Hip Hop Apsara: Ghosts Past and Present

Literary Nonfiction. Photography. Southeast Asia Studies. Radical (L. A. Times), poignant (Boston Globe), should not be missed (Time), a notable underground author (The Onion), and brilliant (Kirkus) are all ways to describe Anne Elizabeth Moore and her writing. The award-winning author and artist has worked for years with young women in Cambodia on independent media projects, and her newest venture, HIP HOP APSARA: GHOSTS PAST AND PRESENT, is a compilation of photographs and lyrical essays taking readers to the streets of the country's capital city, Phnom Penh, and out into the countryside--where few get to travel. Alternating full color and black and white photographs depict Phnom Penh's bustling nightlife as locals gather to dance on a newly revitalized riverfront directly in front of their prime minister's urban home, thus forming a portrait of the nation's emerging middle class. Images from a southern province depict a nation in dialogue with its government, hoping for development that lifts all citizens. Essays complement the imagery, investigating the relationship between public and private space, mourning and memory, tradition and an economic development unrivaled in the last 1,200 years.