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Crowds visiting Angkor Wat
This unattributed photograph shows a group of Cambodians on their way back from visiting Angkor Wat. The temple is visible in the background. The visitors are mostly men, with a few children and teenagers, with the people at the front smiling at the photographer. This photograph is part of the collection held by the Agence Khmère de Presse (AKP) and Cambodia’s Ministry of Information. This collection, which documents the early years of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea as photographed by the Vietnamese and a small team of Cambodian photographers, has not yet been classified or indexed.
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RNG leaders on steps of Government Headquarters, November 1940
Flanked by civilian and military staff, Wang Jingwei, Zang Shiyi (the Manchukuo ambassador to the RNG) and Chu Minyi (RNG foreign minister) pose for photographs in front of the ceremonial hall (litang) in the national government compound in Nanjing after the signing of the Japan-Manchukuo-China Joint Declaration on 30 November 1940, through which RNG China recognised Manchukuo.
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Weixin zhengfu zhixia zhi minzhong shenghuo (The life of the masses under the Reformed Government)
This series of unattributed photographs is taken from the Daminhui publication Xin Zhongguo (New China) 3.1 (January 1940). They are used here to present scenes of life under the rule of the Reformed Government (Weixin zhengfu), or RGROC, which was a “client regime” established in 1938. The RGROC was eventually amalgamated with Wang Jingwei’s RNG in March 1940. The top image is entitled “xian’ge bu chuo” (“studying never stops, even in times of strife”); the middle image is entitled “qiu shou fengdeng” (gathering the autumn harvest); the image at the bottom of the page is entitled “fuxing jianzhu” (renovating buildings). All three are typical images of the sort that the Daminhui promoted in the period between 1938 and 1940, but also display a clear influence from Manchukuo propaganda photography from earlier in the 1930s.
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Soldiers and foreign visitors with Heng Samrin and Pen Sovan
This picture shows a group of soldiers and foreign visitors (including journalists) surrounding Heng Samrin (chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Council of the PRK) and Pen Sovan (Secretary-General of the Kampuchea People’s Revolutionary Party). The presence of foreign press and visitors might indicate that the photograph was taken in Phnom Penh at the time of the People’s Revolutionary Tribunal that prosecuted in absentia the ‘Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique’ for genocidal crimes (15-19 August 1979). This photograph is part of the collection held by the Agence Khmère de Presse (AKP) and Cambodia’s Ministry of Information. This collection, which documents the early years of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea as photographed by the Vietnamese and a small team of Cambodian photographers, has not yet been classified or indexed.
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Soldier helping with harvest
This staged and unattributed photographs shows a soldier of the Kampuchea United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS, also known as FUNSK) [Front or Renakse] helping a group of women to harvest crops. In the foreground, the soldier, with his rifle on his back, makes a large sheaf. He looks at the woman on his left. This photograph is part of the collection held by the Agence Khmère de Presse (AKP) and Cambodia’s Ministry of Information. This collection, which documents the early years of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea as photographed by the Vietnamese and a small team of Cambodian photographers, has not yet been classified or indexed.
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Gunfire near the Independence Monument, Phnom Penh
This image shows firing at night near the Independence Monument during the takeover of Phnom Penh by Vietnamese forces and the troops of the Kampuchea United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS, also known as FUNSK) [Front or Renakse] in January 1979. This photograph is part of the collection held by the Agence Khmère de Presse (AKP) and Cambodia’s Ministry of Information. This collection, which documents the early years of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea as photographed by the Vietnamese and a small team of Cambodian photographers, has not yet been classified or indexed.
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Chu Minyi with film camera
The RNG foreign minister Chu Minyi tries his hand at filmmaking in this undated photograph. Next to him is (possibly) Chen Guoqi (a photographer for the RNG’s Central News Agency). The RNG Minister of Publicity, Mr Lin Baisheng, is on the far left of the image. This image was taken as Chu Minyi filmed a Cabinet meeting convened by Wang Jingwei in the summer of 1940. Newsreel footage of the event can be found here.