Vann Nath In Coma

Rithy Panh, the most famous Cambodian film director announced a sad news, that Vann Nath had a heart attack on Friday night. Vann Nath is one of the survivor of the S-21 Khmer rouge secret prison. He painted several pictures witch are exhibited inside the Tuol Sleng Museum (former S-21) in Phnom Penh. By the latest news his in a cerebral coma. Hope he will survive and come back. I took the above photos in 2010 at the Tuol Sleng, when I met with Vann Nath fellow inmate Chum Mey, an other survivor. Today only three survivor remained alive, includes Van Nath the Battanbang born painter and Chum Mey the carpenter.

On the first photo Chum Mey posing for my camera next to Vann Nath paint. All the paints of Vann Nath can be seen, how the Khmer Rouge tortured innocent people.

The S-21, 14,000 men, women and children were interrogated, tortured and executed during the 1975-79 Pol Pot regime in Cambodia. Only seven survived.

to read more about Vann Nath, click here

and here

The Duch Verdict

Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, is the first cadre of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime is sentenced for 35 years by Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

Mr. Chum Mey one of only survivor of Tuol Sleng (S-21) where Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch was the chief, demonstrating how was he chained in the same cell for years. Between 1975-79 as many as 16.000 prisoners, Khmer and Foreigner were held, starved to death, tortured or killed in S-21. Today the Khmer Rouge prison chief was sentenced to 30 years prison.

London based graffiti "artist" vandalism at Tuol Sleng

Today I didn't expect to visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, but yesterday I grabbed the May 11, 2010 issue of the Cambodia Daily at the head quoter of the company and on the page 26th an article made me quite upset. Not really the article which was written by Phorn Bopha and Andrew Burmon but the London based graffiti artist Fabrizio Cammisecra. In a nutshell Mr. Cammisecra posted several photographs on the Internet, showing himself spray -painting the walls of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Musem (S-21) , former Pol Pot secret prison with images of young boys and men executed by Khmer Rouge. By The Cambodia Daily journalists. The angry reactions may have caused the guerrilla artist to retreat. Mr. Cammisecra shouted down not only his personnel website but also his Facebook page.

Today when I had a personnel discussion with Mr. Keh Sobanaka Museum director he said they crabbed the pictures from the walls. What happened is Crime not Art. People must respect this place instead of outs themselves where almost 20.000 people were tortured and just a view of them survived. The museum sometimes provide place for artists, but not for vandals.

On the way to check the scrubbed pictures, suddenly I saw Mr. Chum Mey one of the survivor of S-21. He invited me to show the cell where was chained for many years. They are only three living survivors of the notorious Tuol Sleng (Pol Pot secret prison). Bou Meng, Vann Nath and Chum Mey.

S-21 Requiem "Remember"

After a long time last week I visited the current Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide (former high school, Pol Pot's secret prison) again and I decided to photograph from different point of view. These photos are from the series of S-21 Requiem, which part of the "Remember" project. I took a picture of the original photos already taken by the prison photographers and relocated in a new environment (I mean digitally modified my original photos I took in the S-21). Emotionally was more difficult to create these dramatic images, than taking pictures in the "Museum" about the randomly chosen photos. I saw giggling Khmer students in front the photos of tortured prisoners. There are several picture sign outside on each building wall “Don’t Laugh". It was very strange for me, but now I understand why. There's a lots of thing to do for the Ministry of Education, the Community leaders, NGO’s, School directors, Teachers and Parents, etc... in this country.

Between 1975 -79 as many as 30.000 prisoners Khmer and foreigners were held, starved to death, tortured, or killed in S-21. The innocent girl name on the middle photo is Bophana. You can read more about her if you buy Elizabeth Becker's book "Love in the Time of the Khmer Rouge".