AK Rockefeller Topics

urban

Merge Into One: Photos from the Thai Floods of 2011

Merge Into One: Photos from the Thai Floods of 2011

In August 2011 the floods appeared aggressive, somewhat north of Thailand. Then it, like a raging beast, surge forth, southward – a destructive force of nature, that claimed land, farms, villages, towns and cit ...

Dark Side

Dark Side

Shadow is the dark side, Where beings are hidden from plain view. Invisible not just to sight, but also to our other senses, our consciousness, We hope, and pray, that they, those dark beings, do not stir from their ...

Time Will Remember Their Perseverance

Time Will Remember Their Perseverance

Bangkok. As I walk on a narrow alley towards my sanctuary, I see no improvements for many urban poor Thai families. They live in slums – often seen as a labyrinth of confusion and destitution. The part where sm ...

Struggling Urban Communities

Struggling Urban Communities

In a realm of loss, individuals are forgotten and neglected by the mainstream doctrine of social development. Photographs by @bedlamfury Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2018   ...

Blinded by the Light

Blinded by the Light

Marginalised communities struggle in Kuala Lumpur, the heart of Malaysia – a capital known as the garden city of lights. But the government and ruling political parties continue to compliment themselves for  ...

Street Music is Work Too

Street Music is Work Too

A tiring night yet he moves; carrying his music. Onward, to find another place, to ply his trade. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017. ...

Sweet Smell on a Cold Night

Sweet Smell on a Cold Night

Its a cold night in the city of smiles. Street food vendors prepare hot food for their hungry and often tired-looking customers.   ...

The Darkness I Know So Well

The Darkness I Know So Well

Sensations fleet across the sky. Dwindling sunlight, and then the approaching merciful darkness.   ...

Haven

Haven

A watering hole. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017. ...

Agelast

Agelast

The rainy season is upon us. Yet, in this colossal city, the homeless are still without permanent shelter, exposed to the harsh downpour, unable to escape the sight of lightning and the never-ending flash floods. Ban ...

art works

art works

A Malaysian street artist at work. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017 ...

Allow Me Clarity

Allow Me Clarity

I just want the world to be quiet for a bit. Once in a while, I struggle against the onslaught of noise; staggering against the hammering colours that flood the senses. Weak, tired. I want a break, in complete, sooth ...

Perseverance is Tiring

Perseverance is Tiring

Months ago, the authorities conducted crackdowns on street vendors. Thais are prevented from working on the streets of Bangkok. Honest work, as seen by some, supposedly creates a negative image of the city. Yet there ...

Solivagant

Solivagant

The unapologetic urban rogue. A lone non-conformist to the predictable, senseless whims of Malaysian high society. Mental health services and outreach activities are dwindling and often inaccessible to those who wand ...

Fall from grace

Fall from grace

Three years of junta rule, no progress in sight. The urban poor continue to grow in cities, and the marginalised are abandoned to the karma that society has unfortunately accepted. Social equilibrium Bangkok, Thailan ...

Jalan Chow Kit – free your heART

Jalan Chow Kit – free your heART

Street art in Chow Kit. Unknown artist. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017.   ...

We are suffering here

We are suffering here

Street art, unknown artist, in a Chow Kit alley. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017   ...

Angels will rise

Angels will rise

Life is such, the parallel of life and broken promises. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2017.   ...

Music from the pavement

Music from the pavement

Some play for big crowds, while others play for a coin or two. Street Music. A teenager plays a musical instrument that sounds almost like violin. The khene, a bamboo mouth musical instrument from Laos. Bangkok, T ...

Sweat and toil

Sweat and toil

Neglected faces. With the decline of Thailand’s economy, the working class are left to fend for themselves. They work every day, from dusk to dawn. They sweat to service debts owed to loan sharks, relatives and ...