Eating in Thailand

Tuesday December 21st, 2010

Though Vietnam-based photographer Justin Mott means well, his photography makes me very sad. When I look at his beautiful images of immaculately constructed specimens of Southeast Asian cuisine, I can only think of how much I would rather be eating these delights than doing what I’m doing. Or anything else at all, really.

These photos were packaged with a mouth-watering article in the New York Times that described a new kind of restaurant scene in Thailand. Most of the authentic and traditional dishes of Thailand can only be found at sidewalk stalls, difficult to navigate for foreigners—and even if an intrepid foreigner tracks one down, it is likely that blander food will be served to uneducated palates. Now a number of new Thai restaurants, catering to tourists with an interest in Thailand’s culinary traditions, have sprung up. You can enjoy Justin’s pictures of different ingredients and dishes in the slideshow, along with some unpublished ones here.

Interestingly, this kind of shoot is all part of Justin’s creative funding strategy. A top-secret personal project of his has him traveling a lot, as he describes on his blog. He told me how he set this project up:

I was headed to Bangkok to work on my personal project so I put the word out to a few editors to see if they had any stories in the pipeline. Since at this stage my project is self-funded I try to double up as much as possible when I travel. My editor at the NYT travel section told me she had something for me in Bangkok… I enjoy these food stories because it gives me a chance to work on a few different styles of photography. I sort of approach it as if I am a documentary food photographer. Portraits of the chefs, still photography of the food and ingredients, and documenting where the food comes from.

So keep an eye on Justin Mott. He might be popping up right where you need him.

-Asad