Photography in Cambodia Nicholas Coffill

This book presents a kaleidoscope of images documenting the past century and a half of photography in Cambodia. It includes photographs taken by foreign visitors – early explorers, photojournalists, the colonial elite, and tourists – and by talented Cambodian photographers. Many of these photos have never before been seen in print. 

Collectively, these images capture the essence of the Cambodia experience and constitute an indelible record of an extraordinary country and people. This is also the first publication to present, in words and photographs, an illustrated overview of Cambodian history from the early days of French colonialism to the quest for independence, the short-lived Khmer Republic, the genocidal days of the Khmer Rouge and the struggle for Cambodia to survive as a modern nation in contemporary Southeast Asia.

Nicholas Coffill is a narrator of social history who has used photography as a medium of story-telling for over thirty-five years. He initially studied stage design at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia before moving into exhibition design and museum planning in the 1980s. He has worked and consulted in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Qatar. Since 1992, Coffill has lived in Malaysia, Singapore, and now Cambodia. In 2016, he created the acclaimed live performance “SNAP! 150 Years of Photography in Cambodia” at Bambu Stage, Siem Reap, upon which this book is loosely based.