Angkor Sessions

6th – 12th December 2021
____
Get advice, seek feedback, ask your questions.

Angkor Sessions is our way of wrapping up the year with you. From December 6 – 12, we will be hosting a series of meetings and Ask-Me-Anything sessions to give visual practitioners in Asia an opportunity to engage in direct conversations about their work.

Glance at the timetable below or scroll beyond to the full schedule of the 20+ different sessions happening during the week.

To sign up, find your session, read the details & requirements, and follow the link to the form to register.

(Yes, you can sign up for multiple sessions, and all our sessions are free, no fee required.)

Sign-ups for 1-on-1 & small group sessions close on November 30th. For sessions with limited spaces, you will be notified by Dec 1st or 2nd. 

>> JUST ADDED!

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
“Drawing to Songs of Revolution”

Open to all! An hour of drawing to music.
Hosted by Andrea aka. The Party Mistress
Please bring your drawing, painting, creation materials of choice.
Please wear a disguise.

Register here:

 

MONDAY / DEC 6

10:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Project Insight: Ongoing Work
(1-on-1 Session with Katrin Koenning)

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM  
Project Insight: Long-term Projects
(1-on-1 Session with Ian Teh)

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Project Insight: Getting Personal
(1-on-1 Session with Sean Lee & Zhuang Wubin)

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM [Open Session]
“So, You Want To Publish a Photobook?”
(Open AMA session with Anshika Varma / Offset Projects)

8:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Pitch Meeting: Women in News/Documentary
(Group Session with Claudia Hinterseer / South China Morning Post, Senior Video Producer)

TUES / DEC 7

1:00 PM – 2.30 PM
“Portfolio Review: Photojournalism/Documentary Photography”
(1-on-1 session with Will Baxter, Photo Editor, The New York Times)

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM [Open Session]
“Is the WPP Really Going To Be Inclusive?”
(Open Forum with Veejay Villafranca / WPP Southeast Asia Coordinator)

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
“Don’t Funge My Token!”
(NFTs 101 Workshop with Samuel He)”

WED / DEC 8

10:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Project Insight: Ongoing Work
(1-on-1 Session with Katrin Koenning)

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
“Portfolio Review: News & Documentary Photography
(1-on-1 Session w. Mladen Antonov, AFP, Photo Editor-in-Chief for Asia-Pacific)”

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
“Project Insight: Impact & Solutions”
(Small Group Session with David Campbell / VII Insider)

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
“Chimeric dance: Between movement and stillness”
(Lab Workshop with Lim Paik Yin)

THURS / DEC 9

FROM 8:00 AM
“Portfolio Review: Long-term Projects”
(1-on-1 Session with Veejay Villafranca, WPP Southeast Asia Coordinator)

4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
“Project Insight: Getting Personal”
(1-on-1 Session with Sean Lee & Zhuang Wubin)

6:30 PM – 7:30 PM [Open Session]
“So You Want to Be a News Photographer?”
(Open AMA Session w. Mladen Antonov, AFP, Photo Editor-in-Chief for Asia-Pacific)

FRI / DEC 10

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM [Open Session]
“Don’t Fear the Editor.”
(Open AMA Session with Ian Teh)

SAT / DEC 11

1:00 PM – 2.30 PM
“Portfolio Review: Photojournalism/Documentary Photography”
(1-on-1 session with Will Baxter, Photo Editor, The New York Times)

From 4:00 PM OR 7:00 PM 
“Project Insight: Listening Room”
(1-on-1 Meeting with Dennese Victoria)”

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM [Open Session]
“Video Journalism”
(Open AMA Session with Claudia Hinterseer / South China Morning Post, Senior Video Producer)”

SUN / DEC 12

From 4:00 PM or 7:00 PM
“Project Insight: Listening Room”(1-on-1 Meeting with Dennese Victoria)

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
“Photo Editing & Sequencing”
(Group Session with Kevin Wy Lee / Invisible Photographer Asia)

SESSION DETAILS

Sessions are listed in chronological order.

* Times shown here are Cambodia (+7GMT). Convert to your timezone here.

 

MON, 6 DEC & WED, 8 DEC | 10:30 AM – 12:30PM

Project Insight: Ongoing Work
1-on-1 Session with Katrin Koenning

Session: 4 spaces per day / 30 mins per person

What is this?
A 1-on-1 session for photographers in Asia with Katrin Koenning (30 mins each) for direct dialogue and conversation about an ongoing body of work. Open to all genres, this is an opportunity to talk and get feedback about your project.

Who is this for?
This session is for photographers in Asia who are looking to gain feedback and engage in a dialogue about an ongoing body of work. This session is open to all genres of work.

How do I join?
Please apply to join this session using this form. You will need to submit a selection of photos (max 15 images) from the project you would like about, and a short statement about what you would like to speak about or about the work (300 words max).

We hope you understand there are limited spaces. We will notify you ASAP if you are selected for the session.

About the Host
Katrin Koenning
is a German/Australian photographer based in Naarm (Melbourne) Australia, on unceded Wurundjeri country. Drawing on the currencies of the document, Koenning’s work moves across text and still and moving images, at times including found materials. In her extended image-dialogues she uses fragments and slippages to suggest narrative spaces, communities and lived experiences that are open, fluid and multiplicit. Intimacy, relationality and interconnection form the core of much of her work.

She has been recipient of multiple awards and her work is regularly exhibited in Australian and international solo and group exhibitions including presentations at Paris Photo, 2017 and Hamburg Triennial of Photography, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany, 2018. Her images are published widely and she is a photography teacher, working closely with many institutions and festivals locally and across the region.

MON, 6 DEC | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM  

Project Insight: Long-term Projects
1-on-1 Session with Ian Teh

Session: 5 spaces / 20 mins per person

What is this?
A 1-on-1 session with Ian Teh (20 mins each) to gain feedback or seek advice about your long-term documentary project.

Who is this for?
This session is specifically for photographers in Asia with ongoing and/or completed long-term documentary projects who are seeking feedback on their work. It would be especially useful for photographers who feel they need some guidance on the creative direction on their work.

How do I join?
Please apply to join this session using this form. You will need to submit 10 photos from your project and a short statement about the advice you’re hoping to get.

We hope you understand there are limited spaces. We will notify you ASAP if you are selected the session.

About the Host
Ian Teh
has published three monographs, Undercurrents (2008), Traces (2011) and Confluence (2014). His work is part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) and the Hood Museum in the USA. Selected solo shows include the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York in 2004, Flowers in London in 2011 and the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam in 2012.

Teh has received several honours, in 2018 he was awarded a travel grant from the Pulitzer Centre for Crisis Reporting and presented his work on climate change at the prestigious 2018 National Geographic Photography Seminar. He is also the recipient of the International Photoreporter Grant 2016 the Abigail Cohen Fellowship in Documentary Photography 2014 and the Emergency Fund 2011 from the Magnum Foundation. In 2013, he was elected by the Open Society Foundations to exhibit in New York at the Moving Walls Exhibition. In 2015, during the COP21 Paris climate talks, large poster images of his work were displayed on the streets of Paris as a collaborative initiative by #Dysturb and Magnum Foundation.  He is a co-exhibitor in Coal + Ice, an environmental group show of acclaimed photographers and curated by Susan Meiselas. It was exhibited at the Official Residence of the US Ambassador to France during COP21.

Teh’s work has been published internationally in magazines such as National Geographic, The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek and Granta. Since 2013, he has exhibited as well as conducted masterclasses at Obscura Festival of Photography, Malaysia’s foremost photo festival. He is a tutor at Cambodia’s Angkor Photo Festival since 2014. Teh is a member of the British agency, Panos Pictures.

https://www.ianteh.com

MON, 6 DEC | 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM  (*Another session on Thurs, 9 Dec)

Project Insight: Getting Personal
(1-on-1 Session with Sean Lee & Zhuang Wubin)

Session: 5 spaces / 20 mins per person

What is this?
A 1-on-1 session with Sean Lee and Zhuang Wubin (20 mins each participant) to gain feedback or seek advice about your project.

Who is this for?
Photographers in Asia who are embarking on or in the midst of completing works about personal lives, intimate relationships, stories from the day to day.

How do I join?
Please apply to join this session using this form. You will need to submit 6-8 photos from your project and a written short statement.

We hope you understand there are limited spaces. We will notify you ASAP if you are selected the session.

About the Host:
Sean Lee
was born in 1985 and grew up in Singapore. His first body of work was Shauna, made between 2007 and 2009. This work was nominated for the Prix Découverte on the 40th anniversary of Arles Photography Festival. Since then, Sean has gone on to make other stories.

His second work – “Two People”, received the 2011 ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu award. Sean’s photographs have been exhibited in a number of institutions and festivals. Most notably, the Saatchi Gallery in London and the Chobi Mela Photo Festival in Bangladesh. Much of Sean’s work can be found in the collection of the Singapore Art Museum. Sean’s first book, “Shauna”, was released in September 2014. It was collected by the MoMA Library.

https://www.seanleephoto.com/

 

Zhuang Wubin is a writer who makes photographs, publications and exhibitions. He is interested in photography’s entanglements with modernity, colonialism, nationalism, “Chineseness,” and the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Zhuang received his PhD by Published Work (Research–Photography) from University of Westminster, London.

Zhuang is a recipient of the Prince Claus Fund research grant (2010) and a Lee Kong Chian research fellow at the National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore (Dec 2017 to Jun 2018). Zhuang is the major grantee of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Greater China Research Grant 2018.

Published by NUS Press, Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey (2016) is his fourth book. In 2019, Zhuang received the J Dudley Johnston Award and Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain for that publication. The Chinese translation is published in 2019 by VOP BOOKS, Taipei.

MON, 6 DEC | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM  

“So, You Want To Publish a Photobook?”
Open AMA session with Anshika Varma / Offset Projects

Session: “Ask-Me-Anything” Open Session

What is this?
Curator, photographer and editor Anshika Varma founded Offset Projects in 2018 and, in the midst of the pandemic (!!), launched Offset Bookshop in 2020 to offer a diverse collection of photobooks from the South Asian region by young practitioners, experienced artists, bookmakers and authors.

Having experienced firsthand the challenges creating, publishing and selling photobooks, this AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with Anshika is specifically for anyone who is contemplating or in the process of bringing a photobook to life.

This is an open, interactive event. We encourage you to pre-submit your questions as we’ll answer those first before opening up for questions in the room if time permits.

Who is this for?
Anyone who is thinking of or in the process of creating a photobook and is in need of advice! We encourage you to pre-submit your questions before Dec 4th.

How do I join?
Register and submit your question with this form. Event is open to all! (You will receive a link to the session.)

About the Host:
Anshika Varma
is a photographer and curator with an interest in personal, collective and mythical histories. Through her work, Anshika looks at exploring the intricate relationship between memory and object as markers of identity.

Her personal projects have been exhibited through various galleries in India, Italy and New York and at international art and photography festivals. Her works have also been published by various National and International media and she has also worked on various book projects with the HCL Foundation, Mahindra Rise, Vodafone Foundation, Roli Books, Hachette Publishing (India), Random House(India) and The Tehelka Foundation.

In 2018, she founded Offset Projects out of New Delhi, India to explore the various engagements and sociological impact of receiving the world through creative expressions in visual language. Offset Projects works to create channels of engagement in photography and book-making through artist talks, workshops, residencies, curated reading rooms and collaborative exercises in publishing.

https://offsetprojects.in / https://www.anshikavarma.com

MON, 6 DEC | 8:30 PM – 10:00 PM  

“Pitch Meeting: Women in News/Documentary”
Group Session with Claudia Hinterseer / Senior Video Producer, South China Morning Post

Session: Closed Group of 4-5 pax / 90 mins

What is this?
Open to all women visual practitioners in Asia producing news or documentary projects, this is a closed group meeting (maximum 4-5 participants) with Claudia Hinterseer, senior video producer at the South China Morning Post, or SCMP.

This is a unique opportunity to get advice on fine-tuning your story pitch as each participant will speak about and present their work (up to 10 images or a short video), and will also be useful for getting constructive feedback about your project.

Who is this for?
This session is specifically for women visual storytellers in Asia engaged in news or documentary projects, and will be especially useful to those who work across formats with both stills and videos.

You should be prepared to present your project as a pitch (think of it as a chance to practice!).

How do I join?
Sign up with this form. will need to submit 10 images/1 video from your project that you want to present, and a succinct, short statement about the work and yourself (3 sentences each).

As there are limited spaces for this session, please understand we may not be able to include everyone who applies. We will contact you asap if you’re selected.

About the Host
Claudia Hinterseer is a senior video producer at the South China Morning Post where she supervises a small team overseeing the production of news and feature videos. A passionate producer and facilitator in the international field of visual storytelling, in her personal video work she enjoys telling stories about people’s passions and social developments as they happen.

Previously, founder of NOOR, she directed and co-owned the prestigious documentary photo agency from 2006 through to 2013. Before NOOR, she managed educational programs in photojournalism at the World Press Photo Foundation.

She is on the nominating committee for the World Press Photo Foundation’s Joop Swart Masterclass and mentor MA students in International Journalism at Hong Kong’s Baptist University.

https://www.claudiahinterseer.com

 

TUES, 7 DEC & SAT, 11 DEC | 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM  

Project Reviews: Photojournalism/Documentary Photography
1-on-1 session with Will Baxter, Photo Editor, The New York Times

Session: 3 spaces per day / 25 mins per person

What is this?
Open to all photojournalists in Asia, this is a 1-on-1 session with Will Baxter, photo editor for NYT, to review and get feedback/advice on an ongoing or recently completed project.

Who is this for?
This session is specifically for photographers in Asia engaged in photojournalism or documentary work.

How do I join?
Please use this form to sign up. You will need to submit 12-20 images from an ongoing or recently completed project, a short statement/bio about yourself (150 words), and a short description of the project (200-300 words).

We hope you understand there are limited spaces. We will notify you ASAP if you are selected the session.

About the Host
Will Baxter is a photo editor with the international desk at The New York Times. Prior to joining NYT, Will worked as freelance photojournalist for more than 15 years covering stories in Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Kenya, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand among others.

TUES, 7 DEC | 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM  

“Is the World Press Photo Really Going To Be Inclusive?”
Open Forum with Veejay Villafranca / World Press Photo, Southeast Asia Coordinator

Session: Open, Interactive Talk

What is this?
With the World Press Photo announcing its a regional system with its new contest model, is the organisation on its way to addressing the imbalance in representation it has so long been criticised for? What does this mean for visual journalists in our part of the world, and will people now be encouraged to apply?

Educator and photographer Veejay Villafranca is no stranger to the photographic community in Asia and he steps into a role of coordinator for WPP’s Southeast Asia Oceania region. He will host an open forum for anyone who would like to know more about the contest’s new format and categories, and to discuss its possible implications for the industry.

This is an open, interactive event. We will first address pre-submitted questions and, if time allows, we will open up for questions in the room.

How do I join?
Register and submit your question with this form. Event is open to all! (You will receive a link to the session.)

About the Host
Veejay Villafranca was born and raised in Manila and started out in journalism as a staff photographer for the national news magazine Philippines Graphic. He pursued freelancing in 2006 and worked with several international news wire agencies and publications covering national news and feature stories before pursuing personal projects tackling climate justice, displacement, and Filipino culture and identity.

In 2008, he was awarded the Ian Parry Scholarship and a residency at Visa Pour l’Image for his project on the lives of former gang members in Manila. His first book, Signos, was awarded the 2018 Photobook of the year award by the Invisible Photographer Asia Awards.

His engagements with World Press Photo started in 2007 as being a full scholar for the Asian Center for Journalism’s Diploma in Photojournalism Program. In 2013, he was among the first few Southeast Asians to be selected in the Joop Swart Masterclass program and later became a nominator for the Asian region. In 2021, Veejay was tasked to be the coordinator for Southeast Asia to help in promoting the new World Press Photo Competition format that introduces a regional category.

TUES, 7 DEC | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM  

“Don’t Funge My Token! An NFT 101 Workshop”
Hands-on NFT workshop for photographers with Samuel He

Session: Closed Group of 20 pax / 2 hrs

What is this?
This is a 2-hour, hands-on workshop that aims to be a soft-introduction to the good and the bad that the world of web3 and NFTs has to offer to image-makers. Every attendee will walk away from the workshop with their work minted on the tezos blockchain (via the hicetnunc.art platform).

Who is this for?
Photographers, journalists, curators and editors from Asia who are keen on getting started in the world of NFTs or are extremely “crypto-curious”.

How do I join?
Sign up using this form. You will have to share a link to your work and tell us a bit about you know / do not know about NFTs.

As there are limited spaces for this workshop, please understand we may not be able to include everyone who applies. We will contact you asap if you’re selected for the workshop.

About the Host
Samuel He teaches photojournalism at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He is a former photojournalist at The Straits Times. He is currently building Dokurizi, a self-publishing platform for visual journalists where every image is minted as an NFT. The vision of the site is to create an opportunity for journalists to work independently; funded by communities who believe in their work.

WED, 8 DEC | 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM  

Portfolio Review: News & Documentary Photography
1-on-1 Session with Mladen Antonov, AFP Photo Editor-in-Chief (Asia-Pacific)

Session: 4 spaces / 15 mins each

What is this?
Open to all photographers working in news or documentary, this 1-on-1 portfolio review (15 mins each) with Mladen Antonov, AFP’s Photo Editor-in-Chief for Asia-Pacific, is an opportunity for you to get candid, direct feedback about your portfolio of work.

Who is this for?
All photographers in Asia working in news or documentary who are open to honest feedback about your portfolio of work.

How do I join?
Please sign up with this form. You will need to submit 10 images from your portfolio, and a short statement (150 words) about the advice you’re hoping to get.

As there are limited spaces for this session, please understand we may not be able to include everyone who applies. We will contact you asap if you’re selected.

About The Host
A veteran of news photography, Mladen Antonov has just moved to Hong Kong, leaving his previous position as Agence France-Presse’s (AFP) chief photographer for South-East Asia to become the news agency’s Photo Editor-in-Chief for Asia-Pacific.

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, he was majoring in cinema at the Film and Theatre Academy before a chance encounter led him to becoming a photographer covering the war in the Balkans. Until 2003, Antonov worked for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) as a correspondent based in Bulgaria, covering the wars in the former Yugoslavia and all the major news and sporting events in Europe. At AFP, he became the leading photographer for Eastern Europe and the CIS in 2003, and in 2006, the Agency’s Global Chief Photo Editor based in Paris. From 2011, he was the Photo Director for North America, based in Washington DC, and later a special correspondent for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.

 

WED, 8 DEC | 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM  

Project Insight: Impact & Solutions
Group Session with David Campbell, Managing Editor of VII Insider

Session: Closed Group of 5 participants / 90 mins

What is this?
A closed, small group session with David Campbell, Managing Editor of VII Insider, to gain feedback and seek advice about your ongoing project. There will be a maximum of 5 participants for this session.

Who is this for?
This session is specifically for visual storytellers in Asia with ongoing or planned projects which focus on social impact and solutions. It would be especially useful for photographers who are looking for ways to research their projects, extend the impact of their work, and are looking for ways to foster action and change.

How do I join?
Sign up with this form. You will need to submit a short project description of the research you plan to do or the work you have already done (500words max), a short statement on what kind of advice you’re hoping to get (150 words max), and a small selection of visuals (max. 10) from your project.

As there are limited spaces for this session, please understand we may not be able to include everyone who applies. We will contact you asap if you’re selected.

About the Host
David Campbell is the Managing Editor of VII Insider, the online platform of The VII Foundation for debate and discussion to advance the production and analysis of documentary stories addressing complex social, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

A communications, media, and politics professional with extensive international experience in government, academia, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), David is passionate about creating and investigating new ways of seeing the world that can promote change. As a strategist, he develops purpose-driven communications that deliver an organization’s objectives. As a producer, he fosters diverse and different perspectives with social impact. As a professor, he researches, writes and teaches about the media economy to understand the power and impact of visual stories.

WED, 8 DEC | 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM  

“Chimeric dance: Between movement and stillness”
A Workshop/Lab with Lim Paik Yin

Session: Closed Group of Min. 4 – Max 12 / 2 hrs

Workshop/Lab Purpose: Imaging – the relationship between the body and the camera

What is this?
In this lab, we will be exploring the camera phone as an extension of our human body. How would the ubiquitous eye of the camera experience the world? How can our body allow the eye of the camera to make sense of the world? This lab will focus on the relationship between the human body with the camera. If time permits, we will explore ways of moving and sensing in relation to the environment/place/space as another body.

Taking a cue from Donna Harraway’s Cyborg manifesto, this playful lab proposes cyborgs as a chimeras – a hybrid between the corporeal, social relations and technology. We will delve into our relationship with a technology which has perhaps already become an extension of our human body – the camera phone.

Through the creation process with/without/for the camera, we allow relational dance to appear as framed by the camera.

Who Is this for?
This lab is suitable for participants who are interested in making images through improvisation and moving their bodies.

Especially great for the kinetically inclined: visual artists, performance artists, dancers, musicians, photographers, videographers. Be prepared to have some fun and to move!

How do I join?
Please do sign up with this form. This would be useful for me to create a conducive framework for this lab.

Ground Rules for Zoom:
Video on, please!
Things to prepare and bring to the workshop:
1. Camera Phone or DSLR camera
2. A journal with colored pens and markers.
3. Curiosity to experiment and play.

About the Host
Lim Paik Yin (b. 1980) is a visual anthropologist and an interdisciplinary artist working with the camera, and site-specific performance. Her works use the human body as a visual motif to explore the various ideologies and political forces that shape attitudes towards the human bodies. Her praxis in performance informs her visual anthropology research in collaboration with artists based in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia to visualize their experience while participating in rituals/performances through film and drawings.

She has facilitated workshops & labs exploring movements with the camera for artists in festivals at Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Currently she is acting as Network head of Research & Documentation for MyDance Alliance, Malaysia (2020-2022); Associate of Melaka Art & Performance Festival and Artist-in-Residence with Moving with ARTISANS project

THURS, 9 DEC | FROM 8:00 AM  

Portfolio Review: Long-term Projects
1-on-1 Session with Veejay Villafranca, World Press Photo, Southeast Asia Coordinator

Session: 6 – 8 spaces / 30 – 45 mins per person

What is this?
An in-depth, 1-on-1 portfolio review (30 – 45 mins) with Veejay Villafranca to gain advice and feedback on editing and presenting your long-term project with an emphasis on documentary work. There will be 6-8 slots available throughout the day for this session.

Who is this for?
Visual storytellers in Asia with completed long-term documentary projects who are looking for a direct review of their body of work. This will be especially useful for participants who are looking for input to better prepare their work for submissions to grants and competitions like WPP.

How do I join?
Sign up with this form. You will need to submit a short project description of your project (300words max), a short statement on what kind of advice you’re hoping to get (150 words max), and a small selection of visuals (10-15) from your project.

We hope you understand there are limited spaces. We will notify you ASAP if you are selected the session.

About the Host
Veejay Villafranca was born and raised in Manila and started out in journalism as a staff photographer for the national news magazine Philippines Graphic. He pursued freelancing in 2006 and worked with several international news wire agencies and publications covering national news and feature stories before pursuing personal projects tackling climate justice, displacement, and Filipino culture and identity.

In 2008, he was awarded the Ian Parry Scholarship and a residency at Visa Pour l’Image for his project on the lives of former gang members in Manila. His first book, Signos, was awarded the 2018 Photobook of the year award by the Invisible Photographer Asia Awards.

His engagements with World Press Photo started in 2007 as being a full scholar for the Asian Center for Journalism’s Diploma in Photojournalism Program. In 2013, he was among the first few Southeast Asians to be selected in the Joop Swart Masterclass program and later became a nominator for the Asian region. In 2021, Veejay was tasked to be the coordinator for Southeast Asia to help in promoting the new World Press Photo Competition format that introduces a regional category.

THURS, 9 DEC | 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM (*Another session on Mon, 6 Dec)

Project Insight: Getting Personal
(1-on-1 Session with Sean Lee & Zhuang Wubin)

Session: 5 spaces / 20 mins per person

What is this?
A 1-on-1 session with Sean Lee and Zhuang Wubin (20 mins each participant) to gain feedback or seek advice about your project.

Who is this for?
Photographers in Asia who are embarking on or in the midst of completing works about personal lives, intimate relationships, stories from the day to day.

How do I join?
Please apply to join this session using this form. You will need to submit 6-8 photos from your project and a written short statement.

We hope you understand there are limited spaces. We will notify you ASAP if you are selected the session.

About the Host:
Sean Lee
was born in 1985 and grew up in Singapore. His first body of work was Shauna, made between 2007 and 2009. This work was nominated for the Prix Découverte on the 40th anniversary of Arles Photography Festival. Since then, Sean has gone on to make other stories.

His second work – “Two People”, received the 2011 ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu award. Sean’s photographs have been exhibited in a number of institutions and festivals. Most notably, the Saatchi Gallery in London and the Chobi Mela Photo Festival in Bangladesh. Much of Sean’s work can be found in the collection of the Singapore Art Museum. Sean’s first book, “Shauna”, was released in September 2014. It was collected by the MoMA Library.

Zhuang Wubin is a writer who makes photographs, publications and exhibitions. He is interested in photography’s entanglements with modernity, colonialism, nationalism, “Chineseness,” and the Cold War in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. Zhuang received his PhD by Published Work (Research–Photography) from University of Westminster, London.

Zhuang is a recipient of the Prince Claus Fund research grant (2010) and a Lee Kong Chian research fellow at the National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore (Dec 2017 to Jun 2018). Zhuang is the major grantee of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Greater China Research Grant 2018.

Published by NUS Press, Photography in Southeast Asia: A Survey (2016) is his fourth book. In 2019, Zhuang received the J Dudley Johnston Award and Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain for that publication. The Chinese translation is published in 2019 by VOP BOOKS, Taipei.

THURS, 9 DEC | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

“So You Want to Be a News Photographer?”
Open AMA session with Mladen Antonov, AFP Photo Editor-in-Chief (Asia-Pacific)

Session: “Ask-Me-Anything” Open Session

What is this?
With over three decades in the news as both a photographer and photo editor for international press agencies, Mladen Antonov, AFP’s Photo Editor-in-Chief for Asia-Pacific, knows firsthand just how challenging and competitive it can be for photographers today to break into the news industry.

With full-time positions increasingly scarce and freelancing becoming the norm, how does an aspiring photographer navigate the industry while protecting themselves? How do photo editors ensure journalistic standards are met? From landing an assignment to negotiating freelance rates, this open Ask Me Anything session with Mladen is an opportunity for you to ask a veteran of the industry anything you want to know about news photography.

This is an open, interactive event. We encourage you to submit your questions when you register as we will address these first before opening it up to the room.

Who is this for?
Anyone who wants honest answers to their questions about being in news photography and photojournalism. We encourage you to pre-submit your questions before Dec 6th.

How do I join?
Register here and submit your question with this form. Event is open to all!  (You will receive a link to the session.)

About The Host :
A veteran of news photography, Mladen Antonov has just moved to Hong Kong, leaving his previous position as Agence France-Presse’s (AFP) chief photographer for South-East Asia to become the news agency’s Photo Editor-in-Chief for Asia-Pacific.

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, he was majoring in cinema at the Film and Theatre Academy before a chance encounter led him to becoming a photographer covering the war in the Balkans. Until 2003, Antonov worked for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) as a correspondent based in Bulgaria, covering the wars in the former Yugoslavia and all the major news and sporting events in Europe. At AFP, he became the leading photographer for Eastern Europe and the CIS in 2003, and in 2006, the Agency’s Global Chief Photo Editor based in Paris. From 2011, he was the Photo Director for North America, based in Washington DC, and later a special correspondent for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.

FRI, 10 DEC | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM  

“Don’t Fear the Editor”
Open AMA session with Ian Teh

Session: ‘Ask-Me-Anything’ Open Session

What is this?
Ian Teh is no stranger to working with well-known, international publications and navigating the world of commissioned editorial work for magazines and newspapers. Currently a member of Panos Pictures, his recent trip to Cape Horn to photograph the scientific expedition to Earth’s southernmost tree was published in National Geographic earlier this year.

Having gone through publishing monographs, applying for grants, receiving commissions, writing to editors, negotiating contracts – Ian Teh will host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session for anyone who would like to seek advice and ask questions for an inside look on being a documentary photographer.

This is an open, interactive event with Augustman of the Year awardee 2014. We will first address pre-submitted questions and, if time allows, we will open up for questions in the room.

Who is this for?
Anyone who is seeking advice about navigating the professional world of being a documentary photographer. We encourage you to pre-submit your questions before Dec 6th.

How do I join?
Register and submit your question with this form. Event is open to all! (You will receive a link to the session.)

About the Host:
Ian Teh has published three monographs, Undercurrents (2008), Traces (2011) and Confluence (2014). His work is part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) and the Hood Museum in the USA. Selected solo shows include the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York in 2004, Flowers in London in 2011 and the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam in 2012.

Teh has received several honours, in 2018 he was awarded a travel grant from the Pulitzer Centre for Crisis Reporting and presented his work on climate change at the prestigious 2018 National Geographic Photography Seminar. He is also the recipient of the International Photoreporter Grant 2016 the Abigail Cohen Fellowship in Documentary Photography 2014 and the Emergency Fund 2011 from the Magnum Foundation. In 2013, he was elected by the Open Society Foundations to exhibit in New York at the Moving Walls Exhibition. In 2015, during the COP21 Paris climate talks, large poster images of his work were displayed on the streets of Paris as a collaborative initiative by #Dysturb and Magnum Foundation. He is a co-exhibitor in Coal + Ice, an environmental group show of acclaimed photographers and curated by Susan Meiselas. It was exhibited at the Official Residence of the US Ambassador to France during COP21.

Teh’s work has been published internationally in magazines such as National Geographic, The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek and Granta. Since 2013, he has exhibited as well as conducted masterclasses at Obscura Festival of Photography, Malaysia’s foremost photo festival. He is a tutor at Cambodia’s Angkor Photo Festival since 2014. Teh is a member of the British agency, Panos Pictures.

https://www.ianteh.com

SAT, 11 DEC & SUN, 12 DEC | FROM 4:00 PM OR 7:00 PM  

Project Insight: Listening Room
1-on-1 Meeting with Dennese Victoria

Session: 1 each day (2 in total) / 40 – 60 mins each

What is this?
This session with Dennese Victoria, guest curator of our 16th Edition, is a safe space to seek feedback, or perhaps see if another understanding of your work, or your practice could be explored and how this could be communicated through text.

An informal conversation first thought of as a desire to assist people in writing their project statements, artist statements, and short bios – you know, the kind we’re usually asked for when applying to things.

This suggestion still stands, and that’s probably what we’ll work on, however, I am more so interested in trying to have the text reflect more of what could be overlooked aspects of the artist or photographer’s positions, thoughts, questions and feelings.

Who is this for?
Anyone interested in really talking and being listened to – about work, about life, about where you think or fear those things seem to be heading, about community or the difficulty in finding that.

I can’t promise answers but I would like to try and see if I could help you see your project or your practice in a different light. Perhaps later suggest other artists or other forms of creative work that might serve as companions to help you understand what you’re trying to do.

I would also like to learn from you and your life! We’ll look at your photographs and the text you usually accompany them with and then grow the conversation from there.

How Do I Join?
[This session is full and signups are closed.]

SAT, 11 DEC | 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM  

“Video Journalism”
Open AMA with Claudia Hinterseer, Senior Video Producer, South China Morning Post

Session: Ask-Me-Anything Open Session

What is this?
Having spent over 20 years working in visual media and journalism education, Claudia Hinterseer, currently a senior video producer at South China Morning Post, has firsthand experience pivoting from photography to video. Previously a photo editor at a Dutch newspaper, Claudia is also founder of NOOR and served as managing director of the photo agency for seven years.

As a range of push-and-pull factors lead more photographers into including video as part of their visual storytelling toolkit, this open Ask Me Anything session with Claudia is an opportunity for you to ask an experienced visual media professional anything you want to know about video journalism.

This is an open, interactive event. We encourage you to submit your questions when you register as we will address these first before opening it up to the room.

Who Is this for?
Anyone who is interested in learning more about video journalism. We encourage you to pre-submit your questions before Dec 6th.

How do I join?
Register and submit your question with this form. Event is open to all! (You will receive a link to the session.)

About the Host
Claudia Hinterseer is a senior video producer at the South China Morning Post where she supervises a small team overseeing the production of news and feature videos. A passionate producer and facilitator in the international field of visual storytelling, in her personal video work she enjoys telling stories about people’s passions and social developments as they happen.

Previously, founder of NOOR, she directed and co-owned the prestigious documentary photo agency from 2006 through to 2013. Before NOOR, she managed educational programs in photojournalism at the World Press Photo Foundation.

She is on the nominating committee for the World Press Photo Foundation’s Joop Swart Masterclass and mentor MA students in International Journalism at Hong Kong’s Baptist University.

https://www.claudiahinterseer.com

 

SUN, 12 DEC | 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM  

Photo Editing & Sequencing
Closed Group with Kevin Wy Lee / Invisible Photographer Asia

Session: Closed Group of 4 / 90 mins

What is this?
A closed group session with Kevin Wy Lee of Invisible Photographer Asia to gain feedback and advice about editing and sequencing for a completed body of work. You’ll also be able to learn from the editing of your fellow group members!

Who is this for?
Photographers in Asia with completed bodies of work who may not have enough experience with the process of editing and sequencing. Open to all genres of work.

How do I join?
Please sign-up with this form and submit with an edit of your work (max. 25), a short statement about the project (200 words) and any specific advice you’re seeking. If you’re selected for this session we will inform you asap.

About the Host
Kevin WY Lee
is a photographer and creative director based in Singapore. He has worked in the creative industry in Asia and Australia for over 20 years. In 2010, he founded Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA), an influential platform for Photography & Visual Arts in Asia. Through IPA, Kevin participates vigorously in photography and art across the region as a practitioner, curator and educator. As lockdowns descneded across Asia during Covid-19, Kevin launched a Weekly Photo Editing series.

In addition to his own practice and published books, Kevin has served as curator and jury for various festivals and programs, including the World Press Photo (2021), Angkor Photo Festival (Cambodia), WMA Masters Award (Hong Kong), Singapore International Photography Festival, Odessa/Batumi Photo Days Festival(Ukraine), Prix Pictet Award, and PhotoQuai Biennale (France), to name a few. He is also an adjunct lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore.