. Yet the Foto United Club is making that happen to many people in their "Eternally Nan:100 Dream Photos" exhibition now being held in Nan province.
       "We're trying to show the local people the beauty of their everyday lives that they themselves are often not aware of,"says Chiranan Pitpreecha, a founding member of the Foto United Club.
       Started in September last year, the club is the effort of a group of photographers who began by taking photos of Sam Chuk market in Suphan Buri province. They officially opened their club by putting those pioneering images on show at their "Old Markets Never Die" exhibition at that market for the locals to see themselves in print. The next target was Phuket province, where locals had the opportunity to see themselves and their Sino-Portuguese main town in print in "One Day in My Beloved Phuket". After that, the lenses were focused on Bangkok,and then the cameras arrived in Nan.
       Through this activity, the club is not only revealing the beauty of the culture and nature of Nan through photographs to build a sense of collective pride among the residents, but also to promote the province as it really is to outsiders.
       Now in progress at Nan's municipal plaza, the exhibition features 100 photographs of Nan by 51 Foto United Club professional and amateur photographers.In their search for locations for the best shots, the club members hoped that the charm of the sites and events selected would enhance the collective pride of the locals and spur them to protect their heritage.
       During their recent trip there to carry out their task, the photographers saw the small town in their own, different ways and interpreted its enchantment through their lenses according to their individual conclusions. Some captured the slow-paced lifestyle of the elderly,while others embedded the cultural moments generated by the rows of saffronrobed monks and temples. Many yearned for the remnants of civilisation lost as reflected in the eyes of children, and warned of the danger of nature disappearing and being replaced by a landscape of modernity.
       Chiranan, a SEA Write Award-winning poet, fell in love with Bo Klue while trying to find the best views to represent the place. For many, a remote area would be just another mundane environment, but for her, it's a stopover on the route through history. She recorded untouched nature in her two photographs. One features an ox in a green paddy and the other portrays an ear of ripening rice against the background of a vast rice field. While the ox is symbolic of the province, the ripening rice represents the unique rice terraces in the province.
       "Using these two 'models'[the photographs] is a lot more sensible than hiring a celebrity to convince the people to preserve their city," says Chiranan. If they are not proud of their homeland,the locals will be more likely to be influenced by a foreign culture that is inappropriate for them.
       On the other hand, if they have great pride, they will be fortified to tackle any foreign intrusion.
       Nan city and the province as a whole are expected to be the next popular tourism destination now that tourists from all over the world have penetrated every inch of Pai in Mae Hong Son province and have thoroughly explored Loei's Chiang Khan district.
       Somjate Wimolkasem, a history teacher who acted as guide during the scouting trip, says Nan lost the chance to keep abreast with material progress and technology during the past several decades.He adds that one main positive outcome of that lost opportunity is that Nan is now a city without beggars roaming the streets or a red-light district.
       While other towns and provinces are losing their identity, says Teeraparb Lohitkul, a writer/photographer and a founding member of the club, the richness of its nature and culture has been well maintained, which makes Nan unique.
       Tourists often think of Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, but Kriengkrai Waiyakij, another member, who claims to have visited every province in the country, says Nan has a lot more to offer in terms of traditions and authenticity. It has changed the least in the period between his first visit in 1993, a trip 10 years ago, and now.
       His photos feature a Mlabri boy and a Mlabri girl in contemporary outfits, instead of the nomadic tribe's yellow bamboo leaves. It was the curiosity and expectation living in those eyes that Kriangkrai wanted to convey.
       The blue background of the picture featuring the staring girl reflects the sadness and change that have taken over the Mlabri.
       The original lifestyle of hunting or living with nature has now become history.Nobody knows what the future of the tribe will be as the world continues to change and tourists keep coming in, he says.
       "Wearing yellow bamboo leaves is no longer their lifestyle. Their heritage has simply become an outfit for welcoming tourists,' says Kriengkrai, lamenting the disappearing lifestyle and the replacement behaviour staged for tourism out of necessity.
       Teeraparb would like tourists to see Nan as it is now, devoid of any architectural eyesores, but, at the same time, he wants to let the province develop in its own way, unscathed.
       Chiranan doesn't want Nan to be isolated or stuck in the Stone Age to attract tourists temporarily escaping from their fast-paced world, nor does she wish to see the Mlabri wear their yellow bamboo leaves in daily life as a matter of course in the face of the fashion onslaught that is evidently taking place in many quarters of the city."They have a right to catch up with modernity, but they should be allowed to do so at their own pace," she says.
       The award-winning poet frets that tourism destinations frequently change too fast following an influx of tourists."When they can't find a Starbucks, they [the tourists] start to complain."
       On its part, the exhibition is a first step towards raising the locals' awareness of the inherent enchantment of their lifestyle. By embarking on this journey,the club is encouraging the provincial administration and the community to lend a hand to continue to preserve their town."We're not Superman. We can't do everything," says Chiranan.
       The club is continuing its mission of coming up with projects that depict the outstanding characteristics of off-thebeaten-track destinations. A selection of photographs from the Nan exhibition will be published as a pictorial book.
       The 'Eternally Nan:100 Dream Photos' showcase at Ruen Mok Fah at Nan's municipal plaza runs until October 28. Some of the photos have been selected to be part of the 'Old Markets Never Die' exhibitions at the Nan Riverside Art Gallery until October 28.