Landscape Photography, Geographic Education, and Nation‐Building In Democratic Kampuchea, 1975–1979

Abstract

On April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, fell to the armed forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (). Cambodia, however, was not primed for revolution. This is significant in that it contributed to specific postconflict policies and programs initiated by the , including the promotion of geographic education and the use of propaganda photographs. In this article we examine six photographs produced during the Khmer Rouge era. Our main thesis is that when viewing these photographs, we are witnessing the photographic production of a nationalist landscape. As geographers have argued, photographs are inauthentic from the standpoint of “truthful” representations. However, the photographs produced by the are authentic simulacra in their “truthful” representation of how the envisioned both the revolution and subsequent administration of Democratic Kampuchea. In so doing, our research is positioned within a longer tradition of cultural‐political geography that has examined the use of landscape photographs as political instruments used in nation‐building.

Key words:

• landscape photography
• geographic education
• nationalism
• Democratic Kampuchea

Notes

1. Further work remains. The photographic archive at the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC‐CAM) has received minimal analytic attention‐‐‐beyond the infamous mug‐shot photographs from the Tuol Sleng Security Center (Tyner and Devadoss 2014). Scholars may, for example, reclassify the photographic record by place of publication; for example textbook or revolutionary magazine. Research may also more fully interrelate a textual analysis of these publications with the visual depictions. Many photographs are reproduced digitally on the DC‐CAM website. Other photographs are available by request.

2. The third textbook was an arithmetic text. It is not known how many copies of any of these texts were produced, nor is it known if these were ever used. For a more complete discussion on the political geography text, see James Tyner (2011).

3. A notable example of photographs showing men and women are those depicting communal wedding ceremonies.