Antoine Themistocleous is a photographer who keeps on traveling the world with his photography. He is now based out of Brooklyn, NY. This blog is about some personal stories and favorite photographs Antoine shares from his experiences.
South of Laos there are a series of about 4,000 islands depending on the monsoon season, just north of Cambodia along the Mekong River. As I was passing along in my travels, hoping to see freshwater dolphins, I met some of the most interesting, wonderfully welcoming people. I stayed at a place called the Mama’s and Papa’s, and soon enough I was kind of adopted by this family. I would go fishing with Papa, help Mama in the kitchen, they would trust me to watch little baby Egg (that’s was his name) as they went to work in the fields, and even the Grandma would ceremonially invite me to toke a rolled one in the evening. In a place where there was no electricity, anybody hardly spoke any English, I had such a great connection with these compassionate people who work hard for every single thing they have. I learned from these people who plan their day around the great daily event of the sunset, and what an electrifying sunset it was. I did catch a glimpse of the small pink dolphin, but I will never forget the experience I had there, and I will be forever honored and grateful to be welcomed to their world. If you are ever in the island of Don Det, go stay at the Mama’s and Papa’s.
Temples of Angkor
This photo essay is not about the temples of Angkor, but more about the people who live and work around these amazing temples, which were built between the 9th and 14th centuries when the Khmer civilization ruled a large portion of South East Asia. Sad to say nothing can be further from the truth now a days, as it’s one of the poorest and most deprived countries in the world recovering from its horrible recent history. I bought a three-day pass to visit the more popular temples, which are clustered about 6 kilometers from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Although these temples are truly magnificent, I am always more captivated by people. Especially the people who are ignored in the shadows of these grand structures, such as the people who protect them, watch over them and keep them clean, the people who sill uses them as places of worship or are there to enhance the experience (or take advantage) of the tourist. In three days I tried to capture the essence of this living space where even nature has a firm grip of claim, other than only treating it as a museum and photographing beautiful ancient sculptures.
Jayavaram VII, who had Angkor Wat built, the most famous of the Angkor temples, spoke of his intentions in erecting temples as being, “full of deep sympathy for the good of the world, so as to bestow on men the ambrosia of remedies to win them immortality….By virtue of these good works would that I might rescue all those who are struggling in the ocean of existence.”
