When your dad is Sumon Sumanatemeya, a renowned professional scuba diver, you’re bound to take to water like a duck – and to the underwater world like a fish.

Nat Sumanatemeya learned the ropes from his father, but then also started taking along a camera. Today, at 48, he’s one of Thailand’s best-known underwater photographers.

“The sea has always been an important part of my life,” Nat says. “The photography combines my diving experience with what I learned studying journalism and mass communication at Thammasat University.

“I started taking pictures – on film – during the 1990s. That was before the Internet existed, so I learned from magazines and books. My favourite photographer is David Bailey, who pioneered the half-underwater photo, in which you see both the sky and the marine creatures beneath the surface.”

Nat is among 80 world-renowned photographers whose work is on display in “Beyond the Air We Breathe: Addressing Climate Change” at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre until September 2.

The Royal Photographic Society of Thailand and the Lucie Foundation mounted the show to raise awareness about the damage being caused by greenhouse gases. The images depict a wounded earth and underline the fact that this is almost entirely humanity’s fault.

Nat points out the photos of polar explorer Sebastian Copeland and photo-journalist James Natchwey, the latter the subject of the documentary movie “War Photographer”.

“All the photos in the show reflect both the beauty of nature and the destruction caused by climate change,” says Nat.

“Copeland illustrates how it’s killing off living things at unseen and unknowable places in the Arctic and Antarctic. Natchwey deals mostly with human conflict’s effects on climate change. His pictures are both documentary and conceptual art.”

And Nat demonstrates in his photos how the beautiful underwater world is suffering from “human impact”.

“One shot is a night scene of a whale shark off the Maldives eating plankton just beneath the surface, illuminated by the blue tail lights of a boat. It was quite a moment, last year – a scene you could only come across in a few places on Earth.”

When he was young, Nat went diving with his father off Koh Lan in Pattaya and Koh Similan in Phang Nga and in the waters of Rayong, Trat, Phuket and Krabi. Then he ventured further and further – to Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Tonga, Hawaii, Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Bahamas and the Seychelles.

“Doing documentary photography is about going beyond expectations and it depends a lot on timing and luck,” he says. “I’ve yet to face any real danger – I’m always well prepared.

“Getting a picture of a land animal, you can use a telephoto lens to get in close, but underwater you need to get within three metres of the subject to ensure good resolution and start an interaction with the animal.

“We aren’t fish – we can’t swim better or faster,” he says, “but most of my shots show marine creatures coming close to have a good look at me. They’re not hunting – they’re just curious.

“Everybody thinks the whale shark is scary and dangerous, but it’s only a predator to smaller fish. It does have its own territory and will become aggressive if something or someone gets too close. It’s the same with smaller fish, like triggerfish and anemones, which will bite if you approach during their spawning season. It’s purely defensive.”

Nevertheless, Nat does have to earn a measure of trust from his subjects.

“Tonga is one of the only places in the world where you can swim with humpback whales. The most important thing to remember when shooting an animal on land or at sea is that you must gain their trust. Fish won’t come within three metres unless you’re staying absolutely still. Even when you exhale, you try to minimise the amount of bubbles released.

Nat shows his photo taken in Krabi’s Klong Song Nam, whose water is remarkably clear. “It depicts the boundary between water and earth.”

Another shot was taken in the clean water of a lotus pond in Mexico. The clarity of the water in these images seems to buoy hope that the world isn’t suffering too badly.

But then there is still another of Nat’s picture, one of his favourites, showing a tiny fish lost inside a large plastic bag that’s drifting in the water off Koh Phi Phi. “I imagine that the little fish thinks it’s been swallowed by a jellyfish,” he says, not laughing.

An underwater photographer for 30 years, Nat has gained a great deal of knowledge and experience. Technically speaking, he relies mainly on a DSLR camera with fish-eye, wide-angle and macro lenses.

“I’m not a man for challenges – my goal is comprehension,” he says. “Some people like to take on challenges, but I think comprehending a situation is more important than pursuing risk. A challenge brings only momentary pleasure, but an understanding of something remains with you forever.

“I couldn’t be the greatest climber sitting on top of Mount Everest, or even the best underwater photographer. I’m happy to live with comprehension – to understand things about life and nature. Adventure offers a colourful life, but it’s not a life in itself.”

Nat wrote a column about his underwater excursions for “Osotho” magazine for 20 years before co-founding “Nature Explorer” in 2000 with Duangdao Suwanrangsi. Ever since that venture shut down, he’s been a freelance photographer.

Two years ago he crowdfunded his first photo book, “Okeanos”, which contains 150 of his images separated into categories – “Home”, “Survive”, “Mysterious”, “Love” and “Moment & Movement”. Its launch coincided with an exhibition of the pictures.

The end of this year will see Nat’s underwater documentary “4 Ongsa Mahasamut” broadcast on Thai PBS. It was entirely shot in Thai waters.

Nat is asked what he would advise youngsters who are considering taking the plunge into deep water – and there are bound to be more Thai kids interested after the role divers played in the Chiang Rai cave rescue.

“Diving really started to boom among younger people five years ago,” he says, “so the scene today is quite different from the way it was 30 or 35 years ago.

“To take proper care of yourself underwater, you must complete an advanced open-water dive course and have more than 50 dives,” Nat advises. “That’s essential in helping you stay calm and getting past any anxiety that arises. As well as the breathing techniques, you learn to maintain your balance and be able to stay still without moving at a given depth.”

Stay tuned: Nat is heading to Kalimantan on Borneo in Indonesia next month. There’s a huge school of barracuda waiting for him.

We punish this planet

– The exhibition “Beyond the Air We Breathe: Addressing Climate Change” continues at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre through September 2. Admission is free.

A new study out Tuesday says digital overload could be linked to a “modest” but significant rise in new ADHD behaviors, offering a warning to parents about the potential dangers of too much screen time.

The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association were based on nearly 2,600 Los Angeles teens who answered survey questions over a two-year period — making it one of the largest and longest studies on the topic to date.

The more social media, streaming video, text messaging, music downloads or online chats they engaged with, the more likely they were to report symptoms like difficulty organizing and completing tasks, or trouble remaining still.

About 10 percent of youths who said they commonly used digital media platforms frequently showed new ADHD symptoms over the study period, said the report.

In contrast, 4.6 percent of students who were not frequent users of any digital activity showed ADHD symptoms.

Researchers cautioned that the rise in ADHD symptoms was “modest” and at least some of the effect might be explained by confounding factors.

Also, since the study was observational in nature and was based on survey responses by the teens themselves, researchers said they could not prove that smartphone use actually caused ADHD symptoms.

Still, the findings offer a solid basis for more research because “this was a statistically significant association,” said Adam Leventhal, a professor of preventive medicine and psychology at the University of Southern California.

“We can say with confidence that teens who were exposed to higher levels of digital media were significantly more likely to develop ADHD symptoms in the future.”

Previous studies have shown that ADHD, a psychiatric condition involving persistent difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, affects about seven percent of youths in the United States and may be on the rise in some populations.

Earlier studies examining the effect of television watching and playing video games found modest increases in ADHD among children.

According to Jessica Agnew-Blais, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, the authors were “rightfully cautious not to over-interpret” their findings.

“The authors only assess ADHD symptom frequency, so it remains unclear whether relatively small changes in ADHD symptom frequency over these two years are disruptive or impairing in everyday life,” she said.

“It is worth noting that over 80 percent of students reported high frequency use of digital media, and the vast majority of these students do not have elevated ADHD symptoms.”

Another expert who was not involved in the study, Andy Przybylski, an associate professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, described the research as “interesting” but “tentative.”

“The study is a proof of concept that tells us we need very large samples when we design future studies because the possible effects are extremely small,” he said.

The next studies on the topic should move away from self-reported survey answers and include clinical diagnoses and external measurements of device use, experts suggested.

The group keeps alive the music of the Andes, playing the quena, zampoa, charango and indigenous percussion instruments. The workshop is free but space is limited. The concert is by invitation only. Learn more at http://www.Music.Mahidol.ac.th/events/apuinka.

Paint an orchid

The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Sci-Art Network and Mahidol University Faculty of Science will host a botanical-art workshop, “The Beauty of Orchids”, on consecutive weekends from Saturday through August 26.

It’s open to 20 adults with watercolour talent and 30 youngsters aged eight to 12 years old. One group will gather every Saturday afternoon and the other every Sunday. Get the details at http://www.BACC.or.th/event/2035.html.

Romance at a romp

Evil Man Blues on the ground floor of 72 Courtyard Thonglor holds monthly speed-dating events, with the next one set for next Wednesday at 8pm. Participants chat with one another for six minutes at a time over gin & tonic before moving on to the next prospective paramour. Ten guys and 10 ladies will circulate in the space of an hour, scoring each partner on a card so hookups can be arranged later.

Admission is Bt300 and includes a shooter and two gin & tonics. Call (02) 392 7740, email info@evilmanblues.com, or go to “EvilManBlues” on Facebook by Monday.

What So Not is hot

A Coachella headliner as part of the duo Flume, What So Not will perform at Beam at 72 Courtyard tonight at 9. Best known for “Gemini”, “Jaguar” and “High You Are” and collaborations with RL Grime, Skrillex and Dyro, What So Not topped the iTunes charts in March with his debut album “Not All the Beautiful Things”.

What So Not is actually Australian record producer Emoh Instead, except that his real name is Chris Emerson.

With fellow producer Flume he toured the world, playing festivals including Coachella, Pukkelpop and Lollapalooza. Book a table at (02) 392 7750.

IN AN exhibition that’s guaranteed to fascinate both Thais and foreign visitors, a collection of rare photographs detailing the life and duties of King Rama X is showing at Siam Paragon until Sunday.

The show entitled “The Succession of King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun”, which marks the auspicious occasion of His Majesty the King’s birthday on July 28, is being presented by the Queen Savang Vadhana Foundation together with Ministry of Culture and Siam Piwat and pays tribute to His Majesty King Rama X’s resolution made on December 1, 2016 at Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, Dusit Palace to fulfil the wishes of His Majesty the late King Rama IX and work for the benefit of all Thais. His Coronation is yet to be held.

The great-grandson of Queen Savang Vadhana is seen as an infant in the first section of the exhibition, which is devoted to his biography, royal virtues and childhood. The photographs show His Majesty the King as a baby, noting that he came into this world on July 28, 1952 at 5.45pm in the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall of the Dusit Palace in Bangkok. ML Kaset Snidvongs was the doctor in attendance. He was just three days old when his father, His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, granted the traditional royal welcome ceremony. The 13th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand gave the child his first name at birth.

He is the only son and the second of the four children of Their Majesties the late King and Queen Sirikit. When he was born, Queen Savang Vadhana was 90 years old. The Queen Great-Grandmother passed away in 1955, the year Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was born.

The text accompanying the photographs, some of them in monochrome, explain the auspicious traditional royal ceremony when the prince turned one-month old and show him in a cot decorated with pale-yellow lace, the colour of Monday, the day on which His Majesty was born. It adds that on the day the ceremony took place, the yellow honeycomb trees, known to be favourite flower of King Rama V and planted around the Amphorn Sathan Residental Hall, were in full bloom.

His Royal Highness Prince Vajiralongkorn began his education in 1956 in the Phra Thinang Udon-pak wing within the compound of Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, where his sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana was also studying. The permanent building was later constructed in the compound of the Chitralada Royal Villa and became known as the Chitralada School in Dusit Palace. This section of the exhibition also features photographs of the King’s childhood including pictures of his drawings and clay moulds.

In 1966, he was sent to attend public school in the UK, enrolling first at King’s Mead School in Seaford, Sussex, and then at Millfield School, Somerset, where he completed his secondary education in July 1970. During his time there, he was known simply as V Mahidol.

In September 1970, he attended a military training course at The King’s School in Sydney, Australia, where he was assigned to MacArthur House. Two years later, the prince enrolled at Australia’s Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Canberra where he went by the name Staff Cadet V Mahidol and where discipline was as harsh for him as for the other cadets. He was praised for his ability both academically and in sports.

His education at Duntroon was divided into two parts, military training by the Australian Army and a bachelor’s degree course under the auspices of the University of New South Wales. He graduated in 1976 as a newly commissioned lieutenant with a liberal arts degree.

He was proclaimed Crown Prince on December 28, 1972 in the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, making him the third crown prince of the Chakri Dynasty. An excerpt from the royal command to establish the title of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn forms part of the exhibition.

The second section displays the countless royal duties carried out by King Maha Vajiralongkorn for Thailand and the Thai people since assuming the title of Crown Prince.

He is, of course, well known for the major roles he has played in the Thai military, serving in the Royal Thai Armed Forces, making frequent tours of the provinces and representing King Bhumibol at a wide variety of official functions and ceremonies before he acceded to throne.

The King has also spent periods training with the US, British, and Australian armed services, studying unconventional warfare and advanced navigation. In 1978 he became head of the King’s Own Bodyguard Battalion. A qualified fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, he holds a licence to fly the Northrop F-5 and many other aircraft including the F-16 and the Boeing 737-400.

His name is also attached to medical care with the Crown Prince Hospitals set up in 21 locations in 1977 from funds donated by the public to serve as health care centres for people living in remote areas. These hospitals have become major community hospitals providing services of international standard to the general public.

Interested in agricultural development like his father, the Mobile Agricultural Clinic Project was initiated under his royal patronage. The project provides prompt services to farmers in order to enhance efficiency in farm production and solve problems as well as to provide advice in agricultural technology to increase productivity and improve the quality of agricultural production.

The third section is devoted to the King’s gratitude and appreciation towards his parents, showing him engaged in activities as part of his military role, screening risk areas before Her Majesty the Queen visited, among them the area around the then Cambodian refugee camp at Khao Larn in Trat Province.

In recent years, however, his military role has become increasingly ceremonial.

The exhibition also pays tribute to His Majesty the King’s abilities in the fields of art, architecture and literature and includes the poem he wrote on the auspicious occasion of the Fifth Birthday Cycle of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, which has been engraved on a silver plate and is displayed at Phra Tamnak Siriyalai in Ayutthaya province.

Visitors can also admire his New Year greeting cards to Thais. One reads, “Be happy in every season, because we walk hand in hand guided by mindfulness”. The other says, “Be happy in physical health and mental health with intelligence, love and compassion. We are ready to move forward. Happy New Year and ever after.” The card is signed and dated January 1, 2018.

The last zone of the exhibition features His Majesty’s honours, including medal and awards from various institutes both domestic and international.

IN PRAISE OF OUR KING

– “The Succession of Maha Vachiralongkorn” continues at the Life Style Hall on the second floor of Siam Paragon until Sunday before moving to the Chiang Mai Arts and Cultural Centre in Chiang Mai from August 16 to 26.

– It will also be shown at the Royal Community Hall at Klai Kang Won Palace, Hua Hin from October 3 to 7.

What is urinary incontinence?

In short, it’s leaking urine because of loss of bladder control and mainly affects women after childbirth and menopause.

But it can happen to anyone. Laughing, exercising, sneezing or coughing can lead to an embarrassing leak. Women with this condition have weak pelvic muscles and collagen break down as well.

The current treatment, which is both quick and easy, involves using non–ablative radiofrequency (RF) device to shrink and stimulate collagen production both in the vaginal wall and the external vaginal tissues to combat “laxity”. The device delivers RF temperature controlled waves to the target area and while there might be a feeling of warmth during the 30-minute treatment, most patients find the experience comfortable and painless.

The RF device can comfortably warm vaginal tissues and increase the temperature to 40–45 degrees Celsius and cause tissue contraction that is felt right after the first treatment, with significant tightening in the vaginal tissues continuing to improve over the next three months. With the tightening of vaginal tissues, a dermatologist can target the tightening effects to the area of the urethra called the pubocervical fascia. This results in the reduction of accidental leaks.

According to a clinical study undertaken by Californian urogynecologist Dr Red Alinsod, all patients reported improvement. Before treatment, these patients would need to use between one and five pads each day. After treatment, most patients no longer required pads and the leakage was gone.

Nowadays, no woman should have to suffer urinary incontinence. The above treatment is convenient with no downtime. A disadvantage of this non-invasive treatment is that qualified professionals are required to perform the procedure. Another issue is some patients may need a series of three treatments. However, the number of treatments depends on level of laxity in each individual.

THANISORN THAMLIKITKUL MD is a member of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and certified in dermatological laser surgery. |Send your questions for her to info@romrawin.com.

Thai silk has become known the world over in recent years, yet despite all the development that has gone into making the traditional hand-woven textile a visual standout, its use in contemporary ready-to-wear outfits has largely been avoided, not least because of a perception that this delicate fabric is best worn only by the mature and the rich.

That could be about to change thanks to the work of four leading designers – Prapakas Angsusing of Hook’s by Prapakas, Ek Thongprasert, Platt Pladhi, and Theera Chantasawat – who recently showcased a range of interesting outfits in the “Thai Textile for Contemporary Ready-to-Wear” event at Siam Paragon.

The collections, comprising a total of 86 looks which using fabric woven by communities under the Roi Kaen Sarasin, Nakhon Chaiburin and the Royal Peacock brands, made their debut in May in the Spanish city of Valencia where they received rapturous applause.

Platt Pladhi incorporates gorgeous printed silk from Pak Thong Chai district in Nakhon Ratchasima in his designs.

And while the advice for handling Thai silk as gently as possible is as valid as ever the ways in which it can be worn are evolving. “Thai textiles must develop just as fashion constantly changes,” says Platt, who has travelled extensively throughout rural areas to observe the process of textile making as well as to share his knowledge with local weavers and work with them.

“Thai silk is our heritage. It belongs to all of us and should exist in and be part of our everyday lives,” he says of a collection that boasts not just refined cutting and elegant draping but a riot of colours that one would imagine would appear to clash yet manage to look harmoniously outstanding.

“For this collection, I’ve draw upon the colourful prints of silk awarded the Peacock Emblem that is produced in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Thong Chai district. The textiles reflect the contemporary lifestyle through the patterns and structures that are the unique features of my Realistic Situation brand,” he explains.

“My advice is to wear ‘print on print’ and never be afraid of the result. Dressing up should be fun and the colours cry out for mixing and matching.”

Ek Thongprasert regards the uniqueness of the patterns and colours in Thai textiles as their essence and says he regrets that they have yet to blend in with contemporary Thai society.

“The traditional Thai way of passing on knowledge and know-how somehow creates a thick wall that prevents innovations in terms of design,” he laments.

“However, over the past couple of years I have seen the new generation of local weavers going back home to continue the family business as well as the introduction of many government projects aimed at supporting collaboration between designers and local weavers. These factors have led to a swift and impactful development in the industry, allowing a re-introduction of local Thai textiles into the wardrobes of the people of today.”

Ek Thongprasert collection uses the latest “jean silk” innovation from the Thong Saren Silk Group.

His collection is inspired by the way in which contemporary culture is gradually replacing local traditions and he regards the introduction of Thai textiles in contemporary forms as a conversation between rural and urban customs. Using fabrics from the Nakhon Chai Burin group, he mixes and matches various patterns such as a new kind of denim silk produced by Gold Silk Saren, the pa sin teen daeng produced in Buri Ram province as well as the well-known mudmee silk, showing them off through contemporary sportswear.

Thai kick boxing or muay thai is the main theme of this Thailand 4.0 collection that boasts catchy Isaan greetings both screened and embroidered including “Pen-jang-dai” or “Sam-bai-dee-bor” (“how are you?”). The names of the province are incorporated in the designs and Ek adds, “I’ve also included the logo of Burirum United football club, as it’s part of our modern culture that youngsters can easily relate to.”

Theera too has risen to the challenge of revamping and reviving Thai textiles so they become more contemporary and relevant. His first task, he explains, was to change the preconception that Thai textiles are outdated and unfashionable while encouraging local producers to think more globally and to understand the fashion and lifestyle industry.

Last year, his brand T-Ra, with the support from the Ministry of Culture, worked closely with groups of local weavers to create a collection of new and contemporary products that went on to win rave reviews and caught the attention of the popular press.

His designs rely on simplicity, showcasing the draping techniques for which T-Ra is known and boasting hand-woven and naturally dyed fabrics from the Jutatip community in Khon Kaen province.

The fashion show ended with the flowing creations of Prapakas, who has always used Thai silk in the gowns sold under his Hook’s by Prapakas brand. Like his three peers, he feels all Thai designers should be honour-bound to make Thai silk relevant again. “We should try to see Thai silk as one type of fabric and material that has got its own characteristics like all other fabrics from all other countries and work from there, setting aside our biases as well as preconceptions that prevent so many of us from working with Thai silk and wearing Thai silk,” he says.

He also hopes to be able to impart the knowledge regarding colours, colour-pairings, and an understanding of trends to the local weavers so that they are able to design and produce textiles that answer the needs of a wide spectrum of clients.

The inspiration for Prapakas’s collection comes from his recent trips to the Northeast of Thailand and he translates this into gowns made from silk producers from the Roikhaen Sarasin group in Kalasin province. With long experience from designing for stage performances, he applies his unique skills in stitching, layering, and embroidery, bringing these many different fabrics that vary in terms of texture and thickness to gowns that are both elegant and thoroughly modern.

Muay Thai instructors teach all the basic moves – from how to properly position yourself to how to throw punches, kicks, knees and elbows using gloves and pads.

After picking up the fundamentals of good boxing form, the classes can then intensify depending on your experience and progress, giving you the opportunity to improve cardiovascular strength as well as stamina, agility and muscle strength.

It really is a full body workout that is not only fun, but also builds up your confidence while providing you with an exciting new skill at the same time!

Basic Thai boxing classes run at Lifestyles on 26, on the 26th floor of Centara Grand at CentralWorld, every Thursday from 6-6.50pm. Drop in prices are just Bt400 with no membership required.

For more information, please call (02) 100 6299.

SINCE IMPRESSIONIST artists first clapped eyes on woodblock prints, Japan has been a source of both inspiration and fascination for many in France, which Tokyo has picked for a mammoth cultural offensive.

“There were other candidates, like Moscow or Spain, but it’s the French, more than any other nation, who know Japanese culture the best,” says Korehito Masuda, director of the “Japonismes 2018” programme.

From Gagaku imperial military music to the disconcerting works of contemporary artist Kohei Nawa, the cycle of 67 exhibits and performances aims to highlight Japan’s cultural vibrancy on a scale rarely seen outside the country.

The season kicked off Thursday at La Villette exhibition complex in Paris, where the Teamlab artist collective has installed an immersive digital experience covering two square kilometres.

The Japan Expo offers a cultural showcases of manga, cosplay, and video game pop culture. /EPA-EFE 

“We wanted to show the continuity of Japanese traditions up to the current day, with the integration of traditional art and technology,” Masuda adds.

Tokyo, which has invested more than 30 million euros (Bt1.16 billion) in the project, also has a more prosaic ambition: Keeping up with a concerted push by long-time rival China to promote its artistic heritage.

Yet specialists say in France at least, Japan’s place in the popular imagination remains secure.

In a sign of the French fascination with the Land of the Rising Sun, this year’s edition of the annual Japan Expo in Paris received 250,000 visitors.

French youths, meanwhile, have long been avid manga readers and star Japanese chefs are the toast of the French gastronomic scene.

“It might have seemed that with the huge cultural investments by China that interest in Japan would suffer, but that hasn’t been the case,” says Michael Lucken, director of France’s National Institute for Eastern Languages and Civilisations.

 Performers in costume dance on stage at the Japan Expo./EPA-EFE

Underscoring the importance given to the French shows by Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was to attend Thursday’s inauguration alongside President Emmanuel Macron, before cancelling because of the recent deadly flooding in Japan.

“There’s a love story between France and Japan” which began shortly after the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1858, says Beatrice Quette, curator of the Asian collections at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.

From the composer Debussy to the poet Baudelaire to painters including Van Gogh and Monet, 19th-century artists were enthralled with “Japanism” and the possibilities it offered their work.

More recently, former president Jacques Chirac was an ardent fan of Japanese art – as well as sumo wrestling – and travelled to the country dozens of times.

Japanese influence also set the standard in France for design, with Quette stressing, “It has to be both beautiful and useful”.

One highlight of the events being planned for “Japonismes 2018” is the first European concert by Hatsune Miku, the computer-generated Japanese pop star who performs as a hologram and has already filled venues in Asia and North America.

Also on deck is a retrospective of films by Naomi Kawase, the first Japanese woman to sit on a Cannes Film Festival jury and a previous winner of one of the festival’s top prizes.

Performances of classical Japanese Kabuki and No theatre are planned, as are electronic music and hip-hop concerts and exhibitions of ancient and modern creations, ranging from 11,000-year-old pottery to dresses from the cutting-edge label Anrealage.

To cap it all, the Eiffel Tower will be bathed in the red and white of the Japanese flag for two nights in September.

The parade, estimated to be some 30,000 strong, made its way through the South Korean capital with participants dancing on open truck beds decorated with slogans and waving the rainbow flag of gay rights.

In recent years extreme conservatives and evangelist Christians have held rival rallies in attempts to block the progress of the annual march and put on their own performances to try and disrupt the festivities.

Fences were set up around the Seoul Square outside the City Hall Saturday and hundreds of police were deployed to keep the revellers and protesters apart.

Hundreds of Christians, waving flags with Christian crosses printed on them and thumping on drums, chanted anti-gay slogans and sang patriotic and evangelical songs.

Public tolerance towards sexual minorities in South Korea’s tradition-bound society has been growing in step with the country’s democratic development.

Homosexuality is not illegal but fears of discrimination and social isolation still prevent many people from coming out.

“I think the public attitude toward homosexuality has become much more receptive over the past few years”, said a parade participant who identified himself as Psygay as he handed out leaflets promoting the country’s gay rights movement.

“However, hate groups’ animosity toward LGBT people has intensified all the more”, he told AFP.

When he came out three years earlier, his mother and the only brother were shocked and saddened.

“After a while, my mother said she understood me as I am her son anyhow. But my brother still urges me to change”, he said.

“My father? Oh, he still doesn’t know”, said Psygay.

HUAWEI NOVA 3e is a sleek smartphone featuring beautiful selfie camera with 24 megapixel resolution and outstanding bokeh effect.

The smartphone comes in a sleek metal frame with glass backside body on which are 11 layers of nano coating and the phone is only 7.4mm thin.

The nova 3e comes with an outstanding Huawei FullView 2.0 Display that has 2280×1080 pixels resolution in a large 5.84-inch size in 19:9 aspect ratio.

The display looks crisp and it is good for watching HD clips and viewing photos as well as playing games.

On the performance, although the nova 3e is not powered by Huawei’s flagship processor, its performance is okay. I don’t feel that it suffered from performance hiccups during the test.

It is powered by Huawei’s Kirin 659 octa-core processor with four cores running at 2.36GHz and four others at 1.7GHZ. It comes with four gigabytes of working memory or RAM and best of all, Huawei gives a generous 128GB storage for the nova 3e, which can also be expanded with a microSD by up to 256GB.

During the test, I found that apps ran fast on the nova 3e and its menus and touchscreen were responsive.

The nova 3e also supports playing High-Resolution Audio in FLAC 24bit/192kHz. I tested it on Sony MDR-1ABT Hi-Res Audio headphones and the nova 3e played the files smoothly with good details of musical sounds and powerful bass. Moreover, its equaliser setting allows you to boost the bass sounds and select 3D sound settings as well.

The nova 3e also supports LTE 4G. I tested it on TrueMove H’s LTE network and found that it had fast connection. Apps were downloaded fast and my snapshots were backed up to my Google Photos cloud storage in no time.

I used Ookla Speedtest app to measure the connection speed and found that it achieved the download speed of 65.1Mbps and upload speed of 30.7Mbps.

Again, Huawei makes uses of its good dual-camera technology and experience to allow nova 3e to capture beautiful shots with its main camera.

The nova 3e features 16 MP+2MP rear camera. The 16MP is the main camera’s resolution while the 2MP resolution is used for creating professional Bokeh effects.

Like Huawei’s other dual-camera phones, nova 3e provides Wide aperture mode that allows you adjust the aperture value to achieve the blurred background – the less aperture value, the more background blurred.

There is also Portrait mode that allows you to achieve blurred background to make the face of your subject more outstanding. But a plus for this mode is that you can apply a beautification effect to make your subject’s face look smoother and younger. There is a bokeh toggle switch in this mode for turning on and off the effect in this mode.

You can also use Moving picture mode to capture short video clips along with a still shot.

The Wide aperture, Portrait and Moving picture modes are sub-modes of the auto mode, which Huawei calls “Photo”. There are other modes that you can choose, including Pro photo, AR lens, HDR, Night sight, Panorama, Light painting and Time-lapse. These modes can be selected by slighting the viewfinder screen to the light.

The Pro photo is a mode for experienced photographers as this mode allows you to change types of lighter metering, ISO value, shutter speed, exposure compensation, focus type, and white balance.

The AR lens is fun as it allows you to superimpose fun stickers on the face of your subject while taking the shot.

The nova 3e’s front camera is outstanding as it allows you to capture your selfie shots in 24 megapixel resolution with bokeh effect and beautification effect.

Although it has one lens, Huawei manages to use software to allow you to achieve a bokeh effect for the front camera. It provides a bokeh effect toggle button when the front camera is used.

Huawei says the 24MP front camera with bright f/2.0 aperture lens works in conjunction with Nude Makeup Algorithm, including 3D Facial Mapping that uses 96 facial recognition points, to capture sharp, beautiful and naturally-looking selfie shots.

It also uses Light Fusion Portrait and Smart Screen Flash technologies to provide intelligent lighting based on colour temperature, resulting in beautiful selfie shots in even in low-light environments.

The front camera also lets you have fun using the AR lens. For the front camera, the AR lens mode provides more than fun stickers. You can select one of several backgrounds to put yourself on without having to be there. In one background, you could shoot yourself on a beach and in others you put yourself on famous landmarks around the world. The beach AR lens amazingly gives a real-life photo result while other AR lens background effects give painting-like results.

The nova 3e comes with good security functions, wit a fingerprint sensor and Face unlock technology. During the test, I found that the Face Unlock let me unlock the phone simply by picking it up to look at the screen. Huawei says the process is done in just 800 milliseconds.

The nova 3e has a good battery life. Its 3,000mAh battery can comfortably survive a day. And it also supports Huawei Fast Charge 2.0.

Hauwei nova 3e in available in Klein Blue, Midnight Black and Sakura Pink for Bt10,990.

Key Specs

Network: 4G (LTE FDD), |3G (WCDMA), 2G (GSM)

OS: Android 8.0

CPU: Huawei Kirin 659 |(4 x Cortex-A53 2.36GHz + 4 x Cortex-A53 1.7GHz)

Memory: 4GB

Storage: 128GB, expandable using microSD card by up to 256GB

Display: 5.84-inch TFT LCD (IPS) with 2280×1080 pixels, 432 PPI

Cameras: Rear dual 16MP+2MP camera with f/2.2 lens, Front 24MP with f/2.0 lens

SIM slot: Dual nano SIM, second SIM supports only |2G and shares with |microSD

Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2

Sensors: Fingerprint sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Digital compass, Gravity sensor

GPS: AGPS / GLONASS

Battery: 3000mAh

Dimensions: 148.6×71.2×7.4mm

Weight: 145g