A grim side of Cambodia's past, a photo from Phnum Penh, West

Photographer's Note

This is one of the torture room in the infamous Khmer Rouge's S21 security prison. Its just one of Pol Pot's many security prison in the country, but S21 is the biggest one. The building complex was a school before Pol Pot took over and turned it into a security prison.
In this room prisoners are tortured to death in the bed. On the rightside of the wall there is a picture of the tortured corpse died in this room. The photo probably taken by the Khmer Rouge, as they are taking many photographs of their victims for archival purpose.
My local guide told me that he doesnt know any Cambodian who didn't lost any relative during Pol Pot regime. Many young kids at that time doesnt even know what happened to their parents. All they know was their parent never went back home.

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Critiques | Translate

martin (1242) 2003-12-21 6:24

A very good photograph of a gruesome room.

lemon_logix (1054) 2003-12-21 6:28

Sad past. I like the colors and the angle its taken. Good notes.

avigur_11 (22553) 2003-12-21 8:50

A terrible story. This room could be consudered as nice if you didn't note it's history.

richtersl (3546) 2003-12-21 9:21

Your note was very moving. And, the photo is a vivid reminder of this horrific period in Cambodia's history. The greenery in the window almost looks like a painting.

gringofil (0) 2003-12-23 0:51

When I see images like this, I always have a hard time to express my feelings about what I'm looking at here. Right now, I'm not sure what I can write. Maybe just thinking that in B&W it would work nicely as well (do a Channel Mixer to get best results).

Darren (6823) 2003-12-23 8:55

I have visited here quite recently and I can say without reservation that the S21 is by far the most depressing place I have ever visited, by a large margin. What works for me in this photo is the wide angle distortion, giving things a slightly surreal look. Also, I think the almost monotone look of the yellow helps to capture the scene very well too. This is a simple, effective, depressing shot.