ជាន់គ្នា . STAMPEDE

On November 22, 2010, the last day of the Water Festival, a human stampede took place on the bridge linking the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to Koh Pich (Diamond Island). 347 people were killed and 755 were injured.

Following this tragedy, the Cambodian government decided to cancel the festival for many years. Reasons included fear of another stampede, the possibility of severe flooding, and the political situation. After many years of cancellation, ordinary people in the capital missed the celebrations of this festival. In November 2016, the festival finally retirned. Taking inspiration from the memory of the human stampede, I photographed people gathered along Chaktomouk River, where boats racing took place in front of the Royal Palace. I worked with rolls of negative film that, after shooting, I left undeveloped for two years in unsuitable conditions. Once developed in 2018, they yield unexpected images.

The bridge itself was demolished the next year after the stampede. The case was quietly closed without any further investigation into what really happened.

Survivors recalled: “It came from an electronic shock on the bridge.”

Phnom Penh, 2016