“What kept me returning was an obsession with not missing the subtle changes in light, water, and people… Even when nothing special seemed to happen, the river was never the same.”
By the Mekong, by Greg Mo, is a compelling exploration of life along Phnom Penh’s riverside, a vivid chronicle of a city and its people in constant dialogue with the waters that define it.
Though born in Paris in 1981 and raised in the city, Mo has made the Cambodian capital his home and primary subject. A former finalist in our 2023 Street Photography Award, he brings to this work the meticulous eye of a street photographer, mixed with that of a documentarian honed over years of projects across Cambodia and Laos, and a thoughtful sensitivity to social and environmental change.
“Living near the Mekong, evening walks along the river became my daily ritual,” Mo reflects, recalling how a few casual photographs in 2022 quickly evolved into a sustained project. Returning daily, he sought to capture the subtle changes in light, water, and human activity along the river, noting that “even when nothing special seemed to happen, the river was never the same.”
Photographed from the same direction and within a 200-meter radius, the series embraces constraint as a creative tool. The fixed viewpoint establishes continuity across three years of observation, allowing fleeting moments — a child running, a vendor selling cotton candy, a ritual release of birds — to resonate against the enduring presence of the river and the distant city skyline.
As Mo describes it, the project became “a memory of my daily walks, a reflection of my life in Cambodia,” turning each image into both personal documentation and a universal reflection on the rhythms of urban riverside life.
Perhaps what stands out most is Mo’s impressive sense of composition and understanding of light and tone. He often photographs during the late-afternoon and early-evening light, where the softened sunlight imbues each scene with shades of yellow, pink, and blue, reflecting both in the sky and the water, creating harmonious visual echoes. In one image, a blurred runner traverses the promenade, juxtaposed against the still presence of seated figures and softly illuminated boats on the river, a poetic tension between motion and stasis. Another depicts a vendor with bright cotton candy in the foreground, the modern luxury hotel in the distance, capturing the dialogue between intimate human moments and the city’s rapid development
Mo also turns his lens to the spiritual and ritualistic life of the city. A young girl participates in a “mercy release” ceremony, reaching toward a cage of birds set against the backdrop of the Mekong and the Sokha Hotel. Elsewhere, a golden guardian lion — a traditional symbol of protection — stands as a silent witness along the promenade, appearing beside flower sellers, resting children, and blurred passersby, its immobility set against the ceaseless flow of people, pigeons, and river traffic. These photographs balance sacred ritual, everyday gesture, and urban context, illustrating how tradition and modernity coexist along the riverbank.
Along the Mekong is truly compelling. Every photograph reflects patient observation, capturing fleeting gestures, ephemeral reflections, and the interplay between humans, architecture, and water. More than a collection of street photography, it is a love letter to Mo’s adopted home, as well as a meditation on place, time, and the environmental and social transformations shaping the Mekong.
All images © Greg Mo
To purchase the book, contact Greg via Instagram