2013 Day-by-Day [9th Edition Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops

9th Angkor Photo Festival Day 1 / Nov 23 / Opening Night / FCC Angkor Curated by Francoise Callier

The Phnom Penh Post Photographers: Heng Chivoan Cambodia / Hong Menea Cambodia / Vireak Mai Cambodia / Sreng Meng Srun Cambodia / PHA LINA Cambodia Funeral of King Father Norodom Sihanouk Cambodia www.phnompenhpost.com

Zann Huang Huizhen Remember Shatila Singapore www.eyeofzann.com Shatila Camp – is emblematic of the suffering and repression of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Given an allocated area of just 1 km sq, camp residents can only expand vertically. Structures are shoddily built and unstable and there are frequent power cuts and water shortages. Over the years, Shatila’s population ballooned to 20’000 and its demographics evolved drastically with the huge influx of Syrian refugees and migrant workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Ethiopia looking for cheap rents. Palestinians are thus further marginalized within their own spaces. This personal project is a documentation and testament to the indomitable spirit of Shatila as its residents try to cope with the harsh living conditions.

Dina Oganova I Am Georgia Georgia www.dikarka.ge Georgia, the small country on the border of Europe and Asia, is Dina’s favourite place to shoot. Not because she was born there, but because, “everything is special and has to be felt”. The photographic journey started in 2007, but is not likely to finish soon. Dina’s Georgia is inexhaustible.

Nguon Huynh Nguyen En Suspension Vietnam Saigon, district of Cholon. In the edge of the New Year, young and old people of a social housing, wait, pray, discuss, play, celebrate. Despite of the announcement that these buildings are going to be destroyed in a near future, replaced by some new constructions, people continue to live their everyday life with flags hung on windows to welcome a future more than uncertain. For the photographer, a Vietnamese, born in Cambodia, and raised in France, it is a discovery of her country of origin, as well as a future loss.

Alejandro Cartagena The Car Poolers

Mexico www.alejandrocartagena.com A series visualizing the consequences of unplanned urban and suburban development in the city of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Since 2006, over 400’000 houses have been built where public transport is lacking. Workers have no choice but to put themselves at risk every day in order to seek work in wealthier suburbs.

Carole Al Farah After the Bombing Syria www.carolealfarah.com Damascus, Syria, 2012. The lives of civilians are under attack, residents all over Syria have to fear bombs exploding in their neighbourhoods every day. Thousands have lost their lives, others have managed to escape. A suicide bomb going off very close to Carole’s home made her starting photographing and interviewing people who survive the bombings. Their stories are different, their fears remain the same.

Serge Sibert / Cosmos Mongolia: The New Emirate of the Steppes France Mongolia is a country that can be compared to a vault. In the last decade it has been discovering its underground wealth, that has been long hidden by the Soviet occupiers.

That means tons of coal, great amounts of copper, iron, uranium, zinc, nickel, gold, silver, as well as rare earth minerals that are essential for the electronics industry. This jackpot, already being exploited on some sites, is turning this country of steppes up-side-down.

Ulan Bator, the capital city, is being invaded by modern glass buildings while the “new Mongolian” middle class buys Western symbols of wealth without restraint. The new temples are called Vuitton, BMW and Maserati.

Sumon Yusuf The Tale of a River Bangladesh www.yusufimages.com Ancient civilization in Bangladesh was surrounded by many rivers. To Sumon, rivers teach us openness, solidarity, romanticism and moreover spirit to live. Padma is the second largest river of Bangladesh and Hindu Mythology says the river is cited as byname for the Goddess Laxmi. The bed of the Padma used to be wide, but is getting narrow and dry due to rerouting of its natural path and climate change.

Andrew Esiebo / Black Box Collective of Nigeria Pride Nigeria www.andrewesiebo.com Andrew’s project looks at the relationship of hairstyles and individual and collective identities, highlighting the social impact of hair in the African society. It captures spaces, iconographies and symbols that create an intimate-public convergence of people from all walks of life.

Orlando Garcia Cuba Cuba Fatemeh Behboudi Life after Earthquake Iran viiphoto.ning.com/profile/fatimabehboudi?xg_source=activity Two 6-magnitude earthquakes hit the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan in August last year. Hundreds of rural villages were damaged or destroyed and many lost their lives as immediate life support was lacking. In the month following the earthquakes, over 2000 tremors caused deep panic amongst the population. Despite relief efforts, a large number of people immigrated to the cities, still waiting for their homes to be reconstructed.

Taslima Akhter Life and Struggle of Garment Workers Bangladesh www.taslimaakhter.com With a dream of living a better life millions of workers from villages gather in workers barracks in cities. Workers toil from dawn to dusk for a minimum wage of less than 37 US$ a month, of which they are unable to live off. They don’t ask for luxury, but deserve a life in dignity, without the daily struggle and major safety risks. Many factory buildings don’t meet the most basic safety standards, too many lives and dreams end under rubble or in a fire. In very recent history, a fire in Tazreen factory, followed by the collapse of Rana Plaza factory, claimed over thousand lives. This is portray of the life and struggle and contrast between the dream and reality of the, predominantly female, garment workers in Bangladesh.

Sheila Zhao Work in Progress USA www.sheila-zhao.com “Work In Progress” is a series of photographs that Sheila has been taking since 2011. What began as a way to explore black and white film photography, has now become a cathartic experience to explore and interpret the world around her. Whether in an urban metropolis or in the rural countryside, all the photographs in this series have been taken in various locations around China, the country where she was born in and has lived for the past eight years. She plans on continuing to photograph and develop this series for the foreseeable future.

Altaf Qadri / AP School for Less Fortunate India www.altafqadri.com Rajesh Kumar Sharma, a father of three, started teaching children of a nearby slum a year ago under a rail bridge. A former school drop-out himself, he pursues parents to let their children study and prepares them to enter government schools. Millions of foreign aid money flowing to India is directed at education and health, but little seems to reach the beneficiaries. The British government has recently frozen their 2015 aid package due to non-transparency.

Edwin Koo / Cosmos

We Would Be Heroes Singapore www.edwinkoo.com In the remote hilltops of Nepal, thousands of former Maoist fighters of the 1996- 2006 civil war, lie in wait of an uncertain future. These men and women spent their youth fighting a war that wasn’t theirs. Their former leaders have joined mainstream politics in the meantime, while they continue to be placed under a virtual house arrest in their camps.

When they fought the war, they thought they would be heroes. Some still do. This is their story.

Paul Zhang / Southern Weekly The Last Public Bathhouse in Beijing China The Shuangxing Tang Bathhouse is the last remaining public bathhouse in Beijing and faces demolition as the area undergoes development. Opened in 1916, the bathhouse provides its patrons with a culture that is dying out, offering traditional treatments and massages it stands as a relic of the old Beijing, but with ever-decreasing water resources its future remains uncertain.

Frank Herfort IMPERIAL POMP – Post Soviet High Rise Germany www.frankherfort.de In a photographic journey all over Russia over several years, Frank explored the ideas of architectural photography and skyscrapers built quickly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Longing for greatness, these buildings appear bizarre, pompous and exotic compare. Amidst Russian residential building and faded idylls they pose questions of raised enigmas.

Lung Liu Bulletproof Canada www.lungliu.com This is the story of Carol, aka Bulletproof, the name given to her after surviving a gunshot wound to the head. Coming from a troubled home, she suffered to a string of abusive relationships that culminated in the murder of her son and two murder attempts at herself.

After meeting her current husband, who has a history of domestic violence also, she vowed to never be a victim again. Made possible by her strength of will, they have lived the last several years together peacefully.

Kim Jaesong The Return South Korea www.kimjaesong.com After living apart for 30 years, Junkyo Lee returned to his hometown to take care of his ageing mother. He took care of her like she did for him until her recent passing away. He has been a truthful father and husband to his own family, as well as a prominent newspaper journalist, but, at the same time, he has not been a desirable succeeding son of the traditional Lee family.

Raed Bawayah

The Cracking of the Skin Palestine www.raedbawayah.com Chouara is the name of a tannery located in the centre of Fez medina where 80 tanners work every day without any breaks for 8-10 wages. For generations, the pigments to dye the skins were natural products, but now, the chemicals used affect the workers’ health and the leather workers suffer from skin infections. The heat and the stench are so overwhelming that tour guides hand out a mint leaf to visitors. It would be an understatement to say that the working conditions are inhuman, especially when taking into consideration the many children who work there.

Sim Chi Yin / VII Mentor Program Beijing’s “Rat Tribe” Singapore www.chiyinsim.com Faced with sky-high property prices, living underground is often the only option for Beijing’s low-waged migrant workers like Jian Ying. Like millions of others, she left the country with dreams of making it big in the capital. Day is night and night is day in the window-less world she inhabits three floors below ground.

James Chance Living with the Dead UK www.jameschance.com The final resting place of many of the cities Catholics, Manila’s North Cemetery is also home to a living community of more than 2,000 people. In a country where poverty and overpopulation is reaching desperate proportions, the cemetery provides a unique residence for the hundreds of families. Yet this is still a fully functioning cemetery, with up to 80 funerals taking place each day. This project aims to reflect the resiliency of people who lack stable housing and community infrastructure within Manila and what it takes to live in this unique environment. It is an inspirational example of people making the best out of very little.

9th Angkor Photo Festival Day 2 / Nov 24 / Guest Curator: Shahidul Alam, Bangladesh www.shahidulalam.com

Taking Humour Seriously Being Playful with Photography: We sit up straight when being photographed. Make sure our hair is looking right. In selecting ‘subjects’ for photography, my students choose from themes ranging from ‘drug addiction’ ‘prostitution’ or ‘child labor’. The more adventurous ones go to war zones. Photography is a serious business. What we photograph are ‘matters of consequence’. We might collectively put up V signs, or smile when being photographed. Even our frivolity is guided by norms of conduct.

In our justified attempts to be taken seriously, we place barriers upon our craft that seriously limit our ability to explore the social space. Once the photography is over, both photographer and subject can get back to being normal. Our imperfect world with all its unpredictability, its serendipity, its quirks and most importantly its humour surrounds us again. We breathe. We let go. We live.

There is another more ‘serious’ aspect to this behavior. Humour, satire and irony are wonderful instruments to not only express mirth, but also to critique, dissect and tease out subtleties of human emotion. Its playfulness allows a proximity that is difficult to achieve otherwise. Being less ‘serious’ it is capable of making statements far more provocative than would be tolerated in conventional spaces. It puts us off guard making us more receptive. Being ‘fun’ gives it a license that can be both powerful and effective. Like the child talking about the emperor’s clothes, the obvious but unstated can be tabled, where otherwise one might stay silent. ‘It was only in jest’, finds cracks in our armory that heavier weaponry would find impenetrable.

In the end it makes us laugh, reflect, perhaps ponder. A worthwhile act in itself.

Featured artists include: Martin Parr, Joan Fontcuberta, Ian Banning and other less known and some completely unknown names.

Shahidul Alam

9th Angkor Photo Festival Day 3 / Nov 25 / FCC Angkor Curated by Francoise Callier

Jean-François Mutzig / Biosphoto Of Elephants and Men France www.jeanfrancoismutzig.com Asian elephants are going through a tough time. The rapid growth of the human population nibbles away at their habitat. It’s increasingly difficult for them to survive in the wild and encounters humans are often violent. When used as a working animal, it can no longer compete with industrial machines. For more than six months, Jean-François Mutzig followed the trail of elephants and their mahouts in countries where the Asian elephant still survives. He bears witness to their current situation in this heartfelt report.

Forest Fires in Sumatra / Greenpeace Ferina Natasya Aziz / Singapore www.Ferinatasya.com Ulet Ifansasti / Indonesia The aim of these shots is to link deforestation to the haze and air pollution that has plagued the region. To bear witness and communicate the urgency and how widespread the effects are by building an emotional connection to the issue through human impact stories. The narrative we tell must be empowering rather than victimising the local communities: putting a face to those affected and telling the story beyond the news headlines (ie showing how the fires have affected Indonesian, as much if not more than Singapore).

Thousands of peat land fires in Riau, Sumatra have caused record-breaking air pollution in Singapore and Malaysia, with the haze extending as far as Thailand. Decades of forest destruction and drainage of peat land by the pulp and palm oil sector have created the conditions for these fires.

Gali Tibbon Grabarka - The Forest of Thousands of Crosses Israel www.galitibbon.com Every year for the past 300 years, Polish pilgrims from all over the predominantly Catholic country gather on the sacred Hill of Thousands of Crosses. Not just as an act of religious devotion but as a celebration of cultural identity. Atmosphere of mystery engulfs the place as the faithful leave their wooden crosses behind every year, adding to the forest of crosses.

SIPA Press Protests in Egypt www.sipa.com Since the Egyptian Revolution 2011 several waves of unrest further destabilized the countries’ society and economy.

On the first anniversary of president Mohammed Morsi’s election on 30 June 2013, tens of thousands of Morsi opponents massed in Tahrir Square, outside the main presidential palace across the country demanding his resignation.

On the night of 3 July, the Egyptian Armed Forces announced the end Morsi's presidency, followed by a crack-down on public media. This triggered large demonstrations from Morsi supporters, which were brutally responded to, killing hundreds of demonstrators.

Nonetheless, protests have continued to date, and are also taking place around the trial against Mohammed Morsi.

Benoit Gysembergh / Paris Match Jail's Mascot Jail’s Mascot takes us back to the Cambodia of 1996. A young mother ends up in prison after killing her husband. Her young son, nicknamed jail’s mascot, pays his mother daily visits. Benoit re-visited Cambodia 5 years ago, trying to find the mother and the boy in the photos, but he run out of time and wasn’t successful. Benoit was a very established Paris Match photographer. He passed away earlier this year. This is his story of a mother and her son, one that remained close to his heart over all those years.

Rasel Chowdhury / Most Artists Life on Water Bangladesh www.raselchowdhury.com A series taken in Kurigram District, Bangladesh, in 2012. Torrential rain caused flooding, flash floods and landslides in a large part of the country. Water level of rivers were flowing half a meter over danger level. Millions were affected by the floods, many lost their existence. Government and aid organisations are helping out.

Norihisa Hosaka Sakura Japan www.hosakanorihisa.com Experiencing the earthquake and the nuclear disaster of Fukushima was a big shock to Norihisa, who decided to stay in Tokyo, despite mixed feelings. Two years after, on a spring day he admired the Cherry blossoms in full bloom. A very beautiful moment, as if it was Tokyo’s way of forgiving us. This is the “Sakura” series.

Gianmarco Maraviglia / Echo Photo Agency Global Religion Italy www.echophotoagency.com A series exploring the globalization of religion, where God, or the Gods, are everywhere and in everything. Migration leads to merging of new cultures and alien traditions. People stick to their rituals and beliefs from their backgrounds. New cults and ceremonies, coming from diverse geographical cultural perspectives, appear in Europe. Meanwhile, a growing number of Europeans is curious to explore these new boundaries, with a possible hope of what they imagined God and religion to be.

Sayed Asif Mahmud Tobacco Tales Bangladesh www.sayedasifmahmud.com Tobacco Tale depicts the cycle of destruction, a bizarre reality of the tobacco industry in Bangladesh—documentation of disposing people to unfortunate death and decay. People

get dehumanized to tools and the environment is stripped nude in the power play between man and money.

Hossein Fatemi / Panos To Be a Woman in Afghanistan Iran www.hosseinfatemi.com The coming into power of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the late 90’s had deprived women of their basic human rights. A generation of disillusioned women suffered from stress and fear of constantly being under tight scrutiny. What followed was widespread depression, mental health problems and family breakups. Today, women's lives remain precarious in many parts of the country, but home-grown and foreign inspired programmes have led women to play an active role in the country's civic life again.

Agence France Presse 2013 Retroperspective Asia Sankar Sarkar / Drik India / Majority World Facing One’s Own India After his birth, Sankar’s mother was trafficked into the sex trade. Later in his life, together with his grandmother, he went to Kolkata to find her. What followed was a very alienating reunion for both of them. He realized the fragile relationship can overcome the estrangement and grow stronger the more photographs he takes, but was made harder by the fact he is not an outsider. This is an intimate photo story reflecting the dialogue of a son and his mother, breaking the stigma and taboo.

John Vink / Magnum Photos 3 Rivers Dams Belgium johnvink.com The fast growing economy of Cambodia needs energy to be sustainable. The North-East of the country was rather hastily targeted for a series of poorly studied and controversial dams on Mekong tributaries. The constructions will threaten the lifelines of millions, but furthermore accelerate deforestation and disrupted fish migration patterns, on which the majority of Cambodians depend on as a livelihood.

Harald Arnold European Bike Week Austria www.haraldarnold.com The European Bike Week in Faak am See, is the biggest motorcycle event in Europe. Every September, 70’000 bikers gather in this Southern Austrian town. This series, taken over the past 3 years, focusses on the wildest ones.

Corentin Fohlen / Divergence Dadaab France www.corentinfohlen.com

The refugee camps of Dadaab, Kenya, were set up at the beginning of the 90’s for refugees fleeing the civil war in Somalia. The camp is run by the UNHCR, the World Food Program supplies the food. Deemed as the biggest refugee camp in the world, it has seen a considerable population increase due to the food crisis in the Horn of Africa. End of 2012, the population estimate lay at 500’000 inhabitants.

Binh Dang Small Things Vietnam bingdangme.tumblr.com An intimate series taking us into a home outside of Hanoi. Under this roof, agent orange sufferers find the care and shelter which their families deny them. The resident’s hearts beat in unison for the hope of love and being loved. The deep ties between them (and to the photographer…) have inspired the photographer to immerge deeper into their world.

Marylise Vigneau Little Stories from Phnom Penh France www.marylisevigneau.com Reality might be witty, inventive or mischievous despite a derelict or tragic background.

This is particularly true in Phnom Penh where different levels of reality get blended into each other. These little stories of Phnom Penh are a play between fondness and irony, grace and kitsch, the inner and the strange.

Arthur Bondar The Holy War Ukraine www.arthurbondar.com Every year, thousands of Jewish pilgrims come to the holy site of Breslov, Ukraine, to celebrate New Year. They pray and cleanse of sin. At the same time, their children play in the streets with an armoury of toy guns and rifles. The photographer seeks to express his struggle to understand how the Israel-Palestine peace process can move any forward when they youngest ones are handed guns to play with.

Pascal Maitre / Cosmos The Silk Highway France www.pascalmaitre.fr Europe, China and countries from Central Asia are committed to the construction of a major new commercial route that will link the Black Sea to the Yellow Sea. It follows the path of the ancient Silk Road, the legendary caravan trail on which spices and precious cloth were transported. This road monopolized the East-West trade for centuries before being supplanted by sea trade. Its rebirth could lead to a reshuffle of cards at a time when economic globalization favours the East. Several sections have already been transformed into highways. The driving force is China, the goal is to make Central Asia less isolated and to increase the exchanges between East and West.

9thAngkor Photo Festival Day 4 / Nov 26 / FCC Angkor Guest Curator: Jean-François Leroy

Stephan Vanfleteren / Panos Pictures Belgicum Belgiumstephanvanfleteren.com/fr Stephan Vanfleteren has spent many years photographing the villages, bars, derelict factories, misty landscapes, boarded up shops andcolourful individuals that make Belgium such a diverse and fascinating corner of Europe. Hedescribes “Belgicum”as follows: “Belgicum is a photographic project on the uniqueness that is Belgium. Not an objective reflectionof a country but a subjective, black-and-white photographic document seen through my dark eyes.A voyage of discovery through a small country around the turn of thecentury. Not the colourful pictures of tourist attractions or folklore, but aself-willed, recalcitrant and nostalgic picture.”

Mohammad Golchin Schools in Rural Iran Iran Iran's population reached 70 million in 2006, with more than two-thirds under the age of 30.

Education in Iran is highly centralized. The Ministry of Education is in charge of educational planning, financing, administration, curriculum, and textbook development.Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the educational system of the country has been subject to many changes. This education profile provides an overview of the Iranian education system and a critical assessment of its strengths and weaknesses, based on an in-depth analysis of its structure.

Paolo Pellegrin / Magnum Photos for National Geographic Magazine The Tunnels of Gaza Italy www.magnumphotos.com The tunnels of Gaza are a lifeline of the underground economy but also a death trap. For many Palestinians, they have come to symbolize ingenuity and the dream of mobility.The tunnels date to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Part of the agreement split the city of Rafah — half of it went to Egypt, and half went to Gaza, which was under Israeli control at the time. Since then, the tunnel are the enclave's main supply line. For many Gazans the tunnels are a lifeline and a source of hope. Yet from an Israeli perspective, they are Hamas' main source of weapons and supplies. Building and maintaining the tunnels is tough, dangerous work. The passages are narrow and oppressively hot. Cave-ins causing injury or death are common. Everything from building materials and food to medicine and clothing, from fuel and computers to livestock and cars comes trough the tunnels. Some Gazans go to the Egyptian side of Rafah for medical treatment. Some use the tunnels to escape, others to have a good time for a night. Rumours say there are even VIP tunnels for wealthy travelers, with air-conditioning and cell phone reception. Today Gaza’s underground economy accounts for two-thirds of consumer goods, and the tunnels are so common that Rafah features them in official brochures.

Eric Bouvet Burning Man Festival Francewww.ericbouvet.com 2011 was a complicated year for Eric, so he decided to take a break and to stop covering conflicts for a while. He eventually found himself at the wild wonder of “Burning Man”, an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self-expression and selfreliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. Even though a sandstorm didn’t ease for three days, something crazy was happening anywhere, anytime. Nighttime was out of this world, with mutant vehicles turning their lights on. It was fairyland gone wild, with the burning of the “Man” as undisputed highlight of the week.

Sara Lewkowicz / Reportage by Getty Images Shane and Maggie: A Portrait of Domestic Violence USA saranaomiphoto.com Shane and Maggie met over a year ago. They began dating after Shane was released from his most recent stint in prison. Even though he began exhibiting controlling behaviour early in the relationship, Maggie felt that she could helphim overcome his personal demons and addictions. However, one night, their relationship exploded in violence, which left Maggie with marks on her neck and Shane in jail.The photographer has been reconstructing the relationship from its beginning, through the episode of abuse to Maggie’s current life in Alaska, where she has been trying to reconcile with the father of her children. With this work, Sara wanted to examine the larger patterns of behaviour that allow abuse to occur, from the grooming of and breaking down of the victim over time.

Sylvain Leser / HaythamPictures Les Autres Francewww.sylvainleser.com/ Since 2009, Sylvain has gone in search of the homeless, trying to bring light to their urban misery in Paris after he had noticed that his own country had been starting to change.Hundreds of men and women sleeped on the ground, wandered around like ghosts onembankments, sidewalks, city heating vents, in train stations, tunnels, the woods andin any other hole where one can hide in order to survive.He, thus allowedhimself to name the subject: “Merde in France,” an expression that he uttered as bothan exclamation and a question.After three years of nocturnal ramblings, henow delivers a partial series of portraits taken in this context.

Russell Frederick Veiled Beauty USA www.russellfrederick.com Russell Frederick has been photographing the community of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, his former home, for 14 years. The project is a reflection of a historically black community that has been undergoing a change. Some might say it’s progress, others it’s economics.

The once affordable, culturally diverse neighbourhood had been facing a seismic shift.

Welcoming upgrades with greater police presence, newly paved streets and several cafes were accompanied by an unstable economy, 18% unemployment in the black community

and cost of living expenses going up. As a consequence, the percentage of its black and brown residents is noticeably decreasing. The photographs are a record of the "Dying Breed."

David Guttenfelder / Associated Press North KOREA USA davidguttenfelder.com David has worked on reports in countries where photographers were legion. However, he was mostly alone when he was in North Korea. He gave himself a responsibility: if he does not take this photograph, who else will do it? For decades, the only photographs from that country were the ones released for propaganda purposes. As a result, most people thought of North Korea as a cardboard theatre dÊcor. That’s the way he perceived it when he first visited the country in 2000. After Associated Press opened an office in Pyongyang, he went back twenty-five times, taking thousands of unauthorised photographs. He could not go to the places he wanted to, could not take photographs of nuclear reactors and prisoner camps, but his work is not censored. A lot of stratagems are used, but the people are real.

He finally had the chance to see the North Koreans as ordinary people and not only as mere actors on the geopolitics stage. His wish is that people who see his photographs will share the same experience.

Gratiane de Moustier Dreamseekers Francewww.gratianedemoustier.com Every month, tens of thousands of Indonesian women are sent to Asia and Saudi Arabia to work as domestic helpers. Coming from poor villages and belonging to the poorest social class in Indonesia, theyoung girls dream of better lives and unknowingly become pawns in the modern machine of human trafficking.

They learn domestic skills in training centres, which are solely built to make profit out the girls, before they embark into their uncertain future. Many end up in inhumane work environments and are subject to exploitation and abuse..They may come back to their communities as heroes, but at what price?

FaustoPodavini Mirella Italyfaustopodavini.eu/home.html The project aimsto raise awareness about Alzheimer worldwide.According to the World Alzheimer report 2010,there are more than 35 million people living with dementia, with numbers doubling every 20 years. Fausto’s work seeks to wake up consciences, let people understand that Alzheimer can become part of everybody's life.Mirella is the love story of a woman and her husband, who suffers from Alzheimer. What could be more dolorous than not to be recognized anymore by the person loved, the life partner? Over time she became the caregiver of her life partner, always looking forward with love, strength and devotion.

Even though not recognized by him anymore, she never abandoned him; not to a hospital, not to external care, until his last day, when he died in the house where they spent their whole life together.

Marc Shoul

Brakpan-Dusk South Africa www.marcshoul.com Brakpan is a goldand uraniummining town, located in the Gautengprovince ofSouth Africa.

The town was founded in the late 1800s following the discovery of coal and then became South Africa’s premier coal-producing pit. Brakpan has also been marked by key political events: From the 1930s, city officials began pioneering race-based segregationist policies that were later employed on a national scale during the Apartheid era.While these policies have since been overtaken by the post-Apartheid ethosof the 'Rainbow Nation' some elements of division still remain. Economically, Brakpan is a settlement of diminishing fortunes.

Yunghi Kim / Contact Press Images Comfort Women South Korea www.yunghikim.com In two adjacent basement apartments in Seoul, South Korea, four grandmothers in their 60s and 70s live together as a family. For fifty years, they have kept their secret to themselves, too ashamed to tell the world and too afraid of discrimination.

They were peasant teen girls, who were promised laundry and cooking jobs for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. However, when they arrived at their destinations, they found themselves forced to be sex slaves at “comfort stations” in the front lines throughout Asia. They were forced to provide 30 to 40 sexual services a day to Japanese soldiers. Considered as “War Supplies” an estimated 200,000 of these women mostly Korean and Chinese - were abducted or lured into this savaged sorority.

9th Angkor Photo Festival Day 5 / Nov 27 / FCC Angkor Curated by Francoise Callier

Andrea Star Reese Disorder USA andreastarreese.photoshelter.com A series taken in Indonesia over the course of nearly 2 years and brought along many visit to homes, shelters, schools and hospital. Mental illness is a disease than can be treated, but the majority of the people found were not receiving appropriate medication and had not seen a psychiatrist. The Indonesian Government admits the goal of Pasung (shackling), which was banned in 1977, but is still widespread and the traditional response to mental disturbance. Shamans and traditional healers remain the popular choice of mental health care. The country’s leading Mental Health Care Professionals are beginning to acknowledge the cultural need for traditional and faith based healers.

Nozomi Iijima Scoffing Pig Japan iijimanozomi.com Growing up as a farmer’s daughter, Nozomi’s home was sandwiched between a pig pen and a farmhouse. One day, she was deeply affected by a comment of a classmate, who felt sorry for the pigs caged in pens. Nozomi, who is not a vegetarian, realized that she felt the same way, leaving her in a paradox situation. She often wonders what it would be like if these animals lived their natural course of life.

Kosuke Okahara Fragments/Fukushima Japan www.kosukeokahara.com Two and a half years have passed since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant exploded.

After just 6 months, media coverage faded and there were less and less people talking about the disaster, especially in Tokyo, where Kosuke lives. Today, the nuclear plants are still in critical condition and people in Fukushima continue to be affected by the disaster.

There is a big issue with contaminated water leaking into the Pacific Ocean and contradicting statements of policiticans about whether the contaminated water is contained have been made. Kosuke has been visiting the region almost monthly, only to witness how things are not changing.

Ruom Collective Inside the 969 Movement Cambodia www.ruom.net Thomas Cristofoletti, Italy / Nicolas Axelrod, Australia In the Burmese streets, stickers sporting the numbers “969” are flourishing on moto-taxis, shop windows, betel nut cart. Those three ominous figures are the symbol of a fast-rising Buddhist pride movement, presenting itself as a return to Buddhist roots and the teachings

of the Lord. But, in the new Myanmar, 969 is actually a vehicle of anti-Muslim hatred and Buddhist brainwashing. By depicting a Myanmar on the verge of an islamist invasion, the 969 movement is creating a framework for the wave of islamophobic violence that has swept through Myanmar in the last months. Many see, behind 969 and the religious riots, the hand of hardliners of the army trying to endanger the fragile change Myanmar is going through as the country stumbles towards democracy.

Per-Anders Pettersson / Cosmos SOWETO: The Heartbeat of South Africa Sweden www.peranderspettersson.com Soweto once was established as a settlement outside of Johannesburg, for those working in the gold mines. The growth of the township later was accelerated by the increasing eviction of Africans by city and state authorities under the Apartheid regime and it has become infamous for the political violence during the Apartheid struggle. Many of the key players at the time operated out of Soweto. Today, Soweto is seen by many as a model of hope for the new South Africa. It is no longer a place of doom and gloom but a place of hope. It has its problems with high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime, but the positive developments are beginning to filter through.

Moises Saman / Magnum Photos Nowhere People Spain/USA www.moisessaman.com A series that started with the first wave of Syrian refugees in early 2012. Since then more than 1.5 million Syrians have fled their homeland, seeking shelter wherever they can find it.

As the war drags on, some of these camps are taking on the shapes of more permanent settlements. Cement structures are slowly replacing cardboard and plastic tents. Refugees, too, become hardened with time, and their initial openness to share their experiences with a visiting stranger turn to silence, anger and frustration.

Natela Grigalashvili A Georgian Village Georgia www.natelagrigalashvili.ge Natela has worked on this project for several years. It is about documenting changes that happened in the last two decades. Wars and social challenges have worsened rural people’s life. These people, at Soviet times, lived economically better than now. Today, villages are deserted; people were forced to migrate to the big cities or abroad in search for jobs. These days, only old people and children.

Giulio Piscitelli / Contrasto From There to Here Italy www.giuliopiscitelli.viewbook.com Centres for identification and expulsion (CIE) of illegal immigrants are used in the European Union since 1995. They serve as administrative detention centres and “waiting rooms� for those that are going to be deported, and also for those that cannot be due to international laws. The centres, that are officially not prisons, house a mix of ex-convicts, drug addicts, victims of trafficking, asylum seekers and migrants who lost their jobs and were unable to

extend their residency permits. This series is part of a more extensive project about immigration in the Mediterranean area.

Angelo Merendino My Wife’s Fight with Breast Cancer USA www.mywifesfightwithbreastcancer.com Only months after their wedding, Angelo’s wife, Jennifer, was diagnosed with breast cancer. In need of support and understanding from their families and friends, he began to photograph their challenging day-to-day life. Sadly, she lost the long battle against cancer shortly after their fourth wedding anniversary. Angelos’s hope is that when viewing these photographs people will see love and not loss, life and not death.

Steeve Iuncker / Agence VU Coldest City in the World – Yakutsk Switzerland www.iuncker.ch Yakutsk, a remote city in Eastern Siberia is the coldest city in the world. Despite particularly harsh conditions of life, it counts a population of 270 000 and is an important center for diamond extractions and other trade branches. The city is mostly engulfed in an oppressive blanket of freezing fog that restricts visibility to 10 meters. No other place on the planet knows a difference in temperature from -40°C in winter and over 30°C in summer.

Kuni Takahashi Endless Misery Japan www.kunitakahashi.com Kuni has been documenting the life of the same group of street children in Kathmandu, Nepal, over the last three years. Many are abusing alcohol and drugs or suffer sexual abuse. The corrupt government hasn't been functioning for years and was unable to deliver on the promised jobs and welfare. These street children symbolize the country's dysfunction.

Yurko Dyachyshyn Carpathian Shepherds Ukraine www.dyachyshyn.com This is a story about the Gutsuls, the shepherd, living in the Ukrainian Carpathians and their everyday’s life, household and seasonal work in the Carpathian meadows. They ride herds high in the mountains producing cheese, just like their ancestors did for many generations.

Progress and globalization have reached the highest Carpathian peaks, changing their landscape, household and culture. Traditional sheep breeding is decaying and the livestock of the herds is now significantly less than before. Slopes, where once sheep and horses grazed on, turn into ski resorts. Piles of rotten logs are reminders of where shepherds used to live and make cheese.

Marco Gualazzini M23 - Kivu: A Region under Siege Italy www.marcogualazzini.com

A project about a Congolese military rebel group called M23, formed in 2012, which has taken control of the northern part of Kivu, a province in Congo. Their military strength allowed them to take control of north Kivu, and the provincial capital Goma, subjugating the local population. The region is under siege. There are over 700,000 refugees in the region.

Murder is the order of the day. The northern region of Kivu is descending into fratricidal conflict, with the Hutu set against the Tutsi once more.

Olivia Arthur / Magnum Photos Making Ground UK www.oliviaarthur.com Making Ground is a project about the rhythm of life and pace of change in two villages in Africa. Originally commissioned by Water Aid, Olivia traveled to Uganda and Tanzania to document life there two years running. Over the period of the year in between, some water projects had been installed, some changes had taken place and others had been stalled, but her intention was to capture the life of these villages themselves, not just the projects of the NGO that had been working there. Returning a second year gives a new perspective and the passage of time makes what was once a strange place seem familiar and welcoming. Olivia tried to capture the warmth that she felt from the people in these villages despite the hardships that they often face, as well as the influence that water – or lack of it – has on their lives.

Misha Friedman / Cosmos Photo51: Is Corruption in Russia's DNA? USA www.medvedia.com Like threads of DNA spiralling in ladder formation, Russia’s reliance on corruption for its basic functioning is both commonplace and breath taking. Starting this project, Misha did not want the aggressive expressions but just “Russia itself”, as he puts it. Most people don’t acknowledge this, but corruption has become its own institution, upon which all other institutions run. This series is about employing photography’s power to identify corruption’s warping effect on Russian society’s DNA. Kapil Das Abol Tabol India ab0ltab0l.tumblr.com Kapil likes to see his photographs as part of some puzzle of which he is yet to grasp the depth, meaning and relevance of. It’s a medium which provides for a sense of certainty and illusion at the same time. It is a way to express his equivocations, concealments, exaggerations and understatements.

Pierre Terdjman / Cosmos for Paris Match United we Were Strong France www.pierreterdjman.com The founding fathers of the State of Israel had a dream – the creation of a society united by its Judaism. Today that dream is being shattered. Throughout the suburbs and poor areas,

the Israeli nation, reputed for its economic dynamism, its propensity and it’s unity is showing its limits. Unemployment, violence, drugs and ethnic discrimination are weakening the unity of the society. The gap between rich and poor gets bigger and bigger, many are dependent on the help of NGO’s and associations. How did the Israel of kibbutzes with its founding fathers defending socialist Zionist ideals come to forget these men and women who, when united, were strong? Wondering about this, Pierre returned to the country he had lived in for 8 years previously.

Arko Datto La Vie des Autres India www.arkodatto.com Overrun by asylum seekers and wayfarers, the Paris of today is a city far removed from the romantic visions that we are acquainted with. Immigrants with dreams of better futures pour forth with each passing day. Voices of dissent run rife. Revolutions foment and governments topple in faraway lands. Compatriots in Paris join in. Voice their claims. Arko’s Paris is a city of the disenfranchised, the dispossessed and the outsiders that has been patiently biding for its time. And its time has now come.

Christian Werner / LAIF Depleted Uranium – The Silent Genocide Germany www.werner-photography.com A series looking at the underreported issue of “DU”, depleted uranium. Thousands of tons of uranium ammunition have been used in places like Iraq, Chechnya, Bosnia, Kosovo or the Indian-Pakistan border. Now, the wrecks and ruins are playgrounds for children. The population is exposed to the on-going radiation and has to pay for the consequences with long term health damage. The disastrous effects are now visible, but reports and surveys about the consequences are still missing.

SIPA Press Protests in Turkey www.sipa.com Since 2011 the economy upsurge has been slowing down. At the same time there have been increasing accusations against the government for driving an Islamic agenda and restricting on human rights.

The last straw for the protests was the brutal eviction of a sit-in at Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park against its development plan in May 2013. Subsequently, supporting protests and strikes with thousands of protestants took place across Turkey protesting a wide range of concerns, such as freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the government's encroachment on Turkey's secularism. With thousands of injuries and arrests the protests have been considered as the most significant nationwide disquiet for decades.

After a summer of anti-government protests, reforms have been announced, which are considered an important step towards more democratic rights.

Pablo Bartholomew Notes on the Chinese Indians India www.bartholomew.tv

While work took Pablo to Calcutta once, it was his dealing with his own sense of being of mixed origin that brought him to the South Calcutta neighborhoods, photographing amongst the Chinese community. By the end of 1978, when he had finished taking these photographs, nearly a decade and a half had passed since the Sino-Indian War. Amongst the communities, there was always someone’s relative or a friend who had migrated to Australia, Canada or the UK in search for a new lease of live. It was an escape from being constantly prejudiced. They managed to break out of their stereotypical roles of past generations that lived and worked as shoemakers, laundrymen and low-end restaurant owners.

Amirtharaj Stephen Koodankulam: In my Backyard India www.lightstalkers.org/amirtharaj_stephen A set on the uprising of a Southern Indian community against the Indo-Russian joint venture project of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant. The peaceful protests have repeatedly been subject to violence of government forces. Today, the debate is not only on nuclear energy, but also questions the pillars of the Indian democracy.

9th Angkor Photo Festival Day 6 / Nov 28 / Children’s Day / Shinta Mani Curated by Francoise Callier

Ronan Yver Animal Moods France ronan.fotoloo.fr As to my country walks, each animal left a piece of its character in these pictures, a catalogue of feelings and animal moods started to compile. Step by step, the eyes of these animals came to reflect their humanity. A human fresco, ridiculous and humorous, has been revealed by transparency. The fabulist would answer that in each pig, there's a man who is sleeping...

Emmanuel Osodi MAKOKO: The Floating Slum Nigeria www.emmanuelosodi.blogspot.com Makoko is a slum community located in Lagos, Nigeria. It has been established in the 18th century as a fishing village, constructed on stilts. The floating community is essentially selfgoverning with very limited government presence. In July 2012, Nigerian government officials destroyed dozens of residences after giving residents 72 hours prior notice of eviction. A photographic that takes you to the smells, the dirt and the efforts of people living in extreme conditions.

Yago Partal Zooportraits Spain www.yagopartal.com What started off as an advertising campaign using portraits by mixing the animal world with elements of fashion, “Zooportraits” soon came to life itself as a separate project.

Influenced since childhood by stories of wildlife, fashion and cartoons, he found his own voice in a game that many like to play: humanizing animals. The project, with no other pretentiousness than to have fun and set apart his work, tries to do something different and will be continued, as the subject still engages and motivates him.

Anirudh Agarwal Nysha and Her Sunbeam Talbot India www.anirudhagarwal.in This project was conceived in 2011 during my visit to a toy store with Anirudh’s 4-year old niece, Nysha. She was fascinated by the collection of old miniature cars, in particular, a beautiful vintage called the Sunbeam Talbot; so much that she wanted to take it out for a spin. So, with great help from the storeowner, they painted the back to its original red and borrowed it for a day to take pictures of Nysha and her car around the city. But after the first day’s experience, it was clear that it was just the beginning. Since then, they have been

taking Nysha and her car for a drive at many occasions. This on-going project is a visual account of some moments from the journey.

Toyokazu Nagano Magic Road Japan www.flickr.com/photos/toyokazu A series showing the photographers younger daughter’s portrait photographs, taken at the farm road in front of my house, are themed simply around the idea of how to make people laugh.

Many foreigners who saw this portrait series sent me messages saying "this is not just a farm road. This farm road is almost magical in that makes people smile and gives happiness." Since then, the title of this series is “Magic Road�. This series is an original work that I began to take pictures using creative inputs and elements (on an artistic and comical basis).

9th Angkor Photo Festival Day 7 / Nov 29 / FCC Angkor Curated by Francoise Callier

Carl De Keyzer / Magnum Moments Before the Flood Belgium www.carldekeyzer.com For “Moments Before the Flood”, Carl De Keyzer travelled around Europe for seven months, aiming only to capture landscapes and water. His images contain a certain uneasiness that could be interpreted as a sign of upcoming catastrophe: If some predictions come true, the world’s water level could rise 3–5 metres before 2100, which would have devastating effects on the European coastline. It’s also an attempt (possibly fictitious) to preserve the beauty of this coastline for the last time.

Abir Abdullah / EPA Rana Plaza Survivors Bangladesh www.abirphoto.com Arson and accidental fires are death traps for the working class communities of Dhaka.

Corrupt officials ignore building codes and allow unscrupulous businessmen to bypass fire protection standards. The most affected are the basti – slum dwellers and garment factory workers, but hazards exist for everyone. Factory fires and building collapses have killed 1900 garment workers since 2005. The deadliest disaster in the history of the industry occurred in April 2013, when Rana Plaza, a complex with five garment factories collapsed.

These victims life is a painful struggle; they pay a huge price for producing cheap, fashionable clothes.

Nicolas Righetti Transnistria - A Country that Does Not Exist Switzerland & Italy When the Soviet Union fell, the secessionist region of Transnistria refused to become part of Moldova. Transnistrians went to war in order to protect their language and ethnic identity, declaring victory in 1990. The self-proclaimed republic has its own constitution, flag, national anthem, army, currency, president and capital. Yet, the country has yet to be recognised by the international community. After the 2011 elections, Smirnov, the leader of 21 years lost power. The new president, Chevtchouk, believes that his country will be recognised in the future. Will the country that doesn't exist actually exist at last?

Ann-Christine Woehrl / Echo Photo Agency Witches in Exile Germany & France www.ann-christine-woehrl.com Today, approximately 5000 women in Ghana are being persecuted for witchcraft. Many of them are older widows, who are expelled and threatened by their communities, accused of causing illness, conflict and calamity. The series is about the daily life of those who found refuge in a “witch camp” and seeks to free them of a collective stigma and to restore their identity.

Philip Poupin / Cosmos Crystal Children France www.philippoupin.com They are between 7 and 18 years old, they help harvest opium crops in fields and are the mules who smuggle cocaine into Iran, if they have become addicted to the drug themselves. Even though the production of opium had slowed down during the Taliban regime in 2000 and 2001, anxious farmers have started growing opium again, despite their land being occupied by NATO countries. The number of drug addicts beats records every year and the younger generation is the most affected. They smoke cigarettes of pure heroin called “crystal�.

Samuel James / Cosmos The Water of My Land UK www.samueljames.com This work is a visual narrative of life in the oil-rich riverine communities of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, where the vast majority of the population has been excluded from the benefits of the multi-billion dollar oil industry that pumps directly from their land. Faced with limited options in an increasingly ravaged landscape, many people living within the creeks of the Niger Delta are risking everything, including the future of the river upon which their lives depend, to survive. Since 2008, Samuel has been exploring the ruthless contradictions that define the post-colonial petro-state that is Nigeria. This work builds upon this passage, and stands as an inquiry into our collective relationship to the environment and each other.

Vlad Sokhin / Agentur Focus / Cosmos RESTAVEKS: Child Slavery in Haiti Russia / Portugal www.vladsokhin.com In modern-day Haiti more than 300 000 children are victims of domestic slavery. In Haitian Creole such a child is called a "restavek," from the French "reste avec" meaning "stay with." Many parents living in poverty cannot afford to feed their children, so give them away to affluent families, hoping that they will have better living conditions and a proper education. But, with few exceptions, these children become slaves, working non-stop in the homes of their "masters". Many restaveks are not allowed to go to school and are exposed to domestic and sexual violence.

Vivek Singh Assam Aftermath India www.viveksinghphotography.com Kokrajhar in Western Assam, India is a pastoral idyll, but its tranquil beauty belies a long history of violence. After a long and fierce battle with the government, the Bodos, who make up a third of the population, won a self-governing area, the Bodoland. Their fear is that the presence of non-Bodo ethnic groups will harm their chances of getting a separate state. Last year, the tensions that had been festering between the Bodos and Bengalispeaking Muslims escalated into violence. People were killed and village after village turned into ash, thousands were tucked away into makeshift refugee camps. An eerie silence engulfed the place, shattered only by news of more violence. A harsh rain fell for days.

Oscar B. Castillo / Fractures Collective

Our War – Our Pain Venezuela www.eltestigo.net The sprawling spiral of violence that engulfs Venezuelan streets is not only considerably spreading throughout the territory but also getting alarmingly bloodier. In 2012 alone, 17’000 murder cases were registered. Oscar, who grew up amidst a situation of everincreasing violence knows that the statistics are not just some quantitative data but the reflection of a complex social, political and economic reality. A reality that this documentary photography project aims to portray through.

Meeri Koutaniemi / Echo Photo Agency Oasis Finland www.meeri.fi Homosexuality, transvestism and indigenous Mayan roots are reasons for discrimination in the conservative catholic Mexican society. Besides this, HIV is another taboo that is pushed inside closed doors of shelters. Oasis is a place where the HIV infected receive the medical care and shelter, which their family, the church and the state deny them. At the same time, Oasis is a place and state of mind where men are accepted as equal.

Maxim Dondyuk The Crimea Sich Ukraine www.maximdondyuk.com The Crimea Sich is a young Cossacks’ military-patriotic camp in the Ukraine. The camp is in a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains and forests. The idyll is deceptive however, as boys aged 7-16 are trained for combat. Orthodox religion and spiritual training plays in an important role in the camp in order to make them defenders of the motherland, as opposed to ordinary killers, as one of the officers put it.

Marie Dorigny Is This How Women Live?

France www.mariedorigny.com Seven years ago, after a decade of civil war, Nepal declared itself a monarchy. What followed was not positive change, life conditions have become particularly difficult for farmers and many are forced to migrate to Kathmandu, or India and the Gulf countries. The first victims are women and young girls, as domestic violence and sexual abuses are exploding due to misery and unemployment. Thousands are sent to Indian brothels or exploited by local prostitution rings. The distress of Nepalese women speaks a clear language: suicide is the first cause of mortality of women between the age of 15-50.

Zalmaï Timeless Havana Afghanistan & Switzerland www.zalmai.com Jongwoo Park The Forbidden Forest South Korea www.parkjongwoo.com Like smoke from a long-ago battlefield, fog drifts across the demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing South and North Korea. One of the most heavily guarded borders in the world, the

DMZ severed the country in two as part of a cease-fire agreement that ended fighting in 1953. Technically, however, North and South Korea are still at war. The 238 km long and 4 km wide border is peppered with landmines and bordered by barbed wire. Access is restricted, and military units from both countries patrol their respective sides. Yet despite the posturing and the insults hurled across this narrow strip of land, the DMZ has become a haven for wildlife and plants in the region. Species that have dwindled or disappeared in some parts of Asia have found refuge in the DMZ. Laurent Van der Stockt Chemical War in Damascus France At the end of February, the FSA took Jobar, an area close to the Abaseyeen square in Damascus. It is the most central area of the capital controlled by the rebellion, and also the most crucial frontline of the country. The army of the regime is encircling more and more “Al Ghuta”, the eastern suburbs of the town, and the rebels are fighting to death to keep the control of it. It is also where the regime is using chemical weapons. Samples are taken from there and brought to governments of France, Great Britain and United States so they cannot deny that they have proof of it.

Gaël Turine / Agence VU The fence of shame Belgium www.gaelturine.com Two decades ago, India built a separation wall along the Bangladeshi border, 3200 km long. Official reasons given are protection against infiltrations of Islamist terrorists and to stop Bangladeshi immigration It has become a dangerous and bloody border where crimes against the Bangladeshi victims trying to escape suffering or catastrophes in their country remains unpunished. Bangladeshi authorities, to maintain their crucial friendship with the big neighbour, tolerate the existence of this wall and cover up the events in the border areas.

Hashem Shakeri Unbreakable Iran www.lightstalkers.org/hashem-shakeri-2 Hashem’s grandmother’s life was full of sorrows and happiness. Despite much hardship and loss in her life, she never gave up hope. Now, aged 90, she has repeatedly suffered from strokes and lost the ability of reading, speaking and writing. Madi has created a language of her own in order to keep communicating with the family. With her positive energy and inspiration she teaches lessons of hope and life. This photographic story unfolds over a 5 year period.

Rebecca Martinez preTenders USA www.rebeccamartinez.com Who and what we fall in love with comes in many forms. Babies create strong emotions for the bear, holder and observer. This holds true even when it is known they are not real. This series documents a subculture of women who create, adopt, and love dolls that look as close as possible to living infants. This series is called pretenders as one pretends the dolls

are real, one tends to the babies and there are tender feelings involved.

Justin Maxon / Prospekt When the Spirit Moves USA www.justinmaxon.com The town of Chester in the US has a rich history, but the city experienced an industrial collapse and subsequent economic meltdown in the 60’s. Many residing in Chester now live in an environment of hardship. Justin has encountered tragedy, but equally moments of strength and beauty. The moments of light and progress are not forgotten under the overwhelming weight of violence and oppression.

9th Angkor Photo Festival Day 8 / Nov 30 / Closing Night / Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor Curated by Francoise Callier

Antoine Raab Khmer Boxers France www.antoineraab.com A portrait series of Kun Khmer Boxers, age 7 to 35, shot in Phnom Penh and Battambang in 2012. Photographed just after their fight, they gathered their remaining strength to pose. Antoine aimed to capture the moment when the tension of combat is still palpable and mixed with exhaustion.

Cuong Do Manh The Twins Vietnam www.flickr.com/photos/choacclub A series that started with a single visit 3 years ago and continued early this year.

With his first documentary, the photographer wishes to bring people nearer to the everyday life of albino twins in Vietnam.

Patrick Aventurier / Gamma Mlabris : 'The People from the Yellow Leaves' The Last Survivors France www.patrickaventurier.com In northern Thailand and Laos, the last hundred members of the Mlabri people fight for their existence. They are the last survivors from this nomadic tribe of huntergatherers who, for centuries if not millennia, have lived in harmony with nature. The 20th century has witnessed their downfall. Victims of armed conflicts, driven away from their natural environment by forest workers, tigers and slash-and-burn farming, subjugated by more sedentary neighbours, the number of Mlabris hasn’t stopped diminishing during the last decades. In a decade or so, the “People of the Yellow Leaves” as they call themselves will have disappeared. Settled, assimilated to the other people living in the region, their descendants will forget what their contemplative life in the forest once was.

Weixiang Lim Our Coastline Singapore weixiang.viewbook.com Singapore is a small island. For the 5 million people enclosed within its 193km of Coastline, the Coastline presents a limit of sorts, but it is also at this limit, where we look out and aspire for more and for better; where we search and perhaps, wait, for the resolution to our troubled hearts.

Kurt Vansteelant China-Express Belgium www.kurtvansteelant.be

Driven by fascination, Kurt visited China seven times recently. Despite his limited knowledge of the language, people greeting him warmly and opened their doors for him. A close and mutually trustily environment was essential for this series, as Kurt doesn’t seek to “steal� pictures with a wide angle lens, but wants to be as close as possible and have their permission for his work.

Mona Simon Caldarari: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow Germany www.monasimon.com Romania has the largest proportion of Gypsy people in the world. This project focuses on the Caldarari gypsies, who all share the same surname of Caldararu, which means tin or coppersmith and stands for their traditional trade. They live in a rigorous patriarchal society; property will always be inherited by sons, while daughters are married off at young age. School education does mean little, as the foundation of their culture is to be good in their traditional trade. Romania is a EU member, but many gypsy customs are outside of EU regulations, working on hundreds of years of tradition and ritual.