FARANG
FARANG
CREDITS
Italy, France, Turkey, Thailand and Kosovo, Francesco Merlini (1986, Italy) has visited all of these places over the last three years to collect images of Farang, the Thai word for foreigner or stranger. As an almost constant outsider in these cultures and places he was surrounded by hordes of Farang, their backstories invisible and their facades presenting questionable characters. Unknowable reasons and moments flit past along with thousands of Kilometres between images until they merge into a singular strangeness, a place that doesn’t exist and a host of inhabitants unified by their bizarreness.
The photos contrast and grain exaggerated the sameness of these foreigners by choosing Black and white he removed the colour of skin to be replaced by alien greys furthering the strangeness of his subjects.
