Artist Takeover: Tavepong Pratoomwong

https://vimeo.com/224552140This week’s StandardVision artist takeover on the SVLA1 screen at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles features work by photographer Tavepong Pratoomwong. Pratoomwong is the latest artist to be invited to take over the two week-long recurring 15-second spot to showcase their work to the public.A street photographer based in Thailand, Tavepong Pratoomwong is a growing name in the photographic community. Perfect timing, images cropped or shot at unexpected angles, and generally unique compositions come together in his completely unplanned images to reveal a hidden narrative within his locale. This narrative is almost mystical, defying gravity and nature in the photographs. Pratoomwong has been interested in photography his whole life, becoming enamored with it at university, but went through a period of time where he developed a manic obsession for equipment over the art. In 2013 his wife surprised him with a plane ticket to Varanasi, India where his love for the medium was rekindled to make him take photography seriously once again. The next year he participated in Street Photo Thailand’s project “365 days in 2014” where he went out and took photos every day for a year. This immersion back into photography sparked something in Pratoomwong. He began to study his compositions more carefully, deducing what compositions create successful photographs, which colors work together, how to use dramatic light and shadow, and ultimately what he was truly interested in – his community.You can see Tavepong’s work through July 16th on the SVLA1 screen downtown located at 901 Olympic Blvd. You can also catch more of his work on his website and Flickr.