openings

All creatures need to see.  They like to see.  Birds perch on the highest limbs of trees and electrical wires to view their surroundings.  Marmots climb over shale above the tree line, surveying their world.  The earliest humans may have lived in the safety of caves, but they had to leave to hunt and to see the condition of their surroundings.

Human-constructed habitats and buildings almost always have had openings - doors and smoke outlets at the very least - and when it became possible, windows and skylights.  I like to think these were not only developed for practical purposes but to enable our predecessors to gaze at the landscape, the sky, and the stars.  In a world where artisans now produce the most intricate and breathtaking windows and doors, here are some beautiful and pragmatic openings.

Minoan palace at Knossos, Crete

A vaulted ceiling opens to the city of Oia on the Greek island of Santorini

T-shaped doorway, Chaco Cultural National Historical Park, New Mexico

Appreciate the openings.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image