Photographer’s Note
this is my 450th post on TE....and just like the previous milestones...another "sad but true" picture...a slap in the face...a hard one!
these faces...they are all dead...they are victims of Pol Pot regime...tortured and killed in S21 prison.
I decided to post their faces...to hit you right in the face...a frontal impact...the same way I did with those names in Budapest Synagogue.
Names...throw into your eyes....faces...victims in the end. killed by different ideologies which turned out to be practically the same: an hymn to death.
another shot for my personal theme Don't forget or turn your head! TE is also this!
please see also WS.
more info:
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. Tuol Sleng in Khmer; [tuəl slaeŋ] means "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill".
History
Many of the school rooms were divided into crude cells
Razor wire around the perimeter
Inside the museumFormerly the Tuol Svay Prey High School[1], named after a Royal ancestor of King Norodom Sihanouk, the five buildings of the complex were converted in August 1975, four months after the Khmer Rouge won the civil war[2], into a prison and interrogation centre. The Khmer Rouge renamed the complex "Security Prison 21" (S-21) and construction began to adapt the prison to the inmates: the buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire, the classrooms converted into tiny prison and torture chambers, and all windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes.
From 1975 to 1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng (some estimates suggest a number as high as 20,000, though the real number is unknown). At any one time, the prison held between 1,000-1,500 prisoners. They were repeatedly tortured and coerced into naming family members and close associates, who were in turn arrested, tortured and killed. In the early months of S-21's existence, most of the victims were from the previous Lon Nol regime and included soldiers, government officials, as well as academics, doctors, teachers, students, factory workers, monks, engineers, etc. Later, the party leadership's paranoia turned on its own ranks and purges throughout the country saw thousands of party activists and their families brought to Tuol Sleng and liquidated. [1] Those arrested included some of the highest ranking communist politicians such as Khoy Thoun, Vorn Vet and Hu Nim. Although the official reason for their arrest was "espionage," these men may have been viewed by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot as potential leaders of a coup against him. Prisoners' families were often brought en masse to be interrogated and later murdered at the Choeung Ek extermination centre.
Even though the vast majority of the victims were Cambodian, foreigners were also imprisoned, including Vietnamese, Laotians, Indians, Pakistanis, Britons, Americans, New Zealanders and Australians.
Most non-Cambodians had been evacuated or expelled from the country and those who remained were seen as a security risk. A number of Western prisoners passed through S-21 between April 1976 and December 1978. Mostly these were picked up at sea by Khmer Rouge patrol boats. They included four Americans, three French, two Australians, a Briton and a New Zealander. One of the last prisoners to die was American Michael Scott Deeds, who was captured with his friend Chris De Lance while sailing from Singapore to Hawaii.
In 1979, the prison was uncovered by the invading Vietnamese army. In 1980, the prison was reopened as a historical museum memorializing the actions of the Khmer Rouge regime. The museum is open to the public, and receives an average of 500 visitors every day
Further info available on Wikipedia
Critiques | Translate
aadilj
(17950) 2009-01-21 3:19
A sad image indeed to mark your milestone Silvio. Indeed no words here of praise for the image. I am shaken.
omerozden
(1241) 2009-01-21 3:36
hello silvio,
this is very sad story.
workshop photos your note and photo are all excellent.
congragulations for your 450th post!
warm regards,
omer
cyborg83
(3798) 2009-01-21 3:42
Hello Silvio,
very difficult title and whole theme of that picture...
You should be happy because of your 450th photo but you are a great photographer and you are trying to send us a message..
Those all faces looks similar...
TFS
lousat
(16420) 2009-01-21 4:31
Ciao Silvio,non e' certo la foto ideale per festeggiare la 450 ma e' una foto davvero particolare e che mi e' piaciuta tantissimo,vivo una strana sensazione guardando quei volti di persone che mai avrei conosciuto ma che sembrano comunicarti qualcosa,bellissima e inquietante,complimenti per la nota,buona giornata,Luciano
Morac
(21113) 2009-01-21 4:33
Bonjour Silvio,
Thank you for this testimony.
Thank you for reminding us not to forget.
Thank you for the 450 photos.
Amicalement
Marc
imtiyaz
(997) 2009-01-21 4:57
My first sentence "I don't know anything about this, after reading your note I went to wiki and read the remaining history".
and now I don't have any WORDS to type here.
My tears and prays are with them..
Regards,
Imtiyaz Basha M S
cobra112
(12028) 2009-01-21 5:04
Ciao Silvio. Grazie per l'egregia compagnia di qualità che ci hai fatto per ben 450 volte Mi associo alla sensibilità che hai dimostrato nel postare quest'argomento ancora scottante e contradditorio.
Roberto
pixelhunter
(1922) 2009-01-21 7:58
Qualche perdonabile sovraesposizione e riflesso, ovvia conseguenza della foto ad un vetro, non guastano comunque quest'immagine particolare, ben sorretta da una nota adeguata.
mattmorrison
(133) 2009-01-21 12:08
Toul Sleng is truly a sobering place to visit, with the pictures of so many that were murdered by the Pol Pot regime. It is truly heartbreaking to see the pictures of men and women that were killed, but what a disaster when you see little children, four and five years old that were enemies of the state. Thank you for this reminder of our social responsibility to remember. To remember each face, each name, each broken dream: not in order to look back, but to make sure it doesn't happen again. We as a world have failed so many times in this, but I pray that we learn and move forward to protect the voices of the innocent. To guard and fight for those that have no voice. Thanks so much for posting!
Clementi
(45793) 2009-01-21 14:12
Ciao Silvio,
aspetto sempre con impazienza un tuo tragurado, ogni volta una storia da non dimenticare, anche questa volta non hai deluso le aspettative, bravo sia per la foto ma sopratutto per il tema che hai trattato.
aspetto la 500
Giorgio
Fis2
(46681) 2009-01-21 14:36
Czesc Silvio!
My congratulations for 450 fotos in TE!
Interesting combination...
Very curious photo.
Regards
Krzysztof
emka
(22749) 2009-01-21 15:17
Ciao Silvio, For me the most impressive is the black and white photo, maybe because the photos are so different - young and older, women and boys.. I cannot visit such places, the slap is to strong. We have such places also in Poland. Tragic fate of the Cambodia, sad image.
regards
Malgorzata
raphaelhcm
(490) 2009-01-21 20:13
Hey Silvio,
Regarding your note and reminder to not forget the Cambodian Genocide, I totally agree with you, I have nothing to add... except maybe to strongly advise people who don't see the Masterpiece movie "the Killing Fields" or "La dechirure" in french (1984) to look at it.
Regarding your picture, I found it technically very basic... Reflection of yourself, reflection of blue tiles and reflection in the top of the picture doesn't give emotional picture, according to me.
I would prefer your picture in the workshop "alterated - picture 2" instead even if this picture is widely present on TE.
Regards,
Raphael
Waylim
(11321) 2009-01-21 23:59
Silvio,
This image didn't just slap me in the face, it punches me in the stomach so bad, I nearly cry. Long story, very personal. I have similar black and white snap shot like this of my family from the refugee camp. I didn't even know we still have them until I found them after my mother died and I had to go through and clean up some stuff in her room. Maybe someday I'm strong and brave enough to post them. Thanks for remind us of such history and hope we really learn from it.
Way
angie-barcelona
(1935) 2009-01-22 13:11
Hi,
Thank you for your note. Very interesting!
Regards,
Gemma
Zanatany (25) 2009-01-22 16:04
Ben, je vois pas ton oeil, et ce qui m'intéresse c'est l'oeil, ton interprétation personnelle de ce que tu a vu et rencontré.
faubry
(32499) 2009-01-23 1:23
Congratulations for yours 450 post, again the same... sad history, the world is crazy..
soon
francine
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Silvio Garda (Jeppo)
(12236) - Genre: Places
- Medium: Color
- Date Taken: 2008-12-24
- Categories: Decisive Moment
- Exposure: f/3.5, 1/10 seconds
- More Photo Info: view
- Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
- Theme(s): Don't forget or turn you head! TE is also this! [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2009-01-21 3:12
Discussions
- To lousat: spiegazione. (1)
by Jeppo, last updated 01-21 04:33 - To cyborg83: dzikuje bardzo! (1)
by Jeppo, last updated 01-21 04:14 - To aadilj: namaste (1)
by Jeppo, last updated 01-21 03:21








