Heng Setha, 72, runs a street-side coffee shop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, he continued to serve coffee to customers, many of whom call him “Ta Jok” (or Grandpa Jok).
He moved to Phnom Penh in 1982 from his birthplace of Kampon Cham Province, and has been selling coffee since the nineties, even during the civil war.
He may wear a mask and use hand sanitiser because of the pandemic, but he won’t stop serving coffee.
One of his loyal customers said, “I come here every morning. Whenever I come here, I can meet friends. Ta Jok always serves us good coffee.”
Shunsuke Miyatake grew up in Yokohama, Japan. After completing a BA in International Politics & Economy from Aoyama Gakuin University. He moved to Cambodia in 2016 and has been working in Phnom Penh. He started taking pictures in 2010 with an iPhone. He has never been to a photography school but learned much through friends all over the world on Instagram, and on the streets of every country he has visited. Since this is his first time living abroad, everything fascinates him. He is really interested in pictures capturing the beauty in raw life, natural people’s interaction, and their life itself. His most recent project, “Taste of Life”, explores people’s IKIGAI (Purpose of Life / Reason for being) through people’s portraits and their short life stories. View his portfolio here.
‘The Other Hundred Healers’ is an initiative by the non-profit organisation GIFT. The 240-page, full-colour, hardcover book can be purchased here at US$40 per copy for a minimum order of 20 copies.
