Morning Rower
Tonlé Sap, Cambodia

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Just minutes after departing from Siem Reap for Battambang, our boat passed this rower on the Tonlé Sap. Managing just one frame, I was fortunate to freeze the subject's motion when I did. From the moment I saw the image, it became a favorite. The rower's strong, steady gaze - while "classically Khmer" - seemed strikingly beautiful. I was pleased, too, by the composition of image elements (his hands and toes, the positioning of his oar) and the softness of the early morning light.

Often in Southeast Asia, the sun's light is so harsh that colors are lost - both in a captured image and in real life. As a result, I tended to work even harder than I otherwise might to shoot in the early morning and late afternoon (even forcing myself to rise ahead of the sun for much of the trip). This shot was taken just after sunrise.

See the associated map for a description of the unusual Tonlé Sap.

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