Consumerism Hits Cambodia, Big Time…
Or: ‘Photographer Has 25-year Relationship With Cambodia. Ends Up Shooting Shopping Mall’…
The opening of the first Aeon mall along Sothearos boulevard is an undeniable success. Throngs of visitors clog the neighbouring streets to visit what they were denied so far: a genuine shopping mall, a temple dedicated to the consumerists’ gods. According to Prime Minister Hun Sen, the mall provides 2500 badly needed jobs to mostly young Cambodians. They range from sales and maintenance personnel to making a kangaroo out of a balloon while dressed as a clown, walking around with a glowing balloon overhead advertising a popular drinks shop, selling massage chairs, or to being a rabbit or spiderman.
In some aspects (not all of them) Cambodia is a ‘normal’ country now. Time to head back to my roots?
