Angkor
tagline
This is a short text area to describe the project. Just write a few words about the purpose, inspiration or success of the project and let the images tell the rest of the story.
Gallery
Every successful product is the fruit of hard work, and this applies to every field of business. Intuition alone is not enough to create a product that people will love and use. You also need to do your research, thinking, planning, differentiating yourself, and more. Write about some of the challenges you faced in designing this product and what steps you and your team took to overcome them.
Field Notes
Prior to my first trip to Cambodia and the Angkor temples in 2005, I corresponded with Dave Perkes, the owner of the guesthouse where I would be staying in Siem Reap. Dave is also an accomplished photographer who often led photo tours to the Khmer ruins throughout the country. I told him that I was traveling throughout Asia and that I would be bringing my 8 x 10" view camera to photograph the great temples of Angkor. His email responses were not encouraging that I would succeed in using the large format camera . The governing body of Angkor, the Apsara Authority, requires all professional photographers to get permission and to pay an exorbitant fee. Dave warned me that permission can take months to receive if at all and the cost, well who knows how much that will be? It can be as little as $100 or as much as $2000. There is no way of knowing until you get there because it is so arbitrary. I decided to take my chances.
Dave arranged for a tuk-tuk driver named Kimleng. On our first morning, we started at Sra Srang (the resulting photograph is in this gallery). He proved to be an invaluable guide for me. On the first morning when we arrived at the site of the wonderful baray, he grew quite nervous as he saw me set up the 8 x 10" view camera on a tripod. He asked immediately as he looked over his shoulder behind him, if I had permission from the Apsara Authority to photograph; precisely what Dave had warned me about. I told him no. He looked even more worried perhaps knowing that they could confiscate my camera, arrest me, fine me, and even fine him. We photographed without interference. As the day wore on, however, we began to encounter the Apsara guards. Kimleng was quick on his feet when we were approached. His skills as a diplomat, and actor, or just plain dumb proved to be everything that made my photographs possible. When asked about my camera, Kimleng told them in Khmer, “That is not a camera. This man is an architecture surveyor and this is an instrument used to check the levels of the temples.” To seal the deal, I let them go under the dark cloth and see the upside down image on the ground glass. It so confused them that they accepted the explanation. Now, those were the days. As an aside. I was one of many professional photographers Kimleng guided around. He developed an interest in photography and now, twelve years later, is one of the best known photographers in Cambodia. I have made many more trips to Cambodia, and lived there for a year in 2011.
Dave arranged for a tuk-tuk driver named Kimleng. On our first morning, we started at Sra Srang (the resulting photograph is in this gallery). He proved to be an invaluable guide for me. On the first morning when we arrived at the site of the wonderful baray, he grew quite nervous as he saw me set up the 8 x 10" view camera on a tripod. He asked immediately as he looked over his shoulder behind him, if I had permission from the Apsara Authority to photograph; precisely what Dave had warned me about. I told him no. He looked even more worried perhaps knowing that they could confiscate my camera, arrest me, fine me, and even fine him. We photographed without interference. As the day wore on, however, we began to encounter the Apsara guards. Kimleng was quick on his feet when we were approached. His skills as a diplomat, and actor, or just plain dumb proved to be everything that made my photographs possible. When asked about my camera, Kimleng told them in Khmer, “That is not a camera. This man is an architecture surveyor and this is an instrument used to check the levels of the temples.” To seal the deal, I let them go under the dark cloth and see the upside down image on the ground glass. It so confused them that they accepted the explanation. Now, those were the days. As an aside. I was one of many professional photographers Kimleng guided around. He developed an interest in photography and now, twelve years later, is one of the best known photographers in Cambodia. I have made many more trips to Cambodia, and lived there for a year in 2011.
Documents and Photographs
Project Name
Title or short description
