Cambodia | Holly Gordon Photographer

: The reflection in the tour bus window caught my eye. Cambodia is shiny and polished on the surface…and what is a beneath the surface is yet to unfold.

: The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia presented a display of costumed manikins dressed in traditional Cambodian garb…a welcoming yet incongruous introduction to this land known for attrocitites.

: This contemporary sculpture grouping symbolize Cambodian youngsters wearing traditional dress and playing musical instruments.

: The Genocide Museum, Tuil Sleng, in Phnom Penh is an austere memorial to the memory of the 20,000 prisoners exterminated here by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. Once an unknown high school, it was turned it into the infamous Security Prison 21…the S-21. In the Khmer language Tuil Sleng means Hill of the Poisonous Trees or Strychnine Hill. Two Cambodians bide their time outside the Genocide Museum while skulls from the horrors can be viewed through the window behind them.

: The Genocide Museum, Tuil Sleng, in Phnom Penh is an austere memorial to the memory of the 20,000 prisoners exterminated here by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. The horrors that occurred to countless prisoners in this room and others like it, is staggering.

: En route to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh, the gentle quietude of the landscape provided a momentary pause from the horrors and atrocities that besieged this country for eons.

: While heading toward Angkor Wat my eyes and senses were having a field day between balancing the old with the new the peace with war. This looks like a place where local people could shop.

: It was a surprise to see this gaily decorated building as we drove from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.

: The light was right and the sky was blue but best of all was the reflected structure in the pond.

: Intrigued by the photograph, I experimented with its presentation and made a black and white image. There is something majestic and timeless in black and white photography and being in this location is definitely timeless and majestic!

: This is Prasat Suor Prat, also called 12 towers, located on the eastern side of the Royal square in Angkor Thom. The architecture of these towers is different from all the other temple buildings and the function of the towers is a mystery. That the light was and mood was magical….is fitting!

: This is Elephant Terrace and opposite Prasat Suor Prat, the 12 towers. My tour guide Chakkritt Ketong has been an absolute doll in helping me to identify parts of Angkor Thom. Many thanks, Chakkritt!

: This massive and ancient metropolis envelops me. My camera and eye want to devour it all…and it is too be a dish to digest.

: I am enthralled and overwhelmed and somehow need to dissect into small pieces to get a grasp.

: Being in this ancient city is mystical. In Khmer it means Great City and in it prime it may have had a poulation of more than 80,000 people. Angkor Thom was the last capital city of the Khmer Empire and established in the late 12th century. With all the war and destruction it is a wonder that so much of it remains to be seen today. Intrigued by the linear construction I recreated my photographs into black and white Asian ink-like images.

: The powerful cloud clad sky made for a perfect backdrop for the majestic lions that stood guard from the end of the 12th century till now.

: The lions now stand guard in black and white.

: We climbed a lot of steps to get to the top of this structure to wait for the sunset…and in an alcove a little boy curled up against the stonewall to take a nap. Children are the same all over.

: It was thrilling to share this sunset with all the people who made the climb to the top at this moment in time…and the sunset made me think of a similar composition…a sunrise I photographed from my bedroom window at home many years ago….Perhaps it will become part of a future blog…look for it!

: Tonlé Sap Lake, not far from Siem Reap, is a popular tourist destination. It is also geological interest because its water changes direction with the dry and rainy season. During the rainy season from June to October, the swelling Mekong River flows into Tonlé Sap Lake, expanding its surface and depth. Then, during the dry season from November to May, the water flows out. Fishing is the way of life here.

: House on stilts at water’s edge to avoid rainy season flooding with fishing boat symbolizes life along Tonlé Sap Lake.

: Tonlé Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in southeast Asia, was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.

: Interspersed among the isolated homes of fishing families along the Tonlé Sap Lake edge was this picturesque housing for monks. My eye is always drawn to the color orange.

: …and then a Buddhist monk watched us go by.

: Fishing important to Cambodian economy. The Cambodian currency is the Riel, which is a small silver carp that is the staple of most diets and caught here in Tonlé Sap Lake.

: Fishing important to Cambodian economy. The Cambodian currency is the Riel, which is a small silver carp that is the staple of most diets and caught here in Tonlé Sap Lake.

: These children waved merrily to us as we passed by.

: Here are two more boys working in the fishing village.

: These two boys were hard at work cutting the silvery carp. At a floating fishing village we saw these children cleaning and preparing fish. The contempt in their eyes cut through me like a knife.

: This scene is so tranquil and serene and I softened it to create agentle pastoral mood.

: Night makes everything look different and I love the scattering of lights in the darkness. Being a Canon camera user I was excited to see the Canon branding light up the night

: I love the neon against the night.

: The night was clear and the lights bright. Darkness obscures and here we are…having just visited antiquity, we are now whizzing through the modern streets of a growing city.

: …and with the developments of digital darkroom technology, I have turned a colorful night of splendor into one of black and white contrast.

: The Royal Palace Phnom Penh is a popular tourist attraction. After hearing the story of Buddha’s birth, I took this closely cropped face with the mystical blossom to establish an intimate personal connection as well as to block the other visitors from my viewfinder! Upon my return home, I showed it to Neil Garvey, publisher of Creations Magazine and he said it would be a perfect cover photo for the next issue of the magazine. (see cover pdf)

: The Royal Palace Phnom Penh is a popular tourist attraction. After hearing the story of Buddha’s birth, I took this closely cropped face with the mystical blossom to establish an intimate personal connection as well as to block the other visitors from my viewfinder and removed the color as an experiment

: The Genocide Museum, Tuil Sleng, in Phnom Penh is an austere memorial to the memory of the 20,000 prisoners exterminated here by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. I eradicated color and made stark black and white composition to visually express the intensity of emotions of being face to face with atrocities I read about and saw on the news.

: I tend to shoot first and ask questions later. I have no idea exactly what I was photographing. I was just caught up creating images in this fantastic place.

: I tend to shoot first and ask questions later. I have no idea exactly what I was photographing. I was just caught up creating images in this fantastic place…and here it is in black and white.

: I tend to shoot first and ask questions later. I have no idea exactly what I was photographing. I was just caught up creating images in this fantastic place.

: I tend to shoot first and ask questions later. I have no idea exactly what I was photographing. I was just caught up creating images in this fantastic place.

: The architecture was amazing and the long corridor augmented a sense of rediscovered mystery and the contemporary sculpture of Richard Serra, too.

: In black and white this image looks like a spider’s web or a black hole…that happens to be white…but it is said that black holes may solve some mysteries of the universe. Angkor Thom was the center of the universe to more than 80,000 people in the late 12th century.

: Here is a detail of a carvings on the wall

: The intricacy of the details and that it survived to awe us today is miraculous. I am stunned by both the massive architecture and the delicacy of the details.

: I tend to shoot first and ask questions later. I have no idea exactly what I was photographing. I was just caught up creating images in this fantastic place.

: This child was too young to be actively working but he was in the boat with his family who were cutting up fish. I wonder if he was thinking that soon he would be cutting up fish too.