Photo Exhibition: Jack Kurtz - Expressions of Faith in Southeast Asia

Exhibition prints are available for purchase and can collected at the end of the exhibition.

EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Photographs by Jack Kurtz

When I was growing up in Bangkok in the 1960s, I thought all Thais and most of the people of Southeast Asia were Buddhist. When I came back as an adult I saw there was a diversity and vibrancy to spiritual life here many foreigners never see. 

I came to Southeast Asia to work on stories related to human migration and climate change. But increasingly I find I’m working on stories and events related to religion and explorations of spirituality.

I made these photos so people beyond Asia could see the remarkable spiritual diversity that’s easily taken for granted here. From Muslim rituals in Myanmar to Catholics in Thailand to Buddhists everywhere, the unseen is all around us in Southeast Asia. In small ways – like offerings left on sidewalks – to big ways, like mass merit-making ceremonies in central Bangkok. 

These are a few of my photos that explore spiritual life in Asia. 

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Jack Kurtz was a U.S.-based photojournalist for nearly three decades, working for newspapers in Florida, New York, Texas, and Arizona. In 2012, he finished his newspaper career as Picture Editor and Photojournalist at the Arizona Republic and relocated to Thailand where he spent six years of his childhood in the late 60s. He currently resides in Bangkok with Cathy, his wife of 35 years.