Stonemason Carving Gargoyle at Dawn in Mist

Cold silver dawn light falls through thick mist, softening the edges of a framed building shell near Nagoya. A stonemason stands on a wooden scaffold, chisel raised against the rough gray stone of a gargoyle emerging from the masonry. The turn of seasons is visible in the damp, bare branches of a nearby tree and the worker's heavy, dark jacket. Dust particles hang suspended in the air, caught in the pale beams. Leading lines formed by the scaffold beams and the cathedral's vertical columns guide the gaze upward toward the artisan's hands. at the edge rests on the sharp, wet edge of a stone chip falling onto the rough wood below.