Shana Purnama’s Dreams of Bangkok attempts to depict Bangkok youth culture in a series of sultry portraits
When Thai-Indonesian photographer Shana Purnama travels home to Bangkok, the city she was born and raised in, she’s always drawn back to Charoen Krung Road. Curving along the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River, this four-mile artery snakes from the glittering temples of Rattanakosin, through historic Chinatown, all the way to suburban Bang Kho Laem. The oldest paved road in the Thai capital (finished in 1864), it’s alive with pushcarts selling traditional street food, century-old Chinese shrines enveloped in incense, and restaurants sizzling with noodle recipes passed down through generations.
While exploring the area recently, Purnama discovered an abandoned hotel, which proved the ideal location for Dreams of Bangkok, her latest photo series dedicated to showcasing the “vibrance and authenticity of Thai youth culture”. “Ever since I can remember, the energy of Charoenkrung has been addictive,” Purnama tells Dazed. “It’s this blend of old-world charm and new-wave creativity, this total melting pot of tradition and modernity. I think it perfectly encapsulates where Thailand is at right now, and it’s why I wanted to shoot my project there.”
One afternoon in April, Purnama gathered together a group of young Thai creatives and photographed them hanging out amid the hotel’s scuffed velvet carpets, peeling cerulean wallpaper, and the remnants of its massage parlours. “I love how the hotel’s haunting beauty and decaying opulence provided this stark contrast to the vibrant, tender moments shared by my subjects,” she explains over the phone. Working with her creative partner Gabriel Connelly, her approach to the shoot was part editorial, part documentary – capturing spontaneous moments of connection and intimacy within the heightened setting. “My goal was to offer a more nuanced vision of Bangkok, one that balances its youthful energy with its historic architecture and traditions,” she notes.
Now 26, Purnama has been living and working in New York since 2016 – a move motivated by her desire to hone her craft as an image maker. “Bangkok is bursting with this pent-up creative energy, but when it comes to grants and funding, the infrastructure still isn’t there to nurture the arts,” she explains.
Purnama’s journey into photography began with hours spent scrolling through Tumblr as a teenager, which fed her “romanticised, dreamlike fantasy of the world”. From there, she discovered the work of Canadian artist Petra Collins. “Petra took that Tumblr-era aesthetic and elevated it,” Purnama says. “Her ability to capture raw moments of girlhood, her neon and pastel tones, her soft yet vivid aesthetic – she became a defining reference point for me as I experimented with film, photographing my friends at parties.”
Over the past years, however, Purnama has redirected her gaze closer to home: “I felt I needed to rediscover my roots and work out what kind of photographer I wanted to be.” In doing so, she came across artists like South Korean photographer Cho Gi-Seok, who weaves traditional Korean motifs into his highly saturated, surreal compositions. “I love how tradition and modernity are embedded in his work,” she explains. “It’s helped reel me back to my own culture in some way.”
With this aesthetic shift came a desire to return home to photograph the burgeoning creative scene there. “I think Thailand is at an interesting turning point right now,” Purnama muses. “Thai people often navigate between respecting cultural norms, and adapting to more progressive perspectives. This dynamic is a big part of what makes Bangkok so unique.” She cites filial piety as an example of this push-pull. “Age hierarchy is still a big thing, and while there’s beauty to that philosophy and the traditions that go with it, there are some drawbacks as well. It’s why I’m spotlighting this upcoming generation, and trying to give them the respect they deserve.”
Purnama also wants to challenge the beauty standards that persist in the country’s mainstream media. “There’s this lingering pressure to maintain a picture-perfect image, for women especially, which can be stifling and detract from genuine or creative self-expression.” She names classic soap operas that still hold sway, like Full House and Game Rai Game Rak, with their “old-school, sexist plotlines” and “heavy emphasis on Euro-centric aesthetics”. “Even in hospital scenes, when a character is sick, an actor will still have a full face of makeup on,” she says with an exasperated laugh.
Attempting to counter these visual narratives is what Dreams of Bangkok is all about. “I feel like Gen Z culture still needs more recognition, especially within the creative space,” she states. “I hope to showcase the true essence of Thai youth, with imagery that is a little more immediate, a little more raw.”
To see more of Purnama’s work, check out her website or follow her Instagram.
