Heiligdom in Birma c. 1895 - 1915

This is a photograph of a Burmese sanctuary, made by P. Klier at some point in the past. It looks like a simple document, but it’s so much more. It’s really about the tactile, about the artist being there, seeing, and wanting to show you what it was like. The surface is amazing, so smooth and even, yet alive. The columns are a marvel, each mark a moment in time, the light catching the delicate carvings. The whole image has a beautiful, dreamy quality. It reminds me of when I layer colors in my paintings, building up texture and depth, each stroke informing the next. Look how the soft grays pull you in, but then the light really invites you to scrutinize the columns, each section almost pulsating. There’s a rhythm, a balance between the organic and the geometric. This photo reminds me a bit of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, who also made photographic records of industrial structures. But this has a completely different emotional weight. It’s art, but it’s history, memory. A reminder that nothing is ever really fixed.