The Quiet Within the Forest – Preah Palilay

Photographs from the Spirit of Angkor series by Lucas Varro

Preah Palilay stands alone in the forest, quiet as breath. There is no grand enclosure here, no long procession—only a single sanctuary tower rising from the undergrowth, wrapped in root and silence. Time has pressed gently on its stones. Moss softens the carvings. Monks walk barefoot on scattered leaves. And the sacred feels close, unguarded.

Though its exact origins are unclear—Hindu or Buddhist, ancient or reworked—Preah Palilay seems to live between boundaries. It is a temple out of sequence, a sanctuary of in-between. Its chimney-like prang leans toward the sky like a gesture half-finished, and yet the atmosphere is complete: quiet, held, enduring.

In this contemplative collection from the Spirit of Angkor series, Lucas Varro brings his analogue lens into communion with Preah Palilay’s solitude. Captured on large and medium format black-and-white film, each image is shaped through long exposure, chiaroscuro, and hand-toning. What emerges is not only architecture, but presence: the way shadow lingers beneath a stone lintel, or how a shaft of morning light brushes the root of a fig tree like memory.

Printed in limited editions on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, each photograph is accompanied by a Collector’s Print Package including poetic writings, curatorial reflections, and field notes drawn from the artist’s quiet visits.

This is a temple not of statement, but of pause. A stillness held in leaf and light.