Karenni Army soldier in the jungle. Myanmar, 2023
Captured government soldiers tied to a tree. Loikaw, Myanmar, 2023
Young Urban Revolutionary Front fighter in the trenches reacts to sniper fire from enemy positions 60 meters away. Moebye, Myanmar 2025
Nurses in a bomb shelter scream in fear during a government fighter jet attack. Demoso, Myanmar, 2023
Bodies of government soldiers. Loikaw, Myanmar, 2023
Karenni fighters marching towards the front. Myanmar, 2023
Young family mourning a Karenni fighter killed by a sniper of the military junta. Demoso, Myanmar, 2023

Karenni sniper cleaning his gun. Loikaw, Myanmar, 2023

Body of government soldier. Loikaw, Myanmar, 2023
Fighter returning from a drone mission. Myanmar, 2023
Karenni resistance fighter who stepped on a landmine while storming a junta position. Demoso, Myanmar, 2023
Karenni Army fighter marching towards the front. Myanmar, 2023
Karenni refugees crossing through the jungle into Thailand by night. Myanmar, 2023

A mother and her four-year-old daughter rest in exhaustion during their escape through the jungle into Thailand, following the destruction of their village by regime troops. Myanmar, 2023
Ethnic Kayan festivities. Demoso, Myanmar, 2025
Ethnic Kayan festivities. Demoso, Myanmar, 2025
Burmese New Year celebrations. Demoso, Myanmar, 2025
Burmese New Year celebrations. Demoso, Myanmar, 2025
Wounded PDF fighter celebrating Burmese New Year with fellow soldiers. Demoso, Myanmar, 2025
KNDF recruits celebrating Burmese New Year. Demoso, Myanmar, 2025
KNDF soldiers at their camp. Myanmar 2025
KNPP fighters along the Salween River. Myanmar, 2025
KNDF soldiers at their camp. Myanmar 2025
Newly trained KNDF soldiers marching during their graduation ceremony. Myanmar 2025
KNPLF fighter standing guard at hidden camp in the jungle. Myanmar, 2025
Church destroyed in fighting. Moebye, Myanmar, 2025
Resistance fighters sheltering for incoming artillery fire. Moebye, Myanmar, 2025
Wounded by a landmine, a KNDF fighter lies in agony awaiting amputation. Myanmar, 2025
Young fighter injured in airstrike. Myanmar, 2025
Young soldier tends to his commander after he was wounded in an airstrike. Myanmar, 2025
A farmer moments after his death. He was killed by shelling from government troops while on his way to his fields. Moebye, Myanmar, 2025
A KNPDP fighter keeps watch during the wake of his fallen comrade. Myanmar, 2025
Fallen soldier. Myanmar, 2025
Refugees find solace during Easter Mass at church. Myanmar, 2025
Ethnic Kayan festivities. Demoso, Myanmar, 2025
A mother bids farewell to her son. The young soldier was killed by a landmine. Myanmar, 2025
Child salutes during the wake of a fallen soldier. Myanmar, 2025
A fighter of the Urban Revolutionary Front with the names of fallen comrades tattooed on his chest. Moebye, Myanmar, 2025
A KNDF fighter prepares a drone for deployment. Myanmar, 2025
A prisoner who executed a man he wrongly believed to be spying for regime troops. Myanmar, 2025
KNPLF fighter. Myanmar, 2025
KNPLF fighter. Myanmar, 2025
Newly trained recruits of the KNDF resistance forces. Myanmar, 2025
KNDF resistance forces sing 'Fight for Freedom!' after completing training. Myanmar, 2025
Child playing with toy gun. Myanmar, 2025
A young girl covered in coal stains sits on a hillside recently cleared through slash-and-burn. Myanmar, 2025

Man collecting sea urchins on Thitu island. Philippine-occupied territory, South China Sea, 2024

Filipino fisherman at Scarborough Shoal. Chinese-occupied territory, South China Sea, 2024

Chinese dissidents carrying statue of Goddess of Democracy. California, USA, 2020

Ethnic Mongolian refugee from China with his truck. He specifically chose the number plate 8964 to commemorate the Tiananmen Square incident on June 4, 1989. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 2023

Ethnic Kazakh refugee holding the portraits of her three missing sons. She hasn't heard of them since seven years, when they were arrested and put in concentration camps in China's western province Xinjiang. Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2022

Chinese gold miner with his gun in the Amazon. Brownsberg, Suriname, 2023

Chinese copper miners. Bor, Serbia, 2020

Caretaker of the cemetery praying for the souls of Chinese men who perished constructing the Karakoram Highway. Danyor, Pakistan, 2022

Pakistani soldier at checkpoint guarding the city of Gwadar, an important geostrategic location on China's New Silk Road. Gwadar, Pakistan, 2022

Woman crying at the grave of her son who was beaten to death by fellow conscripts while in the military. Tajikistan, 2022

Girl holding baby. Ghor, Afghanistan, 2008

Aftermath of Taleban suicide bombing of Indian Embassy. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2008

Girl wounded in NATO bombing of wedding. Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 2008

Aftermath of Taleban attack. Afghanistan, 2008

The Russian cultural center was destroyed during the civil war and houses hundreds of drug addicts. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2008

Drug addict. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2008

The royal Darul Aman Palace was destroyed during the civil war. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2008

Afghan police fleeing after undetonated explosives on the body of a dead Taleban fighter are found. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2009

Blood of Taleban fighter killed in fighting. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2009

American soldiers on patrol. Kunar, Afghanistan, 2009

American soldiers on patrol. Kunar, Afghanistan, 2009

Girl holding sheeplegs. Wakhan corridor, Afghanistan, 2009

Kyrgyz boy with his favorite stick in Bozai Gumbaz, former Soviet outpost. Wakhan corridor, Afghanistan, 2009

Wakhi mother and her child milking sheep in the Pamir mountains. Wakhan corridor, Afghanistan, 2009

Kyrgyz girl herding yak in Bozai Gumbaz, former Soviet outpost. Wakhan corridor, Afghanistan, 2009

Girl in field of barley. Wakhan corridor, Afghanistan, 2009

Girls looking for cattle. Wakhan corridor, Afghanistan, 2009

Daily life in the Wakhan corridor. Afghanistan, 2009

Wakhi nomads in the Wakhan corridor. Afghanistan, 2009

Kyrgyz man smoking opium in his yurt. Wakhan corridor, Afghanistan, 2009

Old man with broken glasses. Yakawlang, Afghanistan, 2008

Man in trance during Sufi ritual. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2009

Hope. Kabul, 2008

Child in refugee camp. Kabul, 2008

Men smoking heroin. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2008

Heroin addict. Kabul, Afghanistan, 2008

Pelican on the bazaar. Kabul, 2011

The buddha's of Bamyan destroyed by the Taleban. Afghanistan, 2008

Planet earth. Afghanistan, 2008

Woman begging in snow. Herat, Afghanistan, 2008

Iranian-Afghan border, 2008

Siberia, Russia, 2010

Moscow, Russia, 2010

Siberian winter. Near Chita, Russia, 2010

Tibetan woman removing snow so her yaks can eat grass. Sichuan, China, 2005

Long-horn Miao. Guizhou, China, 2005

Man carrying bamboo. Guizhou, China, 2004

Miao family. Guizhou, China, 2004

Miao family around fireplace. Guizhou, China, 2004

Yi farmer. Liangshan, China, 2019

Yi shaman drinking during ritual. Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, China, 2019

Yi woman watches over her pigs. Liangshan, China, 2019

Rice terraces in the mist. Yuanyang, China 2005

Huangshan / Yellow Mountain. China, 2010

Yangtze river. China, 2015

Wuhan, China, 2015

Cormorant fisher. Hong Hu, China, 2015

Yangtze finless porpoise in research centre. China, 2015

Three generations and the Three Gorges Dam. China, 2015

Ship elevator at the Three Gorges Dam. China, 2015

Farmer in front of real estate project threatening to swallow his land. Wuhan, China, 2015

Chongqing, China, 2015

Pupil training at acrobatics school. China, 2015

Boy at internment camp crying while calling his father. China, 2019

Pupils on Red Army School. China, 2015

Married couple in Dwarf Empire amusement park. China, 2015

Dwarf Empire amusement park. China, 2015

Child sleeping on fishing boat. Hong Hu, China, 2015

Xiao Sun at the Bund. Shanghai, China, 2015

Chinese New Year celebrations. Puding, China, 2006

Rich second generation at nightclub. Shanghai, China, 2015

Young lady after cosmetic surgery. Shanghai, China, 2015

Man looking for partner holding advertisement about himself. Kunming, China, 2015

Couple arguing about the terms of their separation. The trial is held at their front door. Chongqing, China, 2019

Man drinking tea under the watchful eyes of Mao Zedong and Xi Jinping. China, 2015

Yi ethnic minority students at school. Liangshan, China, 2019

Portrait of Mao Zedong. Yunnan, China, 2015

Farmer in his rice terraces. Yunnan, China, 2005

Children playing in rice terraces. Yuanyang, China, 2005

Medicine man of Miao ethnic minority. Yunnan, China, 2015

Water buffalo that died during bullfight at ethnic Miao festivities. Guizhou, China, 2004

Ethnic Yao man offering me a cigarette. Yunnan, China, 2005

Basha Miao boy with his dog. Guizhou, China, 2004

Yao girl. Yunnan, China, 2005

Tibetan boy bringing yaks back to camp. Sichuan, China, 2006

Wounded horse kicking up dust. Inner Mongolia, China, 2017

Open pit coal mine. Inner Mongolia, China, 2017

Lanzhou New Area. Gansu, China, 2016

Lanzhou New Area. Gansu, China, 2016

Shenzhen, China, 2017

Live streamer Lucky. Beijing, China, 2017

Jin Xing imitator. Beijing, China, 2017

Kung Fu training. Shaolin, China, 2017

Taoist hermit. Zhongnan Shan, China, 2017

Terminally ill man at home. Hunan, China, 2017

Family at funeral. Shaanxi, China, 2017

Man holding a portrait of his deceased and unmarried uncle, for whom a ghost marriage was arranged. He was buried with an inflatable doll. Shaanxi, China, 2017

Effigies for a funeral. Shaanxi, China, 2017

Burial ceremony where paper money, cars, iPhones and houses are burned to comfort the spirit of the deceased. Shaanxi, China, 2017

Man building tower to reach heaven and his deceased family. Shandong, China, 2016

Hu Guangzhou looking proudly at his self-built tower. Shandong, China, 2016

Hu Guangzhou climbing his tower. He believes the tower will bring him to heaven and reunite him with his deceased family. Shandong, China, 2016

Hu Guangzhou holding improvised iron nails for his tower. Shandong, China, 2016

Hu Guangzhou looking in the mirror. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia but ran away from the psychiatric treatment center. Shandong, China, 2016

Notebook of Hu Guangzhou with drawings of his tower. Shandong, China, 2016

Hu Guangzhou cooking. Months later fire broke out and destroyed his home. He was then forcefully taken to live at the psychiatric hospital again. Shandong, China, 2016

Cancer patients waiting in line to be registered for treatment at Acharya Tulsi hospital. Bikaner, India, 2023

Swaroop and her father. Due to a delay in diagnosis the bone cancer had already spread to her lungs. She passed away a week after this photo was taken. Bikaner, India, 2023

Young patients hiding in bomb shelter of paediatric cancer hospital during air raid alarm. Lviv, Ukraine, 2022

Doctors in a fortified operation theatre amputate the leg of Ukrainian soldier. Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 2022

First aid team attending crime scene where drug runner was liquidated. Tijuana, Mexico, 2021

Chinese doctor posing with his patient who received free treatment. Former Taiwanese hospital, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 2023

Chinese women taking selfies with Kenyan children at a charity event. Nairobi, Kenya, 2019

Solomon Islander guarding destroyed property of his Chinese boss after Chinatown was burned down by angry protesters. Honiara, Solomon Islands, 2023

Railway employee standing on the platform at Vientiane railway station on the newly constructed Laos-China railway. Laos, 2022

Youth playing in their new village after they had to relocate for the Laos-China railway. Laos, 2022

Monument erected to symbolize the prosperity China's New Silk Road will bring to the country. Nurkent, Kazakhstan, 2022

Lady in banquet hall. Huaxi, China, 2024

Man taking photo of Mao Zedong. Nanjie, China, 2024

Youth posing under a portrait of Joseph Stalin. Nanjie, China, 2024

Man in restaurant in front of a map of the South China Sea and the nine-dash line. Tanmen, China, 2024
“Mijn missie als filmmaker en fotograaf is om menselijke veerkracht, waardigheid en hoop vast te leggen, gedragen door mijn geloof in menselijkheid en de kracht van empathie. Ik geef een stem aan minderheden en documenteer de realiteit van conflict en oorlog, om de samenleving te confronteren met de gevolgen ervan en een bijdrage te leveren aan ons collectieve geheugen. Al meer dan 20 jaar ligt de focus van mijn werk langs de Oude en Nieuwe Zijderoutes; in het bijzonder de opkomst van China, de geopolitieke spanningen in Centraal-Azië en de Indo-Pacific, en de oorlog in Myanmar.”
Lezingen
Ruben is een veelgevraagd spreker en deskundige op het gebied van geopolitiek, gezondheidszorg, en de kunst van reizen, film en fotografie. Met een rijke ervaring in China en een achtergrond in de geneeskunde, combineert Ruben diepgaande kennis en analyse met boeiende verhalen en adembenemende beelden. Zijn lezingen openen een wereld van inzicht en avontuur, waarbij elke presentatie een unieke ontdekkingsreis is.