__________________________
From prisoner to poet
While serving a 16 year prison sentence for attempted murder, Kosal Khiev found redemption in the spoken word. Ellie Dyer meets the budding poet and learns how one of Cambodia’s newest returnees turned his troubled life around. Photography by Dylan Walker.
Kosal Khiev didn’t see sunlight for more than a year after being locked in “the hole”. Branded a danger to society and put in solitary confinement in an American prison after a jail fight, the young Cambodian refugee – serving 16 years for six attempted murders – had seen his life spiral out of control.
Gang violence led the then 21-year-old to his eight foot by three foot cell, in which he would spend 23 hours a day for 18 months.
Born in a Thai refugee camp following his family’s escape from the Khmer Rouge, Kosal moved to the US as a baby in 1981. He grew to be an angry, out-of-control Californian teen torn between two cultural identities. Following an ill-fated stint at a brutal boy’s home, which was later closed down for abuse, a beaten and bruised Kosal turned to a new support network: the gang.
Controlled by a group of older boys and men, one of whom has since been given the death penalty, the gang put Kosal on a path of violence that would lead to his involvement in a shootout while aged just 16. After a two-year fight against a possible life sentence for his part in the violence, Kosal – then known as “Minor” – accepted a plea bargain that would confine him in America’s prison system for his formative adult life.
“I was at the point that I didn’t care. I thought ‘who cares if I live or die’… I was in a state of mind that it was either them or me,” says Kosal, today aged 31, describing his younger self. “I look back on myself then and feel a lot of shame and regret. I could never see myself now taking a life.”
Against all odds, he managed to turn his life around while in jail and has lived in Phnom Penh since his deportation from the US last year – after serving 14 years of his sentence.
It was as his skin paled in “the hole” that Kosal found an interest that would prove his psychological escape and ultimately his redemption: he started to read.
“I remember reading The Three Musketeers and I was laughing my eyes out, then at one point I was angry and threw the book across my cell,” he says. Reading led Kosal to consider why he had ended up in prison, and he realised that there had “always been a choice”.
A chance encounter in a prison laundry room following Kosal’s release from solitary confinement would prove the next turning point. “There were three guys,” he recalls. “I walked by them, but then I heard something – they were spitting poetry.”
Drawn in by their verse, he began to attend poetry classes. An inspired Kosal soon started to write lyrics like a “madman”. From that moment, spoken verse would provide a channel for his feelings and experiences – it became a way for him to just “let it out”.
As his natural gift became recognised within the prison, Kosal was asked to facilitate the writing class. Over the next decade of his sentence, he would go on to work with at-risk teens, showing them a new way to communicate their feelings.
“It was an amazing opportunity, as that’s where I felt I could have an impact. It was as though they were going through what I went through and not being able to express what they were feeling. I wanted others to tell their story,” he says.
Although Kosal has now turned his back on violence, he still bears marks from his past. The words “abandoned” and “tortured” are tattooed on his arms, but the phrase “God bless my family” lies around his neck – seemingly symbolising his transformation. “My family are proud. They seem able to see the change in me. They thought I was lost,” he says.
But Kosal’s release last year marked the beginning of a new kind of sentence.
Rather than a return to family life. He was deported to Cambodia – a country that he had never thought of as a potential home until he watched a feature about the Kingdom on an Oprah show while in prison. It was a moment that made him realise what he faced, in which he “nearly broke down”.
Confronted with the reality of his situation, the eloquent returnee is determined to continue to give youth a voice. While coming to terms with freedom in Cambodia, he is taking life in stride by volunteering with NGOs, taking part in poetry nights and collaborating with arts organisation Studio Revolt to help encourage spoken word poetry.
For Kosal, who says he is now on the right track, encouraging youth to express their feelings is key.
“They don’t have to go the same way and walk the same path [as me]… they can take me as a warning sign,” he says. “It may be dark, it might not feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel – but there is. A lot of my stuff is sad and full of anger, but there is an underlying current of hope.”
To hear Kosal’s work or learn more visit spokenkosal.com or studio-revolt.com.
__________________________
The few and far between
Times are few and far between when I get to shoot portraits of a person I really admire. Even rarer when I have full rein on creativity and lighting the scene. A couple months ago, I had one of those rare chances withKosal Khiev. I first met him on the shoot of My Asian Americana and was moved by his energy and drive. A few weeks later, I had a chance to interview him with Princess Soma Norodom on her nightly radio show at PUC and was once again moved by him and his constant drive to better himself and his art.
We got to talking after and conspired to have a photo session in the near future. These photos are the result of the photo session.
One main element I wanted was an urban feel with the background. So we ended up shooting in an alleyway where I used to live. Another element I wanted in the shot was his ever present notebook which he is constantly writing in. The only problem is that it is quite narrow (about 10 feet wide) and was very busy with foot and motorbike traffic.
Portrait of Kosal Khiev
Lighting is a brollied 580ex as the fill light just a bit high and to my right. Two Viv 283′s with stofens are placed about 10 feet to the left and right of Kosal just slightly touching the wall at 45 degree angles. Not the most efficient use of light but it gave a slight rim light to him and it kept them out of the way of passing motorbikes! I wanted to accentuate his tattoos and the wall in the background so there was some manipulation there. I also brightened his brow a bit and turned the tonal contrast just a bit up for the great textures on his face and shirt. In all honesty, I would have liked to have had a reflector to push the light up on his face but sometimes, you make do with what you can.
Kosal Khiev against the wall
Can I tell you that he is a pretty amazing subject to work with? I moved the Viv 283 on his left side a bit tighter and lower to him, but kept the rest of the lighting the same but didn’t notice that I stupidly blew out the words in the notebook. Luckily, I always shoot in RAW so I was able to save the detail in the notebook and it makes for a great dimension to the image.
Portrait of Kosal Khiev
A bit of a variation to the image above, the pose makes for a striking image. I wanted to cool down the background on this file and the notebook, so some layer masks later, we got this image!
Kosal and his notebook
In this image you can see how tight the alleyway is. Not too much room to work with. Once again, there is a brollied 580ex to my right and two Viv 283′s directly onto the walls to his left and right. Usually you use strip lights or a grid to create these lovely rim lights but bouncing off the walls made for a great substitute!
Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I had taking them!
+++++++++++++++
Images by Vinh Dao
I was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1972 and emigrated to the United States at two years old. After arriving in Seattle, my family spent a few years wandering the United States, until we ended up in Anaheim, California where we lived in the shadow of the Happiest Place on Earth. In 2003, I packed my bags and left Southern California to pursue my dreams of traveling around Southeast Asia and rediscovering my roots.
After spending 9 years in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I’m now based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. where I specialize in corporate & environmental portraiture, editorial and travel photography. I am available for assignment in and around Vietnam and Cambodia.
In my free time, I enjoy dodging Ho Chi Minh traffic, obsess about the newest gadget on the block, blog about food for Vietnomnom, Nyam Penh, and shopping for old camera gear.