Angkor: The Serenity of Buddhism

Angkor, the ancient seat of the god-kings of Cambodia, is the great treasury of Khmer artistic culture whose evocative, enigmatic sculptures are known throughout the world. Marc Riboud, the celebrated French photographer, visited the site several times, first in the late 1960s and most recently in November 1990, capturing its monuments and inhabitants before and after the terrible years of the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields.
Riboud shows not only the toppled edifices, the lichened Buddhas and the roofless galleries of Angkor's two most famous sites of Angkor Wat and the Bayon, but the invasive power of the surrounding jungle, whose roots and creepers crawl over the stonework, clawing at the vast impassive faces of the monuments. The still undefiled relief carvings of graceful dancers and smiling devatas are juxtaposed with French and Japanese graffiti, and the friezes depicting the battles of the Khmer kings with modern mementoes of conflict in the shape of Kalashnikov rifles and war cripples. But Angkor has become host to the revival of life and faith in Cambodia: Riboud watched and recorded in 1990 as hundreds of monks and thousands of pilgrims converged for a three-day festival in honor of a statue of the Buddha, rekindling a tradition almost extinguished by years of savage persecution.
Riboud's masterly images are complemented by his own descriptive essay, along with texts on Angkor's recent history and its Buddhist foundations from Jean Lacouture, the celebrated writer, and Jean Boisselier, former curator of the National Museum of Phnom Penh. Together they present a moving portrayal of this mysterious wonder, a collage of timeless beauty and spiritual dignity scarred by contemporary brutality.

Although Angkor, the ancient Khmer Empire's spiritual center in Cambodia, has been ravaged by the forces of man and nature, its beauty and magnificence still provoke the most profound response. The massive Buddhas, colossal towers, intricate bas-reliefs and friezes, and sensuous devatas, as depicted in photographer Riboud's impressive black-and-white prints, maintain a majesty that countless conquests and Pol Pot have not erased. Snakelike roots of trees hundreds of years old and lichen have done much to alter the geography of the land, but human life has returned to the ruins, as Riboud's pictures show: shaved-headed Buddhist monks and Kalashnikov-armed soldiers make their presence known. Brief essays by the photographer and two historians, Jean Lacouture and Jean Boisselier, and captions to the photos by Madeleine Giteau accompany this handsome, oversize volume. Benjamin Segedin

Angkor, the ancient domain of the kings of Cambodia, is an area of exotic architecture and rich history, both ancient and modern; it would present a thrilling challenge to the photographer. This disappointing collection by French photographer Riboud is an erratic mixture of images that does not express well the theme suggested in the book's subtitle. The photographs are simply snapshots--many blurred, distorted, or grainy--of monks, tree trunks, and stone ruins. The photographs tell nothing about the grandeur of the Angkor site and little of its significance in royal Khmer culture. Captions to the photographs are bunched together at the back of the book, leaving the reader to flip forward and backward constantly. The essays by Riboud and Jean Boisselier, a former curator of the National Museum of Phnom Penh, are informative but not especially insightful regarding new ideas or beliefs. Not recommended.
- Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.