Image Galery Archives - Save the Mekong

Mekong Galery

A fisherman carries a 25kg Giant Bagarius fish caught in the Khone Falls area back to his house.

A daring fisherman crosses the Khon Phapheng falls on a wire that he and his friend built to access fishing areas during the rainy season.

Fish scales cover this fisher's face while he prepares dried fish to sell in the market.

Lao people bathing in the early morning in the Mekong River in Southern Laos.

Young Lao men compete by standing on their heads in the water. The one who lasts longest wins all the fish the others catch that day.

Fishermen clean and repair their “Li” gear during the monsoon. Unusual water level changes over past few years have resulted in unexpected fish migrations.

A fisherman crosses the Li Phi Falls by rope during the early monsoon season in July.

A fisherman pulls a Giant Bagarius fish, caught an hour earlier, across the strong rapids of the Mekong River.

This Mekong Giant Catfish was caught in the Khone Falls’ Hou Sahong channel, where the Don Sahong Dam would be built.

A fisherman harvests fish during the Monsoon season using “Li” fishing gear, constructed of wood and bamboo and held in place by rocks.

A fisher crosses the strong rapids to his “Li” fishing gear by rope. During the last three years, Giant Mekong Catfish have fallen into his gear every fishing season.

A 150 kg Giant Mekong Catfish caught in the rapids after becoming injured. Fishers believed that selling the fish will bring bad luck so it is given to the village.

A Lao fisherman checks his fishing net in the early morning of the dry season at Khone Sahong rapids.

A fisherman throws a catfish to his “Li” during fish migration season in July.

A fisherman shows the catfish he has caught using 50-meter “fence” fishing gear that guides the fish into a huge basket.

A woman with catfish for dinner. She says some days there are no fish to eat, which never happened 10 years ago.

Khon Fang waterfalls located at the Lao-Cambodia border.

A father bathes his child while teaching him how to swim. He hopes that his children will become fishers in the Khone Falls.

Siamese mud carp try to pass the rapids of Khone Falls during their migration season in January.

A boy checks on his captive mud carp. He sells them after a week when they are more valuable than others’ dried fish.

A crow steals fish from a “Li” fish trap. For centuries, fishermen and crows have been enemies as crows like this easy food.

Heads of Siamese mud carp, which will be fed to ducks while the bodies will be eaten as a meal by a Lao family.

A young Lao fisherman in Khone Falls holds a fish while crossing the rapids of the Li Phi Falls using a single rope.

A Lao boy carries fish that he has harvested from a fish trap under the Li Phi Falls.

A Lao fisherman harvests fish from the Mekong River in Khone Falls.

Fish and sticky rice are common food for the Laos people in the Khone Falls area.

A Lao fisherman harvests fish from the powerful Khone Falls, following a tradition in one of the world’s most dangerous fishing places.

Two fishermen carry the head of a critically endangered Mekong Giant Catfish weighing around 44 kg.

Suthep Krisanavarin is one of Thailand’s leading photojournalists who has covered environment, social and humanitarian issues in Southeast Asia for almost two decades. His award-winning photographs have been published world-wide, including in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, National Geographic Thailand, the Japan Times, Geographical and Aera. Suthep’s work is founded on his firm belief that a photojournalist must act as a conscientious observer of society and culture, and contribute towards social change at a local and global level. He achieves these goals by working on projects over a long duration, thus establishing trust with the communities he works with and building a deep understanding about the issues that he is documenting.

Suthep has exhibited his photography in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Japan, Germany and France. His exhibitions have included: Kuay and Elephants – Struggling for Survival; Life in Xinjiang, China; Hunters and Monks in Thailand; and Siphandon – Mekong Fishing under Threat. In May 2008, a week after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma, Suthep visited areas affected by the cyclone and chronicled the suffering of the people. His images bore witness to the destruction, torment and despair caused by the cyclone that have been exacerbated by the actions of the military government.

After the 2004 Asian tsunami, Suthep co-founded the InSIGHT Out! Photography Project and worked as the project’s Photography Director. The project teaches children from the tsunami-affected areas of Banda Aceh, Indonesia and Phang Nga, Thailand how to document their lives through photography. Suthep is also the only Asian tutor for young Asian photographers who participate in the Angkor Photography Festival.

Suthep’s photo essay about the Siphandon area on the Mekong River in Southern Laos, shot over a three-year period, is a vital documentation that draws attention to the threats posed by large hydropower dams to traditional fishing communities and wildlife. These images have been used by international and regional organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, International Rivers and Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA), to raise public awareness about the impacts of the proposed dams on the Mekong mainstream.

Suthep’s powerful images create in-depth documentary essays that are shot over protracted periods of time on his own funding and initiative. His Mekong River photo documentary has now been awarded a grant by the Blue Earth Alliance. In 2008, Suthep was awarded a Best of Photojournalism award from the US National Press Photographers Association and a Days Japan International Photojournalism Special Prize.

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