Born in Cambodia in 1979, Toy Monireth is interested in photography since early childhood. A few years later, she finds a way to buy a camera to make family portraits on a regular bases. It gives her “a lot pleasure and makes here very proud“.
In 2013, she chooses to develop a serie about silk weaving; a way to value very old artisanal handicraft, and in a metaphoric sense the complexity of human relationships: “Every color and every fabric fiber is like a community, like a human being, with its different properties. And one has to find a good way to bring it all together…“
That’s why, Toy Monireths went several times to see the weavers of Koh Uknhatey, located at about fifteen kilometers from Phnom Penh. She approaches the closest she can the meticulous work of the women artisans, taking pictures at the heart of their work. Under the apparent abstract fibers and vivid colors, these portraits reveal thread by thread the reality of a traditional craft. “Through my pictures I wanted to give the impression that weaving is a very easy thing to do. And it’s not true at all. “
FESTIVAL
Photo Phnom Penh 2013
November 30th – December 31st, 2013
http://www.institutfrancais-cambodge.com
