Wichai Payungke

“People of the Mara and Mwanza Regions of Tanzania” at the University of Vermont Multicultural Gallery features photographs by the Burlington resident, taken while he worked as a water development project manager in the African nation. Payungke freely admits to not being trained as a professional photographer, but says he was compelled to use a point-and-shoot camera to capture scenes of daily life. What he saw “reminded him of [the] simple life in his native Essan region of northeast Thailand,” and evoked a personal nostalgia for “the days when rice and mango growers used only natural fertilizers.” Payungke hopes his images will encourage viewers to value nature and simplicity, however they may encounter it in their own lives.