His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej is in all aspects of photography including cinematography production. At the age of 8, Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother gave the young prince his first camera. In those days, photographers had to be fully conversant with the principles of photography in oder to achieve success. His Majesty had to study for himself, and he ceaselessly asked for advice from other people. He took photographs in the 135, 120 and special film formats, using ordinary cameras without exposure meters. He had to caculate and set the camera for proper exposure. He soon became so proficient that, at present, despite all the technical advances, he still takes photographs with ordinary cameras maintaining full control.
His Majesty was inventive on some occasions. He once used a special filter which was partly blue and partly orange in colour. The photographs appeared in natural colours in the centre with enchanced blue skies and arm foreground tones. He had to make this filter since no such filter was being manufactured commercially at the time. He also introduced wide angle cinematography into Thailand some twenty years ago. This innovation created much interest on the part of other photographers.
During his frequent visits to the provinces, His Majesty the King is constantly seen with his camera and takes numerous photographs even though he is always surrounded by court and press photographers. In a sense, he is following the example set by his grandfather who was and very proficient photographer. His Majesty King Chulalongkorn took photographs everywhere he went, and developed the plates at night in the darkroom built into the boat by which he traveled. In fact, other photographers tended to concentrate on the King and not on other subject matters. His Majesty's photographs of crowds of people, the surrounding areas, the environment, important temples, etc., were taken for his own documentation purposes. Those which have been preserved in the National Archives, have proved to be invaluable documents to the study of the Thai society of that period.
Simularly, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej takes numerous photographs during his travels for the purpose of documentation. His photographs of the underdeveloped areas, drought stricken areas, flooded areas, etc., are subsequently distributed to the various offices for immediate remedial action.
His Majesty's photographs have been widely published. In 1940, the "Standard" actually paid His Majesty a monthly salary as staff photographer. Thus it may be said that His Majesty the King was a professional photographer.
At a more personal level, His Majesty the King enjoys taking photographs of the members of the Royal Family. There exists a large collection of photographs of Her Majesty the Queen, their children and grandchildren. At present, His Majesty does not have time for photographic experimentation, but he continues to take documentation photographs, and his royal subjects continue to see their beloved King taking his favourite camera with him wherever he travels.
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