Comparative archaeology

There are a number of amazing ideas and creations that seem to have been generated spontaneously throughout history.  Flatbread comes to mind.  From pita to tortillas, it is simple, wonderful, and highly transportable.  Fermented liquids such as beer and wine are quite old, and the formulas for these were probably"brewing" at the same time in different places.  Architectural elements including arches and towers seem to fall into this category.  Most things are born of necessity.  Some spread with religion.  The question of whether creations are spontaneously generated, or whether migration and human contact promoted their development may never be answered.  But it does not diminish the fascinating similarities found around the globe.

Doors and hardware.  The first photograph of a door in Costilla Plaza, New Mexico...

...and a door from the island of Crete.

A shrine outside the Catholic church in San Francisco, New Mexico, roughly the size of a playhouse...

...and a roadside shrine or iconostasis on Crete, about the size of a large mailbox, similar to a descanso marking the death of someone along a highway in New Mexico. 

embrace the similarities

until next Monday,

DB

 a passion for the image

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

Doors

As we slowly shift seasons from winter to spring, with the change that is constant in life, I think of doors and the allegories they represent.

Doors of some sort have been used by humans (and other animals) to keep the cold and heat in or out, to protect food and material goods, and to keep predators from entering.  Doors hold mystery and uncertainty, as in reality, one does not know what lies beyond a strange door.  In movies, protagonists are locking doors behind them, but frequently leave doors open, which invariably allows the villain to enter.  In modern society, one of the most common references or sayings is "one door closes and another opens."   So doors also represent excitement and possibilities.

Every time I photograph a door, a story unfolds in my mind and I want to enter.  The first two are from beautiful Brugge or Bruges (Dutch and French spellings), in Belgium.

I was really mystified by the door below on the Greek island of Crete.  

The door at the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and the doorway in Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico are incredible demonstrations of modern and ancient form and function.

A wooden doorway at Fort Ross State Historic Park in northern California, opens to a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean.

What stories doors hold!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image