Mughal Emperor Sha Jahan built the Taj Mahal in 1648 as a tomb for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who had died in childbirth. There must have been more than 500 people photographing the Taj Mahal at dawn along with me, yet I was probably the only one who focused on this particular part of the structure. Most were shooting the entire building, the same picture that is on all of the post cards. I found these ancillary spires and domes on the edges of the Taj to be just as exquisitely proportioned and beautifully illuminated as the far more famous central dome. However they are not what people expect to see when they think of the Taj Mahal. Why shoot to the expectations of others? It only perpetuates pre-conceived notions – also known as clichés. Instead, why not photographically isolate beauty where you can find it, and make it your own? Why not go against the grain to make an asymmetrical photograph of a structure known primarily for its exquisite symmetry? Which is what I tried to do with this particular image of the Taj Mahal, an image that blends abstraction with the rich warmth of first light color to interpret the rhythmic, undulating flow of Mughal architecture.