Places in Between
Places in Between is a photographic documentation of statelessness on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake - Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, where the histories of Vietnam and Cambodia remain entangled since the Khmer Rouge era. Anchored by the story of Mrs. Lan, a 60-year-old Vietnamese woman who has lived without recognition for decades, the project expands to her community, revealing the intergenerational toll of being denied citizenship: the loss of education, healthcare, mobility, and dignity.
For tens of thousands of Vietnamese in Cambodia, home is a fragile houseboat drifting between water and land, presence and erasure. Suspended between two nations, yet belonging to neither, their lives embody an overlooked human rights crisis. On July 1, 2025, Vietnam amended its nationality law to recognize people of Vietnamese origin more inclusively. Yet for the estimated 100,000 Vietnamese in Cambodia born without papers, little has changed. Refused by both nations, they remain trapped in a legal no-man’s land, unable to prove who they are even as their lives bear the imprint of two nations’ entangled histories.
Through a long-term, intimate approach, Places in Between affirms identity and preserves memory. It contrasts the lake’s vastness with the cramped intimacy of houseboats, using shifting light as a metaphor for precarity. Portraits are composed with care to preserve anonymity and dignity, capturing both individuals and their relationships.
At its core, this project is a visual act of witness, insisting that the humanity and struggle of stateless people demand recognition—not just by law, but in justice, belonging, and survival.
* Names have been altered to safeguard subjects’ identities.
The project was produced during the 20th Angkor Photo Workshops ❤️
The story is told with open hearts.
Mrs. Lan Fishing for Shrimp.
Mrs. Lan, sixty years old, has lived on Tonle Sap Lake since 1982. Her husband, a Vietnamese soldier stationed in Cambodia during the Pol Pot regime (1975–1979), was repatriated to Vietnam after the war. With no land or home to reclaim, the family returned to Cambodia and, like many ethnic Vietnamese displaced by conflict, rebuilt their lives on the water. Today, she fishes for shrimp near Chong Khneas, sometimes going out twice a day to earn enough to survive. Like many stateless residents, she depends entirely on the lake in the absence of social safety nets.
Vietnamese stateless students return home by boat after attending the floating houseboat school on Tonle Sap Lake.
A houseboat school near Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
The houseboat school for stateless Vietnamese students provides informal education, where students learn both Vietnamese and Khmer up to the 6th-grade level.
Boy in an Informal Classroom on Houseboat near Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
A sixth-grade Vietnamese boy, born and raised on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, sits on the edge of a houseboat that doubles as his informal classroom, led by a Vietnamese teacher. His parents survive by fishing and selling their catch in a nearby market. Like many children in the floating Vietnamese villages, he is stateless — denied nationality, education, and legal protection.
Dragonfly on Mrs. Lan’s toes.
A dragonfly perches on Mrs. Lan’s toes as she returns from a shrimp fishing trip near Chong Khneas. Like many stateless Vietnamese on Tonle Sap Lake, she has spent decades seeking citizenship. While the Cambodian government has yet to naturalize her community, it still obliges them to renew travel licenses every two years — a costly process at 250,000 riels (≈US$62.50).
Inside Mrs. Lan’s Houseboat in Chong Khneas Village, Cambodia.
Mrs. Lan talks with her neighbor inside her cramped houseboat, where daylight filters through wooden gaps.
Sunset over Tonle Sap Lake
Sunset over Tonle Sap Lake near Chong Khneas, where houseboats drift quietly at the end of the day.
Mrs. Lan with Earnings from Shrimp Fishing in her houseboat.
Mrs. Lan holds money after a shrimp-fishing trip. She sells her catch to mainland residents near Chong Khneas, earning about US$2.5 per kilo. On her best days, she catches up to seven kilograms — a modest yield from long hours and physical strain, yet one of the few livelihoods available to stateless residents.
Mrs. Lan is preparing on her Houseboat in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
With no private space for bathing on her houseboat, Mrs. Lan covers herself with a loose red cloak before changing clothes, a small act of modesty in crowded floating village life.
Mrs. Lan with Her Cat on her Houseboat in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
After a quick dinner, Mrs. Lan rests on the floor of her houseboat with her cat. Since her husband’s passing, this quiet companionship has offered small comfort and emotional support, even as she lives mostly alone. Though her children live nearby, the bond with her cat helps her navigate the daily challenges of life on Tonle Sap Lake.
Mrs. An in Her Mainland Home in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
Mrs. An lies on her bed in her modest home on the Tonle Sap Lake mainland. She is among the few stateless Vietnamese who have managed to settle on land rather than in the floating villages. Lacking legal documents, these settlements exist in a gray zone—tolerated locally but without official recognition.
Mrs. Lan starts her Day on the Houseboat in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
In the early morning, Mrs. Lan begins her day with a glass of water on her houseboat, having recently recovered from a fever treated by IV.
Temporary Kitchen on Houseboat in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
A temporary kitchen inside the houseboat of a stateless Vietnamese family on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake.
Motorbike by Mainland Fishing Market near Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
A motorbike passes a small fishing market on the mainland, where stateless Vietnamese sell their catch to Cambodian buyers.
Woman on her Houseboat Deck in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
A Vietnamese stateless woman sits on her houseboat, gazing out across the lake.
Boy Running to Mainland Home in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
A stateless Vietnamese boy runs from the fishing market to his home on the mainland in the late evening. Without legal documents, such homes remain informal and precarious.
Houseboat at Night in Chong Khneas village, Cambodia.
A houseboat illuminated at night in Chong Khneas floating village, reflecting the lives of stateless residents on Tonle Sap Lake, which sustains nearly 8,000 Vietnamese households, many of whom remain without citizenship.