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Light, dark,  shadow | 10.29 | Trongsa Dzong

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I’ve learned a lot about light.

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And about seeking it, finding it. Going there. Where light is. And where it isn’t.

In fact, I’m still learning about light. And I’ll be always learning about light, I’m imagining.

But I had this one experience, coming back from the monastery of the Divine Madman, Chimi Lakhang, (Lama Drukpa Kuenlay) and like anything else, we were late. We were, we are, late because we stop incessantly. And these stops always have to do with people.

Because, even aside from all the extraordinary natural beauty, it’s the people that I’m the most interested in — as well as the architecture. And the art. And, well, the landscape and the light.

Anyway, here’s the image that inspired some other thinking and exploration of light in the context of space, of story, of human(s).
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But then, as I’ve alluded before, I keep being late. Hanging out too long in one place means that you can’t seem to get to another in what might be thought of as the “right time”. But being late oftentimes, as well, means that there’s no one else there.

Except for some monks.

And these images were shot later at night, at the Trongsa Dzong — the grand fortress and meeting place, festival platform and convocation of the royal and monastic orders of country wide leadership and governance.

The power of these places is awesome, the spirit of them, overwhelming. So potent is their space, so broad and hight their rising character, that they are, truly, unbelievable.

While during the day, their grandeur spreads out in medieval Bhutanese fashion. At night, they glower with mystery.

And mystery I savor.

Dark. Smoky. Captivating. Dangerous. Cavernously devouring…

Check these explorations out:
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Where to, the light?