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©RUON/ANGKOR PHOTO FESTIVAL

A GROUP of more than 40 underprivileged children from the Siem Reap area had their photographic work shown last night at Wat Damnak in Siem Reap town as part of the sixth annual Angkor Photo Festival.

Armed with small cameras and guided by seven professional photographers from across Asia, the children documented the world around them for a week, focusing on the people, wildlife and scenes in Siem Reap and the Tonle Sap lake area.

Samuel Flint, director of Anjali House, an underprivileged children’s NGO founded under the umbrella of the Angkor Photography Festival Association, said that the students benefitted greatly from the workshops.

“It gives them confidence by having their photos displayed publicly [and] builds their self-esteem,” he said.

Sohrab Hura, a freelance photographer from India and one of the coordinators of the workshop and Children’s Night, said that yesterday’s presentation was a kind of “celebration”.

“For me, it’s one of the most important days of the festival,” he said. “There is some innocence left over in [their work]. I can feel a lot more in their photographs than some of the other [professional] slideshows I see.”

A total of 43 Anjali House students had their photographs shown as part of Children’s Night at Wat Damnak.