YOUTH is the debut monograph of a decade-long project by Thai photographer Chardchakaj Waikawee.
The book's title comes from the Thai phrase wai run, a term that extends beyond a simple description of age, evoking youth as a spirit, an attitude, a way of inhabiting the world. It suggests a condition of continual movement; identities, images and histories remain open rather than settled.
Taken between 2008 and 2020, the book presents portraits of people living on the margins of Bangkok's streets, individuals often rendered invisible due to circumstance, or economic position. Here, youth is understood less as a demographic than as a capacity for adaptation, reinvention and resilience within a city shaped by rapid urbanisation, global consumer culture and enduring spiritual traditions.
The publication concludes with a contrasting series of collodion wet plate portraits of Buddhist monks. Although separated by more than a century of photographic technology, the two bodies of work demonstrate Waikawee's commitment to process, materiality and the visible traces of image-making. They also draw unexpected parallels between distinct systems of belief, fortitude and ways of inhabiting the world.
Contributing texts by Chardchakaj Waikawee, Rachel Harrison and Thanes Wongyannava.