First launched in 2014, The Impact Project at Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops is a themed showcase presented during an evening of projections. The showcase aims to highlight individuals, groups, or small organisations who are making a positive impact on social or environmental issues.
2016 Programme
This year, the showcase includes work by photographers from around the world covering a wide range of subjects such as asylum, human rights, the protection of endangered species and the human impact on the environment.
© Eman Helal
In a unique collaboration, we will also be showing Magnum Foundation’s What Works project, which brings together nine photographers from across the globe to explore tolerance through rigorous and creative visual narratives.
Collectively, What Works addresses bridge-building amongst groups that might otherwise be in conflict, and is a collective project created by members of Magnum Foundation’s network of regional photographers who have received training through their Photography and Human Rights Programme.
We highlight the work of two of the 20 photographers whose work will be presented that night:
‘Washed Up’
© Alejandro Duran
Alejandro Durán from Mexico transforms international debris washing up on Mexico’s Caribbean coast into aesthetic yet disquieting works through his environmental installation and photography project, Washed Up. Durán has identified plastic waste from fifty-three nations and territories on six continents that have washed ashore along the coast of Sian Ka’an, Mexico’s largest federally protected reserve and an UNESCO World Heritage site. He uses this debris to create colour-based, site-specific sculptures that conflate the hand of man and nature. More than creating a surreal or fantastical landscape, these installations mirror the reality of our current environmental predicament.
© Alice Sassu
‘Being Kothi’
Italian photographer Alice Sassu’s Being Kothi project highlights the problems faced by those in Calcutta who identify as Kothis, focusing on the story of one Kothi, Raina. A Kothi is identified as a male at birth, but identifies with female concepts and ranges from feminine males to transgender women. Most Kothis seek to live a normal life within Indian society, but for many it is hard. Finding a job is difficult; many are marginalised and lack occupational options besides sex work. Raina was a sex worker and used to live in the Hijras community in Delhi. When Raina lost her parents, she decided to start a new life as a human rights activist. Rania often hosts friends at her house because in their own family’s homes they cannot dress up as women, wear makeup and be themselves.
IMPACT PROJECT DETAILS
The Impact Project is part of our projection programme. It is a free event and open to the public.
Date: 5th December 2016
Venue: Festival Zone (field next to Amansara).
We hope to see you there!