One year has passed since the ‘Arc’ tribe started presenting visual works that would ‘bomb your eyes’ as manifested on their website page. We had talked with Ning – Akkara Naktamna of Ctype before. He told us that what Arctribe has been serving to the audience is very brave. We therefore think it is necessary to have a talk with this tribe regarding where they have come from and what they are going to do next.

What is Arctribe? Simply explained, it is an online photography community that is curated by a team consisting of two photographers, one writer and one designer, four people who unexpectedly share a taste in photography. This gives such a clear direction to the work published by Arctribe, and ‘bomb your eyes’ as they have claimed.

The ‘Arc’ tribe first originated from the gathering of two photographers, Ming – Kanraphee Chokepaiboon and Poonpun – Kamoluck Sukchai who both like surfing on the internet to collect photos via ‘save’ function on Instagram. Once they opened their saved photo collection, the two discovered that they both have interesting photos which they wanted to publish for other people to discover. From that point a collective that has a unique visual on their own style was created. As only two were not strong enough, Ruangkhao – Prinlada Aphapirom joined the force in the writing part to help the audience consume and understand photography more profoundly.

As for the specialty of Arctribe, they do not only select photos to publish but also collect and curate them. Through this we could see the process of co-working between the photographers and the editor who is the tribe head, Ming. To publish a curation of visual work whether on a website or Instagram is not just posting the artists’ works, but how the artist and Ming himself could crystallize after studying the pictures and its meanings. 

“For Arc, we divided it into two categories, ‘Photographer Highlight’ and ‘Photographer Project’. Sometimes people would send us their project proposal, and we see that it is not yet strong enough, might be its visual or statement, or sometimes when we get a statement we would also look into their Instagram or websites. Once we see that they share the same theme and their visuals can tell a story, we would try curating and let them see that this is what we could arrange based on their statement and work, and ask what they think about it. That is the Highlight part, like we edit a work for them. For me to think about visuals and statements, they are generated from personal experience of an artist or a photographer. For example, how Pun created Red Lotus, it is not produced purely from researching but the visual itself is what Pun has seen and collected since a young age. It is generated from Instagram, from her preference of Thai folk drama” – Ming

Not only pictures, an artist’s background is also what Arc must research as much as they could, because they believe that the visual an artist conveys would always have a story behind.

“I think for human thoughts, when we write about it we need to read the whole thing and also read the pictures. Each person’s thoughts are entirely different. Let’s say if we talk about a demon within two or three persons, not even one of their visuals would share similarity. It is all up to each person’s visual experience. One might see it as a funny thing and think of funny stuff. But if another thinks of it as a mysterious thing, it would turn out differently. I think this is significant when it comes to conveying one’s identity or some kind of idea” Ruangkhao, the writer of the tribe added.

Throughout the past one year of Arctribe, who was born along with the pandemic COVID-19, the team also needed to adapt as they cannot go outside. The Internet was the only gateway to travel the world of visuals that they are fascinated in. Besides being audiences, the team got to be a hub who selects, and in some occasions, arranges photos for the public to see. For them photography also has a role in society during a crisis like this.

“We show only the fragments of what happens, artists would present their work based on their experiences, which also reflect what is going on in the society. We pick up the work that has a theme about nowadays issues and publish them. A lot of stuff is created by people across different places and different societies. Chinese photographers would work on the issues happening in their country, or topics about sex which we have picked up. Many of them would point out problems the society has. We are having a project which gathers works from the people who went to the protesting incidents and took photos. Now we are in the process of compiling and developing on which direction we want the project to go.

Apart from being a hub for visual artwork that reflect social issues or artists’ personal experiences, most of Arctribe fans are college students. This reveals how the collective plays an important role on how the college students view photography, which leads to it being a reference for their working as well. In this article we got to talk with Coffee – Pakapol Wannao, one of the students who submitted his work to be curated by Arctribe.

“Having Arctribe review and curate my work helps me see myself clearer regarding what kind of person I am. It feels like there is someone guiding me.”

For those who are interested in Coffee’s work, you may follow this link: https://www.arctribemag.com/article/photographer-highlight-pakapol-wannao

Everything must experience the process of growth. Same goes for Arctribe. Currently they are expanding their platform of visual perception. Besides the online platform, they also have Arcpress, a print media edited by the tribe, joined with the design force of the new member, Big – Pariwat Ananshita, the designer who has created design work whether for Bangkok Art Book Fair or posters, logos, products, album covers, Big definitely has done all of them. While for Arcpress, it is a new challenge for him to design a whole photobook.

As we have talked with Arc, the team agreed by landslide that Big is their soulmate. It was as if they found ‘Mr. Right’, because having Big join the team really strengthens and fulfills the tribe Arc.

“We first met at the Art Book Fair. I supported Ming by purchasing his photobook. Once I knew that he was running Arctribe I thought it was cool, like I was congratulating him for founding it. At first when I met Ming we didn’t have the idea of founding the publisher yet. But I was hoping to do it. I had asked my friends but they didn’t seem enthusiastic about it so I was holding. Other people in my office did not seem interested in this project. They were interested in print media but did not see photobooks as the key and instead went for artbooks or zines. Once Ming asked me to join I immediately said yes.” Big recalled their origin.

From content on screen to photobooks on hands, how are the photography presentations different?

For Arc we had aimed for the online in the beginning. And then as there were a lot of sources we were interested in. We wanted to try publishing them in the form of books. That was when we met our soulmate Big. Pun and I have always wanted to work on Press. We have attempted to do the design part but it did not go in the way that would work. And then we met P’Big, who is the next level. As we have known an artist beforehand, like Dew, what is his intention? His photos are streets that mostly tell a story in a single shot. We therefore had to re-curate them, which was very difficult to edit. Once we got the concept from the photographer that it was ‘LOST IN CHINA’ we shared it with P’Big on the design part which has a great influence on viewing photography.” – Ming

“Starting with concepts, Ming told me what the problem was and what he wanted. Actually they have completed the first version. I was uncomfortable not daring to touch or edit anything much because they have done it already. But I went back to the concept of how the word ‘LOST’ could be transformed into a book theme or all details in the print. So everything was interpreted and inspired from the word ‘LOST’. The first two ideas I proposed to the team are the two main concepts from ‘LOST’. The first one being ‘LOST’ by how we conceal, the second one is ‘LOST’ as being free, too free that it has gone lost. And for the first concept of concealment, the book needs to be severely torn in order to read. But it does not go along with the characteristics of Dew or his work.” – Big

Today D1839 received an honour from Arctribe, who revealed to us their process of creating the photobook ‘LOST IN CHINA’ by Dew – Noppadol Maitreechitr. As when it comes to a print, the tribe must face a new challenge of editing and revising until a photobook is finished. 

As the significance of making a photobook relies on the relationship between the work and the photographer, we decided to go with the second idea of being free. Starting from the structure, we want it to be open from any side, and the readers wouldn’t even know which side is front or back. It can be flipped all over, thoroughly free. This is the idea that was approved by the team. We went through a lot of problems during the process. Sometimes the book turned too big or too thick, too small. And since Ming told me that he want Dew’s photos in a bigger size, the book needs to be enlarged. First we made it wider, but using the same composition doesn’t look free enough. Once we change the composition the book can be viewed from every side, plus the photos become larger.”

You already have the online Tribe and the offline Press, what is the next milestone for the Arc?

We want to go for the on-ground, like a visual exhibition, which we are planning to hold one by the end of this year. But first we need to see if we are still able to do it. What we have planned is to do Mapping, photos do not need to be printed out to showcase but we would use Mapping for the exhibition instead. We already got the location but we don’t know if COVID-19 situation is going to prolong until the period we have planned. As for Press we do not only sell the book but also other merchandise based on the artists’ work. We arrange it into a set with a zine, also a shirt with prints of photos from the zine.” – Ming 

Most importantly, for Arctribe, whether the photobook website or the upcoming exhibition, they told us that it is going to expand a space for artists, to provide each project or work a proper platform for showcase, which would enhance the understanding in their work as well. It is because Arc believes that every platform has different ways of presentation, and they are trying their best to match the right work with the right place in order to let the audiences’ sensation work to the fullest.

Follow their work via https://www.arctribemag.com/