The Gesture That Light Remembered
The colonnade was still. One last breath of light moved between the stone pillars and found her—the princess seated in silence, her hands not raised but waiting. The women approached with what could not be seen, only sensed. Behind her, the bearers of her palanquin stood without motion, each gesture carved into stillness centuries ago.
I had walked this gallery before, passed this scene without stopping. But that evening, something opened. The sandstone held the light differently, as if it had chosen to receive. It wasn’t brilliance, it was presence—something quiet, weightless, complete.
I set the tripod without sound. I wasn’t seeking to frame the composition; I was listening. The exposure began like a held breath. I remember thinking: the light has come not to illuminate, but to offer itself. I stood there, unmoving, until the shutter whispered closed.
Later, I shaped the image in the quiet of the studio, not to recreate the scene, but to honour it. The tones emerged slowly, the shadows deepened as if they had always been waiting. And when I lifted the final print into the golden bath, the light returned—not as memory, but as blessing.
gold light on still stone
a gift placed in open hands
the sun bows to her
Also in Library
Those Who Keep the Way Open — On the Quiet Guardians of Angkor’s Thresholds
Quiet gestures shape the way into Angkor — a swept stone, a refilled bowl, a hand steadying a guardian lion. This essay reflects on the unseen custodians whose daily care keeps the thresholds open, revealing how sacredness endures not through stone alone, but through those who tend its meaning.
Multiplicity and Mercy — The Face Towers of Jayavarman VII
A new vision of kingship rises at the Bayon: serene faces turned to every horizon, shaping a world where authority is expressed as care. Moving through the terraces, one enters a field of steady, compassionate presence — a landscape where stone, light, and time teach through quiet attention.
Stone That Dreams
Bayon wakes like a mind emerging from shadow. Its many faces shift with light and breath, teaching that perception—and the self—is never singular. In walking this forest of towers, the pilgrim discovers a quiet multiplicity within, held together by a calm that feels both ancient and newly understood.
$250
Angkor Wat Temple, Angkor, Cambodia — 2020
Limited Edition Archival Pigment Print
By Lucas Varro
Edition: Strictly limited edition of 25 + 2 Artist’s Proofs
Medium: Hand-toned black & white archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Bamboo paper
Signed & Numbered: Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist on border recto
Certificate of Authenticity: Included with every print
Image Size: 8 x 8 inches, 20.3 x 20.3 cm
The moment was nearly silent—only the breath of sunset and the hush of stone.
In the great western gallery of Angkor Wat, the sacred narrative unfolds: noble women approach a seated princess with gifts, while the men who carry her palanquin wait in timeless stillness. The carvings, though worn by centuries, catch the sun with grace—each gesture glowing as though kindled from within.
As the final light shimmered through the colonnade, I set the tripod and dissolved into stillness. I knew the image had to carry not only form, but the presence of that golden hush. Through long exposure and the intimacy of medium format black-and-white film, I allowed the light to etch itself into the emulsion—to remember what I could not describe.
In the studio, I shaped the image slowly through classical chiaroscuro, coaxing depth from shadow. And when it was ready, I hand-toned the final print in gold, not to add brilliance, but to return what had been given.
This is a hand-toned archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, in a strictly limited edition of 25 + 2 AP.
A gesture of reverence, preserved in light.
