A Bangkok taxi ride is an encounter with a slice of the city’s life—the life of average Thai folk who happen to be taxi drivers, trying to survive the legendary traffic, the interminable red lights. To improve the odds, they turn their dashboards into mobile altars festooned with a medley of talismans to safely speed them on their endless journey to someone else’s destination. Dale captures this with empathy and pop art sensibilities, somewhat like a graphic novel.

A closer look at the carefully-chosen sacred objects inspires insight into Thai beliefs and philosophies.  Or better yet, get to know your cabbie. Catching his reflection in the rearview mirror, you see an enigmatic independent spirit. Go deeper still and he’s an individual human being, like yourself, with much the same thoughts, sensations and experience of life.

Bio

Dale Konstanz has been riding around in Bangkok taxis for the past eight years documenting the sacred decorations and pop culture paraphernalia inside the cabs, as well as the drivers themselves. Konstanz is the author of Thai Taxi Talismans published by River Books, and he maintains the popular blog, Still Life in Moving Vehicles. He holds an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has taught at several prominent universities and art schools, including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and most recently, Mahidol University International College. In 2001, he was an artist-in-residence at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and his work has been exhibited internationally.