October 7, 2018 • 54

Lens Artists Photo Challenge: #14 Windows

Ann-Christine is right.  Windows can tell stories.  Here are some of my favorite windows with stories to go along with them.

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
This stained glass window in the Legislative Buildings of Victoria, B.C. is especially beautiful.  I love how its reflection is mirrored on the floor.  It honors Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee.  When the Queen visited Victoria in 2002, she was understandably pleased with the tribute.

Victoria State House, Victoria, B.C. Shot with a Fuji X-T2.

If the house of the world is dark, Love will find a way to create windows.~Rumi
These long shuttered windows are popular all over Europe.  I love imagining the stories behind those shutters!  When we stayed in Rome this summer, we had a view of this window across the street.  From time to time, we’d hear a man and a woman trying to coax their baby to stop crying.

View of a Roman Apartment. Shot with a Fuji XT2.

I love the beauty of this window in the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens in Vancouver, B.C.  The window is unique because it was shipped in pieces from China and reassembled in Canada.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden, Vancouver, B.C.. Shot with a Fuji X-T2.

Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.~Edith Wharton

This week I said goodbye to this view from my living room window.  On some mornings, I looked out at the sky while I drank my tea or read emails.  On our last morning in the apartment, I took this shot to remember the view.

Last Morning in GR. Shot with a Google Pixel 2.

As you can see below, the evening skies were also spectacular.

Moving is never easy.  It is always freighted with aggravations and emotional highs and lows.  Still, I’ll always carry with me the memories of this airy and light-filled home, high above the Grand River.  Our time in this place was joyful.

Grand Rapids Skyline at Sunset, January 2015.  Shot with a Canon 70D.

I’ll end this post with a poem about windows, of course!

Windows

By Rachel Sherwood

From this height
the sunset spans the whole world
before me: houses and trees are shadows
neon flares between them like sudden fire
the freeways run, always
strangely vacant with riderless cars
empty air
the windows up here
refract the blue slate and rose light
making the hills on the horizon collide
with ideas of Sussex, Piedmont
or the cold clear wind of the Abruzzi
but that is never what is out there.
At home, the lamp curls its aurora
into the corners of the room
and out the windows
squares, rectangles of light
stake out a territory on the ragged lawn.
In the center of things
between the pressing of the window and air
— a small space —
there is a meeting that defines
nothing, everything.

 

A special thanks to the very talented Ann-Christine for an inspiring challenge and to all of our participants for their responses.  Amy will post the next challenge on Saturday, October 13th at noon.  I hope you will join us!

For more information on how to join the challenges, click here. Most importantly, remember to TAG your post ” Lens-Artists ” so it appears in the Reader.

And finally, have an inspiring week!

Categories: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Photography

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54 replies »

    • Hi, Cindy. Thanks so much! Glad you like them. The stained glass was amazing. 🙂 I’ll stop by your site as soon as I can. Life has been a bit crazy this week and I’m trying to catch up with the posts. 🙂

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  5. What wonderful views you had from your window/s! I really like the reflection in that first photo and I share your love for shutters and the mysteries that might live behind them. Where are you moving (if you don’t mind saying)? I hope your move goes smoothly.

    janet

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  7. Patti – the window in the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens reminds me of some 1960’s iron work we saw last week in a friend’s home. And your shot of the window has that pop of foliage giving it a softness and interest.
    and the reflection in that first show – very cool

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    • Thank you, Prior! You’re right about the iron work. I have seen the same style in some 60’s homes. Maybe in Florida? Not sure. Isn’t that reflection beautiful? I was on a tour of the building and I wandered away from the group to take the shot. Glad I did!

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      • we are glad you left the tour too – ha
        and the home i was in recently was in Virginia and they had just bought the house so they could host small groups – they had a huge closed off porch.
        felt like a Floridian lanai.
        And well, I actually said out loud that “the house was confusing me” – and smoothed it over when the homeowner said it worked for them (and it sure did)
        but the I said that – and I have never said it in a house before and I have seen eclectic…
        The house was built in 68 – the doors must have been from a 1920s home with the hardware and heavy wood –
        then the kitchen was all updated with marble and smart fridge – the period pieces were from mid-century to 70s to modern – all wonderful and they had money – so it was not hodge podge – if that makes sense.
        But when I walked by the iron decor rails at the foyer at the end of our tour- the word confusion came to mind because I could not figure out the time period or theme of the house – oops – it all worked out but my mind was baffled ha

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  8. Wonderful shots Patti! Love them all and their stories…and the poem too. That stained glass window is a gem, and I can easily understand the queen was pleased with it. The view from your old window must be hard to leave – I do hope your new views are just as beautiful.
    My impression is that Americans move more often than Europeans, and we are more attached to our homes than many others. I think I could never move anywhere else. My home is my home – I exchange it some weeks every year for other homes when I travel. But that is all. Maybe I envy you a bit anyway, but we are all different, aren’t we? Good luck with your new windows!

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    • Thank you so much, Ann-Christine! I think you’re right about Americans moving a lot. We’ve moved over a dozen times for work. It’s just something we had to do because of career advancement and the type of work my husband did. (Hospital administration) Now that we’re free of our 9 to 5 jobs, it’s been interesting to see how hard it’s been to decide where we want to live! Maybe that’s part of the reason why we’re spending a year or so traveling! It gives us time to make up our minds while seeing the world. 🙂 I can understand why you love your home so much. I sometimes wish we were the same way. Life would certainly be less chaotic! But we both share a love of travel, don’t we?

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  12. Beautiful photos. I’m usually not a huge fan of stained glass but that one was lovely. I think I would also be unable to stop myself from imagining what was happening behind various shutters – especially with a soundtrack like that.

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    • Hi, Todd. Nice to see you here! I agree. There was a delicate touch to the stained glass and it was different given that it had a secular theme and not religious. Oh yes, the soundtrack….the baby was very unhappy for days! Poor baby, poor parents. 😦

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    • Hi, Amy. Thanks! Glad you liked the “grand” views of GR. It is a great vista. We are still in the process of moving our things into storage. One place is finished already and the next one will be finished on Friday. Progress!!

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  16. I love shots of windows (and doors), maybe due to the metaphor that exists within each one. I especially love the stained glass windows as I’m sharing a special series of stained glass windows on Instagram this week.
    Best of luck to you on your move. Looking forward to your next adventure! 🙂

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  19. Gorgeous windows and window views. The floor in first photo is amazingly shinny to have a mirror reflection. A view from your window is hard to leave, Patti. Best wishes to your moving. I enjoy the poem.

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