Four Thousand Islands…Where the Mekong Dies?

Photographer

Suthep Kritsanavarin

Concept

My documentary is focused on the Mekong's unique wildlife and human inhabitants; the endangered species thrashing their way up and down stream and the people who risk their lives in a daily struggle to net their catch.

During the three years I've been photographing life along the lower Mekong. The project is guided by research and direct experience with the villagers of Siphandon. Documentary projects demand dedication in order to approach the subject with any depth. I've used to make frequent trips to documenting the cycles of life that change with seasons.

Presentation from "Four Thousand Islands…Where the Mekong Dies?" will be in book format, exhibitions, slideshows and awareness campaigns. The documentation will provide a key source of information that can be utilized to encourage Lao government to prohibit constructing dams in this critical migration corridor and instead promote Siphandon as a Biosphere Reserve. As an end result, it will contribute to sustaining and conserving Mekong Basin's natural resources.

Biography

Suthep Kritsanavarin is one of the most outstanding photojournalists to emerge out of Thailand in recent years. His work has been published in a wide range of international magazines: Geographical, The East, Aera, Japan Times, CNN Traveler, New York Times and International Herald Tribune. After the 2004 Asian Tsunami, Suthep helped coordinate the widely acclaimed InSIGHT Out! Project, based in Bangkok Thailand, and taught children in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and Southern Thailand how to document their lives through photography. He is a regular tutor for young Asian photographers at Angkor Photography Festival.

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