Over on the other page we do street photography, and while this is hardly a street, and indeed it was on location for another shot, it is about moment, that essential ingredient in all unobserved photography.
First, the setting and the purpose. This was part of an assignment for the Smithsonian magazine, a cover story on Angkor. I photographed the temples extensively over a number of years, and indeed a shot of the main temple, Angkor Wat, featured in this space in the last week of June. But that was much earlier, when the country had hardly begun to emerge from its terrible two decades of the Khmer Rouge. The temples then were deserted; no tourists. Here, several years later, it had already become a major tourist destination, and that meant that the story – any story – had changed. It was no longer about abandoned temples. This story was about restoration and the issues involved with opening it up to visitors from around the world. The primary focus was another temple, Preah Khan, and its restoration program. The organization responsible was raising funds partly by inviting a few tourists at a time to attend dance performances actually in the temple. There was nothing inappropriate about this; traditional Khmer dance, which had almost disappeared under the Khmer Rouge, who murdered many dancers, began as a temple activity. The schools were being revived. I had the opportunity and permission, so I arranged for a dance troupe from the town, Siem Reap, to put on a performance in the original Hall of the Dancers.
As the dancers, who included young girls learning the craft, prepared backstage (in an alcove in the ancient stone temple), I watched. They were all nearly ready, and the senior girls sat composed, waiting. The younger girls were rather less composed. A little competition arose, very quickly, but I was there and ready. Time only for one shot, of course. Well, we all saw Black Swan, right? Apprentice dancers learning their inevitable backstage craft!