Phnom Penh Photography Collective, a diverse group of photographers in the capital, announced they will host their third photo walk on April 1 under the theme “Humans of Phnom Penh”.

In a press release, the Collective said since the successful launch of the photo walks on February 5, they have received strong interest among photographers in Phnom Penh.

Two men set up cart full of garlic at Orrusey market. Kiripost via Phnom Penh Photography Collective

The topic “Humans of Phnom Penh” will be about the capital city, which is home to a dynamic range of people from across Cambodia and the world.

It follows the model of the world famous Humans of New York launched in 2010 by photographer Brandon Stanton as a photoblog of street portraits accompanied by short interviews.

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“We feel it is wasteful if we don’t tell the world. It must be so interesting to show how we capture diversity, including locals and expats, and we hope people will enjoy and feel proud of their own city,” the Collective’s Founder Shunsuke Miyatake said in a press release.

Photographers plan to go around Phnom Penh and interview at least one person they meet on the street while taking portraits for them, Miyatake said, adding that if 100 people join, there will be 100 different stories revealed to the world.

“I encourage more and diverse people to join this event and share small stories from our community all together,” he added.

The Collective is a group of people who joined the Phnom Penh Photo Walk. However, it is open to any like-minded photo lovers.

Miyatake said it does not matter if photographers are professional or amateur. The key element is they have a passion for photography. Whether they have a digital camera, analogue camera, or camera on their phone, “we welcome all kinds of photographers”, he said.

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He added that Phnom Penh is home to a dynamic range of people from all over the world and while there are many photo communities in Phnom Penh, the majority focus on competition and are exclusively for competitive photographers with decent cameras.

Old and new properties on Monivong Boulevard, Phnom Penh. Kiripost via Phnom Penh Photography Collective

“So, we would like to fill in the gap. We would like to include everyone. Locals, expats, young, elderly, women and men, with passion to share the diverse, unique, and unseen perspectives from people in Phnom Penh,” Miyatake said.

He said that “themed” photo walks will take place monthly and will showcase interesting perspectives from participants through the Collective’s digital channels. This includes Instagram and Facebook to showcase the Collective’s work and announce events, while Telegram will be used to communicate with community members.

“We're planning to have photo exhibitions under certain themes and aim to collaborate together to share diverse perspectives on some topics,” he said.

Iron bridge crossing Tonle Sap River in Russei Keo District. Kiripost via Phnom Penh Photography Collective

The last photo walk was held under the theme of "Evolution / Contrast / Vestiges" and Miyatake said he was excited to see and share the different perspectives of each participant.

He added that for the last event, VuTheara, who is from France and has more than one million followers on Instagram, attended along with other famous photographers, including Steve Porte and Raphael Pech.

“What makes me happiest about having this event is to see people come together and connect with each other. Now, we focus on growing a photography community in Phnom Penh, not only for competitive photographers but also beginners, through connecting new and old like-minded photo lovers,” he said.

(prak.chanthul@kiripost.com)