The Hidden Realm
Fine-art photographer/film maker Martin Reeves celebrates twenty-one years under Asia’s spell with images taken in lost cities and hidden realms from around the region. Being passionate about photography, Reeves uses a specialist film medium to try to portray Asia how he envisions it — in an enchanted and mysterious way.
Reeves’ quest began in India in 1986 when he set out with a few rolls of infrared black & white film. Since then he has travelled in Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, the Philippines, Malaysia and China. On this personal journey, he sought breathtaking scenes in which to transport the viewer to lost cities and wonderful cultures from locations at the ends of the earth.
Reeves became captivated and intrigued by the notion of infrared light (which is invisible to the naked eye) manifesting into photographs. He reveals, “Its dream-like look seems to uncover a dimension that really does exist beyond the confines of our visual spectrum”.
ZOOM, the acclaimed international fine-art photography magazine, has featured Reeves’ infrared black & white Asian photographs on three occasions since 1997 and his work has been exhibited throughout Asia and Europe.
A series of short promos taken on 16mm film and shot among the hill tribes of the Golden Triangle were aired for four years on Discovery Channel Asia, which led to Reeves filming for them in Japan, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.
In September 2006, while on a state visit, four of Reeves’ photos of Angkor were chosen by HRH Norodom Sihamoni, the King of Cambodia, as gifts that were presented to the government of the Czech Republic.
In January 2007 Reeves was chosen, along with a group of internationally renowned photographers, to take part in a book project in Thailand titled 9 Days In The Kingdom; a tribute to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s eightieth birthday. This book will be launched in November 2007.
In March 2007, Reeves’ large-format book titled Angkor: Into The Hidden Realm was published. It comprises of over eighty infrared black and white photos of Angkor taken over a fourteen-year period, and has a foreword written by H. R. H. Norodom Rattana-Devi.
Reeves is currently working on an ‘old style Thailand’ photo project and a book project featuring the temples and ancient Thai city of Khampaeng.