Leica. It's the pinnacle of all camera brands -- owned and used by some of the most legendary photographers of the world. From pioneer street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and social documentary photographer Sebastiao Salgado to Vietnamese war photographer Nick Ut, all the giants swear by the German brand's lenses and compact, simple design.
In the past, the revered optical tools developed by Ernst Leitz II have been sought out only by professionals in the field. But now, Leica culture has expanded significantly, and is often used for capturing lifestyle images by well-to-do amateur photographers.
Seeing the Thai customer base grow steadily in the past two years, Leica Camera Thailand has now decided to join hands with the country's leading coffee roaster Pacamara to launch the world's second Café Leitz, a new undertaking that will open up the world of Leica to a new generation of photo enthusiasts.
The first ever Café Leitz is located at the Leica headquarters outside Wetzlar, Germany. Bangkok's Café Leitz is located conveniently on EmQuartier's main floor.
The café is sleek and minimal, yet boasting warm interiors which can draw anyone in. Walking in and sitting down at one of the tables, the staff present you with the food and drinks menu, as well as a catalogue of all the Leica models you can try out.
"The idea of the café is built around photography," said Danai Sorakraikitikul, CEO of A-List Corporate, the sole distributor of Leica cameras in Thailand. "Instead of a barrier between walking into a door, opening a door, the younger consumers feel intimidated to have to open a door and come in. But at a café, it's not like that. When they come in they can order a cup of coffee for 150 baht, and they'll be greeted by our staff bringing them very expensive cameras to let them try. They can take pictures and we'll print them out for them, and they'll know that it's not expensive -- it's cheap for what it can do."
Café Leitz has a large selection of high-quality food and drink options.
"This is definitely part of what luxury brands are trying to find as a path," said Jérôme Auzanneau, managing director of Leica Camera. "The café is a very traditional idea, and Leitz is a very traditional and old name. At the same time there's nothing more modern than this."
Blending into the local market, Café Leitz has a large selection of high quality food, ranging from delectable Thai classics like crispy skin chicken (650 baht) to French classic desserts like tarte au citron (280 baht). Their drinks, like "the old fashion" cold brew coffee (160 baht), were specifically created to be both delicious and beautiful so customers can test out their Leica cameras on them.
To promote the art of photography, Café Leitz will also be having new exhibitions every month, as well as workshops for Leica customers (both digital and analogue) to encourage more Thais to show their works to the public.
"We asked ourselves how to get people to take more pictures instead of buying cameras and letting them sit in the cabinet," said Danai. "That has really been our first task, and we have been communicating with customers to join our events and create a community."
Yet, being such a niche brand with an almost cult-like following, some purists may feel that the opening of a café is Leica's step into the mainstream market -- an idea which Jérôme disagrees with.
"First of all it's not going mainstream," he said. "It's becoming more open but keeping all the values intact and untouched. That makes the difference. The idea also is when you go mainstream you go mass. Leica has no intention to become mass. Secondly, there is not one single door to access photography, and our idea is to have several doors to bring people to our universe, our world, and our conception of philosophy and imagery."
