Set around the costal towns of Kep and Kampot lie these spectacular man made salt fields. Here, salt is produced using evaporation technique during South East Asia’s hot season, around January to May.
Kampot is a nice little port town lying inland from the coast. It hosts a variety of amenities for the visitor, now with many bars and restaurants. The real draw for me is what lies beyond the town. From Bokor mountain to rice fields, salt & pepper production and more, it’s all good, especially for the photographer. Being near the coast, the climate is fresher than Siemreap. Coupled with good water supply most of the year, the countryside around Kampot can be vibrant. Also the mix of locals adds to the draw, making this area great to visit.
For the photographer, the mirror flat salt fields have something to offer all year round. They come to life when it’s harvest time. Workers, who live amongst the fields, collect the salt by hand tools in a traditional manner, raking the crystals into mounds and collecting with wicker baskets. It is then stored in large drying sheds before being taken for processing.
This timelapse project evolved from my work ‘Monsoon Cambodia‘. Adding a reflection to storms would make for some spectacular footage. My work involves regularly visiting Kampot, the salt fields proved an ideal location.
Late 2017 filming commenced. However, the dry season did not materialise, with outbreaks of rain hampering harvest. This prevented any footage of the workers during the season. It was a long wait until early 2019 when harvesting commenced.
Finally this project is finished. It had been a learning curve, adding video gives a bit of content. Many scenes were omitted, even a crack at the milky-way, but there is too much light pollution in Kampot these days. For TIME-LAPSE BUFFS, check out 2.47, this scene was a hyperlapse where by luck my steps coincided with the speed of the clouds (luck).
Other projects have moved on alongside, some forwards some backwards. I would have like to have finished this last year. Now I can free some disc space up and move on.
