Seeing is believing

Kanachai "Kit" Bencharongkul is devoted to the adage "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but the real beauty of his new book of portraits is that all the money from sales goes to blind people.

Kit certainly doesn't need the money. He's an art collector and the youngest son of DTAC telecom tycoon Boonchai Bencharongkul. Yet when it came to recruiting models for his photography, no one knew who he was.

They took a little persuading but, in the end, Kit had more than 100 portraits of some very well-known people, none of whom was paid a single baht.

They include politicians, socialites, entertainers and businesspeople, among them Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Chatchai Plengpanich, Ken Chaiyadej, Petchara "Um" Chaichey, Cherman Boonyasak, Khunying Piyabhat Pirompakdi, MR Srikhumrung Yukol and U-wittaya of Red Blue.  

The book, "Eye to Eye" - complete with Braille lettering on the cover - was released on Wednesday at Siam Paragon amid an exhibition of the photos and some moving words from Kit.

 "I understand the importance of eyes and sight," he said, "and that I'm privileged to be able to see, so that I'm not only able to take pictures, I'm able see the world from different perspectives. If I didn't have my sight, I don't know what kind of life I'd have.

"So I wanted to take this opportunity to give something to people who aren't so fortunate."

Kit said he got started last April and in the first month got pictures of 20 people. Then he had to set the project aside for three months while he continued his studies in London.

"It was a bit slow at the beginning because no one knew who I was or what the project was about. But as time went on, more people got to know about it, and I got quicker replies from the people I wanted to shoot, who are all very busy people and had to find time to fit us in on their schedules."

Kit's pal Gun Plengpanich was a big help at the beginning, persuading his actor father Chatchai to be the first model. Chatchai is seen with a day's growth of bearded and lost in thought.

"I'm very lucky to have got him, a superstar," Kit said. "Having him involved helped attract other models."

Getting Abhisit on board was no mean feat, but Kit's Uncle Vichai pulled some political strings, and Kit found himself snapping the Prime Minister at Paliament. He was rewarded with a slight smile.

"I was really fast, only two minutes," Kit said. "We had the lighting and set-up ready before he arrived at 7 in the morning. Working with him was very easy. He was very casual."

Dad Boonchai and Uncle Vichai posed too, both in casual whites and surrounded by Louis Vuitton trunks.

It was Boonchai who gave Kit his first camera, an import from Tokyo, when he was only three years old, sparking a lifetime passion.

"The love of photography runs deeps in our family, since my father's time," Boonchai writes in the foreword to "Eye to Eye".

"He loved to take pictures, especially of his children. We all have very good collections of childhood memories in black and white that my father took with his Rolleiflex. His first, and only, job working for someone else was as a manager in a camera shop."

Boonchai says he also loves taking pictures, but business responsibilities have largely kept him away from the pastime.

"Kit, on the other hand, can have a lot of fun shooting, whether deciding what's next or just shooting spontaneously."

For a role model, Kit leaned more on veteran photographer Sakchai Guy, the editor-in-chief of Lips magazine, and he includes a shot of Sakchai in the book, engulfed in foliage.

"Phi Sak loves nature and I wanted to portray him that way," Kit said, noting that Sakchai also organised the exhibition and he and his team help him with the look of both the book and its pictures.

"I've known Kit for almost 20 years," Sakchai writes in the book, "and I've always noticed his fine upbringing within the Bencharongkul family … but I had never actually seen any of his work.

"When Kit came to me for advice about organising an exhibition for charity, at first I was merely pleased to see that a young person had such a benevolent initiative. But when I actually set eyes on his work, I was completely shocked. Little did I realise that this well-mannered (and rather quiet) boy was packing such a devastating creative punch.

"Compared to his peers, it's fair to say he's a child prodigy, as his abilities and ideas far exceed his age. His conceptualisations indicate a comprehensive plan, and the breadth of his imagination rivals that of seasoned professionals.

"Most important," Sakchai notes, "his ability to persuade everyone in this book to pose for photographs was no trivial matter."

Kit said he loves photographing ordinary people, but he knew his fund-raising ambition would be better served if the book's portrait subjects were famous. Neither his models nor his camera let him down.

"Portraits capture a lot of emotions," he pointed out. "Everyone look different through the lens."

And he believes blind people, like those who attended the exhibition's opening, can in some way sense the beauty within his portraits.

"Beauty comes from the inside. I hope they'll feel the energy from this project."

Get a glimpse

The exhibition "Eye to Eye" ends today in Siam Paragon's Hall of Mirrors. The book is available there for Bt1,800. All proceeds from sales go to the Thailand Association of the Blind and Phra Mahatai-Pattaya Vocational School for the blind in Chonburi.