Samut Sakhon Students Demonstrate Sharp Eye for Photography
Caption: This photo was taken by Kannika, who is originally from Myanmar and currently a sixth-grade student at Wat Srisudtharam School in Samut Sakhon, during a photography workshop organized by Thai Union. Her assignment was to photograph various occupations of workers at Amphawa Floating Market in Samut Songkram.
13 NOVEMBER 2017, SAMUT SONGKRAM, THAILAND - Local students attending a recent photography workshop hosted by Thai Union Group PCL. in Samut Songkram learned a picture can be worth a thousand words. But the story most worth telling that afternoon was about the surprising, natural talent behind the camera lens.
“I’ll be honest, many of these children picked up photography better than some beginning-level adults. They were naturals,” said Phonpanu Geerattayaporn, the workshop’s photography instructor. “These children were incredibly attentive, eager to learn about the history of photography and the medium’s terminology, and it translated into success once they started snapping photos—it was impressive.”
Thai Union organized the one-day photography workshop for grade school students of Wat Srisudtharam School, where the company underwrites classes for the children of migrant workers in the Samut Sakhon area to prepare students to enter Thailand’s formal education system. Parents of the children also joined and participated in the workshop.
Attendees were introduced to basic photography skills and techniques, along with the aesthetics of the art, and learned how to use photography for storytelling. The workshop paired children with their parents to photograph Ampawa Floating Market, similar to an art photographer or photojournalist on assignment.
“I really enjoyed learning about photography. What I learned from this activity is how to take good photos with good composition,” said Nopparuj Mafueang, a sixth-grade student at Wat Srisudtharam School. “Additionally, I had a chance to take many nice pictures with my mother, which is a good memory for me because it is the first time I’ve ever had the chance to take pictures with her.”
June, a ninth grader originally from Myanmar, said one of the most important lessons she learned was that a person’s creative inspiration can come from instinct as well as experience. “Photography can teach me a lot about myself and I appreciate that. I also learned how photos can tell a story, through the lens, and how to approach people and capture their natural appearance and expressions.”
Darian McBain, Thai Union’s global director for sustainable development, said activities such as this photography workshop are important to the people in the community and in line with Thai Union’s sustainability strategy, SeaChange®, which aims to improve the lives of those living and working in the regions in which the company operates.
“Someone once said if we could experience life through the eyes of a child everything would be magical and extraordinary—looking at many of these images taken by the children from the Samut Sakhon community certainly invokes that sentiment,” said McBain. “Furthermore, it was great to see these kids practice photography, something they might not ordinarily be able to do. And, who knows, some might become professional photographers one day.”
Thai Union has created an album featuring photos from the workshop on its Facebook page, which can be accessed by clicking here https://goo.gl/e7giem.
###
ABOUT THAI UNION GROUP PCL
Thai Union Group PCL is the world’s seafood leader bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for almost 40 years.
Today, Thai Union is regarded as the world’s largest producer of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 125 billion (US$ 3.7 billion) and a global workforce of over 46,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.
The company’s global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, and Rügen Fisch and Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Bellotta and Marvo.
As a company committed to innovation and globally responsible behavior, Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, and a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In 2015, Thai Union introduced its SeaChange® sustainability strategy. Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized by its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Emerging Markets (DJSI) in 2014. In 2017, Thai Union was named to the DJSI for the fourth consecutive year. Thai Union has also been included in the FTSE4Good Emerging Index.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Wisaka Chantakit
M: +66.818.457.316
E: Wisaka.Chantakit@ThaiUnion.com