Patterns & Colours of the world

by GypsyHeart April 4, 2017

April 4, 2017

As a traveller with an eye for a good image, I find myself naturally drawn to the visual evidence of patterns within each culture that I meet. With possibly millions of images tucked in the cloud after all these years of journeys, I realise that I am invariably following certain threads in my observations.

I love a good doorknob – I am entranced by a French entrance! My eye is caught by the style of font that is found in a city on signs and house numbers – Helsinki has a love of a spidery, hipster font and the apartment numbers are austere illuminated boxes whilst Art Deco lettering is all about. Post boxes in national colours, street signs on enamel or wood. The patina of peeling paint on an Rajasthani palace wall – soft, dusky pink.

Threads that weave a cultural tale.

I love the play of modern graffiti tags against old buildings. In Greece, the graffiti is vibrant and prevalent, in Tallinn it seems to enhance the old buildings that it blemishes. I am entranced by the play of a certain light on water; by the way that road markings are painted or the criss-cross of tramlines or the cobble of pavements. Windows are different in every culture – shutters, balconies, tiled surrounds, lace curtains….

And then there is colour… in many cultures, there is a specificity to the colour tones. It is as if you could make a pantone chart for each – tracking the tones of the paint, the buildings, the street signs and the landscape. In Battambang there is a certain blue. The soft tones of the Australian bush are like no other and they are echoed in house paint and design. Baltic countries use pastel tones like no other. Burmese townships have a patina’d colour-chart that is unique and distinctive. Nothing matches the red of a Norwegian rorbu against a leaden sky & snowy peaks. The clean blue & white of a Portugese fishing village brings the memory of salt-cod to my lips. The vibrancy of the Okavango delta waters reflecting lush papyrus & reeds denotes joy.

It is why I love to view my world through a lens. Many say that people who spend their travel time looking through a camera don’t stop to savour the place they are in. But I find myself concentrating even more on my surroundings!

The camera is like my microscope – it makes me see in more detail.

The patterns are clearer.