DOW WASIKSIRI
Thai, born 1956
The work of Dow Wasiksiri, one of Thailand’s most successful and celebrated photographers, has been recognized worldwide. His photographs have exhibited in many leading international museums and galleries, including The Musée du quai Branly in Paris, Sattchi Gallery London, The Field Museum Chicago USA, The Royal Ontario Museum Canada, Singapore Art Museum, Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul, GoEun Museum of Photography in Busan, The National Gallery in Bangkok, Museum of Imaging Technology in Bangkok and the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.
Son of a Thai diplomat, Wasiksiri spent his childhood in different Western countries, according to where his father was posted. This multi-cultural experience has enabled Wasiksiri to view own country and people with a dual insider-outsider perspective.
EDUCATION
Wasiksiri attended school in Canberra, Australia, from 1963-1965. He then moved to Wellington, New Zealand, where he finished high school, and in 1974 studied architectural drafting for two years at Wellington Polytechnic.
New Zealand is where Wasiksiri took interest in photography at age the age of 13. He started out by photographing people and pop culture, which have remained his principal subjects of interest ever since.
In 1976 at age 20, Wasiksiri moved to Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College, where he was on the Dean’s honor list, and graduated in 1978 with an Associate in Arts degree in Cinema and Photography. In 1979 he took a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio and Television Broadcasting at California State University, Los Angeles, graduating in 1981.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CAREER
Returning to Thailand in 1983, Wasiksiri has been based ever since in Bangkok.
He started his career as a professional photographer by shooting for well-known fashion magazines. His new wave style at that time created quiet a stir in the fashion industry, (lighting his models by using a colored gel filter, he underexposed tungsten film in the pale light before sunrise to created a saturated bluish effect).
Wasiksiri founded his own studio, ‘Persona’, in 1983 and has been doing commercial and fine art photography ever since. With his distinctive style Wasiksiri is always in demand, shooting for both local and international clients.
In his fine art photography Wasiksiri was also recognised as one of the first Thai photographers to seriously explore his inner psyche and transfer those ideas into surreal photographs. Among his most celebrated series were ‘In search of self’ (1982), ’Mysterious shells’ (1993), ‘Dreams of lost childhood’ (1995), ‘Primal instinct’ (2011), ‘Conversation with the past’ (2012), ‘Reframing the present’ (2013), his ongoing projects includes, ‘My Thai’ (2000 - present), ‘Portraits of ethnic minorities’ ( 2010 - present), ‘Quite encounter’ (2001 - present).
He has had many solo and group exhibitions, and his work hangs in museums as well as private and public collections around the globe. Wasiksiri has also lectured and held seminars at several universities. He is now working on his own book about the Thai way of life.
Wasiksiri has won many awards for both his commercial and fine art photography. He is currently the president of the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand, (2017- 2021), and was also a Sony KOL (Key Opinion Leader). He has had many interviews both on television and in photographic magazines and has judged for many well known international photographic competitions.