I made this photograph the English town of Shrewsbury. (More about that place below.) If a photograph is “about” something, this one is about more than one thing. To be sure, it is a record of a specific spot in a particular town, a doorway to a building with a sign for “Alfred Mansell & Co. Auctioneers.”It is perhaps a record of some history, too, given the old brick walls, the weathered doorway, and the cobblestones at the bottom of the frame. But most of all, I think it is about color, the “temperature” contrast between the warm tones of partially-sunlit bricks and the very cool blues of the doorway in shadow.
“Max Headroom 14 Feet” — A roll-up garage door in an alcove, Aberdeen.
Our May visit to Aberdeen, Scotland marked a transition on our trip. We had just completed a week-plus driving tour of Northwest Scotland, where we spent a lot of time in rural and wild areas. After returning our rental car in Inverness, we went straight to the station and boarded a train to Aberdeen, where we planned a quiet stop before heading on to Ireland. Why Aberdeen? Patty had visited the city decades ago when she went to the UK for an international orchestra festival. She wanted to return and see what she might remember of Aberdeen.
“A Doorway” — Decorated doorway in a stone building, Aberdeen, Scotland.
For some reason I can’t quite define, doors seem to be a popular photographic subject. Perhaps it is curiosity about what lies behind them — both the prospect of something being hidden and the notion of leaving one space and entering another. I often photograph them without quite knowing why, only intuiting that they appeal to me. Here I liked the contrast between the cold and angular nature of the stone structure and the the organic forms painted on the doorway.
“Chair, Steps, and Door” — A white chair on steps in front of a black door, Kirk of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen.
I look for a various things when photographing cities — people, architecture, color and texture, special light, subjects that characterize the area… and things that just seem a bit odd, out of place, and hard to explain. This photograph falls into the last category, though I also like the contrast between the pure white of the chair and the darkness and heaviness of the rest of the scene.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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