John Thomson
1866 (taken) 1867 (print)
Palace of the Leprous King

Albumen silver print
19.1 x 23.5 cm
 
National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada
Gift of C. Ainslie Loomis, Brantford, Ontario, 1993, No. 37368.12
 
Curatorial description (accessed: 6 December 2015)
John Thomson was running a portrait studio in Singapore and feeling rather bored with photographing other European residents when he resolved to embark on a dangerous expedition to the interior of Cambodia. With an entourage of some twelve assistants, guides, and boatmen, he reached the ancient temple-palace of Angkor Wat, and spent several days photographing and mapping the ruins and the former Cambodian capital, Inthapatapuri. His published album includes views of the temple gateway's western facade, details of portal carvings, and bas-reliefs depicting battles, triumphant processions, and other scenes from the epic poem "Ramayana".
 
LL/63279