នរណាម្នាក់ . SOMEONE

Kep is located in the south of the Kingdom of Cambodia, a few hours’ drive from the capital city, Phnom Penh. After independence from France on November 9, 1953, late King Father Norodom Sihanouk, together with the French government, beginning planning the development of Kep into Cambodia’s premiere beach resort: a luxurious holiday destination. Locals called it “Krong Barang” French City) as it had been considered a place for the French. Over 150 large deluxe villas were built by both Cambodian and French architects. Known as “Kep-sur-mer,” it became renowned as the charming Cambodian Riviera.

Kep was not damaged during the Vietnam War or the Khmer Rouge regime, but the city slowly slipped into a long sleep. Nature reclaimed it and the beautiful houses disappeared. Some of them were absorbed into the tropical vegetation in a way reminiscent of the temples of Angkor. After the Khmer Rouge regime, the poverty of survivors was extreme. Doors, iron-bars, tiles, windows, electric cords, and copper tubes were stripped from the villas, delivered by train from Kep to Phnom Penh and sold on to Vietnam. The ancient cottages became skeletons of the past, of the country’s Golden Age. In later times, wealthy outsiders from Phnom Penh, overseas Cambodians, and foreign buyers have acquired some of these villas, attracted by the beauty of this place. From the outside, all of these 1960’s-style villas seemed quiet and abandoned, as mentioned in those documents written by foreign travelers. But when I stepped deeper inside, I discovered that SOMEONE lives there and takes care of these houses. They are not empty but full of signs of the past mixed in with hints of the present. These houses, like stranded boats on the shore of Kep, continue to survive thanks to these guardians.

Entering these old villas felt like undertaking a huge and unique archeological journey to ancient times, not so different to the Angkor ruins! The architecture shows us a past era of modernity, revealing the lost Golden Age of Cambodia before the country’s fall: elements of the houses in the present conditions from living room to kitchen, bedroom, and of course, the people living here.

A day dream in the villas of 1960s and 1970s Kep …

Kep, 2011 – 2012

In 2011, series “Someone” received photography prize from Musée du quai Branly Photoquai in Paris.  https://quaibranly.fr/en/collections/all-collections/photography-at-the-museum/the-photography-prize/hak-kim