Oscillations Film: Video and stills for Oscillations, Tonlé Sap, Cambodia

Oscillations: Tonlé Sap, Cambodia

At the heart of Cambodia lies Tonlé Sap Lake — a living, breathing landscape that swells and recedes with the seasons. These flooded forests cradle one of the planet’s greatest reserves of irrecoverable carbon, safeguarding the earth’s future while sustaining the millions who call its floating villages home.

In Oscillations, Reuben Wu turns his lens to the lake’s pulse — the dramatic rise and fall of waters that can shift by ten metres, reshaping trees, wildlife, and entire communities. In collaboration with Conservation International, the work seeks to illuminate the fragile balance between nature’s rhythms and human life.

Through long exposure, aerial light, and painterly gesture, Wu creates what he calls terrestrial chiaroscuro: images that stretch beyond a single instant to embody resilience, fragility, and the haunting beauty of a world in flux.

Oscillations is part of Vital: Our Irreplaceable Earth, curated by Ami Vitale, Lui-Walton Innovators Fellow at Conservation International, in collaboration with scientist Allie Goldstein.

Behind the Scenes video by Zac Henderson

You can see and learn more on Reuben’s Instagram here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DNyapqt4p22/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DOOgPGyDTmU/