Watsamon Tri-yasakda, also known as “June” is a Thai queer photographer and visual storyteller who currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. She is actively documenting issues of human rights for LGBTQIAN+ community in Thailand and Southeast Asia. She has been working with local and international editorial publications, organizations, and commercial clients. Her works have been published and featured in local and international publications such as Financial Times, DER SPIEGEL, Global Citizen, Coconuts, Buzzfeed, Sarakadee Magazine, and The Momentum. She has been contributing for THE STANDARD, a leading media outlet from Thailand covering all things news, culture, and lifestyle since 2018.
“Mr. Pearl”, her photo story about a Thai transman has been exhibited and screened in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and South Korea in 2016. “Portrait of Natsayers at Taungbyone Nat Festival” has exhibited in Myanmar. From 2017, her “7465” photo series on Thai youth’s student uniform has been exhibited around the world as a part of “We Will Have Been Young” and selected to show in a group exhibition in many countries such as Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Myanmar, and the UK. In 2019, she was listed in Time Out Bangkok’s “Bangkok-based LGBTQ figures you should know right now“
Moreover, she is a selected participant in the Obscura Festival of Photography’s “The Southeast Asian Photography Masterclass” under the OSTKREUZ Photographer’s Agency, and a fellow of UNDP’s Being LGBTIQ in Asia Media Fellowship Programme. Also, she’s been selected as a participant in the 2018 Angkor Photo Workshops.
Watsamon is currently pursuing a MA in Gender, Media and Culture at Goldsmiths, University of London as a Chevening Scholar (2021-2022) with a full scholarship from the UK government. Also, she has a B.A. in Language and Culture (BALAC) from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. In 2015, she received a scholarship to study for a Diploma in Photojournalism, Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University. She was selected for the 2015 Chiangmai Documentary Arts Festival’s Mentor Program.
EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWCASES: 2022 - 7465, "Celebrating the Unseen," PRIDE PHOTO EXHIBITION 2022 in the Netherlands - Award of Excellence in Portrait, Photo of the Year Asia (POY Asia) 2022 2021 - Cover story of Sarakadee Magazine LGBTQ+ June 2021 Issue - Finalist for Financial Times' Inside Thailand’s Youth Revolution, Features, Amnesty International UK's Media Awards 2021 2020 - Finalists for Photographer, Honorable Mention Winner for Photography Awards for "Freedome to peaceful protest and the beauty of freedome of expression," Amnesty International Thailand 2020 Media Awards - Cover story of Financial Times' FT Weekend Magazine, Inside Thailand’s Youth Revolution which earned Amnesty UK Media Awards 2021 Finalist 2020 "7465" - "Erratic Dream" Online Exhibition curated by PannaFoto Institute - "We Will Have Been Young" Traveling Exhibition in Bangkok 2019 "United Love — Documenting Pride in Asia", curated by CinemAsia, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 2019 "7465" - Selected group exhibition, Brisbane and Jakarta - "We Will Have Been Young" Traveling Exhibition in Germany, Vietnam 2018 "7465" - Exhibition, &Proud LGBT Film Festival, Yangon, Myanmar - "We Will Have Been Young" Traveling Exhibition in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia - Kwir: an Exhibition of Queer Identity, UK - Exhibition, NUIT ROSE 2018 - A festival of queer art and performance, Toronto, Canada - Exhibition, Photo Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2017 "7465" - Asian Women Photographer's showcase curated by Yumi Goto and Emmeline Yong, Objectifs, Singapore - "We Will Have Been Young" Southeast Asian Photography Masterclass Group Exhibition, Penang, Malaysia - "We Will Have Been Young" photobook publication by dienacht Publishing 2016 "MR. PEARL", - Solo Exhibition, Documentary Arts Asia, Chiangmai, Thailand - Multimedia Screening, F/28 – The Chiang Mai Month of Photography, Thailand - Suwon Photo Festival, South Korea - Exhibition at “Fix Butch, Repair Femme: Rhetoric, Derogatory and Violence” seminar, Bangkok, Thailand - Slideshow Screening, PhotoJourn Festival Edition 2 Open Submission’s Selection, Bangkok, Thailand 2016 "Portrait of Natsayers at Taungbyone Nat Festival”, Group Exhibition, &PROUD LGBT Photo Competition’s Best Entries, Yangon, Myanmar 2015 "Siang Esan", Slideshow Screening, F/28 – The Chiang Mai Month of Photography, Thailand 2013 "Sudawadee Norapoompipat", Short film by Apipar Norapoompipat and Watsamon Tri-yasakda, Non - Being by Itself curated by Kamin LertchaiprasertThe Art Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
INTERVIEW AND SPEAKER: - "Capture the Diversities: June Watsamon" by D1839 Magazine, 2021 (in Thai) - "Gender-rights activists remake Thai feminism" by Nikkei Asia, 2021 - "The Voice from Thailand Protests" by Photo Demos, 2020 - "7465 the photo exhibition questiong student uniform and identity" by aday bulletin, 2020 - "For Thailand’s queer students, self-expression is an act of protest" by Document Journal, 2020 - Panelist, 'LGBTQ Rights & Developments in Asia: Then & Now' hosted by CinemAsia Amsterdam and VondelCS, the Netherlands, 2019 - Panelist, ' Representation, Agency & Censorship in Photography', hosted by Ilham Gallery and OBSCURA Festival of Photography, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2018 - "What it's like to be young and in love in Southeast Asia" by CNN, 2018 - "Uniformity and Identity in Thai Schools" by PHmuseum, 2018 - Panelist, ‘Producers and consumers: Social media and storytelling’ at Salzburg Global LGBT Forum, Thailand, 2016 - "Race for gender equality" by Bangkok Post, 2016 - "Capturing LGBT pride in Asia" by UNAIDS, 2015