J.A.M™ Cambodia

Cambodia the Khmer Rouge Era – The Role of Photography

The haunting images of countless inmates at Tuol Sleng torture centre,or S-21, have become a ubiquitous and powerful representation of the horrors of the Cambodian genocide. Photographs like these serve as evidence in international efforts to seek accountability and justice for mass crimes. In that sense, they are an important document and belong in national archives and museums, where they can remind us of atrocities that must never be repeated.

Communities that have suffered through mass conflict and genocide are often “documented” in this manner by either the perpetrators of the crimes, or by documentary photographers who capture reality on the ground, as it is happening, or years after the conflict.

Yet, very few victims exist beyond victimhood. They are rarely seen as survivors who have emerged from conflict and wish to share both stories of trauma and stories of continuity and hope.
In the interests of telling a deeper story and in order to build trust and get to know the community, AJA’s J.A.M.™ Cambodia program was initiated in 2010 to visually present a different image of survival and hope among the indigenous Khmer Krom communities of Takeo and Pursat provinces, to accompany the advocacy and legal work being done by AJA’s legal team (more here).

We look upon the psycho-physical landscape as one which reveals:

1. Sites of Memory (Jnaana)
2. Sites of Survival (Jiiva)
3. Sites of Renewal (Punarnava)

We will consciously link back to the ancient Sanskrit meanings of these three words – memory or Jnaana, survival / life or Jiiva and renewal or Punarnava – as a way of opening pathways to ancient stories and myths that animate so much of life in Asia.