SE Asia - Impressions - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

[schumionbike]

I am not disputing the fact that it is a sensible system of distribution given the conditions. The conditions of not having paved road as you guys have mentioned, and lacked of motorize transportation (thus not need a lot of gas) and required such a distribution system is what I find depressing. I'm assuming that these conditions exist not because of choices they made or because they are oblivious to the choices they have, but these conditions is force on them due to poverty.

 

[Antithesis]

I just flew home from Phnom Pehn airport like the day before yesterday, and these pictures do sum up the Khmer people's way of life pretty well. I wouldn't say the people were under-fed or unhappy, it's just a different culture then the West. It is still a relatively broken country though.

The thing that is really sad in Cambodia is that they just got over a genocide that killed 1.5 million people in the end of the 1970's, and there is still evidence of the violence in most of the cities. The reason Phnom Pehn is still so underdeveloped compared to other cities in Asia is a direct result of the genocide. It's called the Pol Pet (spelling might be off) genocide, there are books about it in every Cambodian bookstore, and certainly at the Killing Fields. (edit: just read your full genocide story. I didn't know about the forced marriages)

Iron Flatline: if your still in Cambodia, I'd suggest checking out Sihounakville and Bamboo Island just off the coast, it was amazing. Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor are obviously amazing as well, especially if you have a decent camera with you.

 

[Steph]

t's called the Pol Pet (spelling might be off) genocide.

Surely you mean Pol Pot, after the name of the prime minister/dictator of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979, who was responsible for the genocide.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Actually, he means the Khmer Rouge, led by Lon Nol and Pol Pot.

No, I'm back in Europe. Didn't get the chance to go up to the coast, but will be going back soon, I'm sure.

Read my summery of the country's history within my initial post. Weird thing is that most people don't even realize what happened there, or you get responses like Trenton Rolumox's post that just kind of summarize consumer ignorance (no real fear of him coming back to this thread, he just posts and runs.)

 

[The_Traveler]

The classic film about the Cambodian Holocaust is 'The Killing Fields" http://imdb.com/title/tt0087553/. The hero of this film was a Cambodian reporter, Dith Pran, who survived the death camps and eventually made his way to the refugee camps across the Thai border. He was sponsored out of the camps to the US by his friend, Sidney Schaumberg, another journalist and spent the rest of his life working as a photographer for the NY Times.

Just this last week he died of cancer. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23867336/

For an illuminating view of view of how the Khmer Rouge worked, read 'The Lost Executioner' by Nick Dunlop. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23867336/

 

[SBlanca]

hey flatline, saw some of these photos on your blog and forgot to comment on them...AMAZING love them, wish i could do this kind of thing some day

 

[Los Angeles]

Iron... Your photography is amazing... Not just technically but you get out there and shoot stuff that is really important... you bring back images that make people think... well done.

 

[skier66]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Hey, thank you all very much, I really appreciate the compliments.

Here's a few more:

A Tuk-Tuk full of orphans, all of them in a fantastic mood. I have several shots of these kids, they were obviously a closely-knit bunch. As I explained earlier, the number of orphans in Cambodia is extremely high, as is typical for any society following a war and genocide.

Two kids playing in front of their house. I had no one to translate, but within context this struck me simply as a big brother taking his little sister out for a push. That is not a stroller, the roads there wouldn't allow it. I think it's just a toy for them.

A boy playing by himself at a river bank. It's toward the end of the dry season now (April) so the rivers and lakes are low.

A girl on the way home from school. Those are rice fields behind her:

Two grown ups coming back into town at the end of the day:

 

[Iron Flatline]

One more...

another weird one. I spent some time at Chong Kneas, a floating village on the Tonle Sap lake. Actually, two floating villages, one Khmer the other Viet.

Oddly, in the middle of the lake, I bumped into this family. Little kids perform with snakes in return for a tip. HIGHLY unexpected on a lake.

Check out the little boy, and the whistle around his neck. I love his expression.

 

[chantal7]

I have to say these are very interesting. If you don't mind me asking, how did the people handle you taking photos of them; like did they mind? Didn't care? I am curious as to what their reactions were, if any. Thanks for sharing your photos

 

[Los Angeles]

Also I have one question. What were you doing there? Work, Travel, Fun.

 

[Iron Flatline]

I was there on vacation, with the express goal of taking pictures. I know people working for NGOs in Cambodia and I have friends in Vietnam, so I went on photo holiday. I went alone, without my kids or wife (I get a 10 day pass once a year to do my own thing for photography.)

People there are less uptight about photography, but there's additional compounding cultural differences. First of all, they are non-violent. In spite of what the context is, most of these places are completely safe. In Vietnam you can walk around at night and be safer than in any European city, never mind an American city. Nothing is going to happen to you. Also, getting mad (losing face) is culturally unacceptable there, so no one is going to yell at you. The biggest "photographic problem" is that everyone starts smiling at you all the time.... so you have a lot of "cheeeese" pictures. Smiling is common in SE Asia... and it helps a lot if you do it. But that is true about photographing people everywhere in the world....

 

[Los Angeles]

You have done well with you 10 day pass. I have seen a couple times people go on "missions" and take photos. It sort of frys me when people go on religious missions. Im glad to see you were on vacation.

 

[Iron Flatline]

No, my images reflect my local mood. Fun in Bangkok, food and business in Saigon, depression and darkness in Phnom Penh.

Nothing worse than a hobby photographer who suddenly thinks he's On Assignment because he's got a camera and some poor people in front of him... Nonetheless, it's hard to ignore what you're seeing, and there's something to be said for documenting it photographically. I've been using the images of the kids to get my kids to finish dinner, stop asking for new toys, and basically threaten Orphanage to them every time they don't behave...

layball: