Nicolas Axelrod
Ruom
Bangkok, Thailand
I have been working as a freelance photographer and videographer in Southeast Asia since 2008.
My work has been published in various local and international publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Australian, The Guardian, The Independent, Die Welt, and Southeast Asia Globe. I work regularly for international humanitarian organisations such as UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, CARE, Amnesty International, Action Aid, UNESCO and Handicap International. I am a founding member of Ruom, a collective of journalists and photographers. I do editorial and news coverage for Getty Images and I am available for freelance assignments.
- Editorial
- Environment
- Reporting
Tonle Sap Lake
Nicolas Axelrod
Each year, Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake—the largest body of freshwater in all of Southeast Asia—undergoes a unique hydrological phenomenon. Monsoon rains swell the Mekong River, eventually pushing water up. The direction of the Tonle Sap River changes course, and water floods the lake—doubling its size and pushing water across hundreds of kilometers of surrounding floodplains. That water ensures Cambodia can grow crops for export and for eating and ensures that fish—the key source of nutrition in the Cambodian diet—flourish.
Life on the water could never be called easy – storms collapsed houses, children drowned – but it was something worth doing generation after generation after generation.
Today, it seems that way of life is finished.
A month of mourning
Nicolas Axelrod
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej ruled Thailand for 70 years before he passed away on Oct 13th 2016. As one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, the revered King saw Thailand through rising prosperity and frequent political turmoil. The King was seen as the father to the nation and a guiding light in Thai society and his death plunged the country into mourning. During the first month, public television stations and websites turned to black and white, TV billboards showed images of the King, and most of the public have been dressing in black.