Even back when I was thinking about the design and content of my photoblog, I considered having a nav tab for my photographs of doors. Of course, I’m not the first photographer to have a portfolio of doors. But, I’ve been making images of doors throughout my photographic career. Over the past several years, I’ve laid out a photography book just of my door images. (In fact I have several other books designed: more about that in another post.) I tend to make collections of images and put them into bodies of work. Doors are an example. I also have bodies of work about bicycles, locks on doors, chairs and seats, dogs, cemeteries and airport interiors to name a few.
But doors: there is something intrinsically fascinating about doors. Obviously, almost every structure has some. They are what secures entrance to a structure as well as invites passage inside. Some are incredible designs in a myriad of materials, others are beads hanging to keep out flies. Once, when I was in India, I came across an incredulous as well as very happy Indian gentleman who had just sold his house’s ancient, weather beaten front door for two thousand US dollars to an American interior designer. (Needless to say, he was looking around for some more doors and potential customers.)
The images of the doors below are from a spread from my book about doors. There is a thirteen year time span between the image on the left and the one on the right. Even when I saw the dog sitting in front of the red door, I was drawn to the red pedal in front of him/her. What are the chances of the pedal’s color being the same as the door? In the frame before the one on the right page, I wasn’t quite as tight on the facade and I was taking a picture of my wife, and just as I pressed the shutter release, this rasta dude with a mountain of dreadlocks and big spliff between his fingers strolled around the corner in front of the building. The image is a great one: the rasta dude with a big smile on his face and Rosaria looking over her shoulder with a WTF expression on her face. I love making photographs.
