Gothic Intricacies

Gothic Intricacies Marcelo Rabanal

Gothic Intricacies I have always been attracted by Gothic architecture. I don’t know why. May be it has to do with its complexity and magnificence, as well as because of its antiquity.

I also like it because it entirely defies the classical rules of architecture as laid out by the wise men of the renaissance, especially Giorgio Vasari who applied the term Gothic (Germanic), pejoratively, to those works built by his medieval (and in his view barbaric and inferior) predecessors. In fact, for quite some time Gothic buildings were considered hideous and disproportionate, however it was those characteristic that later compelled the Victorians to revive the style not only in Europe but all over the western world.

I have visited many Gothic buildings big and small and I never seem to get enough of them. I have thousands of photographs of them and yet I never seem to capture the essence of what I feel when I see a Gothic cathedral such as Gloucester, Chartres or York Minster.

In this publication I include a series of photographs which have been treated in different ways in order to convey my idea of the Gothic. I think the title of the book is very telling, “intricate” being probably a good word to describe the spirit of the style.

The pictures were all taken by me and have all been transformed in some way using filters and textures. Most of them are monochrome or de-saturated, because maybe in this way the reader or viewer might concentrate on the forms, the details —the intricacies— of the buildings and not be distracted by colour.

Part of the treatment has also given the photos an air of antiquity, which is quite appropriate to the subject matter.

All in all, this is a very subjective view of Gothic architecture, not entirely original perhaps but a vision that to a certain extent is able to transmit what I feel in the presence of these unique buildings.

Marcelo Rabanal, 2010

Cover image: Llandefalle Parish Church, Wales.

Bath Abbey, Bath England.

Beverley Minster, England.

Brecon Cathedral, Wales.

Bristol Cathedral, England.

Bristol Cathedral, England.

Canterbury Cathedral, England.

Chartres Cathedral, France.

Chartres Cathedral, France.

Oude Kirke (Old Church) Delft, The Netherlands.

Glasgow Cathedral, Scotland.

Gloucester Cathedral, England.

The cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral, England.

Hereford Cathedral, England.

The Cloisters at Lacock Abbey, England.

Llandaff Cathedral, Wales.

Llandefalle Parish Church, Wales.

Milan Cathedral, Italy.

Notre Dame of Paris, France.

Notre Dame of Paris, France.

Siena Cathedral, Italy

St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol England.

St. David’s Cathedral, Wales.

Tewkesbury Abbey, England.

Tintern Abbey, Wales.

Vale Crucis Abbey, Wales.

Wells Cathedral, England.

Worcester Cathedral, England.

York Minster, England.

York Minster, England.

The treatment I applied to the images was inspired in many sources, many of them form artists in the DeviantArt website, a wonderful place to see great artists in a wide variety of mediums.

I was also influenced by great images I’ve seen on Flickr.

The textures I used also come from different sources, here’s a list of those people who designed some of the textures and have made them available on the internet.

I big thanks to all of them.

I anybody finds a texture that I have not acknowledged, please send me a message and will do so immediately.

Edredon: http://edredon.deviantart.com/ JoesSistah: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27805557@N08/ Skeletalmess: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/ Nesster: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nesster/ Other textures were stock or made by myself.

All photographs and text by Marcelo Rabanal, 2010.

Please visit me at: DeviantArt: http://mrabanal.deviantart.com/ Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelor/ Blog: http://mr.f-sur.com/wordpress/index.php Issuu: http://issuu.com/mrabanal

Lacock Abbey cloisters, England.

All photographs and text Marcelo Rabanal, 2010.