Utsukushi-no-To (Tower of Beauty) stands alone on the Utsukushigahara Plateau in Nagano, Japan, at an elevation of approximately 2,000 meters. Built in 1954 as a beacon for hikers lost in the plateau’s frequent fogs, the stone tower once rang its bell to guide those who could not find their way. Photographed at dusk in midwinter, the surrounding highland has been erased by snow and silence — the tower reduced to a silhouette against the last warmth of fading light. I was drawn to the quiet irony of a guide that now stands in its own kind of solitude, waiting in a landscape that has temporarily forgotten the presence of people.