American photographer Austin Bush spent a year exploring the back streets and main drags of Yaowarat and his atmospheric, cinematic images depict the realities and oddities of life in a Chinatown that has yet to succumb to gentrification. Dark alleyways with creepy old men and smoking teapots; the clacking of Chinese chess pieces and choppy conversations in Tae Chew; tired prostitutes and lotus bud-shaped coffins; bespectacled dogs and beggars; these are the sights and sounds of Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown. Unlike other Chinatowns around the world, which are often little more than culturally-themed shopping centers, Bangkok’s clings to its roots and continues to be a living, breathing, albeit gritty community.

Austin Bush
After graduating from the University of Oregon in 1999, Austin Bush received a scholarship to study Thai at Chiang Mai University, and has remained in Thailand ever since. Austin photographs for various publications and writes guidebooks for Lonely Planet. Samples of his work can be seen at www.austinbushphotography.com. This is his first photographic exhibition.