south and the Kulan hils in the north. The generally accepied dates for the
The last major king was Jayavarman ViI (roigned 1181-1220) He undertook a
how land can hold the subtie yot indel blo imprint of thoso who ivod betore us
Angkor Period are 802 10 1432 it began when kng Jayavarman il conducted a
of the Khmers trom Angkor·first to Basan on the eastern side of the Mekong
homever, is absolute, as the area of Angkor was occupied both before and atter
etiorn, coming after so many bloody batties, could not but drain the faciities and
onergy of the naton so that from the beginning of the 13th century, after the
representations puil mo visualy imo the history of the placo. My chatenge as a
the camera faithfully described into something of fiction while acknowledging the
continuum of its history hnd my muse that adge of history and landscape
and than of their heritage. Already in 1296 the Chineee envoy Zhou Daguan
gave some indication of this growing pressure, which must have resulted in the
final siege of 1431, which lasted, accordng to Thai chronicles for seven months
In 1993. hcugh gunfire was stil common at Angkor because of the long-running
civi war, Iwas ankious to be surrounded by this colossal architecture that I had
reading of the inscriptions on stone. Nothing remains of the tinted parchmen
only a
kept me restrained to use only the main paths, I cimbed freely up the trees and
over the wals of the ruins, protected by the visions of the God-Kings
characters ware blackened wth a pad These vory parishable racords were not
Angkors monuments are spread throughout the foreat Heading north from
Siem Reap, you first come to Angkor Wat, then the waled cty of Angkor Thom
which also contains the Bayon temple To the east and west of this city are two
no inscriptions from his reign have been tound. He asserted his control and
are temples and monasteries, including Ta Prohm North of Angkor Thom is the
monastery of Preah Kahn and way beyond in the northeast, Banteay Srei and
Phnom Kuen, To the east of Siem Reap is the Roluoe group of early Angkor
I use the olongated shape of the 7x17 because it is more narrative and allows
the horizon to stretch out ike the curvature of the earth The forrmat aso places
people dloser to the landscape, narrowing the space botwean the ground and
cky, onabing me to make very elaborate descriptions within the frame. My
nterest in the panoramic shape led me to Asia where this form originated The
He then moved his base three more tmes. At the beginning ot the ninth cenbury
norneast of Angkor Thom, and it is at this site that the inscriptions say
In 802 and marked the unification of the Khmer state and the beginning of the
beiet, the devaraja god-king cuit Hs son Yasovarman, judging his powor to bo
worthy of its name. This was Yasocharapura, the first Angkor. Angkor was to
formations, offarod a landscape that was entirely untamiliar to me. it was here
The name of Angkor evokes an ancient Asan cMIzation renowned for its art
and architecture Angkor Thom, as the city itself was caliad, was the political
center of the Khmer empire and is situated 139 mies north of modern Phnom
Penh in what is now Siem Reap province. The town of Siem Reap (The deteat
of the Samesa), the provincial captal, is four miles south of Angkor Wat, the
The core of the Khmer empire renained in the vicinity of Angkor for over 500
Angkor ia aituatod in a large basin framed by the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) in the
remain the capital during the following centuries of battie and glory, oxcopt for a
