I never missed an opportunity to photograph Angkor when I was there; especially rainy days. Although I photographed the temples between 1993 and 1999 when there were far fewer tourists than there are today; I always had to contend with a few walking around in front of my camera, which is why I loved early mornings. Hardly anyone was out at the temples before 9AM, and on rainy days, I would seldom see a soul.
On this day there were not even any touts about. Only one young Khmer boy who followed me around staying away from my camera and the direction it was pointed. He most likely was an orphan who lived in the temples; and was curious about the crazy white man who was walking in the rain with a camera. On the rainy days I usually used my Fuji 6x9 rangefinder camera. That is what I used for this shot.
Although Angkor wat was the biggest and most beautiful of the temples; I spent less time there than I did at Ta Prohm or The Bayon. It was just too difficult to get great photographs without someone wandering in front of my camera. The rainy season provided me the opportunity to show the temples the way they were for centuries: Quietly Abandoned!
The discolorations of the sandstones that make up the temples are fascinating for a photographer. The rough stones take on a special look during the rains giving the buildings a sheen that you do not see at other times. Tourists staying in their hotels waiting for the rains to stop never experience these beautiful times at Angkor.
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There is no perfect place to sit and see any of these temples. One must wander around, passing through tunnels so dark you can barely see, and then coming out and walking around a wall to get a view you might never have noticed before. I had photographed Ta Prohm over a period of four years when I came upon this shot.
There was something special about the crippled tree standing on just a big root that appealed to me. Camera placement for this composition was difficult because of the stones scattered where I wanted to set up. Putting one leg of my tripod on the top of a stone and telescoping it shorter so the other two legs could be placed between stones; I finally got my 4x5 view camera into a place where I liked the composition.
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Taken on 4x5 Film in the early morning sun just outside of Angkor Thom. Although I was doing zone Exposure and developement, I knew I would have trouble keeping details in both shadows and highlights without making the photo go a bit flat. I decided to let the highest zones just burn out a bit and made sure that I kept them away from the edges of my photo so they would not bleed into the margins.