Presence That Does Not Depart
“In silence, the divine becomes visible.”
There are moments when the sacred reveals itself not as light, but as silence. The Silence That Ascends is such a moment—received by the artist in stillness, shaped later in reverence.
A solitary bird lifts through the courtyard of Angkor Wat, its wings arcing over rain-darkened steps that rise toward the sanctuary’s five towers. The stones glisten with stormlight. The towers do not announce themselves—they wait. The bird passes silently between.
Photographed by Lucas Varro on medium format black-and-white film, this image was later refined by hand using classical chiaroscuro methods. The shadows were coaxed gently into presence; the light, allowed to breathe. Each print is hand-toned by the artist in the quiet of his studio, a devotional act mirroring the moment’s original hush.
Printed on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, this edition is strictly limited to 25, with 2 Artist’s Proofs. Each is signed and numbered by the artist on border recto.
But this is not merely a print.
It is a stillness made visible—a place where presence does not pass, but waits. With each breath, the viewer may hear what the stone has not forgotten. The bird is gone. The silence remains.
Collectors of this work receive not only the photograph, but a full companion folio: a Certificate of Authenticity, a printed facsimile of the original Chalk Study, and reflective journal texts from the field—each shaped to honour what cannot be spoken, only shared.
The Silence That Ascends belongs not on a wall, but within a threshold—an opening into what listens beneath the visible.
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
Angkor Wat 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)
There is a silence that rises—not outward, but inward. Before the first light breaks across the sky, before the temple even stirs in silhouette, something ascends. It does not speak. It does not wait. It simply is.
The Silence That Ascends was captured in the second courtyard of Angkor Wat just after heavy monsoon rains had passed. The stone steps, slick with water, lead upward toward the temple’s five towers. A solitary bird lifts through the air, its wings tracing a quiet geometry above the sacred.
Lucas Varro stood alone in that moment, present with breath and lens. Shot on medium format black-and-white film, this image was not composed—it was received. In his studio, he sculpted its depth using classical chiaroscuro techniques, shaping the light with the same care a monk might offer incense. Each print is then hand-toned to mirror the reverent hush of the original moment.
This strictly limited edition of 25 + 2 Artist’s Proofs is printed on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, hand-signed and numbered by the artist. It is an invitation—one that arrives not with clarity, but with mystery.
A stillness is rising where your breath once paused.
To walk deeper into the silence, click here to enter the Artist’s Journal.
