Lot 13: RUSSEL WONG (b. Singapore 1961)

Passages, Ta Phrom, 2001
numbered '6/25' (lower left) and signed (lower right)
giclee print on archival watercolour paper
28 x 35 1/8 in. (71 x 89.2 cm.)
Executed in 2001, this work is number six from an edition of twenty-five.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Taksu Gallery, 16 July 2005.
Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, RUSSEL WONG: PHOTOGRAPHS 1980-2005, 8 January - 20 February 2005.
Singapore, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, STARRY STARRY NIGHT, 7 January 2005.
Singapore, Utterly Art Gallery, Uncommon Ground, 26 June 2003.

Ta Phrom temple is situated in a jungle in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was built in the 13th century and re-discovered by French explorers in the late 19th century. No particular restoration or conservation of the site has been undertaken, as marked by the surrounding trees that have encroached onto the site. The original ruins remain untouched and was the filming location for the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raiders in 2001. Almost like a disclosure of a secret space, Passages, Ta Phrom, 2001 is immediate to the eye and inviting to the viewer to step into this sanctified scope of the tranquil temple setting. In this work, the magnified enclosed space frames the details within, drawing the eye to the perspective of the photographer.

The shot of Passages, Ta Phrom, 2001 was captured by an antique 8 x 10 in. Wisner view camera and Rodenstock 360mm lens. Russel studied the various light conditions of the day before deciding on composing this shot during dawn. This work was one born out of the photographer's trip to Cambodia in 2001.