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Spinalonga

    History is a huge interest of mine and i love exploring ruins as it is a gateway into the past. I was able to visit the island of Spinalonga whilst i was in Crete. It was first built on in 1578 for defence purposes by Venetians, however was captured by Ottoman Turks in 1715. Later, in 1878, Cretens revolted eventually causing all Ottomans to leave the island by 1903. Spinalonga was then used as a leper colony until 1957. At first patients lived isolated in their own community, living in caves and the ruins on the island. The community was eventually built up with houses, a hospital and patients were able to live their lives, get married and have children. A priest was the last person to leave the island in 1962 as it is tradition of the Greek Orthodox church to commemorate a buried person 40 days, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years after their death.
   The history was really intriguing to me as so much has happened and changed on this small island. The ruins interested me most as they showed signs of someone once living there, appearing like a post apocalyptic world in some areas. The buildings brought feelings of isolation and peace as if it was just after a storm. I wished i could've explored inside them more to get a better understanding of what it would have been like to live there in the different years. Unfortunately, most buildings were unsafe to go inside but i tried to imagine what it was like as i walked around the island.

   I really like this photo as the upward angle makes the building appear as if it is looming over the viewer. The building itself is what draws the attention as it looks apart of the ruins of a post apocalyptic world. The lack of people, animals and flourishing nature in this image really help  add to this effect of a dying world. The composition of this image makes the building the main focus but also the stairs suggesting how the building is not a stand alone abandoned ruin but this how everywhere looks. It would be interesting to play around with editing on this photo as lighting and dulling down the colour could really exaggerate the isolation and death. I could also paint over this photo and fill in the gaps so the building looks new, add people and plants.



  The composition of the materials in this photo, brick, wood,white cloth and branches, as well as how you can see the sea through the gap in the window was intriguing to me. I like how all the colours on the window side are within the same shade of brown so the blue sea really stands out. However once the sea has drawn your attention you are more focused on the little details that begin to show the different materials against each other.
  I really like the idea of creating something similar to this where i use a range of materials that are all in the same colour, with only a slight shade difference, and with a pop of a completely different colour to attract the eye.It would be fun to experiment with how i organise the different materials as well as include the pop of colour. Additionally, i used the window as a border around the gap that shows the sea. In photography i enjoy the use of creating natural borders around the focused point. To improve this i wish i had taken more photos of this border at different angles as the one i took doesn't work so well as to me the angle of it doesn't really flow into one another.


     I took a close up photo of some rusty metal and door. The close up of the metal has interesting markings with the rust as well as where some of the metal has layered up. I would really like to incorporate this material into my work. I also have this idea of creating a painting of a man crying. Instead of tears its rust from the metal as society expectations means men arent allowed to cry as they must be strong, like the metal.  I remember the grey part feeling cold and smooth whilst the rusty part was covered in small bumps. The door attracted my attention through the contrast of the colours. Rusted orange and blue. I find this colour combination appealing as well as how it shows an ageing effect on the wood.

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