Teerasak Bua-On
Photography · Craft & Making
Hang Dong · January 2025
Teerasak “Air” Bua-On is a self-taught analogue photographer working with handmade cameras, large-format processes and historical photographic techniques.
Instagram ↗Photographs and story, step by step
On my last day in Chiang Mai, Sophirat introduced me to Teerasak “Air” Bua-On. Air lives near Wat Ton Kwen in Hang Dong and is deeply committed to analogue photography. He works with older processes and even builds some of his own cameras.
That day, he brought a handmade Afghan camera. Using photographic paper, the camera first produces a negative and then re-photographs it to create a positive. Developer and fixer trays are built into the box, allowing the photograph to be exposed and processed on location.
Afterwards, Air invited me to his nearby studio and showed me more cameras and prints. At the time, we were also due to show work at the Phayao Photo Biennale. What stayed with me most was the pleasure he seemed to take in the slowness and physicality of the process, from building the camera to producing the final image.