When the Light No Longer Fell
The stones were still warm from the day, though the air had shifted—no longer heat, but memory. I climbed slowly through Angkor Wat’s central galleries, past weathered thresholds and softened shadows. Above, the cicadas swelled into chant. Inside the sanctuary, the hush was full—dense and golden.
On the western wall, she stood. Or rather, she waited. Carved in extraordinary high relief, a serene goddess emerged from the doorway, not in motion, but in a presence deeper than stillness. She faced the west—not just geographically, but spiritually—receiving the setting sun with a gaze that did not flicker.
I paused. The light did not strike her. It entered her. And in her presence, I felt that light might never move again. As if it had arrived home.
Setting up the camera was slow and quiet. Each gesture—unfolding the bellows, focusing the loupe, loading the film—became prayer. There was no need to hurry. She had been waiting for centuries, and would wait longer still. Exposure was not an act of capture. It was devotion.
Back in the studio, I shaped the print not from recollection, but from resonance. Her presence had entered me like gold entering stone. I hand-toned the final image until it shimmered not with brightness, but with memory.
evening shrine hushes
she glows in the gold that falls
only from within
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)
There are moments when light no longer travels—it returns. In the sacred hush of Angkor Wat’s central sanctuary, as the sun bowed westward, a goddess stepped forward through stone.
Carved in extraordinary high relief, she emerges from the innermost wall—not as ornament, but as consecration. Her poise is not of motion, but of eternal presence. The silence that surrounds her is vast and golden.
Lucas Varro stood before her with the reverence of one who knows the language of light. Captured on large-format black-and-white film, the image was later shaped through chiaroscuro techniques and hand-toned in gold to reflect the divine radiance witnessed in that hour.
This signed and numbered archival pigment print is available in a strictly limited edition of 25 + 2 AP, rendered on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper.
A breath held between dusk and eternity.
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