Keeper With Grease Stained Hands Near Kazan

First light breaks through low-hanging clouds to strike the horizon haze in a band of pale orange. A clocktower keeper stands at the edge of the frame beneath a line of prayer flags. His knuckles are stained thick with black grease, contrasting against the worn fabric of his shirt. He holds a brass pocket watch in his palm, the metal catching the rising sun. The flags display faded stripes of blue, white, red, and yellow. The background dissolves into soft haze. His gaze looks past the camera toward something unseen. A shadow falls across the ground at his feet.