Located in Cambodia, the Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It has been a vital source of life for many Khmers since the Angkorian period, but hydropower dams, illegal fishing, and, in particular, climate change are profoundly altering the lake's ecosystem and the way of life of its inhabitants.
For several weeks, I traveled around the lake meeting people who are directly affected by these changes, living at the heart of the lake. I took the time to explain my project in Khmer and then invited these individuals to pose in ways that subtly suggest the environmental issues, without depicting them explicitly.
This series is the first chapter of a larger project focused on the Mekong as a whole. The second chapter, titled 80cm, was photographed in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and a third chapter is currently underway in Yunnan, China.
Greg Mo is a photographer based in Phnom Penh, specializing in street photography and conceptual practices.
His work has been published in major media outlets such as CNN, Stern, Le Monde and Geo Magazine, among others. His series on Tonlé Sap was featured at the Les Rencontres d’Arles festival in 2023, and his works have been exhibited in several galleries in France, Japan and Italy.