March 19, 2024

Friday photo: Apsara

I used this week’s Friday photo as an excuse to dig deep into my ancient photo archives. And I came upon this old favourite. Apsaras in stone and in flesh – at the Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap.

Apsara

This is what I had written about these apsaras in a story on these temples for Mint Lounge – “When I first catch sight of them, the apsaras are resting on the cold stones of Angkor Wat. One is flexing her foot, mimicking the action of the stone apsara dancing just behind her on the wall. The others are talking to each other in muted tones, bored expressions on their faces. The American tourist, khaki shorts and all, walks up to them and points with his camera, and they spring into action instantly. As a group, they strike well-rehearsed poses, peacocks flanking the line-up, the boy with the lion’s head in between, a dancing apsara on each side of the utterly discomfited tourist, as his friend clicks. As they pose for the camera, for a dollar, I notice the boredom doesn’t shift from their faces. Shot over, they get back to rest mode without so much as a smile at their temporary benefactor”

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Also see: Friday photoseries
My story on the Siem Reap temples in Temple Performance and more on the town’s apsaras in The apsaras of Angkor.

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