Social media and primarily Instagram has connected me to a lot of people great people over the years, mostly because of shared experiences of some sort. Whether it be for the love of vinyl, world travels and sites, food and beer or the simple fact that collectors of all sorts seem to be drawn together at a meeting point to showcase and discuss what resides in their archives. As a vintage movie poster collector, I’ve come in contact with other collectors across the globe but there is one particular person in general who took his passion of film one step further and set out to document the movie houses that screened.
Phil Jablon is the author of the new book, Thailand’s Movie Theaters: Relics, Ruins and The Romance of Escape which is a visual guide through history of the countries deep cinema roots and the buildings often times made up of most beautiful architecture, design and grand appearance. Throughout the book, we get a full visual experience of those theaters both inside and out and over the decades from Pre-World War II to the slowly declining modern era where many have closed down yet the buildings still stand in disrepair. In addition to the theaters themselves, we get a glimpse at many of the marquees and displays to see what was showing at the time and the poster art alone made taking trips to the movies an attraction itself.
A book of this magnitude isn’t something easily pulled off and it definitely shows just how far Phil Jablon went to make it a thing of beauty since first beginning to document in 2008 when he moved to Thailand to study for his Masters Degree. Having spent some years in Thailand, researching locations, taking photos, meeting with former theater owners, collecting old tickets, posters and ephemera is truly a passion and labor of love and one that Phil has truly brought together for an experience unlike any other. I recently found out that Phil is local to me so at some point, I’ll be looking to interview him not only about his experiences in documenting theaters but also his incredible movie poster collection that he’s built.
Available now via the author @phil_jablon or your favorite retailer but we highly suggest buying direct because there’s nothing like receiving things directly from the creator.