Born in 1996 to a family of Cambodian refugees in France, William Keo’s work covers themes of migration, social exclusion and inter-community intolerance. He began photography working for NGOs and covered the Syrian refugee crisis, conflict in Darfur, Migrants in Europe and the Rohingya humanitarian crisis. Since 2019, he has covered the cycles of violence after the fall of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, French and international news for the press such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine among others. He was represented by Magnum Photos between 2021 and 2024.
Close to home, he shares in his ongoing personal project, the stories of marginalized people, descendants of immigrants from post-colonial France living in the Banlieues, the French ghettos.
His work has been published in The New York Times, National Geographic, Le Monde, Libération, Vogue, The New York Magazine and others.
General
+33 6 16 89 17 18 (Whatsapp)
Based in Paris, sometime
Awards, Distinctions & Grants
2023 Bourse Centre National des Arts Plastiques | Syria — Water War
2022 Prix Bayeux des Correspondants de Guerre, Finalist young reporters | Ukraine, along the southern frontline
2021 National Photographic Commission from The Ministry of Culture and National Library of France (BnF) | Recipient
2019 Photo Vogue Festival, A Glitch in the System, deconstructing stereotypes | Shortlist
2019 HORSCHAMPS Rencontres de la Photographie | Photo of the Month
2018 Fujifilm Young Talent Award by EPF Burn Magazine | Shortlist
2018 Grand Prix Paris Match Photoreportage Student | Finalist
Books
Jusqu’ici rien à changer by Four Eyes Editions
La France sous leurs yeux by BNF Editions
Offside by Four Eyes Editions
Magnum Photos 75 years by Atelier EXB
Exhibitions & Shows
2025 Reporters without Borders, 40 years — Collective exhibition | Syria, Uncivil War
2024 OFF Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles | Israel - Palestine
2024 The Over, Barcelona — Solo exhibition | Beautiful Paradox
2024 Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris — Collective exhibition | Public Services Pandemic
2024 Gare de l’Est, Paris — Solo exhibition | Ukrainians
2023 Art Photo Bcn, Barcelona — Solo exhibition | Beautiful Paradox
2023 Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan — Screening | Earthquake in Syria & Turkey
2023 Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan — Screening | Beautiful Paradox
2022 Nobody plans to give up — Collective exhibition | The Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway
2021 Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan — Collective screening | Syria — 10 years of war
2021 Visa pour l’Image, Perpignan — Screening | The failure of the European dream
2020 Galerie PHOTON, Toulouse — Collective exhibition | Burma Inferno
2017 Campus Eiffel, Paris — Solo exhibition | Burma Inferno