Angkor Photo Festival Fosters Asian Photography Community

The 14th edition of the Angkor Photo Festival and Workshop, held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, emphasizes community-building and postcolonial discourse over conventional festival models. Selected participants from across Asia engage in intensive workshops led by international professionals such as Sohrab Hura and Tania Bohorquez, aiming to refine personal projects and connect with emerging Asian photographers. The festival's new committee, largely composed of Asian artists, is now directed by Jessica Lim, succeeding co-founder Jean-Yves Navel. This shift revives the idea of an autonomous Asian photography history rooted in postcolonial thought. Since 2005, workshops for disadvantaged children through Anjali House, initiated by Antoine d'Agata, teach photography as a means of critical expression and trauma intercession. The festival also features projections, including a focus on contemporary Cambodian photography, and exhibitions, building an alternative to Western-centric photographic history. Ian Teh, a tutor and Panos Pictures member, stresses the need to generate an ecology for Asian photography despite financial constraints.