FOREWORD

I was at an annual Pasadena Antique show and there under a table full of expensive Hispanic art was a box full of yellow old dog-eared envelopes used to protect photographic negatives. What immediately caught my eye was the word Siam on one envelope. That name told me that whatever was in the box was from before June 23, 1939, when that country became Thailand.

I wasted no time putting in an offer for the envelopes which was immediately accepted and I rushed home with approximately 1000 four by five negatives in it. I could not determine who the photographer was but the pictures covered not only Siam but also Bali, China, Java, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Nanking, Shanghai and Cambodia. I had stumbled upon an absolute archival treasure. From some of the dates on the envelopes I determined that all images where created in 1920.

Of all the negatives the ones that got my attention were from Cambodia. These images were absolutely fascinating and depicted the ruins at Angkor Wat. I immediately printed them up in my darkroom. The moment the images began to take shape in the developing tray I was hooked. I wanted to see more. I wanted to learn more about this mystical place on the other side of the world. So off I went to see for myself and create my own images.

In Cambodia I found a young man who was willing to help me find the exact locations of my old images. It took us eight days to locate the sites and for the most part we were able to position my camera in the same spot as the mystery photographer of 1920. What started as a curiosity turned into a bit of an obsession. I wanted to capture the changes that time and the elements and neglect had wrought on this grand monument by placing the old and new photos side by side.

What I also found in this place were people who have persevered in the face of long suffering but who are, at the same time, in danger of losing touch with a glorious past and a magnificent culture. In spite of an indifferent outer world to their enormous struggles, there persists a faint but discernable spark of commitment to preserve the threads that connect them to their ancestors and a proud heritage.

This book pays tribute to that commitment and the modest hope that that spark is never extinguished.