Photojournalism nominee

The Tonle Sap Lake near Siem Reap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It’s one of the richest inland fishing grounds in the world and home to over one million people. The majority of these people live directly on the water in houseboats which create pockets of floating villages throughout this 1,042 sq mile lake. Several communities of people are living on the Tonle Sap Lake. There are four main villages: Chong Kneas, Mechrey, Kampong Phluk and Kampong Khleang.
Up to 1000 families live on the lake and make their living with fishing.
For 7 years I have been documenting life on the floating villages. As the existence of the villages is threatened, I will again spend a month on the river in the rainy season of this year.

Steff Gruber (1953) is a Swiss photographer and filmmaker. He worked as a press photographer for Keystone Press and was one of the first filmmakers to explore the docudrama genre. He became internationally known with his documentary LOCATION AFRICA about the filming of COBRA VERDE, the last collaboration between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski. His award-winning films have been shown at various international film festivals.
Based on his interest in documentaries, Gruber began shooting photo stories in various countries, focusing, in particular, on human interest subjects and humanist concerns. Visiting places and people on repeated occasions, many of his photo series were produced over a period of several years.
In 2020 Steff Gruber opened the Lumiere.Gallery for digital photo exhibitions.
Steff Gruber is a member of the Swiss Association of Journalists and Photographers IMPRESSUM.

Exhibitions as photgrapher (selection)

2022 FOTO WIEN, Café Prückel, Vienna
2021 photoSchweiz, group exhibition, Zurich
2021 PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Awards, finalits exhibition at the Technische Sammlungen Dresden (expected March 27, 2021)
2020/21 New Talents, group exhibition, PEP – Photographic Exploration Project, Bpart Berlin
2020/21 Cambodian Stills, LUMIERE.GALLERY
2020 The International Street Photography Exhibition, group exhibition, Glasgow Gallery of Photography