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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fourteen: Expressing the meaning of buildings and structures > Detail, Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco, 2006
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13-DEC-2006

Detail, Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco, 2006

The second largest mosque in the world, this building fascinates the eye and stimulates the imagination. Rather than show the mosque itself, this image teases the viewer with detail as illusion. It is a puzzle, rather than a description, asking viewers to create their own vision of the mosque itself. These details represent the exotic nature of the place itself, rather than describing its appearance, size, function, or location.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/10s f/3.7 at 88.8mm iso400 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time13-Dec-2006 02:26:17
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length88.8 mm
Exposure Time1/10 sec
Aperturef/3.7
ISO Equivalent400
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis01-Mar-2008 20:44
You make a good point, Vera. Design is an arrangement of forms, shapes, and lines created to form a pattern or decoration. It is also the art of creating a plan to show the workings and functions of a building, garment, or other object before it is built or made. We use design in photography as a compositional device, helping to organize our images for coherence and meaning. You are right -- we are always looking for designs of others that will inspire our own sense of design. It is also true that different artists can interpret similar subjects in uniquely different ways. In the case of this picture, we are looking at design elements that evolved over the centuries in the Ottoman Empire and are often incorporated into mosques and other buildings.
Guest 01-Mar-2008 18:42
How often we hear of designers who are inspired through their travels to incorporate colors, texture, lines into their designs. When I look at this incredible detail, I can imagine design wallpaper, or high fashion based on this image. Now, I will stress this is all in my imagination. But it did make me think of how different artists are drawn to similar things for different reasons. Or perhaps it is for the same reason, but the end product is different.
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