Sanctuary

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  • Author: Steve McCurry
  • Publisher: Phaidon
  • Catalogue: 136301
  • Size: 19x28cm
Sanctuary is a captivating photographic portrait of the Angkor Temples of Cambodia by the globally acclaimed Magnum photographer Steve McCurry. McCurry has beautifully and evocatively photographed the temples of Angkor, which rank amongst the world's most impressive monuments. Over one hundred of his images of the site are collected in this stunning book, which documents a magical world of carved gods, weathered masonry, tangled vegetation and orange-robed monks.

Angkor was the capital of the Khmer rulers from the end of the ninth century to the mid-fifteenth. Each built a state temple at the capital surrounded by walls, moats and embankments which were laid out in accordance to cosmological precepts. Designated a World Heritage site by Unesco, the temples attract tourists, archaeologists and art historians, as well as remaining a pilgrimage destination for Buddhist monks.

McCurry first visited Angkor on an assignment for National Geographic magazine, for whom he has taken famous photographs all over the world. He has made many return visits, capturing overall a sublime portrait of the buildings, sculpture and people of Angkor. The winner of numerous honours, including first prize in the World Press awards and the Robert Capa Gold Medal, McCurry has previously published Portraits and South Southeast (both with Phaidon).

The photographs are accompanied by an informative introduction on the history and meaning of Angkor by John Guy, a leading authority on the cultural history of Southeast Asia. Guy is curator of Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and Consultant to Unesco on historical monuments in Southeast Asia.