The Water Dragon, a special Temizuya

When entering a shrine or a temple, the first thing to do is to wash both hands and mouth at a “Temizuya” in order to purify the soul. Most of the times the Temizuya is a common section of bamboo that pours the water in a metal or stone basin. But recently, during a brief trip in a mountain, I’ve found a truly beautiful Temizuya: an amazingly well crafted head of a dragon appearing from a dense bush, was pouring a thin stream of water from his tongue into a basin made of thick granite, bouncing off on a metal “hishaku” (ladle). Since the dragon symbolizes the water (besides the other elements) I think that this Temizuya is a beautiful example of iconography and craftmanship.
With this Black and white conversion, I tried to emphasize the shapes and the textures of the materials through the light coming from above.