Larger than life. This is the immediate feeling I had when I stumbled upon Nanzenji Sanmon Gate on my first day in Kyoto. In the late afternoon sun, fresh off the Shinkanzen from Tokyo, I opted for a stroll around the city. In what has since become a tradition for me, I walked out the front of my hotel and opted to ‘go right and get lost’. And lost I got. But to be frank, there’s no better country to get lost in than Japan. No matter where you go, you’re bound to stumble upon something that will have you wanting to dig deeper. To understand more. To explore the cultural and spiritual significance that it holds to the population.
Kyoto, with its ancient temples and shrines, is a place where history and spirituality converge in visually stunning ways. As a photographer, I was in awe – not just by the beauty of the structures, but by the historical significance they held. Each temple, each stone, and each curve of the landscape was a piece of the larger puzzle that made up the heart of Kyoto.
The Temples as Living Art
Wandering throughout Kyoto, the scale of the temples left me awestruck. The Nanzenji Temple was only one of a thousand scattered throughout the city. With each step, I felt as though I was walking through a living, breathing piece of history. Capturing such moments felt like an invitation to translate the emotional resonance of these spaces into something tangible. The architecture was magnificent, but it was the atmosphere—the subtle play of light and shadow, the quiet stillness, and the contemplative energy—that made these places so photogenic.
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