Where the Gods Dwell

Storm gathers over Pre Rup with the gravity of an ancient hymn, each rumble folding cool rain-air into the courtyard’s porous stone.  In that charged half-light five towers rise like weathered psalms, their open doorways breathing mysteries older than speech.

The temple itself seems to inhale, quincunx of spires mapping Mount Meru against a sky of restless pewter.  Water varnishes laterite; every stair glistens like first light made tactile.  Stillness moves here, and movement is a kind of stillness.

I waited motionless in the rain, the lens open and listening, my breath slowed to the tempo of thunder.  Across the glass the stair became a dark river of ascent, and for a suspended moment I felt looked-upon rather than looking—a brief recognition between presence and stone.

Developed in the studio, the negative received chiaroscuro’s quiet guidance, depth coaxed from shadow, hush teased from light.  Hand-toning followed, layer on layer, until the print held the low hum of rain and the unseen pulse of gods.

Each archival pigment print is made on museum-grade Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, strictly limited to 25 with 2 Artist’s Proofs, and signed and numbered on the border recto—an offering of rarity, craft, and devotion.
Should this storm-lit stair find a home with you, may it become a silent threshold where breath, shadow, and spirit meet.

To step further into its making, click here to enter the Artist’s Journal.

Previously titled ‘Pre Rup Temple, Study I, Angkor, Cambodia. 2021,’ this photograph has been renamed to better reflect its place in the series and its spiritual tone.  The edition, provenance, and authenticity remain unchanged.