ANGKOR WALK

This is the bridge to Angkor Wat. Pre dawn, it shoulders busloads of bleary-eyed tourists with freshly charged cameras and mobiles. The odd one carries canvas, easel and brushes, which is kind of what this shot reminds me of: a patiently crafted oil painting.

BREAKFAST

We pulled over one morning just as the local monks filed across the road for their breakfast, courtesy of equally generous and humbled locals. I watched them patiently queue for rice, all the while picturing my own typical morning, wolfing down cereal, toast and coffee to radio talkback. They were beautiful those brightly robed monks, but felt so strangely alien to a westerner like myself.

BUFFALO MAN

The Buffalo Man knows well his beasts, and they him. The photographer, on the other hand, knows buffalos only from his local zoo. One day, on a remote track, the four of us crossed paths...

BREEZY RIDER

Dusk, the night we boated back from the Floating Village. As if escorting us, this motorcyclist put-putted alongside, untroubled by foreboding winds that started whipping up. Then, with a friendly wave, he was off.

FACE THE FACE (GOT TO FACE THE FACE)...

Remember that Pete Townshend song? It pestered me the morning my trusty guide and I climbed a rarely traversed hill for this unique 'gateway' view. I sat for half an hour, locking eyes with this centuries-old beauty, marvelling at where I was and how incredibly alive I felt. If only I could have expelled that annoying 80s tune from my head...

THE FARMER

All day, most days, the farmer sows his field. He doesn’t complain. His hands are calloused, his face as rusted as the bicycle lying just out of frame. Seconds after this shot, finished for the day, he climbed aboard, smiled broadly and pedalled home.

GIVE WAVE TO LEFT

Passers by en-route to the Floating Village: small boats, like motorbikes, carry large loads in Cambodia. I shoot before the predictable wave of water - and hands.

FISHERMAN, WISHING BOY

Not until I processed this shot did I see the young boy (top left), fixated as we both were on the ice cool chap smoking while he fished. There’s a hint of hero worship to the moment: an impressionable young lad’s hopeful glimpse of the future. Here’s to an equally poised and confident adulthood, minus the ciggies.

HAPPINESS

Trees, sky and fronds reflected in a still lake. A near perfect quiet is broken only by the distant hum of insects. It’s 30 degrees in the shade but feels like 40. I’m resting; a mystical ancient ruin behind me, a Monet-like scene in front. I slowly raise my camera. I’m happy.

IT'S RAINING TODAY

I’ve always loved rain; I’ve always loved trees. Combine the two through a fogged up car window and you get some pretty moody shots.

MEAT MARKETEER

What’s the difference between Aussie market butchers and their Cambodian alternatives? About 30 degrees, that's what.
I know which one I’d sooner buy from, and I know which one I’d rather photograph.

LOGGED ON, CHILLIN’ OUT

What’s the only thing more seductive than television, religion and Coca Cola? Sure enough, the mobile phone!

RAIN DAUGHTER

Who needs soft drink when there’s fresh rainwater to catch? Not this little girl, who studiously filled a can during a downpour at her parent’s restaurant. Job complete, she let out a giggle and tipped the lot on the ground.

OARSOME!

You get so used to kids smiling in and around Siem Reap, you’re taken aback when one fixes a hard stare down the lens. Good on him, I say!

SIEM RIPPLE

A fallen stick, a sudden ripple, a knee jerk snap, a fundraiser photo...

SIEM RIDE

I always dress shabbily shooting street photography. After all, when you’re lying next to dirty puddles, you don’t need top hat and tails. Passers by often titter, but one man’s filthy puddle is another's intriguing mirror to the world. I’m the latter man.

SPLISH SPLASH (I WAS TAKIN’ A DASH)

For much of the year, when the Floating Village isn't floating, kids frolicking in the street kick up dust. In rainy season, though, every step raises a splash. And don’t they love it!

SKIPPING SCHOOL

I’m unlikely to ever see these joyous TGF students again, but I will cherish this special, candid little moment, captured at f/2.5, 1/160s and 800 ISO. I wish for them happy, healthy lives filled with ice-cream, jelly, kites, gentle lions (and not too much homework).

THE DAILY COMMUTE

I got to thinking at the Floating Village: do locals have cars during the dry season, and if so, where do they park them? Is this chap off to work, or simply nipping out for supplies? One things's for sure, there are worse ways to travel.

THE BIG CLEAN

Even in the wet season, dust is a drag is Cambodia. Committed women (mostly) sweep seemingly endless streets, only to repeat the process the following morning. For a brief moment here, done with the dust, I wondered if this determined lady was going to put all those strewn boulders and columns in order. I wouldn’t have put it past her...

WORK. LIFE. BALANCED.

A cherished photo from Siem Reap’s bustling market. I never met this woman; she never even saw the camera, but I look at her every day, modestly framed in our hallway, and delight in an expression that’s equal parts tired and content. I wish I’d taken the time to say hello!

TIME TO REFLECT

While most around it crumbled, Angkor Wat has stood bold and beautiful for 900 years. Abandoned for centuries, its dawns were once solitary affairs. Today, the morning sun casts light on thousands of tourists, craning necks and snapping Nikons. This was taken in the afternoon, when the morning’s thick crowds thankfully thin.