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The eighth Angkor Photo Festival brings the forsaken, forgotten and forlorn into focus
The annual Angkor Photo Festival, now in its eighth year, is the brainchild of Frenchman Jean-Yves Navel.
"Mr Navel had been living in Cambodia since 1998, and he recognised a need for a professional platform for photography in the Southeast Asian region," says Jessica Lim, Asia co-ordinator for the event.
Nadel's opportunity arrived when a group of photographers from the VII Agency visited the country to lead a workshop. Event director Navel and the international collective launched the festival in 2005, and it has gone from strength to strength.
The event is self-described as "the first international photography festival to be created in Southeast Asia", but it nonetheless gives prominence to regional artists; 55 of the 125 photographers exhibiting this year are Asian, including six from the mainland.
The festival, which consists of exhibitions and slideshows, will be held at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Siem Reap. One of the highlights is "Energy [r]evolution", an exhibition staged with festival partner Greenpeace International in the garden of the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor that focuses on renewable energy initiatives in China, Thailand and India.
The festival runs from December 1 to December 8 and a small selection of the work that will be exhibited is presented here.