Breath Held in Stone
The trees did not speak. Even the wind withdrew, letting only the mist breathe. The moat received the silence without a ripple. The Deva stood at the threshold—not protecting, not commanding, simply there. His lean was not a gesture. It was listening.
Though his arms were worn by time, they still rested around the naga Vasuki—as if not restraining but remembering. This was not the posture of defence, but of devotion.
In the darkroom, I remembered that silence. I did not shape it into a print. I returned to it, again and again, coaxing the shadows until they softened like breath returning to a body.
His arm does not guard.
It listens. Rests.His torso leans like memory
into the unseen—
not broken, but softened
by centuries of quiet rain.The naga coils at his side.
They are joined still.
Not by force,
but by remembrance.Mist does not hide them.
It anoints.
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.
$250
Preah Khan Temple, Angkor, Cambodia — 2024
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 morning opens like a held breath over Preah Khan, mist unraveling across the moat until stone and water share the same hush. A guardian Deva—scarred by centuries yet unbowed—leans toward the unseen, his remaining arms still gently encircling the naga Vasuki, his silence deeper than the water below.
In that pale interval before birdsong, Lucas Varro stood motionless, feeling the statue’s weathered poise reflect the stillness within his own chest. The lens became less an instrument than a listening ear, attending to the syllables of light as they brushed lichen-flecked skin.
Captured on medium-format analogue black-and-white film with a long exposure that welcomed the drifting vapor, the negative journeyed home to the darkroom. There, classical chiaroscuro guided shadows into dimension, and careful hand-toning breathed warmth into silver so the final print might pulse with the same quiet awe that stirred beside the moat.
Printed as a museum-grade archival pigment work on sustainable Hahnemühle Bamboo paper and restricted to twenty-five numbered prints with two Artist’s Proofs, each sheet embodies a vow of presence and rarity.
Welcome this vigil of quiet stone.
Click here to follow the misted path into the Artist’s Journal.
