In the past, public telephones in Phnom Penh were simple affairs with landlines either in front of or in a store. There were all kinds of telephone booths or imitations. You would see long lists of numbers for places that could be called from that telephone and what the rate was. With the advent of cell phones, telephone booths and makeshift public telephone setups are on their way out. With a good dent of humor, our young photographer does an inventory of them, recording their design, their state of disrepair or their remake into broom closets or household altar holders… In some of them you might even find a small collection of… hand phones. Many of them are dilapidated and plastered with advertising, turning them into strange objects that might have been invented by contemporary artists. By making “portraits” of telephone booths, the photographer is saving some of the memory of recent times that soon will be no more.
Dav Leakpheakdey lives and works in Phnom Penh. She is a student of the Studio Images of the Institut français du Cambodge. Currently she is working in a law firm.
Photo Phnom Penh festival
From December 8 – 13, 2012
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
