Threshold of Light, Breath of Stone
“She listens where the light returns.”
In the Cruciform Galleries of Angkor Wat, light slips down through fractured stone to greet a Devata long embedded in silence. She holds a lotus in one hand. Her gaze drifts downward. Neither supplication nor pride—only presence. The balusters behind her cast lines of shadow that seem older than time.
Lucas Varro did not approach her with intention to capture. He stood in silence. The exposure was long, measured by breath rather than seconds. The resulting photograph was shaped not for contrast or clarity, but to allow the hush to emerge—layered in chiaroscuro and hand-toned by reverent hands.
She is not a relic. She is a threshold.
Her posture, marked by grace and restraint, evokes the apsaras of Khmer mythology—not in their movement, but in the stillness that remains after they depart. She becomes less a figure and more a gesture of light returning to form.
Echo in the Pillars belongs to the Spirit of Angkor series, a body of work that dwells not in history, but in listening. Each image a prayer. Each shadow a remnant of presence.
This print is created as a museum-grade archival pigment print on warm-toned Hahnemühle Bamboo paper. It is available only in a strictly Limited Edition of 25 prints + 2 Artist’s Proofs, signed and numbered by the artist and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.
To live with this piece is not to observe it, but to be accompanied by it. It enters a space not as an object, but as a silence willing to stay.
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, 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)
Light arrives as a breath, threading the broken roof of Angkor Wat’s Cruciform Galleries and finding a Devata carved into shadow. A lotus rests in her hand; her gaze bows toward the floor as if listening for a music long withdrawn. For one reverent moment, the centuries loosen their grip.
The corridor—quiet as inhalation—echoes with neither chant nor footfall. Columns recede into darkness, yet the stone figure lifts a tremor of dawn into the heart of the temple. She is remembrance carved into presence.
I met her in that hush. Composed on large-format black-and-white film during a prolonged exposure, the negative gathered silence instead of motion. In the darkroom I coaxed chiaroscuro forward, hand-toning each print until light spoke with the softness I first felt.
Printed on warm-toned Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, this museum-grade archival pigment print is part of a strictly limited edition of twenty-five, with two Artist’s Proofs. Each piece is signed, numbered, and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.
A sanctum of stillness for those willing to receive.
To step into the silence behind the image, click here to explore the Artist’s Journal.
Previously titled ‘Apsara I, Angkor Wat Temple, 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.
