Si Pan Don (4000 Islands), Mekong River, Southern Laos (2010)/ Linear Panoramic Photograph, Composite 9 Images/ 27 x 50 (ed.5) 
North Khleang, Angkor Thom, Cambodia (2010)/ Digital Photographs/ 28 x 69 (ed.5) 
Nam Khan River, Luang Prabang, Laos (2010)/ Linear Panoramic Photograph, Composite 25 Images/ 18 x 96 (ed.5) 
Phou Luang (Annamese) Mountain Range, Northern Laos (2010)/ Digital Photograph (ed.25) 
Elephants Terrace, Bayon, Angkor, Cambodia (2010)/ Digital Photograph (ed.25) 
Louang Prabang, Laos (2010)/ Digital Photograph (ed.25) 
Vang Vieng, Laos (2010)/ Digital Photograph (ed.25) 
Parasat Suor Prat Tower, Angkor Thom, Cambodia (2010)/ Digital Photographs, Diptych/ 38 x 50 (ed. 5) 
Ta Prohm, Angkor, Cambodia (2010)/ Linear Panoramic Photograph, Composite 12 Images/ 17 x 72 (ed.5) 
Angkor Wat, Cambodia (2010)/ Digital Photograph (ed.25) 
Luang Prabang, Laos (2010), Digital Photograph (ed. 25)
These images exist as part of a larger body of work titled, Modern Perspectives of Antiquity, created during two months of solo exploration through Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, beginning January 11th and ending March 16th 2010. These images are a few among thousands of frames created during my travels, but are very much indicative of the larger set of experiences, relationships, and perceptions formed throughout my Journey.
I landed in Bangkok without a map or itinerary to follow, and this collection much like my whole journey, was guided into existence by the development of a meditative and ritualistic relationship with place, and its essence. I rarely if ever felt the stress of having to pick my next destination (unlike many tourists I met along the way) as each step forward and each release of the shutter seemed to have been waiting for me, and was aligned in such away to propel me towards the next.
These images were conceived within an instant at the recognition of their individual significant formal qualities, but the act or performance of capturing them was in some cases a long and repetitive process. Luang Prabang River Gardens required seven days of returning to the same location, at the same time, and taking the same series of 25 photographs before I accurately captured all the images in one take necessary to produce the final constructed image. What this image leaves behind are those seven days of work, talking with the novice monks as we swam and played together in the Nam Kahn, the warm setting afternoon sun, and the mutually understood appreciation for this beauty I shared with the local man tending his garden just behind me as I worked. These experiences sustained me and inspired my creative spirit during the hundreds of hours of post-production necessary to produce this series.
Whether roaming the busy streets of Bangkok, the small French colonial alleyways of Luang Prabang, or the ruins of Angkor Wat, I challenged myself to look beyond the preconceived and romanticized visions of Asia, as the land of ancient history, exoticism, mystique, spirit, and conquest; in order to connect with what was right in front of me. While the legendary romantic qualities of original Asia are still very much a part of the its reality (a sentiment evident within these works), it also became clear to me through my experiences and interactions that the quintessential qualities many visitors pursue and those that have made these countries so popular, are threatened by their very attraction. As boarders have continued to open to the outside world, disrespect for tradition caused by a lack of understanding and a sense of tourist entitlement, has formed an obvious tension between past and present, tradition and progress, poverty and prosperity.
The images comprising Modern Perspectives of Antiquity are developed from my own consciousness, ideologies, and connections to these places. Their depiction of seemingly quintessential scenes exist in contrast to their ideological motivations, which suggest the dichotomous relationship between the temporal nature of human civilization and construction, the subverted human empathic bond with the natural world, and our aims toward greater social development.