Village chief of the Kuy people, Kompong Thom, Cambodia /

The Kuy are an ethnic minority living in the Mekong region, including Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. There are an estimated 70,000 Kuy people in Cambodia.

On this day, they were in the middle of a meeting to teach a traditional dance of the Kuy people to students coming from Phnom Penh in a few days. They welcomed us and had lunch together.

During the meal, the young leader told us with a sad face that the Kuy language was being forgotten, that the forests where the Kuy live were being taken away by the recent development of cashew nut plantations, and that their culture and identity as a people living with the forest was being lost year by year.

“I believe that by coming together like this to talk about the problems that the villagers are facing and the issues they are facing, we may be able to solve some of the problems that they cannot solve alone.”

“Come to think of it, little by little the villagers got together, saved up some money, and bought a threshing machine. We can share it with people who are running out of rice.”

The words of the leader, who is trying to move forward in cooperation with the villagers while worrying not only about himself but also about the village of the Kuy people and continuing to live as the Kuy people, remain in my heart.

The red rice with plenty of black sesame seeds they grew was very tasty.

Shunsuke Miyatake

One job before the lunch break, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A monk, Phnom Krom Temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia

I met him when I visited Siem Reap, Cambodia, home to the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat.

There is a small mountain called Phnom Krom about 30 minutes away from the city by tuk-tuk, and if you walk up the mountain for more than 30 minutes, you will find a small temple there.

He was smoking a cigarette proudly in front of that temple. In Cambodia, many monks carve Sanskrit letters and patterns on their bodies to ward off evil. However, his body had various letters and patterns everywhere from his upper body to his feet.

Monks are widely respected in Cambodian society as beings who have strong moral values, do good deeds for people and the world, and spread a good way of life, and Buddhism has penetrated into every corner of Cambodian society and people's lives.

Monks generally do not smoke and do not drink alcohol. *There are exceptions in every world.

I pressed the shutter button because he appeared to be the complete opposite of the image of a clean monk, and because of my own speculation that, although he appeared to be Cambodian, he might have been exiled from some country and ended up at this temple after a round of exile.

When I approached him and spoke to him in English, he sat smoking a cigarette and looked at me without saying a word.

When I showed him the picture I had taken, he gave me a satisfied shaka sign and smiled quietly.

Roadside banana wholesaler 🍌 /

I went around photo walk with my friend.

This is a narrow alley between Phsar Doeurm Kor and Phsar Neak Meas. Wholesalers sell bananas in large quantities. And each bunch costs just 15,000 Riel. Did you know that? 😳

I thought I had walked around Phnom Penh almost completely, but no way. I realized there’re still many places I had never passed through and I have to check out and document them.

We had good time with local people. They're very casual and sweet. Some asked us to take photos of them, some posed for photos, and others recommended bananas, pineapples, kuytiav. 

I'm looking forward to digging local places and life on the streets much deeper 😉🙏🏻

A man climbs a sugar palm tree and sets up a tube to collect sap, which is used to make sugar.

I am always surprised to see them, but they smoothly climb up the 20-meter-high tree without lifelines and get the job done quickly and efficiently at the top of the tree.

A machete looks good on the men of the village in Kampong Thom, Cambodia.

Cows swimming across the river, Kampong Thom, Cambodia / 

I often see buffaloes bathing and playing in the water. However, this may be the first time for me to see dairy cows swimming across a river.

When I came to see a small pier over the river at the edge of Kampong Thom Province, I happened to see a cowherd bringing a herd of cows to the river. I thought they had come to drink water, but then I saw all but a couple of the cows enter the river at a leisurely pace and swim swiftly to the other side.

A man fishing slowly in a small boat also appeared, and it was truly a peaceful time.

Joyful smoking, Kampong Thom, Cambodia /

He had to come outside of the house because other villagers hate smoking. So he was complaining about their family not allowing him to smoke in their house. Instead, he was eating apple mangos under the tree and smoked by himself.

He cut the fallen apple mangos with his aged hatchet, and it looks super juicy, so I asked him to allow me to use his hatchet and cut the other apple mango. It was sweet sour and delicious.

I smoked cigarette with him for a while. While we smoked together, he was talking about the past war. There were troops from Vietnam during civil war, and before that, he said he saw Japanese soldiers coming to fight against French troops during world war 2. But he never seen the gunfires between French and Japanese.

Japanese soldiers had never stayed inside their village. They stayed outside of the villages. He told that the Japanese troops never wanted to see the local villages were to be involved in the fighting.

After smoking, he smiled, held up his stuff and said that he had to bring back to home and contnue working.

How many unspoken stories around the world? I have to go around the world to document those small stories. 

It was great smoking.

Sleepy Tofu Vendor, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

Men playing Ouk Chaktrang, the Cambodian Chess, at “Ta Jok” street coffee shop, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

“Ouk is not only a part of Cambodian culture but also an artistic identity. Everything about it is art: the pieces, the sound they make, and the teasing and mocking.”

A man at a buddhist altar shop, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Orussey Market bustling with shoppers, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

“Sursedey chnam thmey” 
Happy Khmer New Year!

Cambodia celebrates the Khmer New Year in April. The Orussey Market, located in the center of Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, is a busy marketplace where everything from food to daily necessities is gathered. Especially during the Khmer New Year, many people visit Orussey Market to buy goods for their families to go back to their hometowns or to spend time with their families and friends. She is the woman who runs the candy shop in the Orussey Market. It is a very charming sight to see parents helping their children choose their favorite candy. I took this photo of the woman from a gap in the store, who says she would love to have more customers come to her shop because she has so many products.

A wooden furniture craftsman /

Cambodia has some amazing woodwork that has been made throughout the ages to honor the religion and its history. Sculptures of Buddha, statues of celestial maidens called "apsaras," and tales from Angkor were regularly made and displayed in wood in royal temples and even in homes.

Four styles of Khmer woodwork design have been commonly used since the Angkor period: wind, water, land, and sky. 

Each style is said to have unique characteristics and symbolize different important elements in the human experience.

On the streets of Phnom Penh, you can find woodworkers using techniques that have been around for hundreds of years in the past.


Nap time /

The Tonle Sap River is a great place to take a nap, as there is often a cool breeze along the river. The other side of the river, with its haze, seems to represent his dream.

On reading, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The pink-flowered plants growing along riverbank are Phka Trabek Prei known to some locals as Khmer Sakura. The name is taken from a type of Japanese flower.

Some observe that they bloom from February until the mid-March. Even as it reaches the end of its life cycle, the Khmer Sakura leaves a remarkable impression. After the petals drop from the trees, they carpet the pavement with color. 

Shooting for Jingi Japan Newsed&Outlet Center / Vol.1

They opened in 2021 but they closed temporarily for renewal, and on the day of shooting, they were putting new tags on the hangers for re-opening. 

I was curious from the beginning, because their name is so unique. Jingi means humanity and justice in English and written as 仁義 in Japanese.

So what is their Jingi about? I was wondering.

I went to check the shooting point and the position of the sun outside before the day of group photo shooting and talked with the 7 leaders managing the many other members. 4 leaders are suffering from the after effects of polio, and 3 leaders are born and raised in a garbage mountain. Some of them have difficulty walking and need some equipment, but they were incredibly bright characters and working hard. And I felt their characters make them leaders. And Jingi grows those leaders. I greatly respected the idea of preparing an environment where both able-bodied and physically challenged people can work together and nurture them as managers, regardless of their disabilities or origins. 

By importing clothes that are no longer worn in Japan and selling them at low prices, a large amount of clothing can be saved from being discarded. Also, for every item of used clothing sold, they donate one polio vaccine for saving the lives of children around the world from the threat of polio, which has not been eradicated yet. It was deeply moving to see how used clothing from Japan is creating jobs and vaccine donations in Cambodia.

By enjoying your unique, one-of-a-kind vintage clothing, you are donating to the polio vaccine, and there are lives to be saved. All the clothes are just $5 and the bag, shoes and all accessories are $7. How about going there and trying to find something unique for you?

Sugarcane is just my day job, football is my passion, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A ferry packed with people leaving the concrete jungle for nature, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

Kosal Khiev / Spoken word artist

They kept me in the hole for one and a half years. I almost went crazy. You come to talk to yourself, and you're forced to confront yourself, all parts of yourself.
It made me say - is this it? Is this all your life is going to amount to? Are you going to die in prison?
I wrote everything out, fears, hopes, dreams and nightmares. Whatever I was writing I would talk it out, and people would hear me and say: 'Let us hear something man’. In a sense it was my first performance - it was dudes just being lonely and bored.
I discovered the power that poetry has to change a person's perspective and outlook.
Now I've come back, I just want to do good.
I just want people, when they talk to me, to get the feeling that this guy is doing good. And just continue forward, you know?
I remember someone telling me it takes only a couple of seconds to make a mistake, but it takes a lifetime to correct it. I'm still paying for my mistakes now.
I have to serve to this mother earth, and that is my purpose of life.

A fisherman's boat with ghost skyscrapers, Phnom Penh, Cambodia



Orn Champolin / Cambodia National Football Player

When I was a kid, I was always watching football games on TV. And one day I came to Olympic Stadium to watch national football team, and I started wishing I want to be a professional football player. I started training from around 10, or 11.

At the beginning, I was just enjoying football and feeling happy when I play. I could forget all of my struggle. But when I started playing a bit more, my family didn't support because they thought football in Cambodia didn’t have structure and they just wanted me to study and work. But I didn't like that. I wanted to do what I really want to do. For me, that is playing football. And then I wanted to show them that football is also a great thing to do.

When I was 13, I tried the test of Phnom Penh Crown Football Club without saying anything to my family and fortunately, I passed the trial test. I was selected as one of the 22 players.
At that time, I was feeling like my dream came true. But I told that to my family on the other day and they didn’t allow me to join, but the club said they would give me a study, food, everything. So finally they agreed. After playing 1-2 years in the club, they started supporting me. I’ve been selected for national team, in each category of U-14, 16, 18, and now I’m in the top team. 

When we win, I feel so happy, and even when we lose, I feel I can still improve. I can’t go away from football. Football is my life. I also feel football in Cambodia is developing. At the same time, most of the parents want their kids to play football instead of staying at home. And football pitch everywhere. That is a big change compared with the time when I started playing and I would love to contribute for that.

Golden hour on the street, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A shopkeeper carefully shelves their goods, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A fisherman in the morning, Kampot, Cambodia

A local barber at a backstreet, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Everyday life around the classic building, Phnom Penh, Cambodia /

This is one of my favorite spots in Phnom Penh. There're always good old soul in every classic building and good vibes in the people passing by around this corner.

An open air market with colors and human interactions, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A man peddling cleaning supplies, Tuol Tom Poung, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Hustle and bustle, Orussey Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Little monk on his way to clean the temple, Tuol Tom Poung Pagoda, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Yoshiaki Ishizawa / Professor

Professor Ishizawa, 83 years old, launched Restoration Project for Western Causeway of Angkor Wat in ’93, has been working on it since then. “I just want to help Cambodians restore, revive their culture and be proud of it by themselves. I am just coming here and learning a lot from them”

The street is back to life / Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Raphael Pech / Photographer

I was born and raised in France, but root in Cambodia.
My mother is French and my father was Cambodian. He died when I was 9.
My Cambodian identity has always been something like I was looking for a way to be involved and to be connected. I came to Cambodia with my old friends since kindergarten in 2001 with two pictures and two letters from my dad. They supported to help me to find my lost family ties in Khmer Rouge
and finally I could find my cousins and grand parents here in Cambodia.
That miracle changed my life. That’s the beginning of everything for me and my story.
Because everything started like two pictures. In 2001, there was no social media, no sharing.
Photography was quite confidential, very private, and so precious moment like what happened to me.
I started photography as a street photographer for years.
I had a good session with street people and I thought that they were beautiful, and gorgeous. But most of the times, they are pretty invisible to the people.
For example, we are all used to the people selling popcorns, balloons, pigeon foods at riverside, everyday.
But they are almost invisible.
They will disappear in 10 years even though millions of people surviving with those things.
Economy is evolving and that is same as in France. Most of these activities disappear everywhere in the world. I want to continue to take these people another 10 years.
My ikigai is to be happy. And my occasion is to help the people around me.
Linearly and right now my mission is to find a way to feel good with my Cambodian identity.
And I feel way better since I started photographing. It’s all about putting studio lights into the invisible. It’s also a way of documenting life.

Regulars at the street coffee shop, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A young foreman in charge of the construction site

After the lockdown lifted, the construction sites are getting back to busy. Here is one site on St.111, and there was always a guardman sleeping on his portable hammock and some excavator taking a rest. On the day, the excavator was fully in working with a young foreman.

It is always beautiful to see the Cambodian flags  fluttering at the construction site. 

A street market after the rain, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

Heng Setha / Street Coffee Shop Owner

A street coffee shop owner continues to serve a cup of coffee during COVID-19. He moved from his birth place, Kampong Cham province to Phnom Penh at 1982, and has been serving coffee to the local people since ‘90s.

Even during the civil war, he served a cup of coffee to the local community.
He’s been there all the time since 5am in the morning till late at night everyday for more than 20 years. Most of the customers call him “Ta Jok”, means “Grandpa Jok”.

One of his customer said “I come here everyday in the morning. Whenever I come here, I can meet some friends. Ta Jok always serves us a good coffee. We come to have a good time with regulars.”

And he said, “I may not be rich. I may not be famous. But I am happy with what I do.”

Mendicant monks in line on the wall, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Coral reef on the street, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

A man quickly taking out oxygen tubes from a container to keep fish fresh at a roadside market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 

A mendicant monk with shield and mask, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 