Andreas Gursky’s Bangkok series depicts the dark, moving waters of Thailand’s Chao Phraya river, whose shimmering surface possesses the qualities of abstract painting. Indeed these photos are reminiscent of the work of modernist abstractionists such as Hans Arp, but they also echo the patterns of military camouflage. Seductively beautiful at first glance, it is only slowly that the detritus of civilization floating on the surface of the river becomes recognizable–the evidence of an ominous, threatening reality moving across colorful reflections. Gursky thus alludes to the ecological problems that jeopardize Bangkok, which, shortly after these images were made, contributed to the widespread flooding that devastated many areas in Thailand.