I'm guessing I visited the Angkor Wat main complex in 1993. I base this guess on the slides in my library that precede and follow these.
My metadata from back then consistsd of the notes I took at the time. If I took any notes of this trip, then I'm misplaced them.
To me, that's my answer to people who say you shouldn't be experiencing life through the viewfinder or the screen of your phone. I think they're missing the point.
The photo, looking back in time, becomes the hook on which all those experiential memories and emotions hang. Viewing the photograph retrieves all my memories in a way that simply “thinking back” can't.
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In 1993, Cambodia was still emerging from the insanity of the prior 25 years of war. Those included the murderous five-year reign of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979.
Landing in Phnom Penh, the airfield was dotted with white-painted helicopters and C-130s of the UNTAC force. They were there to support elections following the paris Peace Accords of 1991.
Indeed, while I was at the airport a large crowd gathered. Apparently they were not there to send me off. Rather, they had gathered to catch a glimpse of Norodom Sihanouk arriving.
I snatched two frames of the Sihanouk as I waited for my flight to Siem Reap. This places my visit to Angkor no earlier than May 1993. Who knows, maybe I witnessed Sihanouk's return after a six-month spell of medical treatment in Beijing.
Because of the political state of the country at the time, there were very few tourists at Angkor Wat back then. In Siem Reap, I met some UN-funded mine-clearing teams. Their advice, over beers in the evening, was to stay on the well-trodden footpaths.
Otherwise, I pretty much had the place to myself. There were some locals, mostly farmers, and monks. I also met a few dedicated conservators, trying bravely to both hold back the ravages of time and the wanton destruction wrought by the Khmer Rouge.
I rented a Honda Cub motorbike to get around. The Honda was equally capable on the dirt paths and roads as the pot-holed metaled surfaces that tied the Angkor Wat temple complexes together back then. Thankfully it didn't rain while I was there.
Image Processing
I would have captured the original image on Fuji film. Most likely it is 50-ISO Velvia which was my go-to film for a long time. I did also use 100-ISO Fuji Provia and 100-ISO Kodak Ektachrome.
In a years long on-and-off process I digitized all my slides using a Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED.
For this image I:
- Cropped and aligned in Adobe Lightroom Classic (desktop)
- Cleaned up the image using Topaz Denoise AI. (Note that Denoise AI is $59.99 through June 12, 2020 – save $20 off the regular price)
- Replaced the sky using Skylum Luminar 4 (it was an overcast day when I took this image)
- Used Adobe photoshop to improve the reflection in the pond
- Returned to Adobe Lightroom classic for some more color adjustment and to add a vignette.
