Going through doors is a way of traveling, and travel is at the heart of this project.
I began photographing doors over the Summer of 2013 when I was on holiday in the beautiful town of Parga, situated on the North-western coast of mainland Greece. Taking the photos helped me to satisfy my curiosity with the unique culture surrounding the town, by coming across interesting looking doors and photographing them, it gave me a sense of fulfilment knowing I had captured a part of Greece.
Back home in Manchester, I roamed the streets in some of the more desolate areas with my camera. I have always found it to be amazing, mysterious and disconcerting that a great city can find itself in such great distress, all the while surrounded by prosperity. The doors I found here were often abandoned or no longer in use, which is evident in the photos. In our nation’s ‘throw away’ culture, there was no way these doors would be found on the high street or even in residential areas.
Some (not all) the doors I documented in Parga were also used and abused, but in a way that made them beautiful and ornate. These doors were however situated in the main parts of the town and were often at the side of shops, part of houses and restaurants. The idea that these doors were in current use and half falling apart says a lot about the Greek culture - that perhaps if it is usable, it will stay.
Manchester is closely associated with containing warehouses, railway viaducts, cotton mills and canals - remnants of a past when the city produced and traded goods. The buildings that I photographed were more often than not Victorian style, especially in the back streets behind the Arndale and around Deansgate. The mix of old and new buildings there is quite startling. The buildings in Parga were quite small in size, mostly white or pale coloured and with little space between one building and the next. Most of them have two or three storeys, wooden balconies and tiled roofs. This type of architecture protected residents from attacks back in the 19th Century, but for me it highlighted the picturesque setting of the town. The churches, the hilltop mansions and the castles stood out the most for me.
This taxonomy of doors shows the contrast between two very different European places. I hope you enjoy looking at the photos and seeing for yourselves how something as simple as a door can narrate a great deal about a culture and it’s surroundings.
To view the publication on Issuu, click here.
