Notes from Cambodia

The smell is overwhelming, causing flashbacks to Thailand and nearly stunning me. Unique to Asian towns this smell is hard to describe and must be experienced. A mixture of meat, fish, rice, vegetables, traffic, people, heat, spices, humidity and sewage in one very strong cocktail that is to be found no where else but here in Asia. A smell I have not experienced for more than a year, opening the flood banks of memories.

The people, the traffic, the street kitchens are the next flashbacks. I observe thousands of people, motorbikes, cars, tuk tuks and bicycles. Life is lived on the streets where countless street kitchens, shops, restaurants, guest houses all humming with activity. Cambodia in the rural areas is charming and can be gorgeous, reminds me much more of Indonesian Borneo than Thailand. Perhaps Thailand like it was 50 years ago. People are friendly, smiling and very curious and often speak quite a bit of English.

This is Cambodia and I have been here 5 days now. I am very exhausted of traveling, but the images are worth the effort. Time only allows me to present a few images. Very much unfinished products and not final selections nor editions, these are simply undeveloped raw travelogue previews from my days in Cambodia. More tales to come later.

Capturing portraits at the markets of Phnom Penh and sharing many laughs:

cambodia-market-laughs-720 copy

Discovering a Khmer Jedi apprentice in a village:

cambodia-jedi copy

A 77 year old woman monk praying. Apparently she’s still a young apprentice.

cambodia-monk praying copy

“So we baked two cakes and had a cigaret” – relaxing at the temple.

cambodia-monks-ciggy! copy

The next two images was from a day of shooting at Angkor Wat. We had two fantastic young monks as models and it was one brilliant day of shooting. I have 715 images of these two monks in Angkor Wat and it will be some challenge to pick out the best as they are all interesting. Angkor Wat is the finest expression of art and architecture I have seen.

cambodia-angkor-monk copy

cambodia-tree-of-life

Flemming


My guide in Cambodia was Nathan Horton – looking for a great photographer to guide you in Cambodia, Nathan Horton Photography comes highly recommended.

15 Comments on “Notes from Cambodia”

  1. Hi there Flemming, well, you truly are on a journey of a lifetime.. an inspiration to us all. Well done!!!

    Will catch up one of these days in the Big Wide World.

  2. Last 2 images are wonderful.

    Your description of the smell of Asia is very evocative. I grew up with that smell so I never noticed it much until staying away for almost a decade. Much to my surprise, I found it in Singapore, that bastion of modernity and sterility. I guess the heart of some things cannot be changed. And all the better for it.

    Sounds like you're having years of experiences crammed into a few short weeks (think it's the vibe of your words). Insane, fantastic. You're my conduit of vicarity 🙂

  3. Flemming, i love your raw unprocessed images, especially the old man in the temple with the incence, i think you are really capturing something special here. Great description too, very evocative and allowed me to live a bit of it with you.

  4. Hey Flemming

    Some gorgeous images here. My favorites are the 77yr old women praying, the monk at Angkor Wat and the Tree of Life.

    All of these images have more dramatic lighting and are much moodier. I think when you finish the processing these will be killer images.

    I'm sure you are having a ball.

    Brent

  5. Hi Flemming, great read, brings back memories for me from thailand!

    Great set of images. I must admit, I prefer the 'in the moment' natural shots over the model shots (love the Jedi apprentice shot).

    You have 715 images of these two guys, I would aim for the ones that look the most natural, like you a capturing a moment in their usual day to day activities. I really like the 'Angkor Wat and Monk' shot concept, however it just looks a bit staged to me.

    Look forward to seeing some more! Hopefully catch you down south soon too!

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