TONLE SOAP
Located in the heart of Cambodia, the Tonle Sap undergoes a natural phenomenon every rainy season, growing to four times its size when the connecting eponymous river changes direction.
The lake’s water level is a tale of two seasons, wet and dry, and when it rains, it pours. As the mighty Mekong River swells, it forces the adjoining Tonle Sap River to reverse its flow, filling the lake. Dry season inverts the process, and the change of flow shrivels the lake.
The Tonle Sap has been a source of life for many Khmers since the Angkorian period, but hydropower dams, illegal fishing, and, in particular, climate change, are murdering the lake’s ecosystem and its residents.
This photography series aims to raise questions about the consequences of climate change: The freshwater lake is the largest in Southeast Asia, and if it vanishes, what does this mean for the future of Cambodia and the region?
The lake dwellers pictured are staged through different compositions and associations of objects, linking people, water, air, and sky.
A floating, detached arm lands on a submerged face, a mirror as a reflection of man facing drought, a red balloon getting too close to a wooden pestle, a masked superhero under the wooden foundations of homes, and a drifting, plastic man.
The surreal images suggest issues related to the lake without being explicit. This lets the spectator immerse themselves in the photographs and gives free rein to their own interpretation about the lake’s challenges.
This photo series was featured at the Les Rencontres d'Arles 2023 festival.
The lake’s water level is a tale of two seasons, wet and dry, and when it rains, it pours. As the mighty Mekong River swells, it forces the adjoining Tonle Sap River to reverse its flow, filling the lake. Dry season inverts the process, and the change of flow shrivels the lake.
The Tonle Sap has been a source of life for many Khmers since the Angkorian period, but hydropower dams, illegal fishing, and, in particular, climate change, are murdering the lake’s ecosystem and its residents.
This photography series aims to raise questions about the consequences of climate change: The freshwater lake is the largest in Southeast Asia, and if it vanishes, what does this mean for the future of Cambodia and the region?
The lake dwellers pictured are staged through different compositions and associations of objects, linking people, water, air, and sky.
A floating, detached arm lands on a submerged face, a mirror as a reflection of man facing drought, a red balloon getting too close to a wooden pestle, a masked superhero under the wooden foundations of homes, and a drifting, plastic man.
The surreal images suggest issues related to the lake without being explicit. This lets the spectator immerse themselves in the photographs and gives free rein to their own interpretation about the lake’s challenges.
This photo series was featured at the Les Rencontres d'Arles 2023 festival.