Sometimes it really helps to underexpose on purpose. In this case, it helped to darken out the background and highlight only the key elements of the Sai statue.
Shot on the Fujifilm X-Pro2 / Fujinon 35mm f1.4 R @ f8 & 1/70s. Post processing in Lightroom. Reduce blacks, highlights and saturation.
The below picture was taken on a bright day but with ES set to -3 and ISO of 100
