When the festival first began in 2oo5, the town of Siem Reap had a rather different look. Back then, the now popular tourist-‐haunt of Pub Street was still an unpaved, muddy road,
and the bustling alleyways downtown had more livestock and cattle than cafes and restaurants.

Just like the town that has hosted it for eight years, the Angkor Photo Festival has gone through several changes of its own. Over the years, we have been constantly refining and developing the event, so as to bring us closer and closer to our aim of having the best international platform for photography in the region.

We work hard to keep all our events free, affordable and accessible, so as to be as inclusive as possible. We want people to feel that this is a festival that welcomes you regardless of who you are, where you’re from, and what you do.

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a part this festival is being able to witness photographers whose work was first shown at our festival go on to become recognised for their talent and work. In deciding this year’s programme, it wasn’t only a question of our own taste -‐ we also took note of what has captured the attention of others, especially the emerging generation of younger photographers. Photography is always evolving, new ways of story-‐telling are emerging all the time -‐ and it is the younger generation who are often the most knowledgable in this aspect.

The Angkor Photo Festival does not impose a theme on any of our events. Instead, we concentrate on discovering and re-‐discovering talent from all over the world. Change isn’t always easy, but it is quite often necessary. In our case, we believe that these changes have made us better, and we hope you do too.

CURATOR

FRANÇOISE CALLIER has worked 15 years at 2eBureau as a photographer’s agent, working with Helmut Newton, Jean-‐Paul Goude, Max Vadukul and many others. She worked with Sylvie Grumbach to handle the press promotions at Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan, and from 1995 to 1998, she was also the French correspondent for Corbis. She has been the programme director of the Angkor Photo Festival since 2oo6.

GUEST CURATORS

EDDIE MARSMAN is a writer, picture-‐editor and projects organizer based in Groningen, the Netherlands.

He has written, edited and contributed to several books on Dutch photography and photographers. One of the founding members of the Noorderlicht Photo Festival, he was for nearly 2o years a photography critic for leading Dutch national evening newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He is currently teaching at the Groningen branch of the Fotoacademie, a private training institute for aspiring young photographers.
eddiemarsman.nl

MARCO WIEGERS is a freelance photographer and exhibitions designer based in Groningen, the Netherlands. He works for a wide range of clients, regularly participating in the design of the Noorderlicht photo festival. He teaches photography at USVA, a cultural organization affiliated with the University of Groningen. marcowiegers.com

Bangladeshi photographer MUNEM WASIF began his career as a feature photographer in leading newspapers in Bangladesh. In 2oo7, he joined the Angkor Photo Workshops and was selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. In 2oo8, he received the F25 Prize from La Fabrica and the Young Reporter Award at the Visa pour l’Image festival. In addition to being selected as one of 3o emerging photographers by Photo District News, his work has been widely published and exhibited, and he now teaches at Pathshala South Asian Media Academy. www.munemwasif.com

2012 EXHIBITIONS

This year, 8th Angkor Photo Festival is proud to present ten exhibitions, held at indoor and outdoor locations all over Siem Reap. Curated by Programme Director Françoise Callier, this year’s line-‐up will take us from the north of Ethiopia to intimate spaces of Latin America; from watching fishermen on the beautiful beaches of Bali to scenes of life in India more than 4o years ago.

We’re also proud to present Andri Tambunan’s work on HIV/AIDS in Papua, an amazing project which won him the inaugural 2o11 Reminders Project Asian Photographers Grant.
This year also sees unique partnerships with two major international non-‐governmental organisations -‐ Greenpeace International and Médecins du Monde, highlighting the importance of photography for such organisations.