Looking up at a spiral staircase
Architecture,  Lens-Artists,  Nature and wildlife,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

Gallery: monochrome curves

March 20, 2022 / 50 Comments

Curves are so emotional

Piet Mondrian

The world is full of curves. A bend in the road; a gently drooping flower; the arch of a bridge; a spiral staircase. Animals curl up to sleep or to feel safer. Leaves gradually unfurl. The wind shapes a sand dune daily into new curves, and with time water does the same to hard rocks.

For the photographer curves are a blessing. They lead the viewer’s eye into and through the image. They can be as simple as an arch or take the form of an S, a spiral or a complete circle.

For Ann Christine’s Lens Artists Challenge on the topic I’ve trawled my archives to find examples from both the natural and the man-made world. And to emphasise the curves I’m presenting all my shots in black and white. A few were shot that way; the remainder were converted using Silver Efex Pro.

The natural world

Sand dunes with small group of people on one

Wahiba Sands, Oman, at sunset

Dramatic rocks

The City of Rocks, New Mexico

Black and white photo of a flamingo reflected in water

Flamingo feeding at the Salar de Atacama, Chile

Face and neck of a swan

Swan on the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens, London

Coils of a snake

Emerald Tree Boa in Jersey Zoo

Black and white photo of an elephant

Elephant in Chobe National Park, Botswana

Coiled fern about to open

New fern emerging, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Stem with leaves climbing a wall

Climbing plant in the Quiet American Bar, Hoi An, Vietnam

Man-made curves

Looking up at a spiral staircase

The Tulip Staircase in the Queen’s House, Greenwich, London

(the staircase in my featured photo is in the Cape May lighthouse, New Jersey)

Dramatic black and white photo of curved building and bridge

Sage music venue and Tyne Bridge; the view from Gateshead, north east England

Arched structure in black and white

Gateshead Millennium Bridge, north east England

Curved portico with classical sculpture

Above the entrance to the Galleria Umberto I in Naples, Italy

Arches above the door to a church

San Giacomo Maggiore in Bologna, Italy

Interior of an arched building

In the Central Post Office, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Detail of skyscraper
Black and white photo of a modern building

Two from New York City: the Chrysler Building and the Guggenheim Museum

Coiled metal rail against a stone wall

Hand rail in Tallinn, Estonia

Sculpture of a large shell

At an art exhibition in La Conner, Washington State

Sculpture of a couple kissing

And to finish, some of the most sensuous curves of all, Rodin’s Kiss

In the museum devoted to his work in Paris

50 Comments

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