A Prayer Cradled in Brick
Evening lowers itself through the open roof like an invisible offering. The air smells of sun-warmed clay and leaf-shadow. I step into the chamber as one might step into memory, though I have never been here before.
Lakshmi, supreme Shakti, stands in glowing relief—four arms raised in celestial symmetry, her feet flanked by carved devotees softened by time. She does not seem carved into the brick so much as revealed from within it.
The light glows through her, not merely upon her. It is this inner radiance I try to receive with the lens. One long exposure: forty seconds of stillness, dust, and grace. Later, in the studio, I’ll try to give the print that same quiet ember. But this moment already contains it.
Last gold on red brick—
Shakti keeps the dusk alight,
roots listen for dawn
Also in Library
The Wall That Still Holds Them
Two presences endure within a wall that no longer closes seamlessly around them. One withdraws into shadow; the other comes further into the light of legibility. Around them, fracture, erosion, and carved stone become a single field of custody, where grace survives within damage, not beyond it.
The Lantern Chronicles · A Growing Library of Stone, Fire, Thought, and Silence
A brief note for readers of this Journal: The Lantern Chronicles has grown into a small library of related rooms — Angkor, myth and legend, philosophy, and poetry. If you have found something here that speaks to you, I am now offering a 7-day free trial to step further inside.
The Mercy of the Unfinished
What if perfection is not fullness, but exemption from life? This essay explores why the unfinished may be more truthful than the flawless, and why beauty often begins where smoothness, innocence, and control begin to fail.
$250
Kravan Temple, Angkor, Cambodia — 2020
Limited Edition Archival Pigment Print
Edition
Strictly limited to 25 prints + 2 Artist’s Proofs
Medium
Hand-toned black-and-white archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Bamboo — a museum-grade fine art paper chosen for its quiet tactility and reverent depth, echoing the spirit of the temples.
Signature & Numbering
Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist on the border (recto)
Certificate of Authenticity
Accompanies every print
Image Size
8 x 8 inches (20.3 x 20.3 cm)
A final breath of sun threads through the broken roof of Prasat Kravan and brushes Lakshmi into living gold. She emerges from the brick wall—not only as the goddess of wealth and beauty, but as the supreme Shakti, consort of Vishnu, and one third of the sacred Tridevi. Her arms open into blessing, her presence woven into the silence like a lamp still lit.
The chamber stills. The air holds centuries of incense, murmured prayers, and vanished flame. In that hush, I recognize not just sculpture but presence—offered, intact. I open the lens and let the moment settle into silver.
Captured on large-format black-and-white film, the image was later shaped through chiaroscuro and delicate hand-toning to restore the glow that dusk had granted. Printed on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, each print holds the warmth of that shrine, lovingly preserved. The edition is limited to twenty-five numbered impressions with two Artist’s Proofs.
Let this quiet ember of divine Shakti dwell as a radiant threshold in your space.
Click here to step into the Artist’s Journal and trace the path of her golden breath.
Previously titled ‘Lakshmi, Study 2, Kravan Temple, Angkor, Cambodia. 2020,’ this photograph has been renamed to better reflect its place in the series and its spiritual tone. The edition, provenance, and authenticity remain unchanged.