Famous photographer finds his old painting

PhnomPenhpost:As alumni of the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) returned to retrieve paintings they had made for their assignments, a well-known Cambodian photographer spotted one of his among the pile. In a picture posted on Facebook, Mak Remissa, who is known for his photography work for the European Press Agency (EPA) and Cambodge Soir, holds up a painting he claims to have found among a pile of others at RUFA. “Very thankful to the professors and my juniors who kept this painting for me,” he wrote in a post accompanying the picture. “Now I can take it back after 26 years,” he said. Many people were surprised to hear of Remissa’s association with RUFA. When contacted by The Post, he confirmed he was an alumnus at the art college. “I studied painting and I worked as a painter for a few years. But since photography was popular, I trained myself to become a photographer. “I began my career working for Le Mekong magazine between 1996 and 1997. After that I worked for Cambodge Soir about 10 years and finally at the EPA. “I painted this picture in my second year, in 1992. It displays the scenery of the Tonle Bati River in Takeo,” Remissa said. He said he planned to return to painting despite being recognised for his photography. “After practising for a while, I found that my hands were stiffer and I forgot how to mix the colours but I still love painting, although no one knows me as a painter,” he said.