Jablon first came across Thailand's old stand-alone theaters while studying at Chiang Mai University, and was inspired to photograph and document the disappearing buildings.

He says his interest in Asian culture began around age 12–13, when he saw the Hong Kong film Police Story 3: Super Cop.

[2] Jablon has photographed and documented old stand-alone theaters throughout Thailand, as well as in Myanmar, Laos and, to a lesser extent, Cambodia and Vietnam.

[3] He has received sponsorship from the Jim Thompson Foundation and the Thai Film Archive, though more recently he has been paying out of his own pocket.

[4] Jablon's documentation effort came as the buildings were fast disappearing—he reckons about thirty stand-alone theaters were still operating in Thailand when he began the project, a number that had fallen to four by 2016.