Home to the famous Angkor Wat temples, Cambodia is an obvious draw for those who love to travel, but especially so for those with a passion for image-making. Dating back twelve years, each December sees the small town of Siem Reap transform into a hub for all-things-photography as it plays host to the renowned Angkor Photo Festival, the longest-running photography event in Southeast Asia. Photography is an incredible tool for communication in the modern age, and so perhaps you won’t be surprised to hear that as part of the Festival there are a series of photography workshops for children in the local area (put on by our partners, Anjali House, no less). You might be a little more surprised by the announcement of a new photography workshop for children in Cambodia in collaboration with another international photo festival with a rich history, Les Rencontres d’Arles, some 10,000km in Provence, France.
Photographic Exchanges
Young photographers get to grips with their new toys
ATP’s own Régis Binard has been leading children’s photography workshops since 2013 through An Eye For An Eye, an NGO establishing long-term photographic exchanges between groups of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in a range of countries including Cambodia, Bolivia, India, China, Greenland, South Africa and France. Régis is responsible for the mentoring the group of children here in Cambodia, studying at Phnom Penh-based NGO, Pour un Sourire d’Enfant. The project goal is to introduce photography to the children as a means of communicating through imagery; while they won’t speak the same language or have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with the participants in other countries, the communicative medium of photography transcends these limitations.
A New Photography Workshop for Children in Cambodia
Regis’ success as a mentor has led to an exciting new opportunity: joining Des Clics et Des Classes, a pilot project led by An Eye for An Eye in association with the French Ministry of Education. On October 18th, he’ll get to meet with 17 new students from the French School here in Siem Reap, and is excited to share his passion and knowledge about photography with these young minds!
Régis teaching the kids that it’s all about the frame!
… from Angkor to Arles
The Cambodian youngsters, under Régis’ guidance, will learn all about the art of photography throughout the school year in readiness to exhibit their best images during Le Rencontres d’Arles Festival next summer. The exhibition isn’t competitive in nature, and it’s an open theme – it’s really all about the pleasure of learning a new art. Other mentors in South Africa, Bolivia and France will also exhibit their youngsters’ best work. If you find yourself in France next summer, be sure to check it out!
A young Cambodian with his printed photographs
We encourage you to pay a visit to An Eye for An Eye’s website for more information on their photography exchanges.