This former student of Studio Images is seriously pursuing her exploration of contemporary Cambodian society. After a series of pictures in the countryside, in which she used the leaves of plants and trees to create portraits without faces in the landscape, she is now working in the city. Always puting the question of identity at the center of her work, Neak Sophal asked men and women to pose for her in the street, hiding their faces behind the objects that characterizes them. Often these objects are related to their jobs. A fisherman, a merchant who sells hats or bags, a student, a monk, a construction worker, an office employee between many others.
Each one loses his or her identity behind that which ultimately characterizes all: their work. Choosing each time the perfect distance, without effect, the photographer builds a strange documentary series, an inventory of functions behind which the individual disappears. We get a sense of a rigid society, stress and no real possibility to escape. The choice of the backgrounds, their colors and textures make a beautiful collection, at the same time diverse and strict.
FESTIVAL
Photo Phnom Penh 2015
From January 31th to February 28th, 2015
Institut français du Cambodge
218 rue 184 – Phnom Penh
Cambodia
+855 (0)23 213 124 / 125
[email protected]
www.institutfrancais-cambodge.com
