Deep, 2103
Born in Cambodia in 1989, Chea Nging was studying in the media and communications stream when she began to take an interest in photography, wanting to explore “an inspiration that she could not express in language”.
In her series Deep, she takes a fresh look at a basic ingredient in Cambodian cuisine, dried fish. It can be seen on display in nearly every market stall in the capital, so commonplace as hardly to merit a glance by passersby. Chea Nging decided to shed some scholarly enlightenment on the matter. On a black background, giving them apurely plastic look. “Fish in a river are a thing of ecological interest. Put fish on a plate and it becomes a delicacy. Light it up with a flashlight in a dark room, its deep beauty comes to the fore.”
In order to give a body back to the fish, she dries them out again herself, with the head and tail on. It’s extremely meticulous work, taking many hours of preparation, very specific lighting tests, then all manner of different shots, hundreds of them for each species. The staging is one of still life,her fish ironically seem to come to life under lighting: “A flashlight shone on them and they seem to be swimming, alive, under the water, in the dark.”
FESTIVAL
Photo Phnom Penh 2013
November 30th – December 31st, 2013
http://www.institutfrancais-cambodge.com
