Stone relief carving
Cambodia,  Lens-Artists,  Photographic techniques,  Ruins

Angkor: it’s all in the detail

November 10, 2024 / 52 Comments

It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.

David Bailey

A ‘lot of looking’, yes. Our first sight of a potential subject has us reaching for our camera, naturally. And sometimes the first shot we take is great, but often (always?) it could be bettered. We could perhaps find a more interesting angle or move closer to take in the details.

This week for the Lens Artists challenge Patti asks us to choose a subject and take a series of photos, getting closer and closer. She suggests we focus on particular details, varying our shots by changing our perspective or angle of shooting. 

I did a very similar exercise for a previous Lens Artists post a couple of years ago. We were exploring how a set of three photos can tell you much more about a subject than a single image and I chose to focus on buildings. So my personal challenge this week was to find a different approach.

My solution was to focus on one small geographic area, the temples and other ancient ruins that surround the town of Siem Reap in Cambodia. Of these the most famous by far is Angkor Wat, so I have three photos taken there of course. But I’m also including some of the other sites that we visited there.

NB I prepared this post in advance of Patti’s, basing it on the hints we were given. Since seeing hers I realise this isn’t quite what she intended! But I hope it’s close enough to the spirit of her challenge if not the specifics.

Angkor Wat

For many people the name Angkor Wat is synonymous with this whole complex, but it actually belongs just to one temple, albeit a massive one. It was built in the 12th century under King Suryavarman II to honour the Hindu god Vishnu. Its five towers, up to 60 metres high, were designed to be the earthly representation of Mount Meru. This can be seen as the Hindu equivalent of Mount Olympus, the abode of ancient gods. The central tower symbolises the mountain itself, surrounded by lower peaks in the form of the four shorter towers. These in turn are surrounded by continents (the lower courtyards) and by the sea (the moat).

I could (and perhaps one day will) say much more about the structure and our visit there. But for now I will do as Patti suggests and share just three photos. The first was taken just after sunrise. We watched this not from the usual vantage point with this pond in the foreground, as most tourists do, but from one side as recommended by our guide. Consequently we had the actual moment of sunrise to ourselves. But as soon as it was up and the sky just starting to lighten we moved over to the pond. And as the crowds started to disperse (hungry for breakfast) we lingered and got these reflection shots.

Silhouette of temple ruins against a pink sky
Angkor Wat at sunrise

The second image is of a small section of the bas-reliefs that decorate the inner walls of the first level gallery. These mostly depict episodes from Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. However one shows a historical scene, King Suryavarman II in procession, and that is the one I’ve chosen to share here.

Stone relief carving
Bas relief, elephants in King Suryavarman II’s procession

For my final image of Angkor Wat I’ve selected one of many photos I took of the devatas or apsaras. These are depictions of beautiful women, with ornate hairdos and jewellery. If posed standing they are usually referred to as devatas, and if dancing as apsaras. But the terms are also used interchangeably.

Stone relief carvings and windows with stone bars
Windows and devatas, second storey gallery; note how they are all different!

The Bayon, Angkor Thom

Although Angkor Wat is the most famous sight in Angkor, it is not the only one by any means, despite the fact that the two names are often used interchangeably. Angkor in fact means ‘city’ and Angkor Wat the ‘city temple’. But there are over a thousand temples, ranging in scale from mere piles of rubble scattered through rice fields to the grandeur of Angkor Wat itself.

Angkor Thom means ‘Great City’ and it is the largest complex at Angkor by some way. It is a little newer than Angkor Wat which was built under King Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150. After his death a period of instability followed. The Khmer capital, Yasodharapura, was captured by forces from Cham to the east (what is now southern Vietnam). But a Khmer prince rallied his people and defeated the Cham. He then ascended the throne as King Jayavarman VII, in 1181, and built a new city, Angkor Thom.

In the heart of his new city King Jayavarman VII built a temple, Prasat Bayon, probably starting around 1200. This was the last state temple to be built at Angkor and as the king was a Buddhist it is primarily a Buddhist shrine. But there’s a nod also to Hinduism and to local animist deities.

Partly ruined stone towers with carved faces
The Bayon

The Bayon is most famous for the gigantic faces on its towers, all identical. It is thought by many that this is the face of Jayavarman, while others say that the faces are those of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokitesvara. Both theories could be correct in fact. The Khmer kings typically regarded themselves (and were treated) as deities, and what is more likely than that a Buddhist ruler would want to be identified with such a bodhisattva, if not with the Buddha himself?

Partly ruined stone towers with carved faces
Some of the many faces of the Bayon

This was perhaps my favourite of all the places we visited in Angkor, not only because of the mysterious faces that looked down on us at every turn but also the intricate bas reliefs. Our guide Sam pointed out the various stories that these tell. As at Angkor Wat there were battle scenes with generals riding elephants and foot soldiers carrying spears, and a naval battle. But I liked best the ones that showed the details of daily life in those times: monkeys trained to climb trees and pick the coconuts (in my feature photo); a little pig caught up in the wheels of an ox cart; a man blowing on the fire beneath a cooking pot to fame the flames; even a woman giving birth, assisted by a midwife.

Stone relief carving
A woman giving birth under a table

The Elephant Terrace, Angkor Thom

There are few remains of Jayavarman’s royal palace. Most of the buildings would have been of wood as stone was reserved for religious structures. But there are a few stone structures to be found, including some foundations and the encircling wall.

I was particularly fascinated by the Terrace of the Elephants, a 350 metre long platform used by Jayavarman VII to review his troops. Some elephants are depicted facing forwards, their trunk forming a pillar, but most are bas reliefs.

Stone wall with relief carvings of elephants
The Elephant Terrace

The elephants in the parade may look appealing (I do love elephants!) But looking closer you see that some are fighting water buffalo, while one appears to be mauling a child.

Stone relief carving
Elephant apparently mauling a child

In the centre as a break from the elephants is a frieze of alternating garudas and mythical lion-men.

Stone relief carving
Garuda flanked by two lion-men

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm is sometimes known as the Tomb Raider temple because some of the films scenes were shot there. It was built as a Buddhist monastery during the last decades of the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. Unlike some of the other temples the surrounding vegetation has been allowed to ‘take over’ the structures, with trees growing out of the very stones in places.

Ruined temple among trees
Ta Prohm

When we first entered the temple area we encountered quite a crowd of people. They were all queuing to take a photo of one of the most iconic ‘tree root and temple’ images that apparently features in Tomb Raider. We didn’t join the queue, as taking selfies in front of the sights doesn’t interest either of us. But just a few metres further and around a corner, suddenly there was only a handful of tourists and an unobstructed view of the same tree from the far side!

For the rest of our time here we had large parts almost to ourselves, with only a sprinkling of other visitors. It seems most people come to get that shot and move on. But there is a labyrinth of chambers and passages to explore. And as we were to see there is much more to Ta Prohm than one tree, with some beautiful carvings of devatas and apsaras, ornate doorways and many more trees.

Ruined temple with tree roots
Stone relief carvings

Tree roots and devatas

Banteay Kdei

The temple of Banteay Kdei has a peaceful setting among the trees. It was built in the mid-12th to early 13th centuries AD, during the reign of Jayavarman VII, the king who built the new capital city of Angkor Thom, including the Bayon and Ta Prohm. Banteay Kdei is smaller than any of those and was another a Buddhist monastery. Unlike the other places we visited at Angkor, we had this almost to ourselves. There were just two other couples exploring with their guides.

Ruined temple among trees
The entrance to Banteay Kdei
Buddha statue draped in gold and surrounded by colourful flags and offerings

Buddha

Just inside the entrance to the temple is a Buddha statue. Unlike the original statues here, which were disfigured by Hindus in the 13th century and are largely ruins, this is a newer addition. It shows that the temple is clearly still the focus for Buddhist worship.

The ‘Hall of the Dancing Girls’

The first main chamber here is known as the ‘Hall of the Dancing Girls’ because of the number of apsaras and devatas carved on the pillars.

Stone relief carving

I have long wanted to share our explorations of Angkor in this blog but have been daunted by the amount we saw, and photographed! The discipline of choosing just three images from each site has helped to focus my thoughts. Which isn’t to say I might not revisit some of them in more depth in future posts!

I visited Angkor in early 2020

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