French photographer Roland Neveu has spent five decades covering Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. His work also took him from South America to Africa and Hollywood, where he shot stills during film productions for Oliver Stone, Brian de Palma, and Ridley Scott.

His world had changed dramatically during his university days in Paris of the 1970s when student protests interrupted Neveu’s studies. He picked up the camera to “capture the moment” then headed for Thailand and eventually Cambodia.

As a young photojournalist, he was among the handful of reporters who remained in Phnom Penh in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge marched in, heralding one of the great tragedies of the 20th century.

Over the next two decades he covered the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the siege of Beirut, bloody feuds in El Salvador, civil war in the Philippines and the people’s power revolution that ousted President Ferdinand Marcos.

He spoke with Luke Hunt from The Diplomat.

Click here to listen.