Phnom Penh & Element Vegetarian: An Encounter Around the Works of Damien Dufresne

The restaurant Element Vegetarian opened its doors last Wednesday at a cultural event: a meeting with Damien Dufresne, an artist with as singular as inspiring a background.

An evening of art, conviviality, and elegance

That evening, about forty art lovers and gastronomy enthusiasts gathered in the cozy setting of Element Vegetarian to discover—and especially to meet—Damien Dufresne, an artist passing through the Cambodian capital. Around Italian wines, guests were charmed by the chef’s delicate canapés and the convivial atmosphere reigning in the restaurant, decorated for the occasion with as much delicacy as the dishes served.

An extraordinary photographer

After a brilliant career in makeup and advertising, Damien Dufresne reinvented himself choosing artistic photography as his mode of expression, freeing himself from marketing codes to regain total creative freedom. Inspired by the beauty of anonymous people he encounters on the street, he favors introverted models whose shyness, he says, brings a rare authenticity to his shots.

For Dufresne, the camera is a simple extension of the gaze, an instrument to capture the ephemeral. He invites his subjects to be themselves, to forget the frame and the pose, to let their true essence surface. Each photograph exhibited at Element Vegetarian is the fruit of this fragile encounter, between modesty and spontaneity.

A cosmopolitan trajectory, a local presence

Damien Dufresne shaped his vision around the world: Paris, Seoul, Milan, Tokyo, New York, Shanghai mark an international professional trajectory rich in crossed cultures. Recently, he has settled in Siem Reap—the ideal base to discover the Cambodian artistic scene and share his art, still too rare in the region.

Hosting an exhibition by Damien Dufresne is part of a desire to support contemporary creation while offering guests a unique sensory and aesthetic experience.