As part of the Our City architecture and urban design festival in September, local urban NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut together with photographer Conor Wall showcase a disappearing lifestyle from along the Kingdom’s railways.

Over the past few years, Conor has travelled along the disused tracks of Cambodia, documenting people’s lives. What emerges is a slow pace of life, where the railway plays a central role. Kids play, women dry rice and chilli, people meet and socialise, and as good as everyone access their homes from along tracks.

With the already ongoing rehabilitation of the railways, all that is set to change. The lives of people living next to the rails will be transformed, with some residents relocated from the area. Those who remain will face a new reality of faster, more regular trains, where the tracks can no longer be used as public space. Conor’s photographic narrative thus creates a memory of what used to be.

Life along the rails in Cambodia
Life along the rails in Cambodia

“The oldest photos in this exhibition were taken when I lived at Boeung Kok lake and got to know people living by the railways,” Conor says. “Through this exhibition I hope to put the spotlight on development in the area and draw attention to its effect on residents.”

Working with partners and communities, Sahmakum Teang Tnaut has since 2009 monitored developments along the railway tracks. Through its activities, which in addition to the exhibition involve surveying and mapping railway communities, the organisation aims to document vanishing way of life and the impacts the rehabilitation has on affected people.

The exhibition opening will also feature a screening of Anna Katharina Scheidegger’s video footage from communities living along the rails.

Where: Gasolina, 57 Street 57
The exhibition runs through Sep. 30, 2010 (18:00 – 21:00).