Built between the 9th and the 13th centuries by a succession of 12 Khmer kings, Angkor spreads over 120 square miles in South-East Asia and includes scores of major architectural sites. In 802, when construction began on Angkor Wat, financed by wealth from rice and trade, Jayavarman II took the throne, initiating an unparalleled period of artistic and architectural achievement, exemplified in the fabled ruins of Angkor, centre of the ancient empire. Among the amazing pyramid-and mandala-shaped shrines preserved in the jungles of Cambodia is Angkor Wat, the world's largest temple, an extraordinarily complex structure filled with iconographic detail and religious symbolism. Perhaps because of the decline of agricultural productivity and the expansion of the Thai Empire, Angkor was abandoned in the 15th century and left to the ravages of time. Today many countries are working to conserve and restore the temples, which have been inaccessible until recently. Now that the civil war has ended, Angkor is being reborn and is an increasingly popular tourist destination. Undaunted by the difficulties of travelling through Cambodia and eastern Thailand, Jon Ortner, accompanied by his wife, Martha, photographed 50 of the most important and unique monuments of the Khmer Empire. His images include spectacular views from the rooftops of its temples, glorious landscapes, and details of inscriptions and art that few have ever seen. Reproduced in this publication, the photographs are accompanied by a text written by a team of experts, providing historical, architectural, and religious analyses of Angkor and the Khmer civilization.
Jon Ortner was born in Great Neck, Long Island in 1951. He started painting and drawing at an early age, which laid the foundation for his photography. In college, Jon continued to pursue art, and the study of natural history and ecology. In 1978 he moved to New York City with his wife, Martha McGuire, where they opened a photography studio and continue to collaborate. Jon's books, WHERE EVERY BREATH IS A PRAYER (STC), ANGKOR (Abbeville), and BUDDHA (Welcome Books) are the culmination of numerous journeys to the far corners of the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. A compilation of NYC photographs was published as Manhattan Dawn & Dusk (STC). His award-winning images and stories have appeared in numerous magazines, including GEO, COMMUNICATIONS ARTS, TRAVEL & LEISURE and ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST. Beginning in 2005 Jon turned his focus and passion to the canyons and deserts of the Southwest. From the greatest canyons on earth to the brilliant swirling colors of the Grand Staircase and Vermillion Cliffs, through panoramic portraits of a vast, monumental landscape at once familiar and astounding, Jon shares with us his unique vision of the beauty and incomparable majesty of America's great wilderness.
