Using a long 432mm telephoto lens, I could bring this parade of cattle on the road into juxtaposition with the ruins of the ancient temples behind them. Together they form a timeless vision of this ancient Burmese city where ruins and farms have existed side by side for centuries. I structured this image in a series of layers moving from bottom to top. The cattle form the base layer, the trees and farmhouse the middle layer, and the ruined temples and mountains form the background. The base layer is the subject of the picture itself, with the other two layers adding context for meaning. The middle ground portrays Bagan as it functions today – a farming community, while the background gives a sense of what Bagan might have looked like a thousand years ago, when it ruled a great Burmese empire. The fading dusky light has muted the colors, and given the image a flatness making it into a tapestry expressing the flavor of Old Bagan.