Before the Shutter, a Breath
A single leaf moved, then stilled. The wind, like the breath of someone dreaming, passed gently through and was gone. Rain clung to the fig’s bark in thin silver strands. The threshold held its posture—open, but not offering.
The scene had completed itself. All that remained was to listen. To lower the camera like an offering. To place one’s silence against another silence and wait.
The shutter opened. Light gathered without urgency, as if drawn by scent rather than speed.
The roots remember more than the wall—
sky translated into sap,
stone softened by chant,
names the Kala continues to chew.Within their narrow veins,
silence travels—
a slow, deliberate river
seeking the temple’s unlit heart.And I,
a brief glint of stillness,
carry back one breath
before it returns
to hush.
Also in Library
The Worm of Salt and Silence: A Myth of Creation and Ruin
The Worm of Salt and Silence rises from the ocean's depths, devouring, transforming, and shaping the land. As a boy enters its jaws, the boundaries of hunger and creation collapse, giving birth to a new world. This myth of death and rebirth unfolds in tides of flame and silence.
The Gate Beneath the Temple
A gate listens where a temple breathes. Smoke clings like a mirror, vows soften like wax, and every prayer falls downward as bread to a mouth carved in stone. Hunger speaks in liturgy and withdraws in hush. You feel the crown’s weight without jewels. You hear it. You carry it.
A Scroll Carried by Wind
Zhou Daguan came to Angkor to observe—but found a kingdom that defied explanation. This introductory scroll welcomes new readers into The Wind That Carried Me to Zhenla: a poetic resurrection of the 13th-century emissary’s journey, revoiced with reverence, wonder, and the hush of temple stone.
$250
Ta Prohm, 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)
There are doorways that do not open into rooms, but into listening.
At Ta Prohm, before the jungle stirred, I stood before one such portal. Two trees—one strangling, one yielding—had braided themselves into the stone, their roots clinging like hands to a forgotten threshold. Above, the Kala’s mouth devoured time. Below, silence pressed against the dark.
The photograph was made slowly, as breath returned to the forest after rain. I worked with a large-format analogue camera, allowing the long exposure to gather what little light there was. In the studio, I shaped each silver tone by hand, using classical chiaroscuro to echo not just the scene, but the hush I felt inside it.
The final print is an 8 × 8-inch archival pigment print on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper. The edition is strictly limited to 25, with 2 Artist’s Proofs. Each piece is hand-toned, signed, and numbered on border recto, and includes a certificate of authenticity.
Let this image become a threshold of stillness in your space.
Click here to step through the breath of the image into the Artist’s Journal.
Previously titled ‘Strangled Doorway, Ta Prohm 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.
