The Image That Waits with You
She does not ask to be seen. She waits to be remembered.
There is a devata who lives in the shadowed gallery of Angkor Wat’s third tier. Her form is carved in high relief, but her presence feels breathed. She holds a lotus. Her crown lifts toward the lintel’s curve. Her lips bear the gentle wear of centuries of reverent touch. This is no ornament. This is a memory given form.
Lucas Varro encountered her just before sunrise. The temple was empty. Rain had passed. The hush was not silence, but sanctity. Using large-format black-and-white film, he captured her slowly—an exposure lasting minutes. Later, in the studio, he shaped the image through chiaroscuro and hand-toning, coaxing from shadow not clarity, but presence.
The result is She Who Waits in Shadow—an image that reveals nothing quickly, but everything eventually. It is not a photograph of a figure. It is a meeting with stillness.
As part of the Spirit of Angkor series, this work invites the viewer into sacred reciprocity. What you bring to the image, it holds. What you wait for, it gives.
Printed as a hand-toned archival pigment print on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, the edition is strictly limited to 25 + 2 Artist’s Proofs. Each print is signed by the artist and offered as a devotional object of light, breath, and reverent craftsmanship.
This is not a record of what was seen. It is a presence that waits—with you.
Also in My Journal
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.
The Goddess of the Golden Tower
There is a tower the moon remembers—where a king once climbed in silence, and a goddess wove humility into gold. Though the spire has faded, her presence lingers in the hush between breath and stone, waiting for the next soul who dares to kneel before the unseen.
Phimeanakas and the Goddess of Sovereignty
Within the Royal Enclosure of Angkor Thom stands Phimeanakas—the Celestial Palace. More than a monument, it is a myth made stone: where kings bowed to the goddess of the land, and sovereignty meant surrender. A contemplative meditation on sacred architecture, divine right, and the quiet power that still lives between the stones.
$260
Angkor Wat Temple, 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
10.75 x 6.2 inches (27.3 x 15.7 cm)
She waits in the silence of the sanctum, where time has stilled and stone has begun to breathe. Before the sun could reach her, before even the birdsong stirred, she stood in shadow—soft-lipped, bare-shouldered, crowned in stillness.
This devata, carved high into the third tier of Angkor Wat, reveals not only the beauty of divine form, but the sacred patience of centuries. Smoothed by reverent touch and wrapped in the hush of dawn, her presence transcends ornament. She is not a relic—she is remembrance.
The photograph was taken on large-format black-and-white film using long exposure in near darkness. It was shaped using classical chiaroscuro techniques and hand-toned by the artist to honor the emotional atmosphere of the moment. The result is a print of deep dimensionality and reverent quiet.
Each signed and numbered print is rendered on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, in a strictly limited edition of 25 + 2 Artist’s Proofs.
She does not ask to be seen—she waits to be welcomed into silence.
To step further into the breath behind this moment, click here to explore the Artist’s Journal.
