Arch of El Carmen (Sepia)/Puerta del Carmen (Sepia)
On my way to the Sierra de Gredos I stopped for the night in Avila. I was very ambivalent about photographing Avila because I knew it will be full of tourists and tourists is not something I like adding to my photographs. In the end I decided to concentrate in photographing the Walls of Avila in monochrome and occasionally include tourists for scale. This photograph shows the Gate of El Carmen (Puerta del Carmen) and the steeple of El Carmen. Upon reading about the Gate of El Carmen I realised that it is full of symbolism; the gate is a skewed entrance, to gain access it cannot be approached head on, instead a turn is required. This is very common in Moslem military architecture to guaranteed a better defence by impeding a head-on attack.
Arch of El Carmen (Sepia)/Puerta del Carmen (Sepia)
On my way to the Sierra de Gredos I stopped for the night in Avila. I was very ambivalent about photographing Avila because I knew it will be full of tourists and tourists is not something I like adding to my photographs. In the end I decided to concentrate in photographing the Walls of Avila in monochrome and occasionally include tourists for scale. This photograph shows the Gate of El Carmen (Puerta del Carmen) and the steeple of El Carmen. Upon reading about the Gate of El Carmen I realised that it is full of symbolism; the gate is a skewed entrance, to gain access it cannot be approached head on, instead a turn is required. This is very common in Moslem military architecture to guaranteed a better defence by impeding a head-on attack.