Isthmus 02 - Portrait of Rati (Bangkok, Thailand)

An isthmus is a narrow passage that links two larger bodies of land. Bordered on both sides by water, it constitutes a walkable pathway through the sea. It is a trail leading in two directions, a route that needs no signpost. A bridge devised by nature, it is the antithesis of a gorge.

At the same time, an isthmus forms a nearly impassable barrier for the seafarer: only with great force will he be able to bring his ship into the neighboring sea. He can heave his ship over land or plough his way through the earth.

An isthmus is therefore a contradiction: it is a crossing that both connects and divides.

The isthmus that my work explores is an imaginary place. It is the void that we create when we leave one place to settle somewhere else. It is the corridor we walk down, after tapping at a stranger's door, the dark tunnel we traverse when we finally give up and drop our guard. It is the link between the certain and the uncertain, the passage between the past and the future, it is the bridge between the conscious and the subconscious.

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This photo is part of a project I started earlier this year in Bangkok. At this point I can only describe it as a poetic photo document. It will be more of a poem than a diary and I want to publish it as a book at some point.