Doors of the world: photographers capture curious doors around the globe
Photographer Dylan Freedom found this door off the beaten path while wandering the streets of Venice, Italy.
Doors, age old and culturally transcending. Everyone knows what a door is. A hinged panel that provides security and refuge. It keeps people in and it keeps people out. A metaphor for an opportunity or perhaps an obstacle? Here eight photographers share with us their photo of doors and what these particular doors mean to them.
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Valparaíso, Chile | Photo by Luis Alfonso Orellana
I was walking around Valparaíso's hills where lots of street art can be seen. It's a great place to walk and explore because there are interesting and beautiful murals around every corner. I ended up in a small alley where every door was painted but these ones in particular caught my eye. The colors made me feel like a magical land was waiting behind the doors.
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North Carolina | Photo by Michael Prewett
"Welcome back! It's so good to see you! How's life abroad?"
I come "home" to North Carolina once a year. It's expected of me, and every year, I hear the above cheery greeting bandied about without fail. Usually this happens in October, when Autumn hits the East Coast in full stride. Tree leaves put on a brave face and wear vibrant colors for a final show before facing their inevitable annual death and the cold wind chatters my teeth. A repurposed dry cleaners hangs an ambitious sign as though business is thriving and for a brief moment, all these colours, elements and signs fit together and I'm almost fooled into believing they're true.
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Rochdale, England | Photo by Zbysiu Rodak
This is Rochdale Community Fire Station, though edited, cropped down to create an almost abstract palette of warm colours against a blue sky. It's a utilitarian building over which someone has spent a little extra thought and it has sparked an idea, an impulse to create, and I feel better for that.
My route to and from work used to take me past this building every day. Through winter and spring I'd drive past the frontage watching how the light fell on the doors, waiting for the right moment to stop and capture a moment. It was something selfish, to be frank, to please me, satisfy me. We all have our own aesthetic standpoints which contribute to a rich and colourful world.
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Lawang Sewu, Indonesia | Photo by Kilarov Zaneit
When I photographed this door, I perceived it as a single door and shot it with a minimalist and simple concept in mind. However, when I looked back at the photograph, a different perspective was revealed; one with many doors, where each door looked like an obstacle. For me, this new perspective mirrored life. How with each and every obstacle we encounter, there is definitely another door for us to come out again.
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Burbank, LA County | Photo by Joshua Coleman
I was raised in a furniture restoration business and as I was growing up, there were always antique cabinets with keys around, which is why one of my tattoos includes a key. I was taught by my parents that life is full of doors to open, that opportunities are everywhere and sometimes you just need the courage to open up those doors. My girlfriend and I moved in together, so these storage doors represent a new stage of blending our lives together.
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Bern, Switzerland | Photo by Max Kleinen
This door got me thinking about life and how it's full of surprises—we don’t have a clue what will cross our path next. We think we can control life but it isn’t so easy. We never have a clue as to what will happen tomorrow or what waits behind the next door, but that’s the wonderful thing about life! It’s full of surprises and every door presents a new opportunity. Do we live life and choose for ourselves which door we will open?
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Shenzhen, China | Photo by Moren Hsu
Some of the works I am most proud of are not for their artful composition, colour balance or a meaningful subject matter, but for their spontaneity, that the photograph captured how I felt at the time.
