Kyoto’s Kinkaku-ji Temple
Kyoto is an incredible city, filled with culture, heritage, and beauty. Many of the experiences are interactive, walking through a pathway of gates or washing your hands in purified water. Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, is all about the eyes. It is stunning in every sense of the word, and holds its allure year after year without ever aging or decaying.
The temple sits on the edge of a zen garden and lake. No, dear reader, you are not permitted to walk through the full extent of the garden. The walking path only goes about 180-degrees around the temple, snakes past an offering box, and leads you to the ice cream cafe on the way out. You come to see a beautiful temple, which you cannot enter (it’s pretty small), and then you leave. Come with a camera, come at a time when the light is good, and it is an absolute treat.
As a photographer, such situations also present a somewhat ethical dilemma. Is it wrong to take such a gorgeous, golden temple, and turn the photos into black and white? If the gold is the main attraction, does the photo lose everything by being stripped of this? Have a look at the extra images below and decide for yourself.
Shot on October 20, 2023 - Travel, Japan
