Thai photographer Sophirat Muangkum is challenging her country's conservative attitudes toward nudity through her artistic work, which has gained mainstream acceptance in Thailand's art world. The 42-year-old artist, who began photography as stress relief from her sales and marketing job, has become a pioneering figure in bringing nude photography into Thailand's cultural mainstream, despite the country's traditionally modest approach to public displays of the human body.
Muangkum's journey into photography began unexpectedly. "When I started out, I never thought I would become a photographer," she explains. "I thought of what I was doing as therapy because my job in sales and marketing was stressful, and I tried to find art to heal myself. I couldn't paint, so I picked photography." Her work now appears in prestigious venues including the Bangkok Biennale, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, and Bangkok's Museum of Contemporary Art, signaling a shift in Thailand's acceptance of artistic nudity.
The photographer's unconventional career choice stands out in a country where cultural conservatism runs deep. Thailand's Ministry of Culture regularly appeals for modesty during celebrations like Songkran, while police sometimes arrest individuals for showing too much skin. Most Thai citizens enter swimming pools fully clothed in T-shirts and long shorts, making Muangkum's nude photography particularly bold within this cultural context.
Muangkum's artistic foundation began during her school years when visiting photographers captured her image, leading to modeling work. "I went to an all-girls' school, and one day some photographers came to visit," she recalls. "They photographed me and my pictures ended up in photo studios. I started out as a model. Back then, I didn't like art... but I loved photography." This early exposure to photography would later influence her decision to move behind the camera.
Her transition to nude self-portraiture began as personal therapy. Using a Sony Cyber-shot camera, Muangkum started photographing herself nude, finding the process therapeutic and separate from her professional obligations. In 2004, she discovered Multiply, a social media platform focused on image sharing, where she published her first nude self-portrait. However, her personal relationships suffered due to her artistic choices when a German boyfriend destroyed her hard drives after discovering her nude photography work.
In 2009, Muangkum moved to Munich to study languages, where she expanded her photographic skills and began working professionally. She adapted quickly to the German photography scene, shooting models, fashion designers, and DJs while securing commercial clients. "My first paid work was landscape photography for the Munich tourist information organization," she says. "I loved the city. I started making a living from photography in 2010." The German experience taught her that professional photography required formal training and business acumen.
After three years in Germany, a failed relationship and family obligations brought Muangkum back to Thailand. Her grandmother's hospitalization and her mother's resistance to her London study plans led to a family compromise. "We fought for a year and a half and then I made a deal with my family," she explains. "I agreed to stay, and in return I told them that I would be based in Bangkok and travel around for my work."
Returning to Thailand in 2013, Muangkum began exhibiting her work while building a portfolio for potential London studies. She organized shoots featuring nude models wearing masks and participated in group exhibitions in Bangkok. Her unique approach to nude photography, particularly her inclusion of male nudes, distinguished her in the Thai art scene. "I was the only Thai photographer at that time who showed nude work, particularly male nudes," she notes. "I became well known. Universities invited me to give talks."
Muangkum's breakthrough came at the 2013 Bangkok Photo Fair, where she was selected as a rising star. She launched a Facebook fan page that quickly gained followers, establishing her reputation in Thailand's photography community. Initially, most of her commercial work came from foreign companies who would send products for her to photograph with nude models, allowing her to balance commercial projects with personal artistic expression.
The photographer's business philosophy evolved toward selective collaboration rather than simple contract work. "If some brand comes to me and says, we want you to take a photo like this, I won't do it," she explains. "But if they approach me and say, Sophie, we love your work and we want to collaborate, I will say, 'OK, let's talk.' Everything is about myself, but my self changes as I grow up."
In 2018, Muangkum launched "The Secret of Skin" exhibition at MOST Gallery in Bangkok, attracting over 500 visitors. Despite facing criticism from conservative elements and even fellow photographers, she found encouragement in sales to unknown collectors. The criticism often focused on her gender and directness, qualities considered un-Thai by some observers. "A lot of people, including other photographers, criticized me because I was a woman taking nude pictures and because I was too direct, which is not very Thai," she recalls.
To maintain artistic independence, Muangkum moved into her parents' car and construction parts factory in Minburi, a Bangkok suburb, while keeping her family unaware of her true profession. "All those years, they thought I was a journalist," she remembers, "But in 2018, they saw me on TV." This revelation forced her to confront family expectations while pursuing her artistic vision.
Muangkum's international recognition grew with her 2019 participation in "Ecopsychology," a group exhibition at Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film in Singapore. Her work featured nude models wearing gas masks in forest settings, commenting on environmental themes. "Singapore is very conservative, but if your work is a commentary on the role of trees providing us with oxygen, they will allow it to be shown," she observes, highlighting differences in artistic freedom between the two countries.
The photographer acknowledges ongoing challenges while noting positive changes in Thai society's acceptance of her work. "People ask me how my parents raised me to produce the work I do. If they attack me, I invite them to talk with me. They never come," she says. She now conducts nude photography workshops at universities and finds that Thai media increasingly treats her work with respect rather than sensationalism.
German art collector and gallery owner Reinhard Kressner, who exhibited Muangkum's work at Head High Second Floor in Chiang Mai, praises her artistic development. "Sophirat was one of just two photographers showing nudes," Kressner notes. "She had picked up many ideas from Germany, and her work reminded me of early Bauhaus photography. She is a big fan of Ren Rang, a Chinese photographer who always used his friends as models. Sophie works in a similar way."
Muangkum cites several international photographers as influences, including Ren Rang, Nobuyoshi Araki, Francesca Woodman, and American social activist Nan Goldin. She particularly connects with Goldin's approach of honoring "others simply as human beings." These influences have shaped her artistic vision and approach to human dignity in photography.
Beyond her personal artistic practice, Muangkum has become a curator and advocate for other artists. She has curated exhibitions for the Phayao Photography Biennale 2021-2022, the Museum of Contemporary Art Bangkok in 2022, the Phayao Photography Biennale 2024-25, and the Chiang Mai House of Photography. This curatorial work demonstrates her commitment to expanding opportunities for artistic expression in Thailand.
Reflecting on social change in Thailand, Muangkum observes that while individual photographers still face similar questions and challenges, broader acceptance is growing. "Today, a female photographer who shoots nudes will get the same questions I did 10 years ago from the same kinds of people," she says. "Thai people don't talk about what's under the carpet in Thailand. Everyone in Thailand knows about the sex industry, but no one talks about it." Her work continues to push boundaries and encourage dialogue about topics traditionally considered taboo in Thai society.
