Street Photography in Phnom Penh

Sisowath Quay is the riverside promenade along the Tonle Sap, facing the water where it meets the Mekong. At dawn and again around sunset, groups do aerobics to loud music on the promenade, which a TripAdvisor reviewer times from about 5:15. Evenings bring families and snack vendors. Face east at dawn to backlight the dancers against the river. In the evening, find a food cart lit by a single bulb and shoot the customers around it. The FCDO names the riverfront as a bag snatching hotspot, so keep your camera strap wrapped and away from the road.

The open square in front of the Royal Palace is where Phnom Penh comes for air. A local photo tour starts here at 6:00 for golden hour, with pigeons and early walkers. The palace walls and golden spires make a background you will not find elsewhere. Crouch low and use a flock of pigeons lifting off as the foreground, with the spires behind. At sunset families picnic on the grass and vendors sell snacks and balloons. Dress respectfully near the palace, and do not photograph guards up close.

The Central Market, Phsar Thmei, is a yellow art deco building from the 1930s with a huge central dome and four wings. Inside, jewellery and watch stalls sit under the dome. The better street photography is outside, where stalls selling fruit and food spill into the surrounding streets. Come in the morning or from about 14:30, when a local photo tour works the area. Stand in the shade of a wing and shoot out into the bright street, so vendors appear as shapes against the light. Watch your pockets in the tight aisles.

Orussey is a big, dark local market west of the center where you can find literally everything, as one local photographer put it. It is less touristy than the Central Market, and much of the trade is wholesale, so porters haul sacks and crates through the lanes from early morning. The interior is dim, lit by gaps in the roof and bare bulbs. Find a patch of daylight falling across a lane and wait for someone to walk into it. Raise the ISO and accept grain. Stay out of the path of the porters.

The Russian Market, Tuol Tom Poung, is a low roofed maze of narrow covered alleys south of the center, named for the Russian expats who shopped there in the 1980s. Ian Kydd Miller likes it for its food stalls and its mix of locals and expats. The food section is the place to be, with cooks working over steam and charcoal from breakfast onward. Frame a cook through the steam with light from an alley entrance behind. It is hot and airless by midday. The streets around the market have cafes for a break.

Wat Phnom stands on a small wooded hill in the north of the center and is tied to the legend of Lady Penh, who gave the city its name. Worshippers climb the steps with incense and offerings, especially on holy days and before exams. Come in the morning, when the smoke from incense catches the low light. Shoot from the steps looking up at the stupa, with worshippers in silhouette. There is a small entry fee for foreigners. Remove your hat and keep a respectful distance while people pray.

Olympic Market sits next to the Olympic Stadium, a 1960s landmark. Ian Kydd Miller recommends the area for everyday Cambodian life, and few tourists come. The market has the usual wet and dry sections, and the stadium grounds nearby are used by locals for exercise, mostly early and late in the day. Combine the two: market scenes in the morning, then the stadium's concrete lines as backgrounds. Frame a runner against the long stepped seating. Parts of the stadium area may be closed or under redevelopment, so check on the day.

Kandal Market is a neighborhood wet market a few blocks back from the riverside, with fish and breakfast stalls in tight lanes. It is busiest early, from about 6:00, when locals shop before work. The lanes are narrow and covered, so you get strips of light between the awnings. Stand at one end of a lane and shoot along it with a wider lens so the stalls stack up. Porridge and noodle vendors make good subjects if you eat first. The floors are wet, and the fish section is slippery.