By Samantha Melamed
Pete Pin
For Cambodian Americans of
a certain age — the ones born in refugee camps or in the ’70s under
genocidal Khmer Rouge rule — trauma is an unfortunate shared legacy.
Pete Pin thinks his photography can help the healing process.
The New York-based photographer spent five months last
year documenting the Cambodian diaspora in the Bronx with support from
the Magnum Foundation; now, he’s coming to Philly for what he hopes will
be a collaborative effort with Philly’s Cambodian community. His last
visit to the city — where he connected with local groups like the
anti-deportation activist One Love Movement — left a big impression.
“There’s this guy that I met there during Cambodian New Year last year, and he had this tattoo on his fists that said, ‘Killing Fields.’ And on one fist was an image of what looked like the spires from Angkor Wat, and on the other was the skyline of [Philadelphia]. It just spoke of how that legacy was passed on generationally, that trauma. That was something that was very moving for me.” Pin, who was himself born in a refugee camp, hopes Cambodians will contribute their own photos and documents to the project, and open up to a discussion of their experiences. “My goal is not only to photograph these issues, but also to have some sort of engagement.” Pin plans to conclude his work here with a series of photo-based installations — not in Center City or in a museum somewhere, but in places like Olney or South Philly, neighborhoods that Philadelphia’s Cambodian-Americans now call home.
“There’s this guy that I met there during Cambodian New Year last year, and he had this tattoo on his fists that said, ‘Killing Fields.’ And on one fist was an image of what looked like the spires from Angkor Wat, and on the other was the skyline of [Philadelphia]. It just spoke of how that legacy was passed on generationally, that trauma. That was something that was very moving for me.” Pin, who was himself born in a refugee camp, hopes Cambodians will contribute their own photos and documents to the project, and open up to a discussion of their experiences. “My goal is not only to photograph these issues, but also to have some sort of engagement.” Pin plans to conclude his work here with a series of photo-based installations — not in Center City or in a museum somewhere, but in places like Olney or South Philly, neighborhoods that Philadelphia’s Cambodian-Americans now call home.
4 comments:
disgusting.....ewwwwwww
Wht is it with Khmer- Americans and criminality, I don't want these banana heads back in Cambodia . all I ask one time was from a Khmer- American soldier would he return to protect Khmer. He was freakin rude saying he doesn't give a f@@ k well I don't give a f@@ k either.
You let your emotion gets the best of you fella,learn how to control your emotion you'll be doing just fine!...Let people dicide where they want to live.You control yourself/your destiny,let others choose theirs!
Yes I am an emotional person bro/ sis. K- American guy really let me down. Then some come on khmerization like they know it all. We need unity not division. Sorry to other K American when I called you KR Retards. DCPP GUY emotions runs deep
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