Connecting

Photographer

Loren Byers

Category

Film Photography - Travel

Company

The Beautiful Eye Photography

Submission Group

Amateur

Year

2026

Country / Region:

United States

The weathered hands of a monumental sculpture of a revered monk. White cotton string connecting revered objects is common in Thai temples—representations of the Buddha, representations of important monks, as well as temple buildings and spaces themselves, and, on occasion monks and worshipers—a potent symbol of the connectedness of the whole. At the base—as high as people could reach—is a patchwork of the small squares of gold leaf that have been placed in offering.