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Photographer Tim Page and other foreign journalists pray during a Buddhist ceremony in a village in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, April 22, 2010
Tim Page broke into journalism at the age of 21 during the failed coup attempt in Laos in 1965, and covered three decades of conflict in Indochina. Page smuggled the only photo of the coup out of the country, which landed him a job with the United Press International (UPI). Born in Kent, England, he was shot four times during the coup. Vietnam During the war, he lost much of his body and underwent extensive medical treatment brainHis addiction to chemicals and eccentric personality were the inspiration for Dennis Hopper’s psychedelic journalist in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, but it was his stunning photographs that adorned countless publications around the world that became legendary. Page, 69, who lives in Brisbane, Australia, traveled to Cambodia during last week’s contentious election and spoke to TIME about the changing atmosphere there and how the world of war photography has changed.
What has the mood been like in Cambodia over the past few weeks of campaigning?
It was an incredible event. Two police cars were burned, but it didn’t cause any major trouble. In 1993, I saw [the body of] A village chief committed suicide by shooting himself six times in the back with an AK-47 rifle. This period was unusually peaceful. Young people wanted Work They want change. Everyone is getting some form of higher education, but graduating with little to show for it. Our planet is overcrowded – if we spent a dollar on contraception for every million we spent on aerospace and defense, we might achieve something.
What interactions have you had with Prime Minister Hun Sen?
I have photographed him over 10 times, including at previous elections and the recent land titling ceremony. He didn’t run this time and I think that cost him votes. He stayed in power for too long, married all his children to VIPs and left his fortune to his family. It’s a scandal and it’s from the top down. Of course, he has done a lot for the country – the infrastructure is much better than it was 10 years ago. There are roads everywhere, electricity in villages and schools.
（more: Opinion: Cambodians have spoken, it’s time to level the playing field）
You yourself have experienced the dark years of Khmer Rouge rule. What do you think of Hun Sen’s use of the return of the Khmer Rouge as a scare tactic during his campaign?
Cambodian schools only started teaching history last year. The average voter is not interested in history — 30% of the country’s voters are under 25. History lessons do nothing for them. People want young people to govern. They want to see new people in office, and they are tired of corruption. People don’t want to be lied to, they want transparency. They don’t mind paying some taxes, but they don’t want their taxes to disappear into another Lexus on the block, which is what is happening.
What do you think of the ruling party’s election victory? Is it right for opposition leader Sam Rainsy to question it and call for an investigation?
I think the result is very fair. Communist Party of the Philippines [the ruling Cambodian People’s Party] Will have to give up his ministerial post and confess a lot of things. If the UN is investigating here, then they should really investigate what happened in Florida [in 2000]There are problems here, but I don’t think it will make a big difference – maybe one more seat. I think it’s good to analyze this, but it won’t change Cambodia’s history.
In 1993, you went to Cambodia to participate in UN-backed elections. story You provided the entire media package with cannabis-infused chicken soup, served in Phnom Penh postalold building. Was this motivated by a sense of mischief or celebration?
It seemed like the right thing to do because it was my birthday party and it was the day of the election. Before the UN came here, you could go to any cafe in the country and there was soup and hashish on the menu, or omelettes and salads, or steak and ribs. But then the UN decided you couldn’t smoke drugs. We went to the election in the northwest of Siem Reap and we smoked three kilos of hashish. [of cannabis] Three bucks, I think three chickens would have cost five bucks in Phnom Penh. We bought a 15-liter military kettle and made this thing that looked more like compost than soup because we didn’t have a filter or anything like that. We passed the cup of the military kettle around and everybody gobbled it down – there were at least 100 people on this rooftop. We called it “laughing chicken soup,” and they were all adult members of the media, and they loved it. A lot of people didn’t even leave the building. No one went to the stadium to watch the first round of voting. The Associated Press didn’t see the vote, “Weekly newspaper” No, and neither did Reuters. [Fellow war correspondent Michael Herr’s] The house was filled with bodies by the end – it looked like a disaster area.
（photo: The Best Photojournalism Links of July (Part 2)）
When you’re in the middle of combat, facing unspeakable horrors, do you ever think about self-censoring your work if you feel the imagery might glamorize what’s happening?
No, when you’re on the edge, it doesn’t. You don’t think about politics, you think about composition, trying to stay alive, trying to help when people are hurt. Your job isn’t to be a medic or a machine gun, it’s to document what’s happening, so you look for the right angle, the right exposure, the right shot. Today you just press a button on your iPhone – that skill has faded a bit. But you don’t think about any politics or culture – you’re there facing whatever horror is going on, so just keep working and find the best frame you can. Maybe that’s why war photography is so powerful, because there are no political considerations. You have the raw reality in front of you. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge photos [defiling] Dead Vietnamese women or American soldiers playing football with Vietcong heads—you don’t show those pictures.
Do you feel like your photos and the photos of your peers have changed the world?
Absolutely. I went to anti-war demonstrations in New York, and it was strange to see protesters holding up photos you had taken, and then being beaten by protesters and police. In the end, I think it was a cumulative effect of these photos constantly appearing on magazine covers—any war photography was anti-war photography. It was a cumulative effect of so many photos being published. We were putting out photos every day that the world had never seen before, and we weren’t being pretentious about it.
I heard you compare a photography degree to a degree in “wiping ass.” What advice can you give to photographers just starting out?
No. Being a photojournalist is the hardest way to make a living now. I’m no longer involved in journalism, I’m doing other types of work. It’s impossible to make a living from photography nowadays. I was there the other day and there were 100 people with cameras, camcorders and iPhones. Where are you going to sell your photos? There’s no money in this industry anymore. Even if you’re a well-known figure, it’s not easy to find a job.
You’ve been open about your drug use throughout your career. Do you think this has affected your work in any way?
It was a tough decision. To be honest, I didn’t care much. I had worked with Hunter S. Thompson on a lot of projects in the 1970s. Rolling StoneIs my reputation going to be ruined by taking illegal drugs that should be legal? I think in the next two or three years, the US will wake up like Australia did and legalize drugs and make money from them. [Thompson] Very strong. In the morning he would take a handful of pills of all colors – I had no idea what they were – with a shot of vodka and an orange. If he gave me a handful of pills, I would have taken that handful, too. I was young and stupid.
Obviously, there are more bloody conflicts going on now. Have you ever thought about reporting from Syria or Sudan?
No. I was a UN peace ambassador in Afghanistan in 2009, and I taught journalism students in Afghanistan for three months. I have never been so scared in my life – improvised explosive devices [improvised explosive devices] It was everywhere. You couldn’t travel, you were stuck in traffic jams, you were scared. I left my guesthouse and the Indian Embassy exploded, and there were body parts in my bedroom. I did it. [East] Timor and Solomon [Islands]But I never want to be near a conflict zone again. I now work for NGOs and the government. I have a happy life in Australia.
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