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He reportedly said some Cambodian families had requested that their relative smile in the photos and feedback had been “positive.” This is how Matt Loughrey responded to a Cambodian friend (who gave me permission to share this) when she explained how hurtful and triggering these images are. Quinn Libson – a Cambodia-based journalist – said on Twitter that Loughrey had responded to her calling her criticism “nonsense.” The digital media trailblazer, once valued at 5.7 billion and known for sites including Vice and Motherboard, had been restructuring and cutting jobs across its global news business over recent. Loughrey, please stop using photos of Cambodian genocide victims for your experimentation and entertainment.

It was not clear from the article that some smiles had been digitally added.Ī petition calling for an apology had garnered over 3,000 signatures by Sunday night: “We reject Mr Loughrey’s attempt to profit and benefit from the traumas of our history… Mr. So a smile would seem natural,” VICE quoted him as saying. Loughrey claimed in the VICE article that some of the women – in particular – were already smiling in the photos he had seen, perhaps out of nervousness: “One of the classic things is to try to be friendly with your captor. Twitter user said that she recognised her uncle in an image, but Loughrey had not been in touch with the family and his story accompanying the image of her relative was likely false. This is not Loughrey’s to reclaim or recolorize or add smiles.” Photo: HKFP. He is falsifying history,” he tweeted.ĭocumentarist Magali-An Berthon said “this article is an insult to the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime / and pure whitewashing white savior narrative on such a complex tragic history that has been documented.

VICE MEDIA CAMBODIA FREE

Only seven of its prisoners survived.Photo restorer who added smiles to Cambodian genocide victims violated the law, gov't says - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP CloseĬambodia-based photojournalist John Vink was among the critics on Twitter: “Matt Loughrey in Vice is not colourising S21 photographs. Residents at Angkor Wat have been forced by officials to 'volunteer' to leave in the name of preserving Cambodias most popular tourist attraction, an Amnesty International report found. Between 14,000 and 17,000 people, including children, were sent into the infamous S21 prison, where many of them were photographed before executions. While some of them died as result of dislocations and forced labor, others were tortured to death in prisons and camps. “Minimising the pain and trauma of our community by those who are not connected to the experience is not only revising and erasing history, it is a violent act,” the petition, which has been signed by over six thousand people, says, also calling on the artist to “stop using photos of Cambodian genocide victims for your experimentation and entertainment.” Also on rt.com As Khmer Rouge prison commander dies, media quiet on UK & US’ roles in aiding regime responsible for Cambodian genocideĪt least 1.7 million people were killed during the rule of the repressive Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot. The Vice President agreed, recalling his observations to news- men concerning the effect on our withdrawals from Vietnam should Cambodia fall to the. It quickly turned out that the bizarre approach to “restoring” old photos was Loughrey’s “thing” for quite some time, and he’s apparently dubbed it “service with a smile.”Īn online petition that was originally created to pressure VICE into removing the story is now demanding a proper apology. wCiFbLZMrn- DianneThatGotAway April 11, 2021 These are the portraits of some of the Khmer Rouge victims. However, in an alleged screenshot of a private message, he seemingly doubled down on the claim that he “worked with” the relatives and that some of them “requested their relative to smile.” In the same message, he appeared to suggest VICE put his words out of context, claiming that one French outlet managed to do a better job at presenting the altered photos. Having been contacted by several media agencies, the artist declined to comment. Cambodia might consider taking legal action, both national and international, it added. “MCFA does not accept this kind of manipulation and considers this work of Matt Loughrey to seriously affect the dignity of the victims, the reality of Cambodia’s history,” it said, calling on the media to remove the images. The artist, who apparently claimed he was in close contact with the victims’ families while he was working on this project, had in fact never been in contact with the rightful owners of the photographs, Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (MCFA) said in a statement on Sunday. He is falsifying history: /z6J99J7BOE- John Vink April 10, 2021 Matt Loughrey in Vice is not colourising S21 photographs.

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