Conical piles of coloured powders in front of striped fabrics
One Word Sunday,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

Gallery: using triangles in photography

August 13, 2023 / 58 Comments

The stars are the apexes of what wonderful triangles! What distant and different beings in the various mansions of the universe are contemplating the same one at the same moment!

Henry David Thoreau

That’s quite a thought from Thoreau. Two people in very different locations on earth will form a triangle with any star they are looking at simultaneously. So too though will two beings of any kind anywhere in the universe. Wow!

Triangles are one of the fundamental shapes in geometry. There are various kinds, but always with three sides and three corners, of course. In photography, triangles add dynamism to an image, leading the viewer’s gaze towards a focal point or important element within the shot. They can also create a sense of balance and stability, depending on their shape and placement.

From buildings to mountains, fabrics to flowers, triangles are everywhere if only we look! So for Debbie’s One Word Sunday I offer a selection of triangular shaped objects from around the world.

Conical piles of red and yellow ground spices

Spices for sale in the souks of Marrakesh

My feature photo was taken in the same city

Conical piles of brightly coloured powders

Colourful piles of powdered dyes used for Holi, Fort Kochi, Kerala

Terracotta wall with corner decoration of carved leaves and flowers

Detail of decorations on the Hall of Preserved Harmony in the Forbidden City, Beijing

Pointed snowy mountain

Sarangkot, the Fishtail Mountain, as seen from the Pokhara Peace Pagoda, Nepal

Two triangular flags framing a small gold Buddha

The flag of Nepal consists of two triangles

(taken at Pokhara Lakeside)

Conical flower with a long stamen

Hibiscus flower, Temple Tree Resort, Pokhara, Nepal

Triangle of blue ice against a dark rocky landscape

An iceberg broken away from Glacier Grey, Torres del Paine NP, Chile

Modern triangular shaped building with lawns and tree-covered hills

The ultra-modern Hyangsan Hotel, by far the best we stayed at in North Korea!

Conical modern building

The ice rink, Pyongyang

The architect apparently took inspiration from the hats traditionally worn when skating here

Drink in a triangular glass

Cocktail at the Koryo Hotel’s revolving restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea, on a stormy afternoon when we were forbidden to leave the hotel

Conical mountain

The unmistakable cone of Mount Fuji, Japan

Gable of an ornate building decorated with gold and carvings

Kamijinko, one of several storehouses at Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan

The elephant carvings are known as the ‘Imaginary Elephants’ because the artist, Kano Tanyu, would never have seen the real thing. He drew them from his imagination having heard accounts and descriptions, and really didn’t do a bad job under those circumstances. Just think how hard it would be to conceive of an animal that looked like an elephant if you had never come across any, or any picture of one!

Wedge-shaped structure pierced by arches

The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

This is one of a group of 19 astronomical instruments built by a Rajput king in the early 18th century

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