From March 8th to April 2nd, Galerie Argentic is holding Samuel Cueto’s “City of Smile” exhibition, a testimony of day-to-day Thai gang life. For several years, Samuel Cueto has gone where tourists would never venture: the ghettos of Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. There, he met Thai youth, the ones left behind who move between drugs, the mafia and prostitution, living where it’s ok to do whatever it takes to survive.
Despite their appearances, the majority are religious and pray in Buddhist temples. They mix ancestral Asian traditions and gang codes from Los Angeles and Mexico.
Samuel Cueto lives in the epicenter of what one would call “the ghetto”. In his photos, Samuel, a Spanish-Algerian security guard, concentrates all the vividness of a mixed society daily reinventing itself to stave off prejudices.
Reflecting upon his own life, Samuel speaks through portraits which, though describing seemingly chaotic paths, end up radiating with the hope they emit.
His technique is simple: force the eye to focus on his work… knowing a blow is never far away.
– Miloud Kersasi
EXHIBITION
City of Smile
Samuel Cueto
From March 8th to April 2nd, 2016
Galerie Argentic
43 Rue Daubenton
75005 Paris
France
Tuesday to Saturday 3pm – 7pm
http://www.argentic.fr
