Photophnompenh and Lianzhou Foto: Contrasting Visions of Asian Photography

In December 2010, two photography festivals in Asia offered starkly different views of contemporary photography. Photophnompenh in Cambodia, directed by Christian Caujolle, showcased a mix of international and emerging Southeast Asian photographers, including Matthias Bruggmann, Raphael Dallaporta, Svetlana Khachaturova, Kent Klich, Heng Ravuth, Kim Hak, Sovan Philong, and Tith Narith. The festival avoided a central theme, presenting exhibitions across the city. Heng Ravuth's black-and-white images of nude performances challenged Cambodian taboos around nudity and sexuality. Kim Hak documented abandoned colonial architectures. Sovan Philong, a journalist at the Phnom Penh Post, created an installation exploring presence and absence. Tith Narith focused on still lifes about gambling. In contrast, Lianzhou Foto in China, curated by Fei Dawei, featured highly normalized practices, though exceptions included Zhang Xiao, You Li, Mingyi Luo, A Yin, and Yi Deer. Guest curator Michel Philippot presented Patrick Zachmann's series on Chinese billboards for future real estate projects and Stanislas Guigui's photographs of crack houses in Bogota, Colombia.