Jungle on my Mind
Koh Kong is a region suffering from severe deforestation due to illegal logging and endangerment of many of its endemic species. Poverty and lack of governmental support for development led locals to the only available source of income: hunting the wildlife.
Mr. Koun, 39,
Mr. Rith, 39,
Mr. Sean, 44,
Mr. Meuon, 58,
Mr. Sok Out, 53,
Mr. Ngeth, 52,
Mr. Rattanak, 36.
Listed here are villagers from Chi Phat who used to poach animals for a living. Then the conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance approached them with awareness initiatives and training, convincing them and other locals about the need to conserve the forest and the ecosystem. Now the majority earn their living through eco-tourism businesses and a few are being employed as rangers to patrol the jungle in search of those who do not comply. They destroy animal traps, look for signs of illegal logging and arrest hunters.
This is a series of conceptual portraits of these former poachers turned forest rangers. They are photographed holding pieces of broken mirrors in front of their faces with the reflection being the forest – as a symbol of their new care for nature, the breakthrough that led them to see beyond and keep the jungle on their minds.
It’s also a reminder that better ways are possible, rejecting old practices in favour of more responsible and ecologically sound ones, always working with the community and co-creating approaches that benefit all: forest, animals, people.
“I like being a ranger and enjoy protecting the animals and nature for the next generation. Occasionally we have problems with people when we arrest someone from our village, the family gets angry with us. I explain to them that I’m following the law, this is the Cambodian law. Before I was a hunter as well, coming to the forest with my dog in search for animals like civets and pangolins, bears, deers or wild boars. But now forests give us jobs with ecotourism. And I want to keep alive animals like the sun bear or the pangolin for the young people to see them, since they are almost extinct. It’s important to protect the forest because we are in a wildlife sanctuary. Nature gives us water and clean air, and protects us from the climate.”
“These portraits elevate the agency of ecological protagonists and spotlight the critical role of environmental policy in a powerfully direct way, vibrating between fracture and flatness on one hand and social wholeness and depth on the other.”
“Camouflaged in reflected forests, these individuals and their stories become a true part of the environment.”
Miguel Jeronimo is a freelance photographer, artist, curator, poet and vagabond writer from Portugal, based currently in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
He loves using artistic collaborations and visual storytelling to raise awareness for social and environmental topics, besides working for NGOs and other organisations to share the impact of the work they do. In the artistic field, he is interested in the bridge between documentary and conceptual photography, besides working on more abstract photo-installations, multimedia and objects made by upcycling simple materials.
“Playing with reflections, the humans portrayed in Jungle on my Mind dissolve into their environment and lose their identity. This work sublimely reminds us that we are all one and that we are nature. It presents a solid statement: we can only restore the environmental balance if we change our behaviour.”