Archives for category: Photography

Umayyad Mosque, Damascus viewed from Mount Qassiun

Courtyard and The Minaret of the Bride at dusk after prayers, Umayyad Mosque

Ablution fountain in front of the main prayer hall decorated with mosaics said to depict paradise.

Roman arch east of Umayyad Mosque and sheesha cafe, Damascus, Syria

Birds fly by the Minaret of Qaitbayt, Umayyad Mosque, Damascus

The Umayyad Mosque also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus is the first monumental work of architecture in Islamic history; the building served as a central gathering point after Mecca to consolidate the Muslims in their faith and conquest to rule the surrounding territories under the Umayyad Caliphate. It is considered the fourth-holiest place in Islam.

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Photographs © Quintin Lake

Museum of Liverpool Facade with Royal Liver Building behind topped with the iconic Liver Bird.

The Museum of Liverpool façade’s relief pattern puts forward a new interpretation of the historical architectural detail in the ‘Three Graces”, the UNESCO listed maritime buildings adjacent to the museum. The new building is somewhat underwhelming inside but externally the bold contrast of old and new is very exciting giving the city a modern European feel.  The wave form was inspired by origami and to give the façade an element of variation, as the changing light and shadow affect the facades appearance.  The building opened to the public in July 2011.

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Photographs © Quintin Lake

Krak des Chevaliers Castle from the south West, Homs Gap, Syria. Photo: Quintin Lake

“The Krak of the Knights [Krak des Chevaliers], described by T.E. Lawrence as ‘the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world,’ is the easternmost of a chain of five castles sited so as to secure the Homs Gap…The castle stands upon a southern spur of the Gebel Alawi, on the site of an earlier Islamic ‘Castle of the Kurds.’ In 1142 it was given by Raymond, Count of Tripoli, into the care of the Knights Hospitallers, and it was they who, during the ensuing fifty years, remodelled and developed it as the most distinguished work of military architecture of its time.”Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture

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Photographs © Quintin Lake

Detail of West front of St Paul's Cathedral, London. Completed 1697 by architect Sir Christopher Wren.

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photographs © Quintin Lake

Coast to Coast I. Storm clouds over the Irish Sea.

Coast to Coast IV. Forestry in the Lake District.

Coast to Coast V. Low cloud in the Lake District.

Coast to Coast VI. Stone wall in the Lake District.

Coast to Coast VII. Great Gable in the Lake District.

Coast to Coast VIII. Parting clouds in the Lake District.

Coast to Coast IX. Wast Water in the Lake District.

Coast to Coast XI. Footbridge over the M6.

Coast to Coast XII. Stone Breaker at Bunton Hush, Yorkshire Dales.

Coast to Coast XVI. Footpath arrows near Richmond.

Coast to Coast XIX. Barley field in the Vale of Mowbray.

Coast to Coast XXIII. Rubbish bag near Robin Hood's Bay

Coast to Coast XXIV. Lighthouse overlooks the North Sea.

This series of twenty four photographs were made during a 20 day 340km solo backpacking trip in May 2011 from the Irish Sea at St Bees to the North Sea at Whitby. My route was based loosely on Wainwright’s classic walk joining the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales with and the North York Moors National Park. The main additions I made to his route included walking over and camping amongst the summits in the Lakes rather than following the valleys, which added 4 days travel time to the official route, and ending the walk at Whitby, as it seemed a more satisfying end to me than Robins Hood Bay. Of the 20 days travelling I had a lot of storms as you can see in the photos. These became especially frisky during the Yorkshire Dales section – which resulted in the scarcity of photos during this section. I normally think poor weather leads to more interesting photos but here the limit was reached! I hope these photos show an intimate portrayal of the drama and allure of the English Landscape an environment that, for me at least, manages to never look familiar.

All prints 42x58cm, Giclee Print on Cotton Rag, edition of 25 +1 A/P

For queries about pricing or to purchase work please either contact me of order online at the link below.

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Photographs © Quintin Lake 2011

"Your Rainbow Panorama" The 360° multi-coloured glass viewing walkway on the roof of ARoS Aarhus Kuntsmuseum by Olafur Eliasson. Photo: Quintin Lake

Your Rainbow Panorama by Olafur Eliasson on the roof of ARoS Aarhus Kuntsmuseum, Denmark. Photo: Quintin Lake

Panorama of Aarhus beyond. Photo: Quintin Lake

Underside of Your Rainbow Panorama walkway. Photo: Quintin Lake

Inside of Your Rainbow Panorama coloured walkway by Olafur Eliasson. Photo: Quintin Lake

Inside of Your Rainbow Panorama coloured walkway by Olafur Eliasson. Photo: Quintin Lake

Inside of Your Rainbow Panorama coloured walkway by Olafur Eliasson. Photo: Quintin Lake

Inside of Your Rainbow Panorama coloured walkway by Olafur Eliasson. Photo: Quintin Lake

“Your Rainbow Panorama” is a Rainbow-coloured glass walkway on the roof of the Danish art museum ARoS Aarhus Kuntsmuseum, by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. The permanent piece consists of a 150-metre-long and three-metre-wide self-contained circular walkway with glass that moves through all of the colours of the spectrum. The 52-metre-diameter walkway “floats” 3.5 metres above the roof and stretches like a multi-coloured halo — supported by 12 slender columns. The piece opened to the public on 28 May, 2011. In order to access the walkway, visitors can take stairs or a lift from the museum in order to appreciate a panoramic view tinted in different colours.Eliasson describes the work:

Your Rainbow panorama establishes a dialogue with the existing architecture and reinforces what was already there, that is to say the view across the city. I have created a space that can almost be said to erase the boundary between inside and outside — a place where you become a little uncertain as to whether you have stepped into a work of art or into part of the museum. This uncertainty is important to me, as it encourages people to think and sense beyond the limits within which they are accustomed to function.”

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photographs © Quintin Lake

Interior of Postmodernism: Style and Subversion Exhibition at the V&A Museum. Photo: Dezeen

Gehry House, by Frank Gehry, Santa Monica. Photograph featured in V&A Postmodernism Exhibition. Photo: Quintin Lake

My photo of  Frank Gehry’s Santa Monica house is printed alongside other icons of  deconstructionist architecture by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. The curators were keen to include Gehry’s residence as it symbolizes an “early venture in bricolage and the postmodern”. The house built in 1978 represented the first and radical steps of Deconstructivist movement in architecture more info and photos on the building.

My personal sentiments on postmodernism which developed as an architecture student are encapsulated by Alastair Sooke who wrote in the Telegraph

Charles Jencks, the architectural theorist credited with inventing the term “postmodernism”, once pointed out that what is exciting and avant-garde one moment tends to feel like old hat the next. No doubt he is right: younger generations often berate the immediate past to assert their own identity. Even so, walking through the V&A’s new exhibition, which traces the rise and fall of postmodernism across different disciplines during the Seventies and Eighties, I was tempted to ask: has there ever been a more irritating movement in the history of art and design?”

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990
24 September 2011 – 15 January 2012 at V&A South Kensington info

Ashampstead Nativity Greetings Card available at St Clement’s Church. Photo: Quintin Lake

St Clement’s Church, Ashampstead, Berkshire contains fine medieval wall paintings dating from c1250. These four Holy Infancy scenes with their decorative heading are in the nave. They illustrate The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity and the Appearance of the Angels to the Shepherds. The paintings were defaced and covered over at the time of the Reformation. they were rediscovered in 1886 and are now being conserved.

The wall-paintings were specially photographed to reveal the maximum amount of detail in the originals. More images from the photoshoot

Also available at St Clement’s Church are a set of 6 different postcards of the Nativity and a folded card. Proceeds from the sale of the cards go to the maintenance of the church. Map showing location of the Church