Tonle Bassac Commune 1991

The previous article had a bit of a space in it because other than Roland Neveu’s black and white picture of a village militia training outside the “white” building in the early 1990s, there was nothing from that era, just 60s and modern pictures. Serge Corrieras is a photographer who spent much of the 1990s working in Cambodia, and many of his excellent pictures can be viewed on Flikr. It is quite amazing to see the difference between the city now and how it was then. The first couple of pictures show the “Gray” building, which was rebuilt soon after into the Phnom Penh Center, an office complex which was probably the only of its kind till relatively recently. The other pictures show the “white” building, or Boudeng as it is more commonly known. The spaces between the two building had plenty of grass growing and you can see cows and pigs grazing around. At the time the pictures were taken, in 1991, Sothearous Boulevard nearby was called Lenin Boulevard. Later these spaces were filled in with various shacks, houses and other structures which have all pretty much gone by now.

More of Serge Corrieras' pictures can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scrambler450/sets/