Through Thy Lens

From personal to socially and culturally- motivated, our interest in photography is what we make it. It springs out and into whatever direction we deem fit. As Boromey Mong shares her work and story with us today, we are taken through a journey of self discovery, activism and the quest for the genuine moments in life. Enjoy!

• Who is Boromey Mong?  How would you describe yourself in a few words? (please add origin, occupation and goals in life)

If I’m being honest, that’s a question I often ask myself. I am Cambodian, born and raised, but I never truly feel at home there, and I can say the same about San Francisco where I am currently living. I think I am continuously picking things up and leaving things behind as I go along, so it’s hard to describe exactly who I am. For now, I just love being alive and being able to enjoy everything about life! At the end of the day, my goal is to work towards being my best self, and that means my happiest self.

• On a scale from 0 – 10 ; how would you rate your interest in photography/videography ? 

15! 20! 100! I love it so much!

• What kind of photography are you most drawn to? Portrait, Landscape or Abstract?

Portraits! There are no two human beings that are perfectly and exactly the same. Human beings can be so incredibly interesting. We are so full of stories and wonder and hope and happiness and bitterness and sadness and so many beautiful things that make us human. I think portrait photography forces us to stop for a moment to look deeper into the people around us and their stories.

• When and how did you develop your current interest in photography?

It started when my grandfather gave me a very old, cheap camera when I was a child. I just kept taking pictures of whatever, I never got to develop them or anything, I just viewed them on the camera. When I was in 10^th grade my grandfather gifted me with my very own camera and from there I never stopped! I always think that my interests in photography seemed to have rooted from all the difficult times in my life that have caused the good moments to fade in my memories. When I’m experiencing joy, I have a deep yearning to freeze it in time. I remember growing up, I used to steal photographs from family albums, many of them were from even before I was born. I would save them in a box with all kinds of trinkets like marbles, cards, little toys, etc… and I would hide these boxes just for myself. As I grew up, I had boxes filled with handwritten notes and letters from my friends, boarding passes, tickets, foreign currencies, all sorts of things from my travels! In fact, even now in my last year in college, I have one in my apartment. Photography for me is simply another way of keeping moments alive, because I think too often we are caught up on the hardships of life that we forget to be grateful for the small things that once made us happy.

• How would you describe the impact of photography on your life? 

One of the most important things for me personally, is that it has taught me to pause. We are living in such a fast pace, constantly moving on to the next thing. “When is the next project due? Where do I have to be next? God, I haven’t done this thing as well as I wanted!” Whenever I feel too overwhelmed, photography can be therapeutic. When you take a walk with your camera mindlessly, just to take pictures of whatever, and zero expectations for that “instagrammable” location, you are forced to pause. You notice the peculiar building on the corner, or that cheery shopkeeper who always welcomes you with a smile, or that paint that for some reason have never left the sidewalk after all the rain and shine. You are forced to look beyond yourself and learn to see the beauty and the wear and tear of the world that makes it unique. When I am reminded that I am only a small part of this world, the burden on my shoulders doesn’t seem so heavy, and that there is so much out there for us to look forward to.

I think that it has also helped me work towards becoming a more genuine human being. It sounds hella cheesy, but to me, that means learning to love the little and imperfect things in life. The mass media these days have forced us to change so much about ourselves, and the things around us, which resulted in many of us having unrealistic expectations for ourselves. We see so many pictures of people showing the most glamorous sides of their lives! I think photography helped me in this sense because I wanted to use it to capture and celebrate the more regular things in life.

• You have used photography and videography as media to share and highlight projects- such as the Moon Project and Yak Phnom Penh – all geared towards some form of social impact. would you mind telling us more about both projects? not only in terms of your experiences behind the lens while participating in these projects, but also your assessment of any measurable impact as a result of these projects

The Moon Project is something that started as a class assignment in 10^th grade, where we had to do something relating to our passion. I decided that I wanted to teach children in a small school in rural Cambodia about hygiene, and it just grew from there with more people getting involved. During our trips, I was always keen on taking photographs for myself, but I also wanted to share it with my community, hopefully to urge people to do the same for their communities! I think that it did achieve what I wanted because people got involved with the project in different ways, and over the years we have seen development in the school as well as in the children.

Yak Phnom Penh is a clothing brand that I started with my best friend back in 2017. Yak in our language means Giant, and Phnom Penh is the city we grew up in. The idea behind this brand is that Yak are often portrayed as dissents, and something to be feared in Cambodian folktales. However, Yak are strong and powerful in their own way. We feel that the Cambodian youth has been developing a lot in recent years with people breaking out of our society’s conservative norms. Therefore, we wanted Yak to represent the Cambodian youth. On the other hand, we felt that due to the recent Khmer Rouge Regime, many of our art and culture were purposely destroyed by the communist government, and our parents and grandparents still hold the deep scars from the war. Many of us grew up not knowing much about our own art and culture, as the history is still very painful to speak about. We wanted to create a brand that would celebrate the art and culture of our nation by incorporating it with modern streetwear and help in rebuilding our history within the younger generations. With this project, I believe that our community resonates with what we represent because we have gained traction overtime. The photography aspect of it is simply my two passions colliding and using what I love to help celebrate my culture makes me more than happy and proud.

• What inspires you? 

Everything! You never know when you’ll find that next spark of idea!

• In our last conversation you mentioned being on a road trip, where did you go? In this digital age it sometimes feels like travel is unavoidably linked to photography or videography of some sort, ( hi Instagram, Snapchat et co) but how has photography altered your travelling experiences ? 

 I was travelling and visiting some relatives with my family in the US. I think that in this digital age where social media is so accessible, for many of us, we have come to a point where we put a lot of emphasis on the aesthetics more than the experience itself. I’ve witnessed a lot of people who go to a location for a few photos and spend the rest of the time on their phones instead of appreciating what makes that particular place worth visiting. I am also guilty of this, so whenever I travel I work on consciously reminding myself to put the camera down and just look around and enjoy 

• You’ve spent the last few years in San Francisco, California, where you attended the Hult International Business School. What’s it like being a creative in San Francisco ? I guess what I’m really asking is, is it a setting which fosters creativity or even collaboration with fellow photographers ?Has the city played any role whatsoever in your evolution as a photographer?

Personally I don’t think I’m the right person to answer the first question because I don’t really put myself out there as a photographer. However, I think that the Bay Area itself has helped in shaping me as not only a photographer but also as a creative. Cambodia has a very conservative culture, and there are many times where I don’t put all of myself into the things I create because I feel so conscious what other people might think. I think creators sometimes fear putting their heart into their work because people might say “God look at this person trying to be deep and whatnot.” But having lived here for awhile, I’ve come to realize that there are all kinds of people who are doing their own thing and they’re killing it! I would say that having seen this in the Bay Area, I’ve become more comfortable with wearing my heart on my sleeve.

• What’s next for you? any projects or ideas you would like to share? 

For now, I don’t have any new projects coming up because I want to put all my focus on my last semester of school. But I am planning to move back to Cambodia at the end of this year and start working. In the future, I would like to keep working on my current projects and hopefully start new ones to benefit the LGBTQ+ community and target other social issues in Cambodia.

 

• What advice would you give my readers? 

Be your most genuine self.

I think that a lot of aspiring creators, myself included, often get lost in trying to imitate the style of famous artists we look up to. But I’ve come to realize that there’s nothing more valuable than just sticking to what you believe in! If you’re constantly trying to copy someone else’s style, when will you develop your own? Even if you’re at a creative block, even if you’ve been playing around with that one idea for months, whether you are going to share it or not, just keep creating. In the process of creating, the ideas will just spiral as you go along, you will develop an understanding of yourself as a creator, and you will continue to grow.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and share your story with us. You can follow up with Boromey, on her instagram @mong.boromey.