Champa Giathok

My job as a wedding photographer frequently brings me to the coastal province Ninh Thuan, where most Cham people reside. I have always wanted to delve into Cham culture and start my first long-term documentary project but it often gets pushed behind monetary concerns. I could eventually start working on Champa Giathok, or Champa Still Exists in 2017.

By returning here multiple times and staying with the Cham community, I have vaguely sensed implicit conflicts between modern and traditional ways of life in the community. The eagerness when I first start working on this project has led me to think that the camera will be an effective tool to explore Cham culture. But the further I go, the hazier my path becomes when confronted with the great depth of their millennium-old civilization.