Passing through the Temple restaurant at Siem Reap, Arthur is a known face for people around. A tall, thin, weak man with his stick, barely able to walk. He sits there for breakfast and, at times, for lunch. Meeting him was a coincidence. I was walking around the hotel, thinking about what to choose for the photo project of the Angkor photo workshop. Since I was tired, I walked into the Temple restaurant. While having lunch, a gentleman from the nearby table started the conversation. Since I could not hear him, I shifted my table and sat near him to keep his respect as a senior. I told him that now I can hear you. He asked if I was from France. I said that I am from Iran. He asked questions about Iran and shared some of his knowledge about Iran in kingdom time. The conversation got interesting, and I thought he could be my subject... I suggested... He accepted, and I clicked some photos. The following day I waited for him... He did not show up... The other day, the same. The third day is the same... Sohrab Hura questioned me: What if he never shows up?.... I told him to give me tomorrow...
The next day, sitting in the cafe, I saw him entering... We greeted them, and he said he was severely sick... After a conversation, he shared his number that he had yet to go to earlier. I kept meeting him and spending time with him for the next several days.
A middle-aged Dutch man, Arthur had lived in Cambodia for six years. Heb survives based on a small pension from the government of the Netherlands. He left his country for Thailand and Cambodia after getting almost disabled after falling from a height while working as a construction worker. Losing his job, money, and physical health led him to choose Cambodia as his final destination to live and_ die.
"The day we are born is the day we start dying. That is how it is. However, I just don't wanna go yet." Arthur.
The project was produced during the Angkor Photo Workshop 2018.
