Thai photographer Dolruethai Tongwiboon wins prestigious Paris Match Award for her pictorial series 'Chicken Bang Bang'

© Dolruethai Tongwiboon

Image taken by winner of the Paris Match Awards, Dolruethai Tongwiboon.

SIEM REAP

THAI student photographer Dolruethai Tongwiboon was awarded the Angkor Photography Festival's prestigious Paris Match Award on Friday as the weeklong photography extravaganza wrapped up.

The award is presented to the student who produced the best portfolio during the festival.  

Out of 30 young Asian photographers who attended the free student workshops, Dolruethai, a female photographer and makeup artist, took the honours and prize money of US$1,300.

Dolruethai's pictorial reportage, titled "Chicken Bang Bang", depicted colourful images of chickens being moved from the coop to the cooking pot, while being plucked in the process.

Francoise Callier, coordinator of the festival's programming committee and one of the judges of the award, said that the jury thought Dolruethai's work exemplified "a real story", with "very good quality of photography and editing".  

The other judges were Sylvie Grumbach, from 2eme Bureau; Michael Hayes, editor-in-chief of The Phnom Penh Post; and Sujong Song, photo editor and curator of Edition.

Hayes said that during his many years as publisher of The Phnom Penh Post he has seen thousands of photographs, but this year's winning photos were among the most striking he had ever seen.

Last year's Paris Match Award went to Indian photojournalist Selves Prewash for a photo essay about Aids patients and their families living in Siem Reap.  

The presentation of this year's award followed a slideshow of all work completed by the 30 students photographers during their workshops last week.

Before the final presentation, Korean Sujong, who is  also a  magazine editor and heads up a photography agency, delighted the final-night audience with a slideshow of Asian photographers called "The Asian Views, Inside Out".

This show highlighted powerful stories from around Asia, including compelling portraits of two groups of sea gypsies, as well as indigenous seafaring people based in the seas of Southeast Asia.

The festival, which was in its fourth year, draws international interest.