April Littrell
Photography at Angkor (DRAFT)
A photograph pauses time from the single perspective of a spatially located point. Photography, collectively, presents a series of such perspectives, enabling entire historical entities such as the sacred city of Angkor to be accurately documented, historicized, appreciated, and relived. Cambodia’s Angkor is a dynamic place whose story was not at once told and closed shut—the site remains alive so long as it is shaped by nature and its many visitors. While we cannot know exactly how Angkor looked as the thriving capital of the Khmer Empire, we do have photographic evidence of how the site appeared almost two centuries ago. Early pictures were captured using a method called wet plate collodion1 in which chemicals developed over a span of fifteen minutes within a portable darkroom. Every snap of the shutter had to be painstakingly intentional, meaning what preliminary images exist today are likely only those perspectives which the artists deemed essential.
This photo taken by Scottish photographer John Thompson highlights four apsara reliefs found at Angkor Wat in 1866. Being one of the first photographers to document Southeast Asia,3 Thompson’s goal was to capture the region on behalf of Western eyes that had only held imaginative, exotic views prior. With shots limited in number, quality, and color, not every angle could be brought back with him to Europe. Thompson astutely focused on not only up-close detail but big-picture landscapes as well. Below is a view from the front of the complex.
Frontal View of Angkor Wat by John Thompson4
Significant details are discernible such as the Khmer prangs, corbeled archway, foliage, and a human for scale. Compare this photograph with the one below of a different angle of the same site by a contemporary artist, Emile Gsell.
Rear View of Angkor Wat by Emile Gsell5
The jungle overgrowth in Gsell’s image encroaches upon the site, providing a contrasting narrative to that of Thompson’s. One who only viewed Gsell’s photo set might infer that the site was set deeper in the jungle or perhaps was uncared for longer than it was. While later photographic ventures would add perspective to the history of Angkor thereby filling in certain gaps of understanding, what views were captured early on are still pinnacle samples for use in ongoing preservation efforts. As archeologist Colin Sterling notes, “These images provide a further visual dimension of critical analysis toward the overarching theme of how an ‘ethical’ relationship between photography, preservation, and heritage at Angkor might work.”6 It is so that the site could never be truly returned to its prime state of use. In light of this arises the ethical dilemma as to whether or not use of early photographs as blueprints for restoration are appropriate. Perhaps a clarification of photographical purpose is in order. Consider the following photo by American photographer Steve McCurry.
Child, Man, and Dog at Angkor by Steve McCurry7
McCurry captures a more modern Angkor in full color. A banyan tree drips over the side of ruins, its tentacles caressing sunken rubble as a native boy sweeps the sand and an elder man plays with a dog. This photo, without context, stands as an artwork of its own and was taken with that intention. According to McCurry, “What is important to my work is the individual picture […] of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling.”8 Photographical purpose, or intentionality, is integral to understanding the history of cultural sites and implementing photos as tools, whether for restoration, documentation, or marketing. Thompson’s early photographs unintentionally showed, “the inability of the inhabitants of Angkor to care for their surroundings,”9 a clear indication of the white man’s burden to take Angkor under their wing for research rather than providing aid and agency to Cambodia. McCurry, on the other hand, humanizes Cambodians in his photography by showing them inhabiting and caring for their landmark site.
Man Wrapping Lotuses by Steve McCurry10
According to research by Timothy Winter in the Journal of Planning Education and Research, the largest contingent of tourists to Angkor in the last decade has been Cambodians themselves. According to his study, “[Their visit] amounts to a kind of pilgrimage mixing religious and national sacredness attached to Angkor. More than simple visitors, they now represent the bulk of real estate investors as well: those who stay but also own hotels, villas, and apartments.”11 Photographs then are more than travel incentive — they are notions of national pride. While on the surface photographs appear as nothing more than instantaneous art, they are in fact symbolical artifacts unique to the time and context in which they were taken. If we consider Angkor to be alive, photographic depictions of it are no less different each day than photographs of ourselves. And it is indeed alive.
Despite Angkor’s heyday being hundreds of years in the past, political upheaval in the late twentieth century has brought great change and concern for its protection to the forefront of UNESCO and the local Cambodian government. It was only until February of 1995 that the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap, APSARA, was established.12 In the years leading up to this formation, archeologists Thierry Diwo, John McDermott, and Kenro Izu arrived at the site to document it expressly for preservation and with respect for the Cambodian people in mind. McDermott’s specific aim was to produce images that would transcend the paused-time nature of photography by creating timeless images.
Gate at Angkor Thom by John McDermott13
This gate at Angkor Thom harks back to the early, nineteenth century photography of Thompson and Gsell. It was taken in sepia tone and features a corbeled archway topped with a bayon Buddha face and surrounded by jungle foliage. Of such timeless artwork, Sterling notes: “The desire to depict a ‘timeless’ Angkor, and the continued popularity of such photographs, has important ramifications for any ethical engagement with the site, not least whether the implied musealization works for or against disenfranchised stakeholders.”14 Does a musealized Angkor hurt its meaning to the world outside of Cambodia? Certainly some without proper background might assume that the site has been forsaken as a forgotten relic. The 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider15 fetishizes Angkor by appropriating it as a mystical destination that might as well have been dreamt up.16 In this way, photography can be more influential than textual research in its portrayal of the truth. Luckily, modern photography allows us to capture unlimited angles and with such profound detail. Use of videos, three-dimensional models, and even virtual-reality experiences are burgeoning in the field. These formats enable sites like Angkor to be scrutinized and recorded from the omniscient angle of satellites down to the very molecules that make up the bayon’s smiling lips.
Angkor Temple Complex via Apple Maps17
Photography at Angkor over the decades has shifted dramatically in terms of meaning, medium, and morality. Early colonizers without appropriate understanding of the site only captured it for their own aggrandizement. This stage should be appreciated and not demonized, however — without initial amazement and unknowledgeable appreciation, we may not have the early images we do today and one thing might not have led to the next in terms of preservation efforts. In contrast and decades later, photojournalists like Steve Curry snapped scenes at Angkor to artistically tell its story — or allow itself to tell its story. Now, projects such as Living with Heritage at Angkor, “[Focus] on development of open source […] spatial information-management systems designed to provide access to heritage management information at a local agency level.”18 The tool of the photograph as it allows for the presentation of multiple diverse perspectives has proven invaluable to many if not all fields, not least of which is art history. Cambodians can celebrate and learn about their own history through photographs and international guests can indulge in and be inspired by the awe that is Angkor — as they do, by the thousands.
Visitors at Angkor Wat by Mahesh Krishnamurthy19
Written for a college class. Exact date unknown.
Angkor Photography Tours, last modified September 28, 2016, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
John Thompson, Apsaras at Angkor Wat, 1866, photograph, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
John Thomson Exhibition, Through the Lens of John Thomson, last modified 2015, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
John Thompson, Frontal View of Angkor Wat, 1866, photograph, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
Emile Gsell, Rear View of Angkor Wat, 1866, photograph, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
Colin Sterling, “Photography, Preservation, and Ethics at Angkor,” Future Anterior: Journal of Historic Preservation, History, Theory, and Criticism 11, no. 1 (Summer 2014): [Page #], accessed May 10, 2018, Link.↩︎
Steve McCurry, Child, Man, and Dog at Angkor, photograph, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
Steve McCurry, “Bio,” Steve McCurry, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
Sterling, “Photography, Preservation.”↩︎
Steve McCurry, Man Wrapping Lotuses, photograph, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
Eric Heikkila and Philippe Peycam, “Economic Development in the Shadow of Angkor Wat: Meaning, Legitimation, and Myth,” Journal of Planning Education and Research 29, no. 3 (2010): 297, accessed May 10, 2018, DOI:10.1177/0739456X09359167.↩︎
Roland Fletcher et al., “Living with Heritage: Site Monitoring and Heritage Values in Greater Angkor and the Angkor World Heritage Site, Cambodia,” World Archaeology 39, no. 3 (September 2007): 387, accessed May 10, 2018, Link.↩︎
John McDermott, Gate at Angkor Thom, photograph, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
Sterling, “Photography, Preservation.”↩︎
Simon West, dir., Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, 2001, accessed May 11, 2018, Link.↩︎
Although, ethically, how does this differ from fantastical depictions of American monuments in National Treasure, for example? A tangential diversion to explore.↩︎
Angkor Temple Complex, map, Apple Maps, accessed May 11, 2018.↩︎
Fletcher et al., “Living with,” 401.↩︎
Mahesh Krishnamurthy, Visitors at Angkor Wat, photograph, accessed May 11, 2018.↩︎