Recent stories
Virginie Noel | Photographers
Dismaland, the lost paradise of Banksy"On the morning of Thursday, August 20th, the veil was officially lifted: the most famous and mysterious urban artist, Banksy, announced the opening day of Dismaland, his "Bemusement Park". |
Human Nature - BaliHuman Nature - Bali View the story |
Phnom Penh StarsPhnom Penh Stars explores two worlds of performance in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. View the story |
Kun Khmer - Cambodian kickboxingKun Khmer - Cambodian kickboxing View the story |
Cambodian LadyboysCambodia's Third Gender View the story |
Dressing Up - Cambodia's Third GenderCambodia in 2010 is a country experiencing rapid change. A deep transformation from tradition to modernism is taking place, which has many repercussions throughout Cambodian society as a whole. View the story |
Lethwei - Traditional Myanmar kickboxingFor the fifth time, he has been knocked down. He lies in the ring, his face covered in cuts, his eyes swollen, blood gushing out of his mouth. The referee calls for a break. View the story |
The ThunderbirdsA hushed murmur floats through in the makeshift bamboo hall. Whole families have bought their tickets and taken their seats for a once-a-year, eagerly awaited, performance. View the story |
Feeling Safe? Cambodia securityFeeling Safe? The obsession with security in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In a country marked by poverty and extreme social inequalities, fear and mistrust mark every day. View the story |
Cremations in BaliCremation ceremony in Ubud, Bali, October 2010. View the story |
Ubud Royal Cremation Ceremony (Bali, 2011)Ubud Royal Cremation Ceremony (Bali, 2011) |
A gentle Birth"Every mother counts and healthcare is a human right." ~ Ibu Robin Lim View the story |
Virginie Noel's biography
Virginie Noël is a freelance photographer, artist and writer. Originally from Belgium, she has lived and worked in Ireland, Cambodia, Indonesia and Germany. She currently lives and works in Bristol, UK.
When Virginie arrived in Cambodia in 2007 after 12 months of travel, telling stories through her lens had become a vital need. Alongside her work for a small grassroots NGO, which involved teaching children in a Phnom Penh slum, she started working as a freelance photographer and began two long-term documentary photography projects in Phnom Penh. These projects culminated in her work ‘Phnom Penh Stars’, which takes an intimate look at two worlds of performance in Cambodian society: kick boxers and ladyboys.
During her time in Phnom Penh, she was also Staff Photographer for AsiaLIFE magazine. She participated in numerous group exhibitions, as well as holding a solo exhibition in 2009.
From 2010 on, she divided her time between Europe and Indonesia, where she studied Fine Art at the University of Denpasar under the Darmasiswa scholarship. In 2012, she was invited as an artist-in-residence at Gallery Made Budhiana in Bali, which culminated in the solo exhibition ‘Human Nature’. This project focused on the spiritual relationship the Balinese have with nature, as well as exploring her own personal connection to Nature, taking her work to a more conceptual level.
Due to her background in Social Psychology, the main focus of her work has always been on people, culture and identity. Human emotions fascinate her, as well as the relationships human beings have with each other and their natural environments.
She currently works on a new multi-media project overlapping science and art. The project will explore the scientific research done within the emerging field of Psychoneuroimmunology, which aims to explain how body-mind medicine works. Virginie aims to transform this rational knowledge into a felt and seen experience through visual exploration using photography, drawing, installations and video.
Her work has been widely exhibited in Cambodia, Indonesia, Germany, Belgium and the US.
She is also a Photovoice-trained participatory photography project facilitator and is developing a UK-based collaborative participatory photography project with a particular focus on gender equality.
Virginie Noël is a member of Asia Motion since 2011
Website: