Angkor Photography Festival

At the end of the month, The Angkor Photography Festival will draw photographers from all over the world to Cambodia. The event was started in 2005, when the VII Photo Agency's Assignment in Cambodia series attracted interest from more than its attendees, but from locals, journalists, and imaging professionals. The festival combines free workshops and outreach programs with offerings from VII's 2006 workshop. It will take place November 25 to December 1. Read more here.

"The festival aims to be an enduring presence through its ongoing educational programs. Having engaged with the street children, we resolved to provide them with the tools necessary to break the cycle of poverty. An educational program has been established in collaboration with a local NGO, The Life and Hope Association. Today, thirty-five children benefit from a curriculum of daily Khmer, English and math classes as well as food and health assistance.

The photography and dance classes continue. With the support of Friends Of Khmer Culture Foundation Inc., a book will be published in 2007 with the children’s photographic work."

With the cooperation of VII workshops, the Angkor Festival will sponsor free workshops to educate young Asian photographers, enabling them to capture their surroundings. The free workshop begins November 20, a week before the festival. Applicants are required to create a flickr account with a selection of work.

Also, from November 19 to 25, the fourth annual Assignment in Cambodia, offered through VII Photo Agency, will take place near the world-famous temple ruins of Angkor Wat and the town of Siem Reap. It will be hosted by Gary Knight, and open to any professional or committed amateur photographer with full understanding of digital photography and editing software.

A free digital workshop will be available to participants in the free workshop and the VII workshop. The first of two will be held for the VII workshop participants, followed by a second for the students of the free workshop. Laurent Zylberman will demonstrate applications like Nikon NX, Gimp, PhotoMechanic, Fototrafix, IPTC captioning and networks set-ups, and Vincent Soyez will focus on Photoshop.

Reading about the kids who this program has benefitted, I keep thinking about the documentary Born Into Brothels, by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski. where photography plays a similiar role in benefiting the lives of impoverished children in Calcutta. If you haven't seen this amazing film yet, click here to learn more about the project.