SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA — PORTRAITS FROM A TEMPLE
While in Siem Reap, Cambodia, I spent some time visiting a community of novice monks and photographing them around the temple.
Known as sāmaṇera, novice monks are young boys and teenagers who enter the Buddhist monastic community and receive training in Theravada Buddhism. For some, becoming a novice is a short-term part of their religious life, while others may go on to become fully ordained monks.
I was interested in making natural portraits and capturing something of their personalities rather than creating formal or posed images. There was a real openness to the young monks, and some of the best photographs came from simple, unguarded moments.
One of the monks had arrived at the temple that same day. When I arrived, he was having his head shaved as part of becoming a novice. I photographed the process and some of the quieter moments around it, before making a few portraits afterwards.
It was a great experience to be welcomed into the community and spend time with the monks. The photographs are a small record of that time — simple portraits and moments of everyday life around the temple.