Decks of cards in Cambodia demonstrates culture differences

By Angela Scappatura

Paul Snowdon and his wife had been dreaming about quitting their corporate jobs in the U.S. and travelling the world and eventually, they did just that.

The culmination of that trip, which among other places, took them to India, Thailand, and Cambodia, is displayed in his art show, Conversations with Angkor, showing at John Steinberg and Associates from May 1-31 as part of Toronto's CONTACT Photography Festival.

Snowdon, a consultant with Price Waterhouse Coopers who resides at Lakeshore and Bathurst, said he and his wife decided to travel to South East Asia because they wanted to experience some places that were a little more difficult to get to.

After travelling for months on local busses, Snowdon discovered the Angkor ruins in Cambodia and spent hours exploring each temple.

“It is kind of like Egypt where each ruler built a tomb, in Cambodia they built these temples and they progressively became larger and more grandiose,” Snowdon said. “We hired a couple of drivers on motorcycles and spent hours and hours exploring one wat (temple), me with my camera gear and my wife, part porter, part soul mate.”

Snowdon said he was moved by what he termed the “artifact of man intertwined with nature,” and an experience with a single deck of cards transformed his entire outlook.

His wife had taken a deck of cards, and after feeling bad for leaving the drivers waiting while they explored, she decided to give the cards to them.

“We had seen them lounging and sleeping on their motorcycles and we thought we were wasting their time. It was in that exchange with those drivers that we discovered that had it all wrong,” Snowdon said. “For us, doing nothing was a waste, for them it was everything. That just changed the way we traveled the whole time.”

It was in this realization motivated Snowdon to examine the pace at which the western world often travels.

“In the West, it was do as much as you can, when you can,” Snowdon said. “The way they achieve the most is by doing the least.”

The concept that everything is connected is an idea Snowdon hopes people carry away with them after viewing his photography.

“It’s about the common thread that ties the rhythm of the market. We’ve discovered how the smells are different but the rhythm of life is remarkably familiar,” Snowdon said. “The viewers will have the opportunity to see a place that is quite magical.”