Bakong’s Dawn and the Art of Devotion
“Some silences walk beside us, carrying the dawn.”
Bakong Temple, oldest of Angkor’s state pyramids, was raised as a terrestrial echo of Mount Meru. Its five tiers once shimmered with stucco and gold; now weather and vine have gentled the edges, granting the monument a grave intimacy. Yet each morning a living monastery stirs within the outer enclosure, folding contemporary prayer into ninth-century stone.
On one such dawn Lucas Varro waited beyond the northern moat, the humidity still fragrant with monsoon rain. He sought neither spectacle nor solitude, only a conversation between light and living breath. It arrived in the unguarded moment when a monk approached the stair and his dog rushed down to meet him. Their exchange, tender and wordless, awakened the pyramid’s geometry, reminding the stair why it rises.
Using a large-format camera, Varro allowed a prolonged exposure to receive that delicate tension—stone, mist, footfall, and the invisible filament of loyalty. In the studio, under safelight silence, chiaroscuro revealed hidden contours, and layer upon layer of hand-applied gold warmth restored the faint ember of dawn. Printed on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, each sheet becomes a quiet reliquary, holding breath, silver, and time.
The edition is strictly limited to twenty-five impressions and two artist’s proofs, each signed on the recto margin. Yet rarity alone does not confer value. What endures is the hush that lingers—an invitation to stand where prayer and companionship balance on a single stair, reminding us that devotion often arrives on four feet before echoing through stone.
For collectors, this print offers more than an image; it is a companion in stillness, crafted through hours of analogue care and the silent dialogue between artist, temple, and first light. It asks only to be received, and in receiving, to open a space where dawn can forever begin again.
Also in Library
From Mountain to Monastery
Angkor Wat survived by learning to change its posture. Built as a summit for gods and kings, it became a place of dwelling for monks and pilgrims. As belief shifted from ascent to practice, stone yielded to routine—and the mountain learned how to remain inhabited.
Why Theravada Could Outlast Stone
Theravada endured by refusing monumentality. It shifted belief from stone to practice, from kings to villages, from permanence to repetition. What it preserved was not form but rhythm—robes, bowls, chants, and lives lived close together—allowing faith to travel when capitals fell and temples emptied.
The End of Sanskrit at Angkor
The final Sanskrit inscription at Angkor does not announce an ending. It simply speaks once more, with elegance and certainty, into a world that had begun to listen differently. Its silence afterward marks not collapse, but a quiet transfer of meaning—from stone and proclamation to practice, breath, and impermanence.
$280
Bakong Temple, Angkor, Cambodia — 2018
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)
The moat still murmured with last night’s rain when Bakong’s stone pyramid emerged into morning mist. Trees stood in quiet formation, their leaves damp with remembrance. The air was breathless, waiting.
Then—soft footsteps. A solitary monk stepped onto the path, saffron brushing shadow. His dog appeared at the stair’s base, bounding upward with familiar joy. At that instant, the ancient geometry of the temple seemed to inhale.
From across the moat, I opened the large-format lens. The exposure was long, silent—letting light and reverence gather in equal measure.
In the darkroom, chiaroscuro shaped the form until the stair held presence. Warm gold-toning followed—gently hand-applied to echo the robe, the dawn, the intimacy of this shared return.
Printed on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, in a strictly limited edition of 25 + 2 AP, each hand-toned print is signed on the recto.
Let this image enter your space as a quiet threshold between prayer and companionship.
Click here to walk further into the Artist’s Journal.
Previously titled ‘Monk and Friend, Bakong Temple, Angkor, Cambodia. 2018,’ this photograph has been renamed to better reflect its place in the series and its spiritual tone. The edition, provenance, and authenticity remain unchanged.
